originally posted by David Erickson:
Offal Pairing
One advantage of living in Appalachia is that when it's hog-slaughtering time (e.g., now), somebody throws a big parts party. I believe it was the late great saloon-singer Bobby Short who advocated chitterlings and champagne. I'm thinking about something big and rustic from Catalonia, but that's sort of my knee-jerk reaction to pig's feet. I had some nice crunchy ears a while back washed down with a Tegernseerhof Grüner Veltliner Bergdistel; that worked pretty well. Maybe some of that Radikon?[/quote
here is a repost from Drew Spaulding from 2008 about offal
Steve South proved to be the only attempted invitee that could stomach the thought of stomach (and other nether regions), so it was dinner for two. I was quite disappointed, as almost all of my friends would self-identify as foodies, but I got an unusual amount of odd excuses as people bowed out. Their loss, though, as the meal was fantastic.
Steve had visited Dry Stack Vineyards earlier in the day, and showed up for dinner with an open bottle of their 2007 Dry Stack Bennett Valley Sauvignon Blanc, which, for my money, is the finest being made in CA right now. Full of citrus and mineral, hints of greens, slightly cloudy color due to non-filtering. Try one if you can find one!
While we were catching up and sipping SB, the amuse showed up. The Pig's Ear Terrine was a bit texturally challenged, with the crunchy, cartilaginous ear surrounding an outstanding head cheese. The only way I've had pigs' ears before has been long-braised and then deep-fried, which results in more of a "cracklins from heaven" experience. Good flavor on this dish, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat it again.
Steve brought with him a 1999 Valentini Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, but it wasn't chilled, so we went to my white first, which was a bit of a mistake. My 2002 Radikon Oslavje, which is an amphora-aged white blend from Collio, went first instead. In the glass, it looks and smells almost like a nice French farmhouse cider, minus the bubbles. Cloudy orange in color, with tart fruit aromas, and a hint of brett, followed by an explosive palate that follows suit on a very full-bodied frame. Really fun wine, but the problem became evident when we switched to the Valentini, this bottle of which just didn't have enough punch or character to come after the Radikon. My bad.
However, the Radikon worked beautifully with the first course: Pastramied Ox Tongue with Pickled Little Gems and Rye, which was basically the best pastrami on rye, deconstructed, that I've ever had. The 'little gems' were basically baby romaine lettuce, tossed in a pickle-and-mustard vinaigrette, with thin slices of ox tongue pastrami (to die for!), and sprouted rye. Smelled like walking in to the greatest deli ever, tasted even better.
Next came the Sicilian Lamb Spleen Bruschetta with Caciocavallo and Salsa Picante. I had never eaten spleen before, and rather enjoyed being with an endocrinologist as he enjoyed his first. The spleen has a slightly chewy texture, kind of like heart. At first, the flavor is just meaty and savory, full of umami. As you chew, though, it slowly becomes more gamy and liver-ish, but never overwhelmingly so. The salsa picante was more of a pepper jam, and it packed some heat, but the Caciocavallo cheese really pulled the whole dish together. Steve's 2005 Jacques Puffeney Arbois Trousseau went amazingly with the dish: about the weight of a fine Beaujolais, but with a bit more sauvage character, and plenty of bright acidity to cut the richness of this dish and the next.
The Blood Sausage, Duck Egg and Warm Oyster dish was a little too under-thought and/or over-wrought. The brininess of the oyster, and the high iodine levels in both the blood sausage and oyster combined to give, for me at least, a too-strong metallic note to the dish. The fried duck's egg and blood sausage without oyster, though, combined to make kind of a Irish breakfast on steroids, and was a stunning combination. I could eat massive amounts of those two.
Next, we moved to the 2001 Adanti 'Arquata' Sagrantino di Montefalco, a delicious, and very fairly priced version of Sagrantino that was hitting on all cylinders, with polished tannins, rich fruit, and layer after layer of herbs, earth and tobacco notes. I'm saving my last bottle of this for at least another two to three years, though, as its only going to get better. This paired well with the Goat 'Humble Pie' with Suet Crust. This dish was basically a light stew of goat liver, kidney and heart, slow-cooked with pearl onions, favas, and baby carrots, served in a large bowl, with a small disk of pie crust on top. Savory, earthy, gamy, and delicious. The heart was especially notable.
Finally, with a small glass of 2003 Scacciadiavoli Sagrantino di Montefalco Passito that the restaurant comped to us (delicious, BTW), we had the Beef Tendon Salad Ambrosia, Summer Berries and Cream. The tendon in this dish had either been hammered flat, or they were really large tendons shaved on a mandolin. They had a crunch texture similar to raw squid or abalone, but very little flavor of its own, so this was basically berries and sweetene3d cream with a crunch. Beef tendon can be excellent when slow-braised, kind of similar to shark fin or bird nest, but a bit more al dente. This dish was tasty, but not exceptional.
All in all, though, a fantastic meal, well worth attending, and the company and wines were suitably excellent. Poor Steve had to be at the airport for a 6am return flight (we didn't finish dinner until 11pm), so we probably won't hear from him for a while, but I think he enjoyed it as much as I did.
Embrace the offal!
