Posted by Editormum on 29 April 2003 in
News Commentary |
∞
There’s a fascinating item on the menu at Paris’s La Tour d’Argent, and on Tuesday, the one-millionth serving of this delicacy will be celebrated with rare wines and fireworks above the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Only140 select guests will be admitted to the celebratory feast.
What is this rare and unusual delicacy that is served with its own numbered souvenir tag? “Caneton,” a carefully reared, carefully strangled eight-week-old duckling that is cooked with its own blood and a soupcon of cognac. Theory has it that strangling the ducks, rather than slitting their throats, keeps the meat succulent. The freshly strangled carcass is pressed to extract the blood, which is mixed with port and cognac to make the accompanying sauce.
Reuters reports that Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt ate duck number 33,642 in 1910; Charlie Chaplin had number 253,652 some 45 years later, and Elton John, Nicole Kidman, and Ronaldo have been more recent diners who feasted on this fare. The Queen of England and Japanese Emperor Hirohito have both sampled the dish as well. It is apparently prepared right in front of the diners (one hopes that the strangling, plucking, dressing, and pressing bits are done elsewhere). One restaurant critic calls the meal “…a real spectacle….like a miniature theatre show.”
The celebration also marks a change in ownership of La Tour d’Argent: the current owner inherited the 421-year-old restaurant from his father in 1947, and intends to pass ownership to his son on Tuesday. I’m not sure I find this a touching gesture. Can’t you see the headlines? “New Manager Celebrates by Strangling Duck!”
Tags: food, humour, news
New Manager Celebrates by Strangling Duck!
There’s a fascinating item on the menu at Paris’s La Tour d’Argent, and on Tuesday, the one-millionth serving of this delicacy will be celebrated with rare wines and fireworks above the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Only140 select guests will be admitted to the celebratory feast.
What is this rare and unusual delicacy that is served with its own numbered souvenir tag? “Caneton,” a carefully reared, carefully strangled eight-week-old duckling that is cooked with its own blood and a soupcon of cognac. Theory has it that strangling the ducks, rather than slitting their throats, keeps the meat succulent. The freshly strangled carcass is pressed to extract the blood, which is mixed with port and cognac to make the accompanying sauce.
Reuters reports that Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt ate duck number 33,642 in 1910; Charlie Chaplin had number 253,652 some 45 years later, and Elton John, Nicole Kidman, and Ronaldo have been more recent diners who feasted on this fare. The Queen of England and Japanese Emperor Hirohito have both sampled the dish as well. It is apparently prepared right in front of the diners (one hopes that the strangling, plucking, dressing, and pressing bits are done elsewhere). One restaurant critic calls the meal “…a real spectacle….like a miniature theatre show.”
The celebration also marks a change in ownership of La Tour d’Argent: the current owner inherited the 421-year-old restaurant from his father in 1947, and intends to pass ownership to his son on Tuesday. I’m not sure I find this a touching gesture. Can’t you see the headlines? “New Manager Celebrates by Strangling Duck!”
Tags: food, humour, news