For some unknown reason the loin cuts of all animals have always been kept for the Kings Table. Why I ask? Is it because they are more flavoursome that all the other cuts? Not at all; the reason is they are a tender vehicle for the gravy made from bones enriched with trotters and finished with marrow 

 

Bits and pieces cooking is not as strange as many think and it involves a lot more than a loud obnoxious American host asking if you are ready to ‘Face your Fear”. For me the motivators to use organ meat are common sense and respect for the animal. If we kill it to eat it then we should eat it, all of it not just the tender bits that don’t taste meaty. The ‘Tricky Bits’ (as we lovingly refer to them) bring unctuousness to a dish. A pot-roasted pigs cheek enriches a risotto better than any cheese, duck hearts can add an incredible richness to a bolognaise and bring true life to a dish and bone marrow on warm toast points is a taste of heaven. There are some exceptions but they are few and far between, the penis holds not great attraction to me in any form and lungs seem to be almost impossible to make delicious.

 

It seems strange that pieces of the animal have been chosen not to be used. I struggle with the concept that 10 cows must die so an Executive Chef can have 20 beef fillets that he will probably freeze and over cook. This is so he doesn’t have to write a new menu. In truth a whole cow, or quarters thereof, could provide him with enough meat for weeks. If only he had the skill, the understanding and the respect to butcher it. I think many professional kitchens have lost their way with food and lost their connection with how the food lived before it became our dinner. 

 

I am pleasantly surprised at the amount of people who enjoy tongue and trotter and the joy of eating ‘The Tricky Bits’. But as good cooks we must always remember that we are not teachers and we are not cooking for ourselves. If someone takes an instant dislike to something it is often by associating it with organs they have themselves 

 

‘I can’t eat tongue because I have one.’ 

 

We are not trying to convert or teach; we just want to serve people something delicious. Ultimately I want people to have a change of heart by expanding their understanding of where their food comes from.