◎ Wei Shuihua
Westerners don't eat "offal"? Much of this "misunderstanding" comes from people's understanding of countries that have stepped into industrial society, such as the United States.
For the large food industry represented by the United States, "offal" is a kind of food with a strong personality that is difficult to be industrially processed according to unified specifications, and it is time-consuming and laborious to make, far less cheap and worry-free than meat processing.
But countries that truly love "chowder" are like China, with a long history and food aesthetics. The french have many steps to cook foie gras, not at all losing the tediousness of Shandong people to make nine-turn large intestines; the Picky Choice of Calf Thymus glands in Italy can be comparable to the meticulousness of Cantonese people in cooking pork lung almond soup; Germans are keen on concocting beef and sheep intestines, so you can call the Sichuan people to stir-fry the enthusiasm of waist flowers.
It can be seen that the "miscellaneous" elements in the Western food world are far richer than most people think. Many countries have a unique cultural history of "miscellaneous", which can be summed up in one sentence: "miscellaneous" is worth it! A hundred people eat meat, three or five people eat miscellaneous, things are scarce and expensive, and handling "offal" naturally requires more hard work than pounding meat, so "offal" has more reason to become a food worth cherishing.
High-energy "chowder"
The ancient Greeks and Romans were very kind
Eating "offal" may be the innate instinct of carnivores, because as a mixture of high-quality protein, pure fat and vitamins A and D and other nutrients, the edible value of "offal" cannot be ignored. When primates prey on small animals such as birds, rats, and rabbits, they tend to open their stomachs and eat offal first, which can prevent prey from rotting too quickly after killing, and also reflect the natural selection of offal that tastes better than meat.
In a way, the history of human consumption of "offal" can be traced back to the era of slash-and-burn famine. In ancient Greek mythology, Prometheus distributed cattle dedicated to the gods to humans. He distributed the fat and "offal" to the people, and the bones wrapped in butter and distributed it to Zeus and the gods, and Zeus was furious and did not intend to give fire to mankind, so there was the story of Prometheus stealing the tinder later.
This clearly shows that as early as the ancient Greek period, people thought that "offal" was the best thing to eat. Coincidentally, a Greek book called "Sacrifice" that records the ritual of sacrifice also records the situation when people ate meat mainly boiled and ate "offal" main barbecue.
In fact, in the era when spices are not yet abundant, this is a very clever and advanced way of cooking: the smell in the meat is less, the taste is relatively monotonous, and it can be eaten after boiling, which can make people feel full; and the taste of "offal" is compound and diverse, and there is often an unpleasant smell, and the oil flowers emerge after the open flame is baked, which can effectively degreas, and the high temperature produces a coking reaction, making the "chowder" become crunchy and chewy, full of caramelized aroma, and can effectively cover up the fishy.
By the time of ancient Rome, Europeans had a more refined choice of "chowder". A small rodent called the "sleeping mouse" was first used as a container for cooking "offal": the Romans chopped up various cattle, sheep, pork, livers and intestines, filled them into the hollowed out stomachs of sleeping mice, and then stitched them up. Finally, after the barbecue, it became a delicacy exclusive to the aristocracy.
According to records, the "offal" filled with sleeping rats has a unique musk aroma, and it is not known how it tastes today. But the Scottish Haggis that later stuffed "offal" and spices into the casing of small casings, and the Scottish haggis that stuffed sheep "offal" and onions into the belly of the lamb, may have originated from this ancient food.
In addition, eating fish and poultry in a variety of ways was also an important part of the ancient Roman diet. Fish meat is the main dish at the feast, while the remaining fish heads and fish offal are put into a pot and boiled into a thin fish sauce for bread. Ancient Roman emperors even asked for fresh fish sauce as a substitute for table salt to be added to all dishes. The amount of fish miscellaneous is small, and the scraps of a fish are generally only enough to make a spoonful of fish sauce, which is "excessive" demand by the emperor, which directly promotes the maturity of fishery breeding technology in ancient Rome.
The "offal" of poultry is eaten in a more special way, and the chef generally does not open the stomach, but cuts off the heads of chickens, ducks and geese, and pours a thick sauce boiled with mint leaves, olive oil, cloves and pepper from the neck. Then roast the whole one, and then cut the stomach open for diners to slowly enjoy the "offal" after the roasting in the stomach.
