Cook the Book: 'Beyond Nose to Tail' Contest

I want to try more offal but the best I have had so far has been sweetbreads, offal's "gateway drug"

My favorite offal dish is the Bahn Mi at Momofuku Ssam bar. It is absolutely delicious in it's piggyness.

not too adventurous, but I like some offal here and there:
chopped liver on toast,
chicken parts cooked yakitori
lengua tacos
a bit of menudo on occasion
cabeza, but that seems more like straight muscle meat rather than offal,
sweetbreads on tacos is good,
chitlins
fried chicken livers
giblet gravy

intheyearofthepig at 1:53PM on 10/22/07

I don't normally eat meat at all, but I absolutely love haggis with neeps and tatties. Those who knock it have clearly never tried it, because it's savoury and delicious, particularly now that the weather is getting colder.

caley at 1:54PM on 10/22/07

That's easy: fegato veneziana. It's just liver and onions, but with an Italian hand. You sweat lots of very thinly sliced yellow onion, very slowly, in butter, until brown, but still soft. Then you remove the onions, and in the same pan, over high heat and as quickly as you can, saute paper-thin, lozenge-shaped slices of (preferably, organic) calves' liver until it just barely doesn't look raw anymore. You'll probably need to do it batches so the heat doesn't drop. Mix everything together back in the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and a few drops of red wine vinegar if you like, stir once or twice and serve, converting even the most stubborn liver-hater into a liver-lover. The only hard part is finding organic liver sold by a butcher who also knows how to cut it properly. If you can't, go for the organic and just cut your own really, realy thin slices.

Lippy at 1:56PM on 10/22/07

A buckwheat crepe with andouille and sauce bechamel.

holybasil at 2:02PM on 10/22/07

Oh, baby, that's an easy one: Frisee aux lardons, with poached eggs and crispy veal sweetbreads. Yum-O!

dikaryon at 2:03PM on 10/22/07

chicken livers

foodinmouth at 2:08PM on 10/22/07

Whenever I go to a Brazilian riodizio restaurant, I always order the chicken hearts.

jstanisic at 2:09PM on 10/22/07

There was a vendor at my farmers market who sold prepared Chinese good. I had great pig ears, tripe, duck feet...

Besides that, I've always liked chopped (chicken) liver.

stu_spivac at 2:10PM on 10/22/07

Ooo... And tongue. I can't believe I forgot to mention tongue.

stu_spivac at 2:12PM on 10/22/07

Ox heart with horseradish (at St.John)

stlyankfan at 2:19PM on 10/22/07

Love Tongue, also sweetbreads.

ultraclay at 2:27PM on 10/22/07

I make an excellent veal heart with chimichurri over crostini. I also am fond of lamb or veal kidney with mustard sauce. But my absolute favorite? Calves' brains with capers and brown butter.

Amandarama at 2:41PM on 10/22/07

Kidneys! My (German) grandmother used to cook them - they were one of my favourite foods growing up. Cleaned and maybe soaked in vinegar, then pan fried, served with a small amount of pan gravy. So delicious. My little sister wouldn't eat them, and I could never figure out why. All I ever get these days is the occasional steak and kidney pie, which just is not the same.

Have also had beef testicles, and they were pretty good. Tasted like, uh, kidneys, actually.

Peasantwench at 2:47PM on 10/22/07

Chitlins, pig's feet, giblet gravy!

Marvin at 2:47PM on 10/22/07

Totally haggis. A little spoonful in a buttery tart shell with a dram of Scotch. And although I haven't had scrapple since I was a kid, I do remember that was pretty tasty.

