Offal-ly nice

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Posted at 2:44PM, 07 March 2008 by Graham Holliday - Blogger

Oh dear, British food is getting it in the neck again. No, it's not Jacques Chirac this time, it's the Chinese.

"In China, what you call rubbish we cook into another delicious meal."

So said Chinese chef Han Ming last week. Han is one of 1,000 chefs heading to Britain for a week-long British cookery course for the benefit of athletes and tourists attending the Beijing the Olympics this summer. The idea is, the chefs will head back to China and spread the word across the nation's kitchens to get the country up to speed on Bangers and mash, Fish and chips and Sticky toffee pudding in time for the expected British invasion.

Han has a point. The 'rubbish' he's referring to is, of course, offal, fat, marrow bones and the like. It's only in very recent years that offal has returned to some British restaurant menus. In fact, these days it's almost hip to shun steak and plump for the tripe stew down at the local gastropub. However you don't generally find oxtails, entrails, pig's brains and hearts filling the stalls of local markets, butchers or supermarkets like you do in other parts of the world.

In France I have three triperies within five minutes walk of my house, two of which even sell horse tongue. In Vietnam we had offal sarnies on the streets and in China... well it's a stupendous smorgasbord of 'rubbish'. Just browse Chinese food blogger Gary Soup's list of dishes.

But, back to Britain. What do you do with your 'rubbish'? Which dish do you find most offally nice? I'll kick things off with a slow cooked oxtail soup with a hint of Hawaii. Marvellous.

Comments

igglepiggle

7 March 2008, 6:59PM
igglepiggle

I love liver and bacon casserole or liver and bacon with onions rings and chips. Stuffed lambs hearts cooked in the pressure cooker my favourites too

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willis123

14 March 2008, 6:17PM
willis123

sliced and pan fried for breafast with anything you want healthy and hearty

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Kerry

16 March 2008, 7:28PM
Kerry

I LOVE bone marrow risotto, oxtail stew, liver - try stir-frying it, I promise it is gorgeous - and pig trotter, though I've never cooked that last one at home. I'll try anything once, and becuase I The best thing is that because a lot of offal is considered to be waste, it is cheap or even free from your butcher. Being a bit evil, I delight in serving such things to my friends without telling them precisely which bit of the animal they are digesting.This country is selectively squeamish. Offal is fine so long as it's minced into their pies (or their chicken nuggets).

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thisediblelife

18 March 2008, 6:09PM
thisediblelife

I love lamb kidneys, veal kidneys, calves liver etc, but sweetbreads and brain do nothing for me. I went on holiday to Beijing once and the stuff they had on the menu had me feeling a bit queasy just reading it. Lung, ears, pigs tails. No thanks. One item on the menu was listed as "terrified fish heads" and I still haven't worked out what it might have been!

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