Tasted Offal. Yum!

See the food on the right in the picture above?
Looks pretty tasty, huh?
Wanna dig right in?

They were offal.
Really offal.
And, yummy!

For those who think my typos are getting a bit out of hand...
According to Merriam-Webster Online -

Offal :
The waste or by-product of a process: as
a: trimmings of a hide
b: the by-products of milling used especially for stock feeds
c: the viscera and trimmings of a butchered animal removed in dressing

The cheek is a muscle but as it is part of the head, it is often sold as offal.

You see, the platter of nummy goodness in the photo above displays homemade sweet potato blinis with pork jowl braised in cherry coke, with maple crème fraîche. Yum.

The chef, David, sometimes known as "Quish Quash," watched me as I popped the first one in my mouth.

Hmm...
I tasted. Chewed.
Thought about it.
I think I scared him because I took a while, contemplating the taste.

I took a second bite, this time with a little less of the crème fraîche - I wanted to really taste the jowl. Well, it wasn't chewy, but it had a lot of texture like a stew meat. And, was perhaps a bit greasy. Yep, easy to chew. He smiled. He had braised the cheek to make it tender. I told him it had worked. They were really good.

The puffy fried things on the left were skate and tilapia croquettes. Also, very good - and I don't like fish!

I think I'd be willing to try anything Quish Quash made.
Never know, it might just turn out to be offal.

So, what new food have you come across recently?
Try it.
You might like it.

For more information on offal, see Chris Cosentino's site:
http://www.offalgood.com/site/
And, you can see more of Chris on The Next Food Network Star.

Photo courtesy of Kinsley.

And, I swear, Part 4 of Feasting on Americana is coming soon. Has arrived!
With tales of gigantic grocery men
...Giant peaches
...And the reason you likely owe a debt of gratitude to Duncan Hines for more than a moist cake.