19 July 2011

The butcher did it, with the cleaver, in the kitchen

It's a shame that offal meats are still not widely accepted as they should be, and for no good reason! It's tasty, tasty stuff -- there's no reason to be squeamish! When you think of it, meat is animal muscle, and if the animal devoted its life to becoming food, we respect that and use it as much as possible.

Offal meats (pork intestines and knuckles, chicken hearts, beef tongue, etc.) seem to be more readily sold at Asian butcher counters (Kim Phat, T&T, Marché Orientale, etc) but even then, there's items you can only get by special request.

Sometimes called "fifth quarter" meats by butchers (abat en français) are still even more rare on restaurant menus -- and especially in our fair city where restaurants outnumber inhabitants, we should be seeing more creativity with these meats.

Charcuterie Chez Vito is my favourite neighbourhood butcher (though a tad pricey, the quality is consistently superb). In addition to being dapper in their butcher garb, the butchers are knowledgeable and friendly -- so friendly, you don't mind giving them extra money for their goods!

[Grilled lamb liver à la Vito]

Chez Vito have a few offal meats on hand but they'll be happy to get you whatever you fancy. Since liver is a tad dry when cooked (and can be worn as a shoe when overcooked), Vito recommended an Italian method for grilling liver: wrapping it in caul fat.

Grilled lamb liver à la Vito
2lb (~1kg) liver, rinsed and pat dry
Caul fat* (ask your butcher for some; they might just give it to you)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Few bay leaves
  1. As always when cooking meat (unless otherwise instructed), let it warm up to at least close to room temperature. Season the liver with salt, pepper.

  2. If the caul fat is bunched up, run it in some cold running water to loosen it. Lay it out flat on a surface. 
  3. Place the liver on top of the caul fat and then top it off with a few bay leaves.
  4. Completely wrap the caul fat around the liver.
  5. Grill it on medium-high (or barbecue it) for 3-4 minutes on the first side, and then another 3-4 minutes on the other side. It should be somewhat rare in the middle.
  6. Slice it up and then serve with something tasty, such as an English ale or aranciata. Or both. 
We can rally together and get out the message that offal is not awful!

(Why am I so ranty these days?)

* Goz says that they sometimes call it la pella (skin) or buccia (layer) in Italian. He could also tell me that "La cadavere della cameriera è nascosto nella dispensa" means "The cake is wonderful and another glass of wine is not out of the question," and I'd still believe him.

1 comment:

  1. that's pretty bloody brilliant. thanks for the tip! I've not cooked liver before, but this is just the sort of special technique I'd love to break out before the fall makes grilling less fun. ;)