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So, [livejournal.com profile] emquilxy, her mum, and I went to legume bistro last night for the offal tasting.

Tasted:

Duck Liver and Quince Mousse with Sour Cherry Pickles
Fromage de Tête with Apple, Celery Root, Yukina and Cider Vinaigrette
Sautéed Lamb Kidney Salad with Arugula, Mizuna, Fried Potatoes and Mustard Vinaigrette
Eggs Shirred in Spicy Tripe Stew, Garlic Toast


The duck liver mousse was easily the best thing I had, and that was before I'd had a healthy dose of wine. Served in tiny ramikins with two crostinis, it was rich but not overwhelming, and the pickled cherries added just a hint of sour at the right moments. There was much debate at our table about how clean we could get the bowls and still be within the bounds of decency. In the end, I believe there was some finger wiping, but not me, because I AM A LAYDAY.

Honest to god, though, I should have just licked the thing out.

The head cheese was all right. For some reason I got the tiny piece and everyone else got a larger piece, and that made me bitter. The gelatin that comes of pressing fatty cold meats was actually rather good, because it wasn't in excess, and the meat itself was rendered in such a way that it wasn't inconsistent texturally, which for me is a deal breaker in pressed meats.

Not that I want to know what ANY of the meat items in this was. The celeriac and apple was fantastic, and I took the yukina for raw kale, but it so didn't matter. OM NOM NOM.

That brings us to the kidney.

Look, I am an adventurous eater. That it was kidney, that it even LOOKED like a kidney incited no repulsion or fear in me other than to badly quote a few lines of Jack the Ripper's letter to Dr. Openshaw. It was served with some fried potato wedges, and a bed of arugula and mizuna in a mustard vinaigrette, and I cleaned that off my plate.

But the kidney.

Old boss you was rite it was the left kidny i was goin to hoperate agin close to you ospitle just as i was going to dror mi nife along of er bloomin throte them cusses of coppers spoilt the game but i guess i wil be on the jobn soon and will send you another bit of innerds

EM: I hope the smell is not indicative of the taste.
ME: (swallowing) It's precisely the way it tastes.
AUNT: It smells like a waste disposal.

Not to be put aside, I ate almost a whole kidney. I tried it with the greens. I tried it with the greens and the fries. In that combination, it was almost palatable, but if you mixed too much kidney in, it overpowered everything. Something about the inherent taste of the meat itself was. I'll be honest, it was horrible. and this is coming from a person who likes liver and sweetbreads. I am okay with the organ meat. But not this time. And it wasn't even the first taste, but the after taste that was just dreadful.

O have you seen the devle with his mikerscope and scalpul a-lookin at a kidney with a slide cocked up.

[livejournal.com profile] emquilxy took some of them home to give to her cat.

EM: Smudge is either going to take one look at this and nom it all down or run immediately to my bed and piss on it.

I just got the following email: I'm not saying Smudgie did or did not eat those kidneys. All I'm saying is that they weren't in his bowl this morning, despite the stink-eye he gave me when I put them in last night.

So, SOMEONE liked them.

Lastly, REWARD! The tripe with the shirred egg was almost exactly as I remembered it from last year, plus a little heat, and I'll tell you, this might be the only way I'd ever eat tripe, but after they way this was done, I might give it another go at a different place and in a different prep. Congrats, Legume, I would totes eat cow stomach again. I might even...be thinking about buying it. La la la la.

CHINESE NEW YEAR. YOU ARE ALL IN MY POWER.

DOOOOOMED.

Final notes: It was worth it again. The place is delightfully claustrophobic in a charming way (they don't even have room in back to store proper stemware, so they have little tumblers). I love everything they serve, actually (the kidney issue was definitely a matter of personal taste and not preparation). I love BYOB places. I have already promised to take [livejournal.com profile] paragraphs here (OR Le Pommier! Ooooooh! Or Mallorca! Clearly, I have issues.) I love offal night. I was sad they didn't have the goulash with the sweetbreads this year, or whatever that was, but this was a great night, and damn, I want some tripe.

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December 2020

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