Step 2: Drown in Armagnac

In the pantheon of so-called "odd" food I don't think the ortolan, a type of sparrow, ranks very high but the way it's prepared and devoured is certainly unique.

I remember reading about the ortolan a few years ago and since then it has been stuck in my head as a particularly ghastly yet at the same time fascinating way of preparing and eating a bird.

The bird is now illegal to sell (but apparently not to capture and eat). Legend has it that Mitterand consumed two ortolan's as part of a gluttonous last meal and then didn't eat anything else until he died.

From MSNBC...

Once captured, the ortolan would traditionally be left in a dark box, where the lack of light would prompt it to gorge itself. When plumped up to three or four times its normal size, the bird would be drowned in a snifter of armagnac, then quickly roasted for six or eight minutes and served hot.

The traditional means of eating the ortolan is whole — bones, innards and all, except the head or beak, which is bitten off — with the diner's head covered by a napkin.

The upfront explanation of the ritual? This impromptu headgear allows the diner to inhale all the roast bird's earthy, rich aroma. The alternate explanation is that a priest developed the custom to shield his gluttony, and shame, from God.

The ortolan's most recent brush with fame came in 1998, when it was revealed to have been a pivotal course in former French President François Mitterand's last meal. A week before dying of cancer, Mitterand ordered a grand feast for 30 that included oysters, foie gras and a long row of two-ounce ortolans.