Lamb Fries! (Not for the weak stomached!)

[gcvmom]

Oh. My. My.

About six months ago, a new market opened up near us. I thought it was a healthfood store, but never bothered to go in until last weekend. I took husband and the kids there tonight so I could show them all the amazing things this store had for sale.

There are a lot of ethnic foods, a huge deli with hot prepared foods from countries like Greece, India, Persia, China, Thailand, as well as Mexican, Italian and your typical American hero/subs. I bought a chicken Tandoori combo for myself, which included saffron rice, nan (a bread) and a vegetable side, for which I chose matar paneer (peas in a savory sauce with cubes of Indian cheese) -- delicious!

The produce is amazingly varied -- dandelion greens, quince, okra, jicama, dinosaur plums (they're spotted), passion fruit, etc., as well as the usual things you might find like peaches, plums, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, beets, yada, yada, yada -- and their prices are just unheard of. Fifty-nine cents a pound for the fruit! And it's good!

They have a gourmet bakery counter with just about every pastry or confection imaginable -- those prices weren't so cheap, but they sure looked good.

But what REALLY got the kids wound up was the butcher counter and meat case. Octopus, oxtails, beef tongue, tripe, beef feet, lamb tongue, lamb feet, lamb trotters, lamb head, and of course all the usual cuts of beef, chicken, turkey, and seafood. There was a separate section for pork that was labeled very clearly, no doubt for those who are not allowed to eat it. And there were animal parts we had no idea were used for human consumpton! Like lamb tripe, lamb brains, and lamb fries. I had to look up the last one (although I suspected what it was, but just had to be sure). I would have no idea how to prepare any of those, let alone if I'd be daring enough to try...

Anyone here have any exotic culinary tales to share?

 

[Fran]

Some are pretty familiar. My mom makes veal or beef tripe stew with potatoes in a thick tomato sauce. I had the not so wonderful pleasure of cleaning tripe as a middle school child. I'll never eat it but my siblings love it. Bleech!

Pig's feet stew or even in a pasta sauce is good. My parents grew up in the country and both families raised sheep and goats. Nothing is wasted. Nothing.

 

[GoingNorth]

Mexican markets sell 'pata de res' which are whole de-haired cow's lower legs with the external hoof peeled away. They are cooked in various sorts of stews.

I don't eat them, nor do I eat 'tripas', but my dogs over the years have sure loved them.

 

[everywoman]

Around my area of the country chittlins is very popular. I would never eat it, but you can find them in every grocery store meat counter.

 

[ThreeShadows]

When I lived in Maine I volunteered to tutor a young Chinese student from the local high school. He was so grateful that someone would care enough to give him their time that he let me eat a dish of stewed chicken feet that he had cooked in his parents' restaurant. I say "let" because I doubt the health inspector would have approved. It was delicious, though very messy.

My mother was very adventurous in the kitchen. When I was a toddler she fed me turtle soup. School lunches in France often consisted of badly peeled boiled beef tongue. I hated it and so did all the other kids. I was so desperate to be accepted by them that I accepted to eat their portions as well as mine, NO throwing food away in those hard post war days!

The difficult children were once adventurous too. When we went to Greece on a school trip #1 ordered fish egg salad while the adult chaperones were requesting ketchup with their fries!