Foiehibition

This chapter argues that foie gras was rendered strange, salient, and compelling because of a discernible absence of care—as opposed to the French national “ethic of care” detailed in the previous chapters—for something that is clearly not part of the United States' cultural traditions or even a chapter of the story of the culinary “melting pot” of ethnic food traditions finding their way into mainstream American tastes. Events surrounding the ultimately unsuccessful ordinance banning foie gras—a little-known, luxury food item—in Chicago's restaurants offers a prime example of how chance and contingency can affect the cultural evolution of a city's politics of food.