autruche

In the 1990s, during the Mad Cow scare, French farmers began raising ostriches (autruches) for their red beef-like meat, low in fat and cholesterol, especially as the country was importing large amounts from South Africa and Israel.

Today some 4800 tonnes of ostrich meat are consumed in France annually, most of imported; France’s 50 ostrich farms produce 1500 tonnes.

At one point there were 150 ostrich farms. One problem is that the big birds are considered a dangerous (rather than domestic) animal so the rules are different and harder to navigate. Those who persist sell steaks d’autruche, pavés, stew meat (bourguignon), terrines, eggs, and the skin as leather, often to private customers although you occasionally see it frozen in big supermarkets.