Friday, January 29, 2010

Name that body part - i.e. Fun at the butcher stall

I admire the value that other cultures place on using every part of an animal, not wasting a single part. But I am squeamish, and I cannot force myself to eat organ meat. I realize this is a cultural weakness, but I am not willing to work through it and make myself conquer this fear of less-than-large muscles. To hell with "while in Rome." You should see the kids at the butcher stalls, pointing, groaning, laughing, gagging. I'm kind of embarrassed to be taking photos. Who but an Americano would think the meat stall is worth pictures? What do they do with this stuff?

Alex: "That's not offal. That's terrible."

Lengua de ternera – veal tongue


Cow snout on a bed of tripe


Sangre - blood


Sesos - brains (each kind of animal gets its own special sized brain box


Cabeza de cordero – head of lamb


Riñón es de ternera – veal kidney (left)
Criadilla de ternera – veal testicle (right)

My favorite alternate definitions:

criadilla - noun
1. Testicle of an animal. (f)
2. A small loaf. (f)
3. (dim.) A little worthless servant-maid. (m)
4. Truffle, a kind of mushroom. (Botany) (m)

Overheard:
"What do they call cow testicles again?"
"Big."

1 comment: