Well, that's just offal.

[_MementoMori_]

Had a chance to try tripe this weekend at a Vietnamese place. It was good - though it didn't have a ton of flavor and added texture to the meal more than anything. This same joint has pig knuckles, cubed pig blood, and oxtail. I'll have to give them a shot on my return visits.

Any offal fans here? I'll be honest, I mainly wanted to create this thread just for the title. Haha...

 

[Buster]

Try the Vietnamese sandwich, they have a pate (liver) that is darn tasty. I love Ox tails, pig feet, liver, tripe if it is cooked properly. Tripe tacos are awesome! I prefer honey comb tripe at Dim Sum.

I collect old cook books and when you go back before the 1950's hot dogs are included in the offal or "Variety meats" chapters. Now days people dont like to think hot dogs in that way. Ever read the ingredients on a package of beef churizo? Lips, snouts and lymph nodes! YUMMY!

 

[YetiDave]

Yeah I enjoy offal - blood in black pudding, everything in haggis, liver in pâté or in a bolognese. I've had crispy fried pig intestines, cured pig cheeks for Guanciale.. There are a few restaurants near me with some interesting sounding items on the menu including 'husband and wife pork lung slices' and 'exploding kidney flowers' amongst others. I keep meaning to check them out, but I'm not sure my other half is so enthusiastic!

Edit - I forgot about oxtail, one of my favourite cuts of meat!

 

[heybatter]

Was it Banh Mi? Love a good Banh Mi sandwich.

 

[njpaddy]

I tried tripe (Italian style) about 30 years ago. Nasty stuff. Good thing the woman who made it for me had a sense of humor about my reaction to it.

 

[Kazeryu]

I've found tripe in my soup a few times. It doesn't appeal to me, but it doesn't really disagree with me either.

 

[Lando]

spicy intestine stew, korean style. clear your sinuses and get a nice jaw workout

 

[cleanshaved]

Black pudding would top my list. I am lucky to have a butcher locally who makes a very nice one.
Lambs Brains, Tongues and sweetbreads are a ocassional treat and well enjoyed.
lets not forget the humble sausage. The runners/casings are way better than any man made casing.
The older generation eat alot more offal than we do today, as we now prefer what would be viewed as high end cuts.
funny thing is the price of Lambs Brains is now close to that of a good steak here in NZ. hmmmmm brains

 

[jbaca]

Menudo tripe soup with hominy onion chili fresh lemon juice is yum I also tried a dish called tripas fried tripe.

 

[Kentos]

Hawaiian style tripe stew...yum!!

 

[Jerryz]

Eaten most ways that can be imagined. I prefer menudo, and pho.

 

[professorchaos]

Offal? Oh, yes! Kidneys, liver, and heart are delicious. Sweetbreads I find a little bland.

Lamb brain terrine a la Fergus Henderson (my one hero chef) is utterly delicious.

I draw the line at eating the lower GI tract of any animal, no matter how clean.

 

[Reckoner]

There was a great Jamaican restaurant near my old home that had delicious ox-tail stew. YUM! In college I lived in a poorer neighborhood where the grocer catered to a Haitian, Jamaican, and Mexican/Central American clientele, so it wasn't uncommon to see tripe, chittlins, hooves, brains, and hearts in the deli case next to the more tame fare.

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

Love me some tongue and heart!

 

[Okla1911]

Steer clear of chicken feet.

 

[_MementoMori_]

Steer clear of chicken feet.

Is that right? I've not had them, but I can't imagine they'd be tasty. I'd think they're tough.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Steer clear of chicken feet.

Is that right? I've not had them, but I can't imagine they'd be tasty. I'd think they're tough.

I had em once at yum cha. They're fiddly and a little bit chewy/crunchy, but it's the mass of tiny little bones that makes them a real chore. At least you can have competitions afterwards to see who can spit the bones into the champagne cooler across the room.

 

[Luc]

There's a Vietnamese restaurant not too far from my home where they make nice Pho! I always get the Rare Beef & Beef Bisquet, Tripe & Tender Beef Tendons. Very tasty!

 

[professorchaos]

There's a Vietnamese restaurant not too far from my home where they make nice Pho! I always get the Rare Beef & Beef Bisquet, Tripe & Tender Beef Tendons. Very tasty!

Sounds like good Pho to me!

 

[The Knize]

I truly love most of this stuff, except I have never found a pork chitterling dish I really liked, the pork blood cubes in some Asian cooking have never appealed, I do not think I have had lungs except in haggis, testicles have not seemed like much but I have only had them deep fried, and I have never come across hooves. Intestines as sausage casings are indepensible and in Lousiana sausage fillings, and I had a veal intestines with pasta dish in Rome that was amazing. Absolutely no intestine-type smell. Very soft and delicate in texture and body. Blood sausage and pudding are great. Chicken and duck feet seem tasty to me, if relatively a lot of trouble to eat.

Tripe when prepared properly is ambrosia and sweetbreads (there are two types and one is decidedly better than the other) and brains true delicacies way beyond tripe, to me. Those things they seem to call "tripe" sandwiches in Florence, Italy, are a different story. That is not your standard kind of tripe, which is I supose, honeycom, and is not the kind of thing I would consider very delicate or would want to eat all the time. I liked the one I ate, but did not go back for more.

Beef tendon and the "bible" tripe they put in Pho are wonderful. Wouldn't be Pho without these to me and they are good as side dishes.

Is it a shame how tongue as a deli meat has become so expensive. Tongue is a wonderful thing whether as Jewish deli or in the various Latin dishes.

Kidneys and liver, wonderful. Chicken gizzards and hearts, too, whether American Southern style or Asian.

Some of these things are not really offal. Guanciale is more like bacon sent down from heaven, as if bacon were not sent from heaven in the first place. Pigs ears are good, if more texture than flavor, per se.

We once had a Trinidadian housekeeper who made oxtail with black-eyed peas. Out of this world. I can taste that dish as I sit here. Oxtail is wonderful in whatever.

Pigs' feet and knuckles, whether pickled or otherwise prepared, wonderful in flavor and texture.

We have another thread on it, but marrow probably fits in here, too. So rich, so unique, IMHO.

Maybe fish roe in its various configurations goes here, too. I like pretty much all. Sea urchin, perhaps?

I suppose I have never eaten an eye of any type!

I do not think lungs can be sold for human consumption in the States.

Good stuff!