Warning - may not be suitable for vegans or the squeamish:

My friend Chris is the chef at a restaurant in San Francisco called, InCanto (http://www.incanto.biz/). He is a big proponent of and well-known for using the whole animal. It's always an adventure going to eat at his restaurant. I've eaten a pig's snout, sheep's tripe, octopus in ink, tuna roe, and I can't remember what else. I can't say I liked it all. But I'll try almost anything he gives me.

This soup is foul - I mean made of bird. In fact it's full of bird parts. Note the cock's comb - you know - the comb from a rooster's head. I passed on that. But I did eat a goose nut. That's right - goosey gonad. It was actually pretty good. The one that I ate is actually in this photo - over to the left side of the bowl. Delicious! The big ball shaped things aren't actually bird balls. They're pre eggs, I guess. They're eggs from inside the chicken, before a shell was formed. They cook them in the soup so they're like hard-boiled eggs except they have a lot more yolk than usual. They're tasty.

I also ate beef tendon with beans that night. It surprised me. It was delicate and much nicer than I expected. For my main course I had braised pig's belly. It's one of my very favorite things. It's basically uncured bacon. It's slow-cooked, pretty fatty, and wonderful. Anyone who knows me understands my love for bacon - cured or uncured :D

If you're curious about Chris or using the whole animal, visit his Web site, www.offalgood.com

Dude, John, you have a tougher stomach than me my friend!

Hope it all stays down :wink:

Well, well, you are into some interesting things now days. Yikes! So, how have you been? I have been lurking around here for a week or two researching cameras. It's time for a DSLR. It is good to see some of the same names around and I see just how much I have missed out on by being so DANGED busy for the last three years.

Howdy to all! PJ, you have an e-mail from me and I DO expect answers to my questions. ;)

Hugs from Colorado!

how's the price?

Deborah! It's nice to see you!

I enjoy your yearly check-ins! :wink:

How's the business?

Deborah! It's nice to see you!

I enjoy your yearly check-ins! :wink:

How's the business?


Good morning. Business is good. We just finished our 4th holiday season. It takes me about a month to get over Nov/Dec, then it is time to start planning for the next one. :)

You doing well? Is Sandi still around? Oh her name has slipped my mind at the moment... NY, B&W, Holga...you know, is she still around? I saw a post from Mike F.

I'll probably be around a bit over the next few weeks/months as I learn about that new camera I plan to get.

That is probably the most interesting dish I every encountered. I'm pretty adventuresome when it come to food, but can't say that goose nuts and cock's comb are something I'm be adding to my menu anytime soon.

An adventure for sure! The idea of using the entire animal has been around for a long time, but I haven't heard of using the whole thing in one dish. I'd try it! If you make it out here in the fall I'll have to take you to the Turkey Testical Festival...

John, it's times like this I am so thankful for my Italian-American heritage. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to a dark, quiet room, try to get these DEEPLY DISTURBING images out of my mind, and simply think LASAGNA... :D

Err, I think I'll just stick with hamburgers and hot dogs, thank you! Photo-John you can go on 'Fear Factor' anyday! Another view - Turkey Testicle festival?!?!?

...I'll have to take you to the Turkey Testical Festival...

Wow, that's a mouthfull! bwahahahaha!!!

No seriously, that's just nuts. :D

Okay, I'll stop.

You just gotta' love pork bellies!

Interesting presentation as well. What's the proper beverage selection for this type of feast?

Have you ever had burgoo? Imagine large kettles, whole chickens hogs sides of beef vegies in 25lb+ bags, all dumped in and stewed for 'awhile'. When the bones float, its done.

Cock's comb, don't think I've ever tried that one. . .

Wow! that amazing what an experience that would be, i think its a great idea, if your gonna eat meat/animals why not use the lot instead of wasting so much! i dont know if i could be that brave but my husband is already planning plane tickets!!!!!Lol.

What's the proper beverage selection for this type of feast?...

I dunno, but if it were me, it'd have to have a hell of a lot of alcohol in it...:eek: :D

Road kill burgoo is a Kentucky tradition. But I have yet to find any cocks comb in any burgoo I ever saw. Wonder how you could prepare it so it kept it's color. That would sure enhance the visual presentation if it stayed red.

how's the price?

It ain't cheap. But I recommend it. They have some regular stuff on the menu, too. They have a pork ragu with big, homemade, handkerchief pasta noodles. Anyone but a vegetarian will love it. They also cure their own meats and have a wonderful anti pasto plate.

You just gotta' love pork bellies!

Interesting presentation as well. What's the proper beverage selection for this type of feast?

Have you ever had burgoo? Imagine large kettles, whole chickens hogs sides of beef vegies in 25lb+ bags, all dumped in and stewed for 'awhile'. When the bones float, its done.

Cock's comb, don't think I've ever tried that one. . .

