offal

Traditional Moroccan Cooking

moroccancookingOne of my friends recently posted on facebook about picking up this amazing little cookbook Moroccan Cooking in a second hand store and mentioned that it had a recipe for thistle tajine in it. That immediately got my attention so I got me a copy off of amazon and I don’t regret it! A big thanks to Annie for sharing this! I’d love to hear from other folks if they have favorite traditional world cookbooks like this.

This book is a real treasure of traditional food rituals, and I was delighted to find a recipe for sellou in it as well as other tips on the types of utensils used in cooking and preparation of curds and whey. There are also plenty of great recipes for vegetarians, although it is not a vegetarian cookbook.

Looking through the recipes brough up all kinds of memories from when I studied in Morocco in 1995. I was studying food preparation rituals so I had the opportunity to eat some really tasty food. One of my less tasty memories was during the feast of Aid when every family kills a sheep. During that time the air was full of a metalic smell which hung on you. My Moroccan mother had prepared a delicious dinner with all of the parts of the lamb. But for some reason that evening both my Moroccan brother and sister disappeared on various pretenses and didn’t show up for dinner. I didn’t mind, thinking that there would be all the more for me, until my mother passed me a plate of some thing that looked quite strange and she wouldn’t tell me what it was.

When I tried it, it tasted like mackeral and I have never been much of a fan of that, so I wasn’t too pleased, after I had managed a few bites though, she suddenly tells me that it was the brain of the sheep! I didn’t like it at all. But she had a good laugh. She said she didn’t want me to have an impression that I wouldn’t like it before trying it, so she didn’t want to tell me what it was. It was a good experiment. But perhaps I would like brain cooked in a different manner like these fritters by anoffalexperiment. I haven’t tried it. But after reading this recipe from the cookbook I feel even less like trying it! Perhaps we can get anoffalexperiment to try this recipe for us, since she recently posted about making head cheese.

Rendering Suet aka Makin’ Lard

Rendering Suet aka Makin’ Lard

Suffice to say that I have a greater understanding of the scent of a medieval household after my first experience rendering suet. I've been reading The Great Mortality by John Kelly, a riveting account of the black plague and how it wound its way through Europe in the 14th century. Needless to sa ...

Roman Bacon: Part 2

Roman Bacon: Part 2

The Roman bacon was ready. It had been ready for a couple of weeks but it was trapped in my storage closet. (See Part 1: Roman Bacon for recipe and details on making this tasty treat) I have lived in my apartment building for seven years. I have had a key to my storage closet kicking around solo ...

Sheep Tongue with Chorizo

Sheep Tongue with Chorizo

The real offal experiment continues... with a sheep tongue. My attempt with the brain was fascinating but not incredibly tasty.  Will the tongue taste better? If looks are any indication then the answer is a resounding no! Good god a tongue is an ugly piece of meat. None of the silkiness of a pr ...

Sheep Brain Fritters

Sheep Brain Fritters

For my first recipe out of Odd Bits, I decided to bust it open, literally. The author, Jennifer Mclagan, mentioned that a sheep's head was quite fiercesome looking.  When my butcher brought it out from the back, held right about head level, I'll admit that it looked quite hideous. The eyeballs b ...

Sweet and Sour Tongue

Sweet and Sour Tongue

Tongue is delicious, moist and tender. I highly recommend it. Serves 10-12 4 lb fresh beef tongue 6 peppercorns 4 whole cloves 1 T vinegar 1 med onion, chopped 1 T oil 1 T flour 2 c hot tongue liquid ½ t salt ¼ c raisins ¼ brown sugar 1 T molasses juice of 1 lem ...

Sauteed Chicken Livers

Sauteed Chicken Livers

1 - 1½ lb chicken livers salt freshly ground pepper flour 4 T butter Method: Wash and dry livers well. Sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper and flour. Saute in butter until browned, 7-8 minutes. Serves 2-3 with rice. Cooking tip: Chicken livers should be pierced with the tip of ...