Savoury Duck

[georgebaker]

Hi

* pigs trotters-can get anytime although they charge 20pence extra to chop them
* cow heel and elder and cow udder - I think elder and udder are the same thing, I would have to go 20 miles to get these, somewhere like Accrington or Burnley.

* brains- I think these are still on the "prohibited offal list in England.
* sweetbreads- we think these are thymus glands, you never see these in England, well I have ONCE, they were frozen from NZ

* Lambs fry- this is what you think these were>until we reached the age of consent and/or realized what they were!)- you can get them but I have not seen any for months, usually a trip out into the hills

* tripe- its a trip to Rochdale for this, 10 miles, can get different types (all Cow), honeycomb is the most common, never seen Pigs in the UK

* ox tongue not common but you can get it, can get Pigs tongue anytime

* pigs cheek, rare but saw some Chinese guys with a complete pigs head last week .45p/kg. Same guys had a suckling pig �45 which they tried to tell me was a poodle. I think they got them by special order.

* sheep liver- everywhere, same for pigs and kidney of both but cow kidney is less common. Never see deer offal. Heart, sheep is sometimes available but pig and cow is rare.

I saw today (apart from what I said above), pigs stomach and uterus, both frozen, fresh pigs tails and ears. Also chicken feet and duck tongue usually in the same place but did not notice today.

Only things you find in feather are Pheasant (�2 each last week for big cocks), Partridge (not seen lately) and Duck (�2.50 last one I had) and then we have a season. Bet WW gets them MUCH cheaper.

George

[joy1947]

Oh dear George!

How can I break it to you what sweetbreads really are?!
Does the expression 'family jewels' translate? ... all served up fried in egg and breadcumbs. I am sure my cattle cocky (farmer) Uncle used to bring them home and have Auntie Jessie cook them up as a means of stirring the visitors up. Sheeps liver here is always called 'lamb's fry' and is still a favourite sliced thinly, dipped in cornflour and gravy powder and cooked quickly (90 seconds each side) in melted butter ... Yuummm! Although we used to enjoy brains I don't think I could come at them nowadays with all the negative publicity and information to the contrary.

My Mum always loved her honeycomb tripe eaten with a white parsley sauce if I remember correctly but she never could convince Dad or any of her 5 children to sample it. I also distinctly remember coming home from school in the 50's and lifting the lid of a big pot on the stove to find a pig's head looking back at me. I never ate brawn again from that day to this.

They were different times weren't they? I remember my grandmother used to cook up all manner of food scraps and plate leftovers and crushed egg shells and stale bread on the back of the wood fuelled stove to feed the chickens with. My older brothers were always coming in and helping themselves straight from Nanna's stewpots. I relish the memory of my brother John swallowing a great ladle full of the chickens mash.

I haven't seen much pheasant or duck here but we do have many turkey farms so it and chickens of course is readily available. Here in Tasmania, which is the most southern (island) state of Australia we also have wonderful salmon and trout farms and crayfish farms. We can feast on them and many cold water fish species regularly.

I used to love watching the 'Two Fat Ladies' on the TV when they would cook all manner of game, fowl and fish gathered as fresh produce in the nearby countryside. I was sad to hear of the death of the English lady and the subsequent end of the series. The other lady was Australian as I recall. Please excuse my random meanderings down memory lane. Regards, Joy

[georgebaker]

Hi Joy
we have the

'family jewels'

here but we call them LAMBS FRY. I have never tried them, because I suppose, I see them so seldom and would like to have them cooked for me the first time so I had a benchmark to refer to. I have never seen calf ones for sale and I suppose that Bull ones would be very strong. In a TV series called "the long way round" they presenters were offered a stew of mixed balls but did not partake.

We have another thing called sweetbreads which, as I said, are the thymus gland. The ONLY time I have seen them in the UK they were, lamb, frozen and from NZ. I have never eaten them from any animal but my wife tells me calf ones are very good. You can buy lamb ones fresh or frozen in Spain.

