East Village Chef Wins First Prize in PETA's 'Fine Faux Foie Gras' Contest

Amanda Cohen's Vegan Pate Spares Birds, Earns Her the $10,000 Grand Prize

For Immediate Release:
July 8, 2010

Contact:
Amanda Schinke 757-622-7382

New York -- New York foodies have something to celebrate: Amanda Cohen, owner and chef of Dirt Candy restaurant, has won an award from PETA for developing the best vegan foie gras. Cohen took first place in PETA's Fine Faux Foie Gras competition, winning $10,000 for her mushroom mousse. She now offers the vegan delicacy at her East Village restaurant.

"I really wanted to make something decadent," says Cohen. "I thought it would be fun to recreate [foie gras] in a vegan version that didn't lose any flavor and could stand on its own."

PETA held the contest to inspire chefs to create the first gourmet, purely vegan foie gras. In order to produce foie gras--French for "fatty liver"--workers use metal pipes to pump several pounds of grain and fat into the stomachs of ducks and geese every day. As a result, birds' livers swell to up to 10 times their normal size, and the animals become sick and are often unable to move. The pipes often puncture birds' throats, causing severe injuries. Kate Winslet recently narrated PETA's video expose of the foie gras industry.

"Foie gras is made by ramming pipes down the throats of ducks and geese," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "With the availability of delectable and humane alternatives to foie gras, you can spare birds and spoil yourself."

Eric Lechasseur, owner and chef of Seed restaurant in Venice, Calif., took second place, and Vincent Moellman, a culinary student at the Art Institute of California-Orange County, placed third. Lechasseur and Moellman each won $1,000 in cooking equipment for their vegan foie gras creations.

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