ortolan
(also called ‘ortolan bunting’; for pronunciation, please click here)
a kind of bird – song bird – belongs to the bunting – small with grey on the head and back with black barred patterns on the wings and the flat tail, copper breast and underside, clear round eyes, small soft pinkish beak (bill), thin delicate legs: size: about 6 inches, and weight: 20-25 grams; feeds on seeds, grain and insects; lives for 2-3 years in the wild; found in Europe and western Asia, migrates to Africa,
This small bird, ortolan bunting, is known to be very tasty. The special or ‘strange’ feature is not in the bird, except that it is very tasty, but in the way Europeans, particularly the French people, eat it.
ortolan as food
The ortolans are fist caught with the nets, fed on oats and millet until they are fattened (and these small birds fatten very fast), i.e. they are fattened artificially; once they reach about 50-55 grams, they are drowned in liquor for some time, and then they are plucked, i.e. the feathers are removed, and then they are roasted whole, and eaten whole – taking the whole bird into the mouth in one bite, like the way a snake swallows its prey whole! And if that’s not enough to surprise anyone, there is more to come: the people who eat them often cover their head and the bird with a napkin, which, some people say, is to get the aroma (= the smell of the cooked food) in full, but some others believe that this act of covering the head and the bird with a piece cloth is to hide it from God!!
However, hunting, selling, buying or serving ortolans in restaurants is illegal, and the offenders are fined heavily!
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