The Lemon Fool

Mike4 wrote:The other way to eat tripe and all the other unrecognisable bits of the animal is to have a doner kebab, sausage, pork pie, chicken nugget, or any other highly processed meat product, I suspect.

Aye MSM (mechanically separated) and MRM (mechanically reclaimed meat) are carcass sluicings. A chum worked in that industry and said bones are jet washed and the run off is sieved, dried, seasoned mixed with filler and turned into pies etc.

kempiejon wrote:

Mike4 wrote:The other way to eat tripe and all the other unrecognisable bits of the animal is to have a doner kebab, sausage, pork pie, chicken nugget, or any other highly processed meat product, I suspect.

Aye MSM (mechanically separated) and MRM (mechanically reclaimed meat) are carcass sluicings. A chum worked in that industry and said bones are jet washed and the run off is sieved, dried, seasoned mixed with filler and turned into pies etc.

Yes indeed. I suspect that if many people knew how their food was produced they would change their dietary habits but many just don't want to know.

RC

kempiejon wrote:I had a tripe and pig's feet dish in Madrid, Callos a la Madrileña, it's a traditional dish presumable trotted out for the tourists...
I've seen more offal in restaurants abroad than in the UK. When I was still eating quadrupeds I slow cooked ox cheek and occasionally heart, usually stuffed with rice or lentils. I made a pie once and didn't tell anyone it was pig heart, everyone thought it was steak and it was very well received until the diners learnt the truth, it was some months before my pies' contents were trusted.
My local Morrisons sell pigs' trotters and heart, tripe and several species of kidney and livers.

We used to be given pigs feet as children. I can't say they were appreciated much just skin and fat with very very little meat. They are available in Morrisons in this area. I won't rush to buy them.

I do particularly like ox liver and use kidney in pies.

Mike4 wrote:The other way to eat tripe and all the other unrecognisable bits of the animal is to have a doner kebab, sausage, pork pie, chicken nugget, or any other highly processed meat product, I suspect.

I am not sure what you mean by "doner kebab". When I was executive chef in the Hilton Hotel in Nicosia, we made doner kebab for functions, it only contained ground pork, spices and a little pork fat. To bind it, we semi froze it before putting it on the spit. In the Middle East, we made shawarmas from beef, chicken and occaisionaly turkey. I can assure you that only prime meat was used. In the Hotel Jordan Intercontinental in Aman they even used fillet steak for beef shawarma, a pracice I stopped and changed to topside,more tasty, and a fraction of the cost! I have never had doner kebab from a shop or kiosk and the worst chicken shawarma I had was from a stall in Villier La Belle Gonnesse in St. Denis in Paris, tastless and tough.
Chicken nuggets should be made with minced chicken and a binding agent, eg, rusk as in chicken meat balls, at least that is how we made them for children's menus in Cairo. Otherwise those things sold in packets are indeed disgusting. As always, read the list of ingredients.

john

johnstevens77 wrote:I am not sure what you mean by "doner kebab".

walk down the typical provincial high street for elucidation...

didds

The rotating elephant's legs, dribbling fat

kempiejon wrote:My local Morrisons sell pigs' trotters and heart, tripe and several species of kidney and livers.

My grandmother - Lancashire farm lass - loved trotter. My mother used to buy it for her when she visited. But like artichoke, it did seems a lot of faff for little reward.

Don't have a Morrisons, however a local butcher - own abattoir - sells trotters, and heart etc.
Rather enjoy heart. A chap once gave me an ox heart in exchange for a classic car part. Bit of work to prepare, but good eating.
And cheap of course, not that those who 'can't afford to eat properly' would want to be bothered with it.

Funny thing about heart, it always tastes of heart. Ox, pig, lamb, rabbit, even pheasant. Not sure that in a blind tasting I could tell them apart.
Never tried a fish heart. Must ask at Waitrose.

V8

88V8 wrote:Funny thing about heart, it always tastes of heart.

You're right I would buy only pigs hearts and recon it tastes a bit beefy and I've had turkey and duck heart both a similar taste

Tripe soup (Skembe Chorba) is a very popular dish here in Bulgaria, and is probably one of my favourite Bulgarian dishes, and I probably have it at least once a week, but we never cook it at home, because of the smell when it's cooking, and only have it at a restaurant. When I first came to Bulgaria I couldn't even bear the smell at first but when you add some garlic and hot pepper, it turns into a delicious dish. I love of the look on people's faces, particularly visitors from England, when they ask me to order them a traditional Bulgarian dish for them and then get presented with the dish. Overcoming the initial smell is the key. It's also very popular as a "morning after the night before" dish as well, as I can vouch for!

Brendan