I haven't had burgoo, but it doesn't sound bad. Anything that's stewed can't be all that bad. It's when you're faced with a chunk of something strange that it gets weird :D

I don't drink, but InCanto has a huge wine list. I expect that you'd want a white wine with goose balls :-)

Yeah, the Turkey Testical Festival is real (http://www.turkey-testicle-festival.com/Info.htm). I've been to it a few times but have not yet tried the star attraction, mainly because the line is very long (really). It's a few bucks to get in, and you get a ticket for a few of them for free. After some liquid courage I'm sure they taste pretty good. :eek:

Wow! that amazing what an experience that would be, i think its a great idea, if your gonna eat meat/animals why not use the lot instead of wasting so much! i dont know if i could be that brave but my husband is already planning plane tickets!!!!!Lol.

I believe everyone who eats meat should have at least one kill and slaughter experience. We shouldn't take killing other creatures for granted. I have no problem with eating meat. But I do like to remember and respect where it comes from and not be wasteful about it.

Let me know if you do want to come eat. I'm in - especially if they're serving pork belly! That's only a winter dish, though :(

Warning - may not be suitable for vegans or the squeamish:

My friend Chris is the chef at a restaurant in San Francisco called, InCanto (http://www.incanto.biz/). He is a big proponent of and well-known for using the whole animal. It's always an adventure going to eat at his restaurant. I've eaten a pig's snout, sheep's tripe, octopus in ink, tuna roe, and I can't remember what else. I can't say I liked it all. But I'll try almost anything he gives me.

This soup is foul - I mean made of bird. In fact it's full of bird parts. Note the cock's comb - you know - the comb from a rooster's head. I passed on that. But I did eat a goose nut. That's right - goosey gonad. It was actually pretty good. The one that I ate is actually in this photo - over to the left side of the bowl. Delicious! The big ball shaped things aren't actually bird balls. They're pre eggs, I guess. They're eggs from inside the chicken, before a shell was formed. They cook them in the soup so they're like hard-boiled eggs except they have a lot more yolk than usual. They're tasty.

I also ate beef tendon with beans that night. It surprised me. It was delicate and much nicer than I expected. For my main course I had braised pig's belly. It's one of my very favorite things. It's basically uncured bacon. It's slow-cooked, pretty fatty, and wonderful. Anyone who knows me understands my love for bacon - cured or uncured :D

If you're curious about Chris or using the whole animal, visit his Web site, www.offalgood.com (http://www.offalgood.com)

And you wouldn't taste the tongue when we met last year!?

I am shocked! :P

Looks delicious to me. I'd WAY rather eat something that is identifiable than beef-flavored extruded and emulsified chicken product (chicken macnuggets).

eating well is the first step to living well - you have to do it at least once a day, so why not dive in head-long?

And you wouldn't taste the tongue when we met last year!?

I am shocked! :P

You got me there :D

Something about food with taste buds attached...

What's the proper beverage selection for this type of feast?

.

Tequila from the bottle.

Looks delicious to me. I'd WAY rather eat something that is identifiable than beef-flavored extruded and emulsified chicken product (chicken macnuggets).

eating well is the first step to living well - you have to do it at least once a day, so why not dive in head-long?


I'm curious as to the nutrition content of goose nuts.

Tequila from the bottle.

Si', Anejo!

The Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society, 1965, (Vol. 42, page 540) and in Lipid Metabolism of Animals Journal, 1977

100 grams of raw hog or cattle testicles contain the following: 3 grams fat, 375 mg cholesterol, 26 grams protein, 1 gram carbohydrate and 135 calories.

Certainly the other guts and offal in animals are very nutritious, I see no reason why testicles would be any different. Sweetbreads, liver, kidneys, stomach, stomach lining, and hearts and gizzards are all pretty common these days. What else would you use to make thanksgiving gravy, if not the giblets?

Sausages are often bound in cleaned intestines, the "caseless" sausage is a recent invention. Brain tacos are a favorite of mine from good taquerias, and one has not lived until they have consumed a fiery hot bowl of freshly made menudo, laden with ribbons of tripe. Tete au veau is a whole calves face, braised until mouthwateringly tender, and the best part about Pho soup is the stuff that they don't sell in the mouldering refrigerator at safeway. I'd imagine that cock's comb is a lot like chicken feet - something that always perks me up when I am out for dim sum.

seems to me like the richer and more wasteful we become, the more we move towards homogenized, pre-packaged, frozen otrocities that may or may not have come from an actual farm. I think a slaughter-to-the-table experience is a really good one too - and proves that nothing is more delicious than a meal that you really understand.

sorry for the rant, i'm getting hungry and all this talk about food makes me want to talk more about food :-) Besides, I'm a professional chef so food is something I'm known to get a little passionate about.

You got me there :D

Something about food with taste buds attached...


Yeah, I have that same problem with foods that have toes attached...:P

Megan! Still around. Saying hello from NY!

Megan! Still around. Saying hello from NY!



YES! That would be you. How ya doin' woman? The instant I saw your name on this thread I did one of those "That's HER" deals. :)