WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF OFFAL

Heart, gizzards, tripe, brains, tail… These pieces that we perhaps wouldn’t cook, whether from lack of culinary knowledge or fear, make up the great family of offal. Mamma mia!

They are often reserved for private consumption between friends and enlightened enthusiasts. There is something rather manly or masculine about offal, but look more closely and its feminine side, soft and delicate, is never very far away. Calf’s head isn’t cooked in one-person serves, it’s something you gather around. We cook tripe in batches of at least five kilograms, so we’ll keep some in the freezer and set aside a serving or two for the neighbours, who love it but don’t dare cook it. A beef cheek bourguignon will be the joy of Sunday lunch and for days afterwards — it is so much better reheated! Forget prejudices, go back to the butcher, get some advice and dare to cook.

Offal appears in daily life in many dishes. A sausage cannot exist without its intestinal casing, andouillette is filled with pig’s innards, terrines are often packed with pork liver, with a soft piece of caul fat wrapped around them…

Offal is all around us. It’s there, lurking on a friendly butcher’s display and waiting patiently for the chance to take centre stage on our plates and shout loud and clear:

TOUS À TABLE!