THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

The ortolan had an impact on my life, because I aspire to total freedom in the rural world – freedom of action and freedom of thought.  The ortolan is really a symbol of this wonderful thing that is the rural environment.  It’s the idea of a predatory human that holds the greatest respect for this animal.  It’s like bullfighting with the toro: The ortolan is your partner in a dance of the tastebuds.

Darroze/Ortolan

I bring my molars down and through my bird’s rib cage with a wet crunch and am rewarded with a scalding hot rush of burning fat and guts down my throat. Rarely have pain and delight combined so well. I’m giddily uncomfortable, breathing in short, controlled gasps as I continue slowly — ever so slowly — to chew. With every bite, as the thin bones and layers of fat, meat, skin, and organs compact in on themselves, there are sublime dribbles of varied and wondrous ancient flavors: figs, Armagnac, dark flesh slightly infused with the salty taste of my own blood as my mouth is pricked by the sharp bones. As I swallow, I draw in the head and beak, which, until now, have been hanging from my lips, and blithely crush the skull.

Bourdain/Medium, 2010