SelimaCat at 2:53PM on 10/22/07

Sweetbreads from Babbo! Oh and the lamb's tongue from there as well!

clumsycook at 2:59PM on 10/22/07

Growing up my favorite was pig's tail that was simmered in sauce all day long.....my dad always saved that for me when we had spaghetti on Sunday.

mepolo at 2:59PM on 10/22/07

About everything but the eye in the fish-head curry in Singapore.

lemons at 3:05PM on 10/22/07

Sadly, I missed Fergus' most recent trip to NY. I can't say I've really traversed the "offal" offerings. I do enjoy pork belly and sweatbreads, but I fear those are quite pedestrian compared to some of the things contained in Mr. Henderson's book.

digitalburro at 3:11PM on 10/22/07

Aside from foie gras and various other liver terrine and paté preparations, my favorite offal dishes are served up in the Korean tradition. Soondae sausages are made with natural casing (read: pig's intestines), and filled with glutenous rice and sweet potato noodles soaked in pig's blood. There is also a stew which I don't know the name of that is made with cabbage and a spicy red pepper beef broth, with beef tendons and coagulated blood cakes. The best hang over cure, bar none.

seyo at 3:12PM on 10/22/07

I once made some boiled beef tongue. It was delicious, very tender and creamy. Then I looked up the nutrition facts. Turns out, tongue should be a "once in a while" treat

Nicholas H at 3:12PM on 10/22/07

My mom's sweet and sour tongue

gavri at 3:14PM on 10/22/07

Boudin noir parmentier at Ribouldingue in Paris. I couldn't eat it every day, but I'm glad I did when I had the chance.

mphughes at 3:42PM on 10/22/07

Boudin, as I am from Louisiana.

mmiller at 3:46PM on 10/22/07

lamb sweetbreads from anywhere!

pupilindenial at 4:04PM on 10/22/07

Calf brains with porcinis and soft-scrambled eggs...so tasty and velvety over bread :)

mozart23 at 4:08PM on 10/22/07

Grilled sweetbreads, prepared cuban-style with lemon and olive oil on crusty bread...

Dominic
the zen kitchen

dvchurch at 4:17PM on 10/22/07

My absolute favorite offal dish is one that doesn't include any offal.

phattymatt at 4:20PM on 10/22/07

Tongue is my favorite. But I learned like offal through liver and gizzards.

Although maybe not considered pure offal, pig tails and ox tails are great. I guess you could put headcheese in that same category. Being from Louisiana, headcheese is pretty much a staple in the fridge.

tgray25 at 4:24PM on 10/22/07

Not much offal that I would consider awful but if i had to choose a favorite...
I think the chinese style beef innards. It is usually available at dim sum and is beef stomach (tripe, 2 different kinds) lung, kidney, often pig skin as well. All stewed together with star anise(...other spices which I can not identify) and daikon. Yum

Sweetie at 4:52PM on 10/22/07

In Scotland, haggis. In the States, scrapple. Steak and kidney pie, anywhere.

zamboni at 4:55PM on 10/22/07

Sweetbreads from La Luncheonette (wonder if they still have them on the menu..) Salad with warm chicken livers, lamb's tongue and love tacos de lengua as well if they are done right!

izzy's mama at 5:12PM on 10/22/07

Finally, the book I'm afraid to win! Please, don't pick me!

The best I can do is chopped liver. I'm a wimp; this stuff scares me! I think of what my grandparents ate and loved, and I'm embarrassed at my own reluctance.

Then again, I don't feel at all limited by the parts I will eat, so there's that.

Enjoy your offal, everybody. I'm backing away slowly...

LoDega at 5:19PM on 10/22/07

Tacos de cesos and fried pigs feet have to be my favorites.

cb at 5:23PM on 10/22/07

I wasn't aware that Momofuku's Bahn Mi fell into the offal, but I do love it. Alternatively, there's this preparation of cow tongue that I associate with meals among my Eastern European family that I very much enjoy.

iyamapotato at 5:34PM on 10/22/07

crispy fried sweetbreads at momofuku, cow tongue tacos, steak and kidney pie (I guess kind of boring, but all still delicious).

happyconsumer at 5:40PM on 10/22/07

OFFAL is AWFUL !!!!!!!!!!!!!

NewEnglandBites at 5:47PM on 10/22/07

I hope I win. ;)

zang74 at 5:50PM on 10/22/07

Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad. If that's not offal enough, then steak and kidney pie.

nella at 5:54PM on 10/22/07

Beef marrow on toast is delicious, but if that doesn't count...I guess andouille or boudin. Hmmm...