The role of thick sauce is to remove the fishy smell of internal organs, and the role of stewing is to wrap the original flavor of "offal" without leaking. As you can imagine, the taste should be good. More importantly, when the ancient Roman emperors enjoyed these miscellaneous poultry one by one, they found that the liver of the goose was particularly fat and delicious. Especially before the autumn migration, wild geese, because they eat a lot of food, store energy in the liver to adapt to the needs of long-distance flights. At this time, the foie gras, the abundance is abnormal, the butter spills out after roasting, the entrance is crisp, and the deliciousness is much higher than that of other poultry.
The history of foie gras as the most advanced ingredient in Western food began.
Fat foie gras
Attracting countless European celebrities to "platform"
Even the most reluctant Americans to eat "offal" have no resistance to foie gras for the simple reason that its taste adaptability is too strong: delicate, dense, full of fat, with a strong meat flavor, but rarely fishy. Sliced and baked, it is also very suitable for dessert foie gras jelly or bread spread.
The southwestern French grey goose, which is used for liver extraction, is a breed of artificial fattening for liver extraction, and its size is second to none among all domestic geese in the world. Even the world's largest head, the Chaoshan lion's head goose, is three points inferior in front of the gray goose.
This difference in body shape is related to eating habits. Because since the ancient Roman period, Europeans have a special love for foie gras, generation after generation of large foie gras, goose meat, goose intestines can be discarded. In order to allow the noble Roman emperors to eat the fattest foie gras, the keepers even used figs as feed, so that this high sugar content of the fruit accumulated more energy for foie gras, but also for the liver to increase the aroma of figs. To this day, figs remain a classic side dish when cooking foie gras.
After the fall of ancient Rome to the altar, the "barbarian" rulers from the north no longer had the heart to fatten foie gras and enjoy the food, but the delicious memories will not be erased. Paradoxically, the technique of cultivating fat foie gras was handed down by Jews who were most reluctant to artificially modify natural creatures.
Around the 16th century, the fat foie gras technique spread to southwestern France with the westward migration of Jews. At the end of the Renaissance, when people idolized ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, pushing architecture, sculpture, painting, music, poetry, etc. to the climax, the emergence of fat foie gras suddenly made people suddenly find that the food culture that had been imprisoned by religion for thousands of years was also worth reviving.
Coincidentally, it was also during this period that various crops from the New World were introduced to Europe. A plant called "corn", the yield is much higher than wheat, its starch content is high, choline content is low, can effectively reduce the transport of animal fat, promote the rapid growth of foie gras, so the production of foie gras fat full, beautiful color. Soon, corn was used as the most suitable fodder, and the Alsace region, where the soil was suitable for corn cultivation, later became the most famous foie gras producer in France.
By the 18th century, Alsace had developed a variety of complex foie gras practices, which were widely spread among the people. The then Governor, Marcé de Palatade, in order to show his loyalty to Emperor Louis XVI, had the kitchen wrap foie gras in beef and bake it with a pie crust. After the emperor tasted it, he was amazed, and the foie gras cuisine went out of the east of France and became a delicacy that all france and even all of Europe fell for.
During this period, countless European celebrities "stood" for foie gras, such as Rossini, a famous Italian composer and author of the opera "The Serbian Barber", once said: "I have only cried three times in my life, the first time was when the 'barber' premiere failed; the second time was to listen to Paganini's performance; the third time was a picnic, accidentally dropped a roast goose into the river." ”
And Rossini's invention of Rossini steak is the most representative Italian food heirloom dish so far: under the tender filipino lay a fat foie gras, can not use liver puree, otherwise can not hold, and finally poured red wine, port wine and black truffle boiled sauce, five-point cooked steak also retains the juicy and tender taste of beef, fat philippe with a large piece of foie gras, each bite can taste the full layer, just like Rossini's musical comedy is as interesting and amazing.
In essence, all heirloom cuisines have their own historical encounters. In addition to foie gras, duck liver is also a common cooking ingredient in high-end Western restaurants, and the two are collectively known as foie gras. Unlike the Cantonese who believe that roast duck is a substitute for roasted goose, in the eyes of the French, duck liver and foie gras status is equivalent. Foie gras is fatter and more delicate, duck liver has a stronger liver flavor, and it is easier to cook independently when there is no side dish – in other words, duck liver can be adapted to all foie gras cooking methods, but foie gras may not be suitable for duck liver. Even, many people who are accustomed to eating duck liver can't accept the thinness of foie gras in retrospect.
