Chicken and duck hearts are sweet and succulent, a rich distillation of the bird’s essence

like? Think a milder version of the beast from which they come, with, in most cases, a texture not unlike the flesh. Ox hearts, as the beef variety are more commonly known, could be mistaken for a lean steak when flash-fried, while the same treatment for lamb hearts would make you think you were eating the liver. Chicken and duck hearts are sweet, succulent and firmly textured, like a rich distillation of the essence of the bird.

In London, ox hearts are a menu staple at Ceviche, where founder and Peruvian food champion Martin Morales says that, in spite of their origins as the food of African slaves, they are enjoyed by every echelon of society. “We cut them into cubes and marinate with vinegar, cumin and smoked panca chilli, then grill them. I use a recipe inspired by La Tia Grimanesa, an old lady and anticucho ‘master’ who used to sell them off a cart in Lima.”

And they are also a hot seller off the Tongue’N Cheek truck, which rolls around London serving Heartbreakers, made with half-and-half minced rare breed beef and ox heart served on an artisan bun with cheddar and chimichurri. “So juicy it will spray you with your first bite!” says owner Cristiano Meneghin, who was inspired by the nose-to-tail ethos of his native Italy. But it’s not just a London thing – all over Scotland hearts are consumed minced in haggis, and Tom Kitchin showcases many different kinds at his Michelin-starred restaurant in Edinburgh. “I’ve used roe deer, rabbit, lamb and duck, and I’m currently using the heart of a Scottishreared wagyu cow, which is so rich and delicious.”

The fact that hearts are cheap – Tesco charges £3.50 a kilo for beef hearts, Waitrose less than £6 a kilo for lamb hearts – has not prevented them from turning up on high-class menus in London: at Clerkenwell restaurant St John, but also at Nobu and at Wild Honey and Arbutus, where chef-owner Anthony Demetre just can’t get enough of the dish he grew up with. “My father is Greek, and we would have lamb hearts stuffed with a traditional dolmades-type filling of onions, rice and tomatoes.” He serves not only lamb hearts, but ox, which he is dishes up with grilled asparagus, baby leeks and anchovy vinaigrette, and duck, which he likes to spear with chorizo on a skewer of crisp spaghetti.

Dale Osborne, who recently moved from the fashionable Chiltern Firehouse to Terroirs in Covent Garden, has been chowing down on anticuchos regularly since