WHY DO PEOPLE NO LONGER EAT SWAN? Having seen many descriptions of Tudor meals which featured swan, I have wondered why swan has disappeared from menus and have speculated that the reason is that swan doesn’t taste good enough eat when there are alternatives. Yet swan seemed to taste good enough to be served at royal banquets. This article by Monica Kim in modern farmer magazine discusses several explanations that have been given for why swans are no longer on menus. She seems to give the most weight to the “cute” factor. Swans are beautiful birds.Whenever Mary Jane and I see one on one of our walks.
Nevertheless, Kim points out that there are states where the swan population has grown to a point where they re considered nuisances. Michigan has set a plan for the reduction of the swan population from 15,000 to 2000 over the next 15 years, and The National Audobon Society supports the goals of the Michigan plan. New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation has proposed to eliminate all of the 2,200 free-ranging mute swans in the next ten years.
Perhaps swan will soon be on the menu.