Hunters catch the birds using traps set in fields during their migratory season (when they fly to Africa). They are then kept in covered cages, encouraging them to gorge on grain in order to double their size. It is said that Roman Emperors stabbed out ortolans’ eyes in order to make the birds think it was night, making them eat even more. hey are then thrown alive into a vat of Armagnac, a trick that manages to both drown and marinade the animal at the same time. Killing two birds with one glug, as it were.
French chefs argue that “it’s not a bad way to die”. Indeed, it is probably no crueller than force-feeding a goose in order to fatten up its liver into foie gras, another dish that French gourmets refuse to give up despite mounting howls of horror around much of Europe.
Then comes the eating – part pagan ritual, part essay in gluttony. The birds are cooked for eight minutes and served with their heads still attached. After the shame-hiding napkin is placed over the diner’s head (helping, too, to trap the aroma of the dish), the ortolan is popped in its entirety into the diner’s mouth, who then proceeds to eat everything including the head and bones.
Those who have tasted ortolan rave about the hazelnut and gamey flavours. Jeremy Clarkson ate one during his Meet the Neighbours series in 2002, in which he travelled around Europe. “It’s really good. It is fantastic, fantastic,” he said, before quipping that he expected a record number of complaints to be sent into the BBC about the incident.