The surviving fat lady is in fact English, "born "in the London Clinic" according to "Clarissa & the Countryman" her book on hunting.

Keep eating the cheap cuts, I do
George

[Paul Kribs]

George

The 'sweetbreads' as far as we Brits are concerned are indeed glands.. One set from inside the front of the neck and another lot inside the top of the belly cavity in the area of the heart.. and I must confess I have never tasted them..

Sweetbreads consist of two parts of the thymus gland, the throat and heart. The throat bread is longer than the heart bread and they are both treated to the same preparations. In some quarters the stomach or pancreas bread is referred to as a sweetbread.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[panther]

In this area I can't recall faggots being made in gravy. Our old butcher for many, many years, used to make some fantastic faggots, of course to a secret recipe! Had some from another butcher in a nearby town, about 4inches in diameter, pink in the middle, and not very tasty. I currently use the following recipe for mine:

2lbs Pork liver

1lb Belly Pork

3 Medium onions

4oz Porridge oats (I sometimes add some T&P or S&O stuffing to give a litle more flavour)

2tbspns Chopped sage (1tbspn if using dried)

1tbspn Parsley chopped or half if dried

1tspSalt

� tsp pepper to taste

Coarsley minced, mixed together, and cooked either in small 2-3inch balls, in bun tins, or in a cake tin about 2inches deep by 8ins square. The small one cook at 180 in about 45mins, the cake takes a good bit longer. It may be a little bland for some, but you can always spice it up a little.

The last lot I made had been minced by the butcher, and he put equal amounts of liver and belly mixed in one container, so there was far too much belly pork, and not enough liver, and the taste was definitely not as good as 2:1 liver to belly. The oats is my contribution to healthy living.
I'm now struggling with sausage stuffing, but will get there in the end. Next . . . pork pies?

[joy1947]

Well there you go! Uncle Hubert hadn't stopped playing with me after all and he popped off in 1986! Now I'm wondering just what exactly I did eat way back then!? I found this interesting website if you'd like to have a peep. It's all about strange and unusual meat cuts.

http://www.foodsubs.com/MeatvarMisc.html

You are quite right about Clarissa ... it was in fact her mother who was Australian. I still haven't made the Yorkshire Duck which resurrected this thread in the first place. Thanks for the recipe Panther.

Cheers, Joy

[georgebaker]

Hi
in addition to the other things saw (Pigs?) spleen yesterday. They also had boneless chicken feet as well as the normal ones
George

[trotters independant]

There is a deli in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire that sells savoury duck, I always call in and buy one, love them to bits, I thought they were small haslets when I first saw them!

Here is another recipe variation for them, enjoy!

FAGGOTS OR SAVOURY DUCKS:

Someone asked about Faggots, also known as Savoury Ducks. This recipe, enjoyed all over Yorkshire, is yet another example of how ingenious women, forced by chronic poverty to buy the cheapest of foods, were able to create tasty and nourishing dishes to sustain our ancestors, without whom we would not be here to argue about things today. You will notice this recipe calls for a pig's caul. Don't ask. Make the faggots without it.

1 lb. pig's liver
2 medium onions
4 oz. fat pork
Pinch of thyme
Generous 1/2 teaspoon powdered sage
Pinch of basil
Salt and pepper
Pinch grated nutmeg
1 egg
Breadcrumbs
Pig's caul

Slice the liver, onions and pork thinly. Put in a saucepan with the thyme, sage, basil, salt, pepper and nutmeg and barely cover with water.
Simmer for 1/2 hour, then strain off the liquid and save for the gravy.
Mince the contents of the stewpan finely.
Add the beaten egg and sufficient breadcrumbs to make into a fairly firm mixture and mix thoroughly.
Form into balls and enclose each one in a piece of caul.
Place in baking tin, and add a little gravy.
Bake at 400 until nicely browned.
Serve with a good thickened gravy.
If preferred, the mixture can be pressed into a well greased baking tin and marked into squares. Cover with caul and cut into squares after cooking.
6 servings.