2021年2月17日 · Death comes via drowning in Armagnac brandy. The birds are then plucked and roasted quickly over an open fire.

For centuries, a rite of passage for French gourmets was the eating of the Ortolan. These tiny birds—captured alive, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnac —were roasted whole and eaten that way, bones and all, while the diner draped his head with a linen napkin to preserve the precious aromas and, some believe, to hide from God.

2024年3月17日 · It involves the bird being blinded, force-fed, and drowned in brandy. Despite this — and despite the fact that trapping ortolans is forbidden in the European Union — the birds remain a sought-after delicacy.

2022年11月3日 · Then, to kill the birds, they are drowned in Armagnac brandy, according to The Smithsonian Magazine.

2019年5月23日 · To prepare the French delicacy ortolan bunting, one must capture the tiny songbird as it attempts to migrate south for the winter, force feed it much like the witch from “Hansel and Gretel”...

2025年1月27日 · Once fattened, the birds are drowned in Armagnac, a French brandy. From there, they are plucked, roasted, and served whole. As for consuming, diners are supposed to pick up the cooked bird and eat it feet first, bones and all, spitting out only the beak.

This prized, now-illegal French dish is prepared by blinding a songbird and drowning it in brandy.

The small songbird was captured, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnac brandy. Chefs roasted the bird whole and served it to diners, who covered their heads with napkins while eating. This unusual custom originated in the 17th century.

2017年9月9日 · The French Ministry of Ecology, Nicolas Hulot has committed to ending the large-scale trapping of Ortolan Bunting, which takes place to meet demand for a cruel dish where the songbird is blinded, plumpened and drowned in brandy.

2021年6月23日 · Every so often I think about the last supper of ex French president François Mitterrand, which had a horrifying beauty. He was dying of age and a long illness. There were oysters and so on, a feast, then a dish called ortolan. It’s a small songbird. To prepare it, the ortolan is drowned in a glass of Armagnac. This is not a metaphor.