Photo Courtesy of www.offalgood.com
I originally wrote this article for Smoke Signals Magazine, an online publication of The BBQ Brethren, it is reprinted here with their permission.
Turning something many Americans would easily refer to as awful into meals that San Francisco tourists and residents alike flock to eat is what Chef Chris Cosentino is all about. Chef Cosentino has taken the art of cooking offal to a place most American chefs have shied away from.
According to Chef Cosentino’s website offal is described as “those parts of a meat animal which are used as food but which are not skeletal muscle. The term literally means “off fall”, or the pieces which fall from a carcass when it is butchered. Originally the word applied principally to the entrails. It now covers insides including the HEART, LIVER, and LUNGS (collectively known as the pluck), all abdominal organs and extremities: TAILS, FEET, and HEAD including BRAINS and TONGUE. In the USA the expressions “organ meats” or “variety meats” are used instead.” (www.offalgood.com)
Chef Cosentino’s interest stems from a desire to feature peasant cuisine of Italy, “so much of it is based on offal. When I slaughtered my first animal, I was amazed at how much meat was thrown away. From that moment on, I made it my mission to educate myself about how to cook and use every part of the animal. By doing this I am able to preserve and resurrect old techniques before they are gone.”
“These parts are only thrown away in the USA; every other country in the world eats them. Using every part is simply the right thing to do. When an animal gives its life for food, it’s important to do it justice by serving all of it. Moreover, each cut is beautiful in texture and flavor in its own special way, so why not enjoy all of them,” Chef Cosentino continues on why he gets a certain satisfaction out of making tasty eats from parts of animals most people would throw out.
