Even though you are reading this first, this is a warning I decided to put in, after writing about intestine a little way down. WARNING, contains descriptions of me eating offal. For the handful of you that don’t know – the dictionary definition on google is ” The entrails and internal organs of an animal used as food”. If you have a weak stomach, you may want to read a different entry.
Last Monday I went to an offal degustation at Mongrel, in Milton. My friend and I were the only two at the table who had eaten almost everything on the menu before, not necessarily prepared the same way, but definitely eaten the same ingredients. This was mostly inspired by Peruvian street food. So before any of you have a chance to opt out…
It started with pickled chickens feet. Cold pickled chickens feet. If you have ever had pickled pigs trotters, these aren’t much different. If you haven’t. Erm. Imagine an edible rubbery substance that tastes of chicken and a little vinegar (salt and vinegar chip level I think), with little bones all of the way through it. If that didn’t sell it to you, eating it probably won’t either, but I love it. While most of the table had tried a few bites, some barely one while others went to town as best they could, the more experienced of us with picked feet wound up with nothing but a small plate of bones in front of us.
This was followed by beef heart and small intestine, with some sort of potato and sauce thing going on on the side. I love heart, especially if done well. This was done beautifully. Soft, tender bits of heart. Dipped in the green sauce, they were divine. The small intestine was grilled to be crispy on the outside and soft and squishy in the middle. This is one of my favourite ways to eat intestine. This whole dish was really tasty and I wish there was more offal in it. That, alas, is not the point of a degustation.
This was followed by pate. I think. There may have been another dish between these that I have forgotten. The pate was made out of liver, kidney and other giblets of the chicken, mixed with black pudding and with crispy chicken skin to use as chips. As well as bread. It was delicious. A smooth, creamy texture, almost like a meat mousse. I had run out of bread and chicken skin, so I finished off eating it using a butter knife. So tasty.
The next dish was my favourite. It was tripe and pigs blood. I love both of these things. The tripe was so soft and tender, and the soup/gravy it was in was amazing. It was topped of with little bits of pigs blood jellied. Mixed together was awesome. Every body at the table gave this a shot, until the texture of the tripe grossed them out. I finished every last skerrick in my bowl. My only hassle with this dish, the blood wasn’t blood tasting enough for me. It was perfect for people being introduced to eating offal though.
After this came the head meat croquette. Not to be confused with a head cheese croquette, which would have been awesome. The croquette was made using the jowl and cheek of a pig. These were finely diced, and then crumbed and fried and served with a mildish blue cheese, and some rum soaked cherries. The croquette was nice, the cheese was nice, and the cherries were nice. All together. Pretty damn nice. I am damn sure I am missing a dish here.
The final dish was marrow in ice cream. The marrow simply made the ice cream creamier. It gave it, to me anyway, a slightly weird texture (not unpleasant just unexpected) and left a very mild pleasant after taste of marrow in my mouth.
Each one of these dishes was really well made, and I would happily eat a whole plate of any of them. Including the pickled chickens feet.
Eat well if you made it this far.
Bren's Food Adventures 