Gastrorubbish

We have learned a lot about British culture by watching a food TV show called, Rick Stein’s Food Heroes. He travels all around the UK sampling local food. I think we enjoy watching it for its insight into the culture and not for the recipes as there have been perhaps two things I have seen in 30 episodes that I would actually contemplate making. The other insight we have gained through this show is a glimpse into just how terrible some British food can be. It gives ‘shock and awe’ a whole new meaning. Just so you can share in how unbelievably bad this stuff is here are some sample dishes…..

For Breakfast apparently Rick Stein from time to time likes to indulge in a tasty meal of mushrooms and lamb kidneys on toast. Mmmm…the breakfast of champions.
For dinner many of the following seem to be delicacies:
-Pork stuffed with parsley and boiled in a bag. This is called Lincolnshire Chine. The neck or chine of a pig from between the shoulder blades, is salted for up to ten months and stuffed with parsley. Served cold, it's considered by many in the county to be an acquired taste. Acquired following lobotomy?
-Classic pork pie is apparently made with proper jelly from boiling pork trotter. Who knew? And what the hell is pork trotter?! The ‘this little piggy’ rhyme comes to mind.
-Pork trotter must be pretty damn good because they also use it to help make brawn, which is perhaps the worst of the bunch. Brawn is terrine of meat, or fancy meatloaf. It is made from the head and face of a pig, including the neck and other odd bits like the lungs and heart. The pork trotter is again used to make a gelatin to hold all these bits together. It is usually eaten cold or at room temperature as a luncheon meat.
-Tripe (cow’s stomach) and jellied eels seem to be favorites as well though I have no comprehension as to why.
-Black pudding has to be included on this list. It is a favorite among many Scots. The episode that showed the making of black pudding by a local Scot may have in fact traumatized me for life. The big vats of dark red blood, poured over oats and then stuffed into sausage casing. Who ever thought that would be a good idea? I can say that I have tried it, but luckily before I saw this episode. The taste is almost as frightening as the visual of it being made.

This country is hard for a former vegetarian to endure. I am scared of all the meat and even a simple steak pie may without my knowing have kidneys lurking in it! Despite my trepidation, I can understand where these foods came from. Much British cuisine (I use that term loosely) seems to come from wanting to use every bit of an animal. They don’t waste anything – pig face, cow’s blood, everything is made into food somehow. This would make the food go further to feed more people. I have also heard of this in other European cultures such as pig roasts in Spain. I can respect this food production for its minimal wasting, (contrary to our obsession with chicken breasts and forgetting about the whole rest of the bird), but I am not sure I am brave enough to be the one who eats most of this stuff!