Commercially available fatty liver generally comes in three forms, fresh liver, cooked frozen liver and liver puree, the latter two are ingredients that can be eaten at any time as long as there is money, and the cooking method is also more casual. Relatively inexpensive liver puree is more diverse and complex, and housewives often use it as a sauce for spreading bread, a small snack to fill the stomach or a base for making desserts, adding Madeira, cider, brandy and port wine to remove the fishy smell, and matching figs, berries and citrus to balance the greasy fat liver with a fresh sweet and sour taste.
Fresh liver has a strong seasonality, generally speaking, winter and spring communication liver is the most fat, most European families will buy fat liver during Christmas and New Year's Day to celebrate the holiday. Although the ingredients are advanced, the cooking method is very simple, after thick cutting, dry frying until browned on both sides. Exquisite, and then with cider pouring juice, the surface of the finished product is brown and fragrant, the interior is warm and smooth, and the entrance is melted, which is also the way to experience the taste of fat liver.
In addition, traditional families in southern Europe cook a cloth-wrapped foie gras – using a thick kitchen cloth or kitchen paper, wrapping the foie gras into a cylinder, tying it tightly and dipping it in warm water, broth or grease. After cooling, it is cut into thick slices, the grease solidifies, the taste is similar to ice cream, and it is a very classic cold dish, which can be used in the hall and into the kitchen.
Strange thymus glands
Dumas's Dictionary of Gastronomy relished it
During the Renaissance, while foie gras was on the Table of Europeans, another "offal" dish called "strange" - calf thymus, also began to become the top food of Europeans.
The thymus gland is an immune organ that most mammals have, but it only grows before sexual maturity, gradually atrophied in adulthood, and its texture will slowly deteriorate. In the ancient Roman era, the society based on farming, the diet structure was not much different from that of China in the same era, and cattle were generally not eaten directly as a tool of farming. Even if you eat, it also focuses on the old, sick, and disabled cattle that have no farming ability, and the calves are impossible to bring to the table, and naturally there is no thymus gland.
But the Black Death, which began to sweep through Europe from the 14th century, killed two-thirds of the population at that time, resulting in the abandonment of a large amount of arable land, and the largest return to grazing land in human history.
People are dead, the land is still there, there is no need for so much food, and the cattle are slowly turning from tools to food. Among them, calves with more tender flesh are more favored. Around the end of the 16th century, calf thymus was already on the royal menu, alongside top ingredients such as foie gras, truffles, lobsters, oysters, morels, cockscombs, and sheep brains.
The taste of the calf thymus gland can be understood as a mixture of bone marrow and fat, compared with other "offal" and meat, its slight sweetness is addictive, the thymus gland is called "sweet bread" in English, which describes this unique sweetness.
As a "chop" with a higher fat content, the preservation and transport of the thymus gland is very difficult, and like truffles, this also increases its added value. Contrary to foie gras, the most suitable time for calf thymus is late spring and early summer, when the calf is born soon after, has not yet been weaned, and has not eaten grass, at this time the gland is the purest, there is no odor. However, the calf thymus gland is very expensive and delicate, and it is usually slaughtered on the same day to eat, otherwise it is easy to get fishy.
All calf thymus glands undergo complex treatment before cooking: first place them under running water and rinse them several times; then soak them in cold water for a long time (3-12 hours or so) to remove impurities; after they turn white, remove the outer film surrounding the thymus; put it in a pot and add cold water to cook for about 2-3 minutes; fish out and then put it in ice water to cool; and then remove excess fascia and grease. These processes cannot be made by factories, but must be done in the kitchen, otherwise, the fresh appearance of the ingredients themselves will be lost.
If you have to make an analogy, Westerners' love for the calf thymus is similar to Chinese's attitude towards flower glue and abalone. Dumas's 1872 Gastronomic Dictionary contains recipes about the calf thymus: fried calf thymus, roasted parsley chives calf thymus, fried calf thymus with mushroom juice. To this day, the way the calf thymus is cooked is still the same, revolving around frying, roasting, and frying: the fried version requires a sauce of shallots, red wine and black pepper; roasted is usually sprinkled with grated black truffles before serving; frying requires morel mushrooms and cream to accompany it - only when the high temperature forces out the fat of the calf thymus gland can taste its crispness, sweetness and moistness.