Christina at 6:05PM on 10/22/07

I work just down the road from Fergus Henderson's restaurant, some I'm lucky enough to have tried some of his recipes first-hand. I did love his roasted marrow and I do like my sweatbreads, but my favorite offal discovery is cooked lamb intestines - the mother's milk cooks inside the intestine and forms a light creamy cheese.

acancienne at 6:23PM on 10/22/07

Andouille or boudain for me.
My husband adores chitterlings.

Erinay77 at 7:27PM on 10/22/07

I've always been partial to the richness of veal sweetbreads.

Jeke at 8:08PM on 10/22/07

I think tripe is my favorite specific part...but to be more specific as some have done, my favorite restaurant tripe dishes: Callos Madrilenos in Madrid (though Jose Andres' version at Jaleo is good too), Lupa's Trippa Alla Romana, A16's Tripe napoletana, and a hunanese style hot pot braise.

Of Fergus' offal dishes: soft roe on toast, chitterlings & mash.
Of Chris Cosentino's offal: calf's brain in caper butter sauce.

BC at 8:20PM on 10/22/07

A little known Korean dish called Kopchang - it tastes similar to bacon when it is grilled.

jpark107 at 9:34PM on 10/22/07

Korean Gobchang Gui -- marinated cow intestines stuffed with what amounts to a pate grilled with beef heart, liver, tripe and onions. Side dishes include raw marinated liver.

You ever dare had raw liver?

http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal/?p=145
http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal/?p=278

ZenKimchi at 10:05PM on 10/22/07

Fish Maw (maw == stomach, not mouth). Sure, the land critters have some mighty fine offal but don't overlook our finny friends! The fish maw soup served this year at Incanto's Head to Tail dinner was my favorite part of the meal. Sure, the beef tendon was good and the candied cockscombs were...um...interesting. But the fish maw was so tasty and well-balanced that nothing else held a candle to it.

VMBrasseur at 10:07PM on 10/22/07

Oh, I was also just remembering that I really enjoy monkfish liver as gunkan maki (with a little scallion, ponzu and maple radish)!

Amandarama at 11:33PM on 10/22/07

Menudo on a Sunday afternoon after partying Saturday night.

madball911 at 12:11AM on 10/23/07

Haggis, of course, everything but the "baaa". Zampone is good, too, and there are various yummy Italian dishes that require everything but the "oink".

LearP at 12:47AM on 10/23/07

deep fried pig tails @ the fuk. Oh man, oh man.

close seconds are the sweetbreads....
and if I'm in DC.... scrapple.

TodayIsTomorrow at 1:06AM on 10/23/07

It might be predictable, but my favorite offal by far is seared foie gras. Bone marrow on toasts, with a sprinkling of fleur de sel, is a close second. And if there are sweetbreads on the menu, I'll order them.

purpleceline at 2:21AM on 10/23/07

lambs brains in a mild persian curry sauce. When relating my dinner fare to my boss at work the next day he blurted out "Ive never had brains before" sigh ....so true......

Kenzo at 4:54AM on 10/23/07

chinese style cold shredded pig's ear. my family used to get it as a treat every sunday, yumm.

eatsy at 5:02AM on 10/23/07

I love most offal. The only one I don't care for is lungs...a bit too spongy.

My favorite has to be fois gras though.

jasonmolinari at 8:40AM on 10/23/07

My experiences and preferences span the entire body. I am particularly fond of fried pork tongue. The Czechs boil it, slice it cross-grain into 1" chunks, bread and fry it. Serve it up with boiled potatoes and tartar sauce.

My father hailed from the south and went to the specialty meat market once per month on payday and bought a sack of pigtails (back when they were still a foot long) and brought them home to simmer with rutabagas. Made a fine stew but even better were the tails on the second day, dipped in pancake batter and fried, yum!

When the cat's away (I'm home alone), I get to fry up a batch of chicken gizzards using my mother's southern fried chicken recipe. Those too go down well with tartar sauce and beer...

czken at 9:57AM on 10/23/07

tripe

hedgehog at 10:22AM on 10/23/07

If blood counts as offal, I would have to say the Azorean blood sausage morcela is my favorite (it also contains bits of pork heart and whatever bits of pig left over after the butchering). Though I don't speak a word of Portuguese, a half dozen of the women of Candelaria on Sao Miguel taught me to make it on my honeymoon, and now I adore it, though pig's blood is a little hard to come by back here in Pittsburgh.

