Over at Offal Good, Chris Cosentino has a great post up.
Eats.com has a page on Deciphering the menu: offal They spent some time talking to me and other chefs around the country about there reasons and beliefs on offal cookery in there restaurants. Take a gander and see what you think, they did a great break down of offal cuts with descriptions that you would find on menus around the country. This should be a great resource for any diner.
If you ever wanted a what’s what guide to offal, here it is!
Secondly, reader Ken Gallaher has pointed out to me two books that go way beyond nose to tail.
Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
Award-winning food writer Fuchsia Dunlop went to live in China as a student in 1994, and from the very beginning she vowed to eat everything she was offered, no matter how alien and bizarre it seemed. In this extraordinary memoir, Fuchsia recalls her evolving relationship with China and its food, from her first rapturous encounter with the delicious cuisine of Sichuan Province to brushes with corruption, environmental degradation, and greed. In the course of her fascinating journey, Fuchsia undergoes an apprenticeship at China’s premier Sichuan cooking school, where she is the only foreign student in a class of nearly fifty young Chinese men; attempts, hilariously, to persuade Chinese people that “Western food” is neither “simple” nor “bland”; and samples a multitude of exotic ingredients, including sea cucumber, civet cat, scorpion, rabbit-heads, and the ovarian fat of the snow frog. But is it possible for a Westerner to become a true convert to the Chinese way of eating? In an encounter with a caterpillar in an Oxford kitchen, Fuchsia is forced to put this to the test.
From the vibrant markets of Sichuan to the bleached landscape of northern Gansu Province, from the desert oases of Xinjiang to the enchanting old city of Yangzhou, this unique and evocative account of Chinese culinary culture is set to become the most talked-about travel narrative of the year.
An engaging look at “food prejudices,” or why we eat what we eat and why we reject other food sources as unpalatable–with recipes! “This is a unique and engrossing work and, to my mind, an important contribution to the annals of gastronomy. It will not, of course, appeal to all palates . . . but neither do snails and sweetbreads, brains and other oddments of animals.”
–Craig Claiborne“I read from cover to cover with huge enjoyment. . . I can recall no other book that has covered the subject of strange foods with quite his flair and authority, and I consider the book required reading for anyone interested in the lore of food.”
–James Beard
Ken’s review for “Unmentionable Cuisine” is right there as well. When I mentioned dog stew at home, I was met with some strange looks.
Thanks Ken!
2 Comments to “Two quick things”
August 31, 2008
Great photo of disapproving lady & dog. I have a bunny at home and would imagine a similar response at the thought of a rabbit terrine.
I had a great-aunt who used to make me eat the ovarian fat of the snow frog, as mentioned in the Fuchsia Dunlop review. Shudder. It’s one of those things that tastes exactly as it sounds.
September 2, 2008
Ovarian fat from a snow frog. Eep. Maybe if you deep fried it? :)