Nose-to-Tail Fortnight – 1st-16th June – OFFAL GOOD

Over the next fortnight Ethical Eats are persuading restaurants, pubs, street-food traders to serve up, and members of the public to try the more unusual cuts of meat. For too long customers have been greedily consuming the more common cuts. They believe it is time to become more thoughtful about what you are eating and less wasteful. For more information about and the events happening this coming fortnight go tohttp://www.sustainweb.org/ethicaleats/nose_to_tail_eating/.

The term offal is usually depicted as the internal organs of the animal, such as kidneys, liver and heart. All of which are extremely tasty and extremely rich in nutrients. However there are plenty more cuts that can be put into the offal bracket, such as tongue, feet and ears, it just takes some imagination and intrepidness. Although come to think about it, sausages are made using sheep and pig intestines, and we have all enjoyed liver pate, fois gras, and black pudding before, so why not try something new.

To ease yourself into the fortnight why not play safe and start with an offal dish in a restaurant. A first class restaurant that springs to mind is the St. John https://www.stjohngroup.uk.com/smithfield/menu/lunch/, with an utterly compelling menu that will make you look twice.

However if you are ready to step it up and cook for yourself there are a number of recipes out there waiting to be tried and tested on unwilling recipients – grilled deer heart, seared venison kidney, braised venison tongue, and more, can all be found here http://honest-food.net/wild-game/venison-recipes/heart-liver-recipes/.

Throughout this fortnight if you are going to have a go we would love to hear your feedback, pictures and recipes (if a success)...