Greyhoundgrrl at 11:11AM on 10/23/07

I normally go for tripe and other bits in my Pho.

pcrackenhead at 12:04PM on 10/23/07

sweetbreads, tongue tacos, chicken livers, hog's head cheese, boudain noir, FOIE FOIE FOIE

syoung68 at 12:40PM on 10/23/07

Sweetbreads!

Ann Fisher at 12:50PM on 10/23/07

Dinuguan - tripe, bits and pieces cooked in blood and seasonings. OH GOD AWESOME. I also love tendon and chicken feet for snacking, beef or pork tripe in my soup, pig ear and brains for appetizers, and beef tongue and pig trotters for main course. DELICIOUS. Being Filipina means lots of weird bits for meals.

lorelei76 at 1:03PM on 10/23/07

Poached beef tongue, sliced thinly and served on rye. Second up - chopped chicken liver.

JoeA at 1:24PM on 10/23/07

Tripe was my gateway to the world of offal - I prefer that the membrane is washed out, or otherwise it's not so tasty, but my favorite is the innards of crab and fish. Crab innards are so sweet! They taste like soft, sweetened livers.
For the land beings, I love it all, if it's properly cooked and seasoned, it's worth it!

plasticspoontraveller at 1:54PM on 10/23/07

I love the tripe at Babbo and the cured tongue at Salumi in Seattle.

michellelikestoeat at 1:57PM on 10/23/07

I don't eat meat, so my offal intake's pretty limited - unless you count roasted squash seeds, which would go towards the "not wasting anything edible from a food source" idea.

KarynMC at 2:05PM on 10/23/07

My favorite is my mother's beans and hocks. But maybe that will change when my partner starts practicing for his student final at the cafe- he's doing french onion soup with bone marrow toast and lamb shanks eben's way, from the first nose to tail book. We don't have the new one yet, so I hope I win. :D

Ravara at 2:37PM on 10/23/07

This little piggy went to market, this little piggy never came home, but I managed to find some of his yummier bits at my local market! Does it really get better than insides when it comes to trying new food? I started small with fried chicken livers...progressed to chitlins(not my favorite)...and ventured into brains. However, I'm a cajun girl through and through so I've got to say nothing scarred me more and yet warmed my tummy like watching Aunt Merna gut a pig in front of me, grind the organs, and fill the intestines with the spicy, mushy, and cooked to a crisp goodness of andouilles sausage. You haven't eaten until you've eaten in New Orleans!

Elizabet at 2:52PM on 10/23/07

Peruvian antichuchos!

stevebillings at 2:54PM on 10/23/07

I loves me some marrow on toast. Does marrow count as offal? I'm not sure...

Tactful_Cactus at 3:27PM on 10/23/07

cow brain omelette.

muffintop at 4:22PM on 10/23/07

marrow!

damnlamb at 4:34PM on 10/23/07

Tongue was always served to me as a child, but as an adult I very much enjoy good sweetbreads.

sln123 at 5:05PM on 10/23/07

hands down, menudo. honorable mention: lengua tacos, sweetbreads covered in chamomile at wd-50

anado at 8:14PM on 10/23/07

tripe! the texture of villi is delightful!

tortor at 9:04PM on 10/23/07

does bone marrow count? i like the version at Quality Meats with roasted root vegetables.

bluebird at 10:17PM on 10/23/07

I haven't had much - but I just had sweetbreads this past weekend, with a sunchoke puree. Really tasty!

Littlebluesiren at 12:28AM on 10/24/07

It's a toss up between fried chicken livers (my mother makes the best!) and the beef tongue served with fried mayoniase at WD-50. OMG, Yum!!

eatnutmeg at 8:23AM on 10/24/07

Call me a purist. Sweetbreads tossed in flour, cooked in butter, pan deglazed with madera and shallots and the sauce finished with cream.

kitchenbea at 2:40PM on 10/24/07

If you have the cash, I highly recommend the tete de veau at Le Grand Vefour in Paris. The maitre'd will try to talk Americans out of it, but persist. The veal cheeks come braised and fork tender and the brains literally melt in your mouth!

