Offal Wasteful?

3 Comments

1. Christopher Pepe
   Posted February 22, 2012 at 4:41 pm | Permalink

   Chris Cosentino is awesome. I can’t wait to go to Incanto. His anger towards the industrial food system is well placed. He points out that people are already eating offal (in supplements) they just aren’t getting to enjoy all that these forgotten foods have to offer. Its labelled as gross and passed up for mistreated bland animals which are deep fried and coated in junk to make them taste like something. Much like some of the points in American Wasteland it comes down to respect for your food and respect for the animals and plants who died so that we may continue to live.

2. WilliamB
   Posted February 23, 2012 at 12:39 pm | Permalink

   I’m moving toward buying Happy Meat in bulk and I always ask for all the parts: fat, bones, heart, liver, skin, etc.
   – Bones, especially smoked bones, make great stock.
   – Heart, liver, tongue, etc., are worth trying because how do you know if you like it if you won’t try it?
   – Chix hearts and gizzards are necessary for Louisiana Dirty Rice. I’m sad that most Happy Chix suppliers don’t include necks, hearts, and feet with the bird. (I’m not surprised by the lack of gizzards, they’re hard to prep for eating unless you’re willing to starve your chicken for a while.)
   – Beef tongue is traditional Deli food.
   – Liver is classic, as is pate. I don’t like liver but better it go to my neighbor’s dog than the trash can. This year I got a liver bonus: I gave some to my neighbor for her church’s pirozhi fundraiser. I didn’t expect that the church would give me a half dozen pirozhi and the recipe but I’m very happy about it. They were tasty!
   – Turns out pork rinds aren’t worse for us than potato chips and may be better (they’re all fat + protein, chips are all fat + carb; take your pick) so I will be trying to make them with the lard that came with my last pig.
   – My whole pig came with 10 lbs lard, not including what I cut off the meat. I’m stumped as for what to do with most of it. I may try making soap.

   So yes, parts!

   Overall I find I’m more conscious about my meat when I buy happy meat. It may be the cost premium – even buying in bulk Happy Chix costs me $3.50/lb, Happy Pork about $5/lb – or just awareness of what’s involved. Either way I consider this a positive development.

3. Jeanne
   Posted February 24, 2012 at 10:35 pm | Permalink

   I saw the greatest thing on twitter the other day: PETA is the Westboro Baptist Church of the animal rights movement.