The Beauty of the Beast
Bring the nose to tail trend home for this au courant tasting party
How to throw a noseto-tail tasting party
WHEN MY CAB PULLED UP in front of chef Jennifer McLagan’s home in Toronto, I was careful not to leave my small cooler behind. I could only imagine some future passenger taking a peek and discovering the raw beef heart inside. Whereas finding a hunk of prime beef might make many people’s day, stumbling upon an animal organ would send most screaming into the night.
Herein lies Jennifer’s angst. The author of Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal finds it disheartening that many North Americans gobble up sirloins but not sweetbreads. She’s made it her mission to make carnivores more responsible by teaching us how to utilize all of the animal’s parts.
“It’s about respect,” she says as we huddle together over her cutting board. “You don’t kill an animal and then throw most of it away.”
Although eating the whole beast is common in many parts of the world, in Canada and the U.S., many folks look down their noses at off-cuts and offal. But recently nose-to-tail dining has been trending, so to speak, in restaurants. If there’s one thing that makes Jennifer squeamish, however, it’s referring to this way of eating as a something new. “My mother cooked this way, and so did our ancestors. It’s simply a return to tradition.”
If, like many of us, you have memories of blood sausages being served up by your parents or grandparents, remember that back in the day, most folks couldn’t afford to set out platters of steak. It wasn’t until the latter part of the 20th century that a series of phenomena altered the cuts of meat we eat. In Jennifer’s cookbook, she explains how industrialized farming gobbled up family farms, which led to a significant fall in food prices including the cost of meat. With prime cuts so affordable, it wasn’t profitable for abattoirs to go through the extra processing that tripe, kidneys and the like require. And then there was the rise of the supermarket, which forced the fall of many butcher shops. Without an enthusiastic expert to show cus- tomers how to prepare brains or brisket, over time such parts became unfamiliar and home-cooking knowhow of them got lost along the way.
Finally, there’s our culture’s dis-association with the food we consume.
“People don’t want to be reminded that they’re eating a dead animal,” says Jennifer, which, let’s face it, a curled tongue in the butcher’s window tends to do.
So, how do you get people to taste before they waste? When entertaining, Jennifer often serves brains. Brains ravioli, that is. And when it comes to identifiable parts, she doesn’t recommend roasting them whole. One solution?
“In Canada, if you put it on a stick and throw it on the barbecue, people will eat anything,” she quips, threading a piece of heart onto a skewer.
A few thousand miles away in the kitchen of downtown Calgary’s Charcut Roast House, fellow ladies of the knife, chef and co-owner Connie DeSousa and chef Jessica Pelland, create culinary concoctions involving all sorts of animal parts. Pig’s head mortadella is a menu favourite as is bone marrow au gratin and grilled Berkshire pork chop.
“We look for ways to make off-cuts more appealing,” says Connie. “We’re not trying to hide them or mask them but to make them more familiar.”
Although Albertans are known as well-travelled, adventurous eaters, even they can only be pushed so far. Any horse part, Connie admits, doesn’t go over well. Still, chefs have to keep pushing, says Jessica. “Noseto-tail is the way we should be cooking all the time. It’s the way cooking started. By using 100 per cent, you pay tribute to the animals and the farmers who raised them.”
All about the cause, the 28-year-old winner of Food Network Canada’s recent Chopped Canada competition is trying her hand at hunting for the first time this fall. “I want to feel even more connected to the animal,” she explains. “I want to kill, gut, skin, butcher, cook and eat it.” WITH HUNTING SEASON in full swing, it’s an apt time to host a noseto-tail tasting party. Happily, you won’t have to grab a gun to pull it off. Just pick up the phone and call a butcher. The parts of the cow called for in the three recipes you’ll be making may not be readily available at your grocery store but with a bit of notice, your grocer may also be able to order it for you.
And what are they? Representing the front of the beast is braised beef cheeks; the middle, heart kebabs; and the end, roasted marrow bones. All can be prepared, at least in part, ahead of time. Still, there’s some work to do, so don’t saddle yourself with appetizers. Ask guests to bring along crudité, pâté and other assorted charcuterie. For spirits, set out a few bottles of red wine, and if guests get a little panicky prior to the tasting, set out a few more. And don’t worry. The sound of vino uncorking, the aromas wafting from your kitchen and the visual appeal of the dishes will have everyone tasting everything. and replacing the salt each time. Drain and refrigerate until you are ready to cook.
To roast bones, preheat oven to 450 F. Drain bones and pat dry, and then stand them up in a roasting pan. Roast for 15 to 25 minutes or until the marrow has puffed slightly and is warm in the centre. To test, insert a metal skewer into centre of bone and touch it to your wrist. Marrow should be hot, and there should be no resistance when skewer is inserted. Some marrow may have started to leak out from the bone.
Sprinkle liberally with sea salt just before serving. Serve with small spoons to scoop out the marrow and crostini toasts for slathering.
Serves 6 to 8. (To increase recipe, simply add more bones.)