Lamb sweetbreads at Piperno in Rome come gently seared and accompanied by your choice of perfect vegetables from the tavolo caldo.

The fried chicken livers with pepper cream gravy at Praline Connection in New Orleans are divine offal "soul food" style (is the restaurant still operating).

Mizbee at 2:57PM on 10/24/07

I have many fond memories of having chicken gizzards covered in butter at the yearly family reunions my mother's family held when I was growing up. It's still comfort food for me!

ladyfunk25 at 3:29PM on 10/24/07

Haggis. There is no second-best. :)

thattallguy at 7:12PM on 10/24/07

My favorite would be Marcella Hazan's sweetbreads with peas. Even my non offal eating husband was thrilled when I prepared it. In second place would be the piggy bits in a traditional (that is, non refined) feijoada.

islandexile at 9:38PM on 10/24/07

sweetbreads... mmm.

Josh Baugher at 10:08PM on 10/24/07

Boudin noir, black pudding, black headcheese.... there's just something about pig blood that makes them all absolutely delicious.

hdaemon at 7:33AM on 10/25/07

Lengua tacos. Definitely lengua tacos.

ConschBTJ at 8:27AM on 10/25/07

At first I thought....hmmm. I don't eat much offal, so not much to choose from. Old fashioned chopped liver on matzohs is total soul food/comfort food for me (yes, I'm as WASPy as they get, but I grew up the only Christian in my very Jewish Philly neighborhood).

Then I started thinking. I have warm memories of Mom sharing her pepperpot soup with me (that no one else would eat). Scrapple is a favorite, as is its southern cousin, livermush. Chicken livers and gizzards fried in a cast iron skillet by my grandmother's housekeeper (the best southern cook in the world) I adore both black and white pudding in an Irish fry. I used to love making my Irish-born husband steak and kidney pie and watching his sigh of pleasure. Then there was my very first taste of foie gras in a tiny little place in Paris...ohhhhh my. Sweetbreads at a special dinner with my aunt shocked me with their delicacy. And fish liver sashimi at an izakaya here in Japan surprised me with how good it is. I can't decide!

So I guess I'm an offal eater. And I like it that way!

carolie at 9:53AM on 10/25/07

Foie gras, my only offal habit.

ExpatChef at 10:52AM on 10/25/07

Recently, a beef tongue dish at Kabab Cafe in Astoria.

Or lengua tacos, back home.

cmballa at 1:27PM on 10/25/07

When I lived in England my mum cooked delicious sweetbreads, but my favourite dish in the offal family has to be liver and bacon with mashed potatoes, onions and gravy. I think this is mainly because no one else in my family likes it and I don't get to eat it very often, so if it's on a menu (which is very rare now that I live in New England) I have to have it every time.

mothergoose at 1:32PM on 10/25/07

Definitely chicken gizzards and hearts with lots of black pepper!

kweiblen at 1:32PM on 10/25/07

Liver: The Pate De Champagne at Keller's Bouchon. Stellar. No other word for it. I can still taste it....

redman78 at 1:43PM on 10/25/07

Tongue, liver, heart, you name it.

voodooconstant at 1:50PM on 10/25/07

Sweetbreads with braised pearl onions or a good old-fashioned tonue on rye. Mmm.

Stufsocker at 2:35PM on 10/25/07

We grew up on beef liver and tongue, never thought twice about it.

swillats at 3:00PM on 10/25/07

sweetbreads, roasted bone marrow, livers, tripe, and braised oxtail..i love it all! my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

iguanablue at 5:31PM on 10/25/07

I love my mama's smothered liver and onions. She first soaks the liver in buttermilk, then beer. So delicious.

nellopea at 6:40PM on 10/25/07

I have to go for a classic and one of my first experiences of offal, beef tongue in brown sauce with button mushrooms, yum!

mia_pia at 8:42PM on 10/25/07

confits des gesiers, duck's gizzards slowly poached in duck fat. you can buy that in any crummy supermarket in france.