It should be pointed out that although the calf thymus gland has a light smell and a light and tender texture, it is an out-and-out purine killer – usually 10 times that of ordinary meat and 5 times that of ordinary "offal". Even compared to the discolored hot pot soup base of gout patients, the same amount of calf thymus has a higher content of purines.
But in the end, most of the delicious things are unhealthy, and nature gives human food at the same time, but also educates human beings to know how to stop at the right time.
Delicious sausages
The culmination of Western "offal" cuisine
Another tasty but unhealthy "offal" that has to be mentioned is the intestine.
For the intestine, there are often great differences between different civilizations. Ancient Rome and ancient China, such as the civilization based on farming, often dismissed as a coarse food for the poor. However, the Nordic peoples and the peoples of Central and North Asia, which have a nomadic tradition, believe that the intestine is a treasure of heaven's gift.
In Homer's epic poem Odyssey, Homer likens the troubled Odysseus to "a large intestine that has been roasted," and his disdain is beyond words.
The reason is that most of the livestock and poultry raised by the farming civilization are mainly omnivorous, such as pigs, ducks and dogs, which can consume a lot of kitchen waste and farmland by-products while not fighting with the people for land. But the smell of omnivore intestines is inevitably heavier, and in the absence of good cooking techniques and seasonings, intestines are difficult ingredients to handle, and more often than not, they are hungry things that poor people swallow with their eyes closed after cooking indiscriminately.
But for nomadic people, grassland is a natural source of livelihood, and the meat cattle, horses and sheep they raise are herbivores, and the intestines smell relatively small and taste better. And in places where crops are scarce, the intestine is also an excellent flexible material, which can be widely used in the fermentation of food, the tightening tools of construction and clothing, the strings of weapons and musical instruments, and even condoms.
Therefore, when the "barbarians" Germans destroyed the ancient Roman civilization and almost lost the foie gras, sausages, a rich horseback diet, became popular in Europe.
In fact, sausages are a highly adaptable food. The closedness and breathability of casings can effectively block external impurities, kill anaerobic bacteria, and achieve the effect of prolonging the shelf life of food. At the same time, the proteins and fats on the intestinal wall will have a special esterification reaction with the ingredients, which will induce aromatic food.
Modern sausages are not much different from the sausages eaten by the ancients in essence, but are made of cattle, sheep, pigs, fish, and animal offal or coagulated blood clots as the main raw materials, chopped and added with various spices, vegetables or cheese, etc., and then squeezed into natural casings or synthetic casings. From a certain point of view, sausages are a collection of Western "offal" cuisine works - liver, belly, intestines, heart, lungs, blood, meat, there is no "offal" that cannot be filled in the intestines.
As the country that has preserved the Most Complete Germanic culture, Germany's sausage culture is also the most prominent in the entire Western world – at the latest in the 13th century, each Germanic state had its own unique sausage, including Nuremberg sausage made of pork and marjoram, Thuringian sausage made of pepper, onion, garlic, coriander mixed with emulsified meat, Bavarian white sausage made of veal and chopped parsley.
The most interesting thing is that the "food powers" such as France and Italy regard the blood, intestines and other materials of the scraps, after being poured into the casing, they can be transformed into the most advanced sausages in Germany, such as the Rhine blood sausage made of pig blood, lard and pig skin in the Rhine region, which the locals take to make hot stir-fry, frying and cold cuts, with applesauce, sauerkraut, potatoes to eat, and then a jar of black beer, which is the most typical German meal.
Every German child may be accompanied by sausages at three meals from an early age. In Germany, whenever a customer takes a child to a traditional butcher shop to buy meat, the child gets a small sausage for free. When the owner of the butcher shop sees the customer with the child, the first sentence is to ask the child "Do you want a piece of sausage", instead of asking the parents with the child "what do you want to buy".
This taste memory, cultivated from an early age, is the driving force behind the German tradition and the fulcrum of the gastronomic memory that human beings have inherited from generation to generation.