Guilt-free foie gras! Scientists have come up with a way to create the dish without force-feeding - and claim it tastes and feels just like the real deal

Buttery, fatty foie gras is an indulgent treat in many parts of the world.

But the dish is controversial, as it is made from the liver of a force-fed duck or goose.

Now, experts have come up with a way to create guilt-free foie gras, by treating a liver with enzymes.

And they say it looks, tastes and feels just like the real thing.

Foie gras, meaning 'fatty liver' in French, is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese two to three times a day with a mixture of boiled grains and fat.

This is done using a feeding tube inserted into their throat - a process known as 'gavage' - in the weeks before slaughter.

Production is controversial due to the serious welfare problems it causes for the birds including fear, injury and stress.

Professor Thomas Vilgis, from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, is a lover of foie gras but wondered if there was a more ethical way to enjoy the dish.

His team, which includes scientists from the University of Southern Denmark, created a process to replicate the delicacy without force-feeding.

They came up with the idea of trying to treat a duck's harvested liver and fat emulsion with the animal's own lipases – enzymes which help digest fat.

By doing so, they were able to mimic the activities which occur naturally in the duck's body, causing fat to turn into large crystals which clump together – similar to what is seen in foie gras.

Tests showed their product had a similar mouthfeel to original foie gras and also smelled the same.

'It was always a dream to make foie gras more accessible and better for animal welfare,' Professor Vilgis said.

'It's good to stop these force-feeding practices – or at least reduce them.'

His team tested the structure of their foie gras using noninvasive laser microscopy and by performing stress deformation tests.

'We could really see the influence of these large fat particles,' he said.

'At the beginning of the 'bite,' these large clusters have a high resistance, creating a similar mouthfeel of elasticity without being too rubbery.'

Professor Vilgis has already filed a patent for the recipe, and hopes to partner with companies interested in helping scale up the production.

He also wants to work with sensory scientists who can help refine the taste.

'Everything in our process is controlled, which is a positive thing,' he said. 'We never considered adding anything additional to the foie gras, because we wanted pure duck — nothing else.'

The method was published in the journal Physics of Fluids.