oh, and chopped liver, of course. with lots of gribenes and onion.

cybercita at 12:29AM on 10/26/07

kway chap makes good use of spare parts - clear broth with flat noodles (something like rice flour fazzoletti) that is served on the side with stewed pork offal like intestines, trotters, and my favourite, pig skin (collagen!). the most authentic stalls have pig's blood (solidified like tofu) too.
angler fish liver sashimi that melts in your mouth. does uni sashimi count? that's sea urchin ovaries right? mmm

economyrice at 5:17AM on 10/26/07

Ok I know you want us to post our favorite offal dish. But I truely and honestly have none! YUCK!!!

candes at 6:35AM on 10/26/07

Smoked cured tongue. My mother used to buy the whole thing, boil it, skin it, and slice it. Delicious!

I wish I could find it in Southern California.

peekpoke at 6:58AM on 10/26/07

I don't normally eat meat, but everything that goes into Brazil's national dish Feijoada (black bean stew with sausage, different meats and several pork "parts" in it: feet, tail, ears, etc.) is delicious!

Deborat at 11:45AM on 10/26/07

I was born & raised in Southern New Mexico, so much of the offal I've had has been typical of the hispanic culture. I grew up eating tongue/lengua "sandwhiches" (lonches), fried chicken gizzards dusted with chile powder & scrambled egg and cow brain burritos with my Grandfather. My favorite, though, would have to be pozole. It's a kind of soup made with hominy and tripe. We eat it with New Mexican red chile sauce, diced onions, lime & oregano. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

notchumofo at 1:36PM on 10/26/07

Only had sweetbreads once but it was one o the best dishes I can remember. On a regular basis, it's a tie between menudo (tripe) and chicken liver pate.

ren at 2:20PM on 10/26/07

Geez... Pozole is usually made with pork roast, sometimes chicken.

MENUDO is made with tripe.

Sorry about the mistake. I love them both! :c)

notchumofo at 2:48PM on 10/26/07

It's a toss up between lingua and cabesa tacos. Also always enjoy liver onions and bacon.

Colorado Jim at 3:51PM on 10/26/07

For me, it's a tough call between scrapple and haggis. I have family from Wilkes-Barre, so I've been eating scrapple as long as I can remember, but I recently had haggis at Bethlehem, PA's Celtic Classic and it was amazingly good. I think all in all, I have to go with scrapple since it's been part of my repertoire for so long.

bytemyfoot at 3:59PM on 10/26/07

My recent discovery of roasted marrow bones (yeah, so sue me) tops just about every "favorites" list I've ever constructed...

sheldel at 4:27PM on 10/26/07

It's gotta be livermush. A North Carolina favorite - sliced thin and pan fried.

roym4 at 4:28PM on 10/26/07

Not to be boring, but I have to say that liver pates and foie gras are pretty hard to beat in my opinion. I also really like blood sausage. I am excited to try roasted marrow, which I have a recipe for in a new cookbook I just bought.

tnrsmama at 5:16PM on 10/26/07

Honeycomb tripe! I've had it broiled, boiled & in a bowl of menudo. My favorite recipe is the Trippa Alla Romana I found on epicurious.com. If I won Beyond Nose To Tail I would definetly be open to trying exciting and new types of "offal foods". Ha!

chilechoker at 5:43PM on 10/26/07

Sweetbreads. Lovely, ethereal, just-barely-there-then gone.

topdog at 5:46PM on 10/26/07

Bulls foot soup and ice cold hieneken at 2pm , roadside in St. martin

gwcafe at 6:05PM on 10/26/07

I'd have to go with the haggis myself

zekks at 10:04AM on 10/27/07

Lengua and barbacoa tacos are definitely in the top. Sweetbreads. And it's ankimo season - one of my favorite liver dishes ever.

dalaimama at 4:38PM on 10/29/07

Thanks to everyone for commenting and congrats to our winners:

czken
Jeke
sheldel
chasgoose
clumsycook
dvchurch
digitalburro
michellelikestoeat
holybasil
Ravara

roboppy at 6:30PM on 10/29/07