When I was a little kid, I would accompany my mom to the Westin Hotel in Shanghai to have lunch meetings with her German boss. The waitress would put down a lobe of delicately plated foie gras in front of my mom, and my curiosity would drive me to chip away small pieces each time.
The foie gras’ gaminess was hard on the palate, but I always found the flavor complex and weirdly addictive. As I was munching down the dish, I would always sketch drawings with my crayons and proudly show them to the bald German dude, who would seemingly admire my masterpiece while simultaneously laughing at my childish naivety. I have not seen him for four years, and foie gras is about to follow his path by becoming a memory that is increasingly difficult to relive.
New York City, joining California, voted to institute a ban on foie gras sale beginning in 2022, sending shock waves across farmers and French restaurants in one of the world’s major urban centers.
Believe it or not, there are more things in France that visiting Americans should appreciate other than just the lower drinking age and the legal consumption of foie gras.
Mirabelle Plums
Mirabelle plums are small, yellow plums from the region of Lorraine used for fruit preserves and dessert pies. Other alternatives include wine, plum brandy and jam. I couldn’t find any explanation why the fruit is banned in the U.S. besides the fact that U.S. import laws make it impossible to obtain them, according to Thrillist. Although I have never tasted the plums, I heard that there are no major differences between Mirabelle plums and the ones you could purchase in the U.S. So you aren’t missing out too much (the city of Metz would disagree as the folks there celebrate Mirabelle plum during the Mirabelle festival).
Blood Sausage
In France, blood sausage, or boudin noir, is usually served with cooked apples and mashed potatoes. There is an annual blood sausage contest in the French region of southern Normandy to compare the various international specialties of the sausage. In the U.S., the state of Louisiana banned “the ingestion of human or animal blood or human or animal waste,” according to Bon Appétit. Needless to say, don’t bring the blood sausage you bought in France there, or otherwise you may face prison time.
Unpasteurized milk and Roquefort Cheese
Unpasteurized milk is banned in almost two dozen states in the U.S., but in France, cheese made from raw milk is seen as safe and flavorful. As the safety concern over raw milk increasingly encourages milk to be pasteurized, the French seek to hold their front against the tide. At the same time, raw milk has gained newfound popularity in some parts of America. Some government officials and scientific researchers argue that there are safety risks involved with raw milk, while others claim raw milk’s health benefits. Roquefort Cheese, a blue cheese made from raw sheep’s milk that has undergone a lengthy aging process in the caves of southern France, is therefore banned in the U.S. due to its raw nature, not that the U.S. would be able to import much if it’s legal since Roquefort cheese can only be called Roquefort cheese if it meets all the AOC regulations (one being you can’t call a cheese Roquefort cheese unless it is produced in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon).
Beluga Caviar
The Beluga Caviar is the roe extracted from beluga sturgeon that is typically found in the Caspian Sea. Although this is from Russia, it is available in France. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service banned the beluga caviar in 2005 because beluga sturgeon is considered a critically endangered species. So maybe avoid this when you are in France too. Plus, due to the rarity of the roe, this type of caviar is very expensive. Thirty grams of beluga caviar can cost around 234 euros.
Tonka Beans
The French are so crazy about tonka beans that they’ve invented a new term for it: fièvre de tonka (tonka fever). The beans register a variety of scents and aromas such as vanilla, cherry, almond, and cinnamon spice. The temperature of the beans when they are served also determines their taste on the flavor spectrum. The Americans don’t seem to appreciate this complexity as much as the French. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned tonka beans because they are a major source of coumarin, a chemical compound that is said to cause anticoagulants. The findings are scientifically disputed, but that doesn’t stop the FDA from enforcing the ban.
Mimolette
Mimolette is a cheese made from cow’s milk, typically produced in the city of Lille. Although the pumpkin-colored cheese is not officially banned in the U.S., importers have stopped shipping Mimolette to the country in the past, as the Food and Drug Administration put the shipments on hold due to the tiny mites on the rind (uhhhh really?). The FDA believes that the mites are allergens and health hazards, even though Mimolette producers insist that the mites contribute to the cheese’s distinctive sweet, earthy flavor. You can still find Mimolette in the U.S. even though you are not supposed to find them. Some American cheese-makers still secretly carry illegal cheese, so next time you are in the cheese shop and stumble upon the realization that you and the shop owner went to the same high school or you both share the same hobbies, perhaps you can whisper to the owner if there’s any Mimolette lying around.
I flew back to Shanghai a year ago to visit my parents, and we made a visit to an Italian restaurant that serves duck foie gras pâté. My mom simply stared as I took big bites out of the toast smeared with pâté and scraped with passionfruit jam, and whether out of her changing taste or her newfound obsession with sticking to a healthy diet, I had no idea. Now that I am studying abroad in Paris, foie gras seems to be everywhere, along with all the other foods that I list above.
You may just taste some of these illegal foods on the Flavors of Paris food tour. The tastings sometimes change from time to time, depending on what’s in season, or if there is a new specialty of the house. And sometimes, if the guide sees something you definitely won’t get at home (like a forbidden food), we might just include that in one of your tastings.