The seared something balances atop a scallop, the quintessence of culinary refinement and elegant dining - and the cause of so much trouble.
It is foie gras, a velvet-textured delicacy loved by some gourmets. And it presents a provocation to certain animal rights activists. Only days ago, it brought a dozen yelling, sign-wielding protesters to the doorstep of Kali's Court, a Fells Point restaurant that features it on its menu.
The taste of foie gras - "fat liver" in French - isn't the problem. Nor is the fancy way it is prepared or even its exorbitant price tag, which at nearly $100 a pound is, to most, cause enough for outcry. The debate over foie gras begins and ends in the way it's produced - by force-feeding ducks or geese to expand their livers, a practice that animal rights activists call abusive.
With accusatory chants and grisly posters, protesters have set up shop - and provoked change - from California to Chicago to New York and Philadelphia. Now in Baltimore, they'll shame or annoy or threaten - anything, really - to force chefs to strike the recherche ingredient from their menus.
"For our purpose, it does not matter why they take it off, just as long as they stop serving it," says Aaron Ross, a 24-year-old contractor and co-founder of the Baltimore Animal Rights Coalition, the group behind the demonstrations staged this month outside some of the city's finest dining establishments. "I'm going to focus on foie gras until it's completely out of Baltimore."
When Ross gathered with about 10 protesters outside Kali's Court on a Saturday night, their screamed chants, amplified through a bullhorn, echoed off the cobblestones of Thames Street, stopping passers-by in their tracks and bringing shop owners to their windows.
"Foie gras is obscene, broken wings and force feeding," they yelled. And, "For the animals we will fight, drop foie gras and do what's right."
After just a few minutes of commotion, six police cars pulled up, lights flashing.
A conciliatory Ross dropped the bullhorn, but his party doubled up on the screaming, remaining outside for another hour or so. Kali's executives watched helplessly, shaking their heads.
General manager Kenneth D. Petty said he didn't know what effect - if any - the protest would have. "It's a lifestyle choice, and lifestyle choices shouldn't be pushed on others," he said.
The protesters weren't hearing that. They promised to return until Kali's sees it their way. Just like they've haunted Salt in Butchers Hill for months.
