Posh food - crap for Tories. What do you think?

What the hell is this?

The methods used to turn duck and goose livers into the "delicacy" known as pâté de foie gras are anything but delicate. Foie gras is a French term meaning "fatty liver" and its production involves force-feeding birds to produce this cruel animal product.
The ducks and geese force-fed for foie gras are being compelled to consume much more high-energy food—mostly corn—than they would eat voluntarily. This damages their liver and often kills them.

The Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare for the European Union found many examples of abuse as a result of force-feeding, including:

Birds are routinely confined to small cages or crowded pens.
Birds are force-fed tremendous amounts of feed via a 12- to 16-inch plastic or metal tube, which is shoved down their throats and attached to a pressurized pump.
The force-feeding may be performed twice daily for up to two weeks for ducks and three to four times daily, for up to 28 days for geese.
Force-feeding causes the liver to increase in size about 6-10 times compared to the normal size for a bird.
Increased liver size forces the abdomen to expand, which makes moving difficult and painful. An enlarged abdomen increases the risk of damage to the stretched tissue of the lower part of the esophagus.
Force-feeding results in accumulated scar tissue in the esophagus.
The liver can be easily damaged by even minor trauma.
In 1992, the HSUS sent a veterinarian to investigate a New York State foie gras producer, which resulted in a police raid and cruelty charges against the farm. Necropsies taken of the dead birds revealed many painful conditions: The force-fed birds had chronic heart disorders; ruptured liver cell membranes; cirrhosis; traumatic esophagitis; and lesions in their gizzards and intestines. Dead birds were found with food filling their esophagi and spilling out of their nostrils.

Ducks and geese are social animals who suffer when confined in individual cages. The confinement also can lead to lesions of the sternum and bone fractures, as well as foot injuries from the cage floors. Ducks and geese also suffer when they're not allowed enough water to swim and preen, which they do naturally in the wild.

Originally, all foie gras came from France, but now the United States has gotten into this cruel niche industry. Next time you go into a store or restaurant or store that sells foie gras, please let them know that a product that comes from force-feeding ducks and geese is more than you can stomach.

So if you're going for fish and chips, you're not worried about overfishing then?

These are the same cooks that hack up baby lambs and veal anyway.

Over fishing? Sure it's a concern. I have a massive lapse in that I eat fish and chicken. Free range if possible. I'm not saying it's ideal but then I'm not against anyone eating meat providing it is reared in a natural environment and not a factory farm.

smoked haddock ravioli, saffron oil

This sounds lovely.

What's wrong with getting the best ingredients together and attempting to make something completely sublime with it? I'd be interested to hear your opinion of Fergus Henderson and his St John restaurant.

Anyway, I'll have the scallop, followed by saddle of lamb, and then the bergamot and chicory icecream

Fish are cute. They make me smile and feel warm inside when I see one. If you do not then you are beneath human and worth less to this world than the fish.

TBC

Although my friends enjoy it too.

Norm, this menu is vile. I wouldn't be able to eat anything here unless he was prepared to put on some chips. But I'd not pay the guy £69 for it.

This thread aint about anything except the menu by the way! I don't know why this fella is so upset!

Food looks good anyway,
http://www.the-vineyard.co.uk/images/main.jpg

hush up and eat yer panda

lamb is to hogget and mutton what veal is to beef. Not enough places sell mature sheep meat, which has a much fuller flavour although it can be tough if coooked incorrectly.

Calum in "being scottish" shocker