Ortolan

There is a small bird called the ortolan, which is highly esteemed by the Italian gourmands. ❋ Ned Wayburn (N/A)

Consider late French President François Mitterrand, who enjoyed a very special delicacy: a small songbird called the ortolan, drowned in Armagnac, then flambéed and eaten whole. ❋ Unknown (2010)

One was a kind of thrush, the other a small dove called the ortolan, and esteemed a very great delicacy on account of its exquisite flavour. ❋ Unknown (1882)

Also brought to mind is the French practice of eating the ortolan, which is an endangered French song bird. ❋ Unknown (2009)

The ortolan is a copper-breasted bird that migrates from Africa to Europe. ❋ Unknown (2008)

"ortolan" -- is also found in the same markets with the canvas-back. ❋ Mayne Reid (1850)

"The team deserve all the praise they get," said L'ortolan's owner Peter Newman, who was first awarded the status in 2002. ❋ Unknown (2010)

[Footnote: The ortolan is a very small bird, which is fattened in lamp lighted rooms at great expense, because it is found to be of a more delicate flavor when excluded from the daylight. ❋ Jacob Abbott (1841)

It was at the Oratoire that he earned the rudimentary elements of cookery and the rhythm of the seasons: trout, wild mushrooms and snails in the spring; melons, apricots and crayfish in the summer; hares, pheasants and ortolan in the autumn; ducks, geese and rabbit in the winter. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Several days before he died in 1996, the terminally ill French President Francois Mitterrand gathered with friends at his home and enjoyed his legendary "last supper" by devouring an illegal delicacy: ortolan. ❋ Unknown (2010)

The poet might himself be an endangered species, like the ortolan, as well as a generous "grain-scatterer" like the corn-bunting. ❋ Unknown (2010)

The ortolan, a bunting the size of a sparrow, is trapped and incarcerated in a windowless box, to be fed figs; when it has fattened, it is literally drowned in Armagnac, its minute lungs flooded with the rasping liquor. ❋ ROBERT ROWLAND SMITH (2010)

A rich, extravagant dish comprised of pate de fois gras stuffed inside of a truffle, which was stuffed inside of an ortolan, itself stuffed inside of a quail. ❋ Unknown (2007)

If you want to order bécasse or ortolan the next time you dine in Vilnius, you'll find this French - Lithuanian online dictionary useful. ❋ Unknown (2007)

Considered by the French as the ultimate gastronomic experience, and by the rest of the planet as the ultimate cruelty, ortolan-munching was banned in 1999. ❋ Unknown (2007)

Former French president Franois Mitterrand was so enamored of ortolan that when he was close to death from cancer, he reportedly chose to eat this songbird in a last supper that also included oysters andyou guessed itfoie gras. ❋ Mark Caro (2009)

Well, when they are ortolan, they are killed by being thrown in some Armagnac, which is not a bad way to die. ❋ Mark Caro (2009)