Offal-ly good…

14-May-2007

By: Geoffrey Murray

What is it about offal…to some finding offal on a menu is like finding a long lost treasure and to others its one of those things that they wish would just stay buried away in the past. Its definitely one of those love it or hate it kind of things. The lovers tend to be the real foodie people, who almost find adventure in its preparation, a waste nothing, lets try everything kind of attitude. And the ones who dislike offal are usually those who just cant get over the idea of which part of the animal it came from. The up side to this is that it leaves more for those of us who love it.

Here in the kitchen at Zacharys we are the ones who love it. Mind you as any good restaurateur knows you have to understand your market and be willing to take risk. We are in the fortunate position, being associated with an internationally recognized hotel, of having people visit us from all over the world with many different tastes. So amongst all of the other wonderful dishes on offer youll find something offal as well.

Presently on Zacharys menu youll find things like confit of organic porks trotter with snails, roast garlic, pickled young onions and tagliatelle. Elsabe, the jr. sous chef of one of our food outlets, the Pezula Castle on the Beach makes a wonderful Bron of pigs head with Malay spices that we serve on our Ploughmans platter of Hendricks house cured salami and roast pork. Sweetbreads are served crispy, dusted with Moroccan ras al hanout spice and a salad of organic green beans, herbs, preserved lemon and hazelnuts.

I think everyone has gotten used to the fatty slow cooked pork belly by now but serving it with a cracklin of pigs ears makes for another tasty textural addition. And then theres foie gras, yummm! We always have it on the menu in some form or another, either pan seared, grilled, smoked or the way we do it now, salt and spice cured and then poached at a low temperature.

Chilled, sliced and served with preserved plum, a crispy multi-seed tuille, a glass of noble late harvest and its nirvana. With the winter menu right around the corner, perfect time for those rich flavours associated with offal, weve been working on a few offal ideas for the menu.

Monet, one of the sous chefs of the hotel, has come up with a wonderful idea for pickled tongue, shaved thinly, served on toasted brioche smeared with smaltz, watercress and a spicy mustard vinaigrette.

Well see if we can sneak some tripe in somewhere and maybe, just maybe some brain. I had it once in Marrakech cooked with a classic charmoula and it was delicious.

The wonderful thing about restaurant menus is that it gives one choices. Were not looking to be the next St Johns, a restaurant in London well known for its preparation of offal, but just for all of those foodies and those with a sense of adventure and curiosity, we want to be able to offer a few little lost treasures to dig into.

Geoffreys previous blog posts