OFFAL and other exotic delights

Chicken livers can be amazing. While eating at Cafe Bolud, my wife had perhaps one of the most amazing courses ever -- Frisee Salad that sat atop of warm chicken livers, bacon lardons and a soft-poached quail egg. It was rather an unbelievably good flavor combination. Savory loveliness that was superb and unbelievable.

I recently ventured into the world of more unusual stuff to eat and I have fallen in love with sweetbreads. They, when prepared properly, are sublime. Eat these with a nice Pinot Noir or a full bodied Chardonnay and you will be in heaven.

Anyone ever tried Shad Roe? Very unique IMO.

I second the nomination of Chicken Livers as the top of the "Liver List". Rich, great flavor and cheap. Too often Beef liver is sliced at a 1/4 inch or less in thickness...Making it appear like the sole of a shoe...and when it is fried it comes up about that tough also.[|)]

rok: Although I now live in Va I grew up in the Hudson Valley of Ny on the Hudson River and was exposed to shad roe at an early age. Love it. There was and I believe still is a local family that fishes for shad in the river yearly. The whole shad is good too if you cook it about 6-7 hrs in lemon juice at about 200 wrapped in aluminum foil. This method basically disintegrates the bones.

I still live in the Hudson River valley and eat shad roe twice a week from the first day of the run until the end of May when the local shad fishermen quit for the season. There are still about a half dozen men
gill netting for shad in the mid valley area - I'm not sure about anything north of Kingston and south of Milton, but I think there are still shad netters in the Tappan Zee and further down along the Palisades.

I'm a little puzzeled about your shad roe question when the subject is offal- I dont really think of it as in the same category as livers and lungs, etc. However, I recently read in John MacPhee's "The Founding Fish"
that shad roe was never eaten by "proper people" along the eastern seaboard until after the middle of the 19th century when French chefs began to have influence and introduced the delicacy to fine dining places. The absence of any mention of the roe being eaten by Washington's starving troops at Valley Forge, when they were saved by the Spring shad run in the Scuykill ,seems to suggest that it was not considered to be fitting food at the time of the Revolution.

Jdg68 is correct about the recipe to cook shad slow and long to dissolve the bones. My Grandmother did that - it was boneless and awful. I buy the shad filets deboned by a rapidly disappearing and
very skillful group of dedicated people scattered along the shores of the Hudson. The filets are great cooked in a number of ways , but a favorite is grilled over a hot but smokey fire with just a bit of lemon, salt, pepper, tarragon, chervil, and butter - a great treat in a very short season.

My favorite is chicken hearts, which are available at our local farmers' market. When my kids were little, I used to cook them in chicken broth, then slice them and they'd eat them just like cheerios. The broth had a wonderful flavor and I'd cook it with alphabet noodles and more sliced chicken hearts. I still make it a couple of times a year.

Folks,
Today my wife and I made a day-trip up to Jungle Jim's the International Grocery Store on the North Side of Cincinnati. First time I had been there in a year and some great things are going on. Jim's is under going a large expansion to make more room for more unusual foods.
To stick to this topic I paid special attention to the 'odd and exotic' meats in the butcher shop area. If you want Heads (whole and split), feet, liver, hearts,kidneys, tails, ears, skin, brains, snouts, this is the place for you -- They stock all of the above (cept skins) from Pigs, Beef, Lamb,Poultry, Duck..and some goats too.

Here is a package of Duck's Heads, next to the Duck's Feet Pack...I don't know where the rest of the Duck is???


I am not sure what dish calls for a Lamb's Head??? But they stock several.


In the Exotic section they have all types of buffalo- ground, steaks, roasts ... rattlesnake, 'Gator, Kangaroo, wild Boar, All flavors of deer and antelope, and a lot of critters that I have only seen in a zoo. Just the thing to break the ice at your next "from around the World" theme party dinner.
As was mentioned under Hot Sauces, they have expanded the H S section of the store also. 4 rows of literally hundreds of Hot Sauces from around the world.
Here is the sauce Section




BTW We filled up for $1.19 (Shell Gas) in Northern Kentucky on the way up today. That's 20 cents a gallon cheaper than gas here in Southern Indiana

Mayor, I agree with you about who would require these particular body parts in what kinda dish.

Sounds like things only people from East Tennessee would like

Thanks for turning me on to this Disney like Grocery? store.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

My favorite Mexican restaurant in Kingston NY, Rositas, informed me a few days ago that they will have menudo on the menu "in the winter, no one would it it in hot weather".
So, I wont have to search out calve's feet after all.

Fried chicken livers are just about the closest thing we have to a state dish of Kansas(right behind fried chicken). They can be found in every roadside cafe and beer joint with a kitchen in the state. The're usually served with cream gravy and mashed potatoes if having them for a meal. I also like livers sauted in butter served with ketchup(cooks treat). Gizzards are usually also offered but they require a copious amount of beer to "chaw" them down.

I've never seen a menudo recipe that called for beef feet or even shanks. My wife's family is from northern Mexico and they serve menudo a lot and the only meat in their version is pork tripe.

By the way what the heck is a javelina?

quote:

Originally posted by topferment



By the way what the heck is a javelina?

Wild boar. Muy malo.