2024-01-31 23:17:39
In Madagascar, foie gras is not just reserved for end-of-year holiday tables. Although it remains an exceptional dish, its fans consume it more and more all year round. In Behenjy, about forty kilometers south of Antananarivo, an entire commune lives off its production. But recently, working methods have become more professional in the “foie gras capital”.
From our correspondent in Antananarivo,
While traveling the path that leads to one of her partner farms, Miora, manager of “Coin du Foie Gras”, relives the film of her 20-year career. “ As the years go by, we learn a lot of things. There are different parameters that we didn’t know before », she smiles.
His career took a new turn in 2020. In the midst of the Covid pandemic, the doors of his restaurant closed, and production came to a sudden halt. The opportunity to discover, somewhat by chance, a manufacturing secret: “ In Madagascar, there are several varieties of cornexplains the manager. It was especially after confinement that we saw that there is a corn, rather ivory yellow, it is the best corn to give to ducks to have the best foie gras, either in texture, or in colors, or in taste. We no longer force-feed ducks with yellow corn, for example, nor do we force-feed them with just any corn.. »
More effective force-feeding
In the meantime, the restaurant’s 200 partner breeders have also become professional. Like every day at dawn, Michel, with a controlled gesture, feeds around thirty mulard ducks, a breed known to be almost mute.
« Here, we don’t have a machine!he exclaims. A plastic funnel is used to pour the corn into the neck of the duck. Before, I hand-fed the ducks, but it took too long: up to 2 hours for 30 ducks. Now, with this technique, it’s faster, and it avoids stressing the animal. »
With these new methods, Behenjy can now produce foie gras all year round. An activity that has become even more profitable in this region, where it is practiced in most families. “ My income has increasedhe rejoices. For example, it takes a year to reap the first benefits from pig farming, whereas with ducks, it is a very rapid cycle: we receive the money after only 21 days! »
Ideal weight
Three kilometers away, in the kitchen, we brown the duck breasts and fry the foie gras. Here again, no room for chance, explains Miora: it’s all a question of ideal weight.
« Before, the feeders were very happy to have a duck which produced foie gras 800 grams, whereas now, we have seen that 800 grams of foie gras, once we transform them, it only gives fatshe emphasizes. So, we trained our farmers to force-feed the ducks just between 400 and 500 grams of foie gras, that way we obtain the fat, but also the liver with it. »
Know-how has evolved in recent years and finished products have improved in quality. But consuming foie gras remains a luxury in Madagascar, where the dish is sold for 80,000 ariarys per kilo on average… or more than a third of the minimum wage.
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