Different Tastes
Food. There are so many different combinations and ways of eating it. Some are internationally accepted. Others are local and outsiders look on with a strange look on their face. Still others were once common in many places, yet have fallen so far out of favor, that now they are considered strange. I'm making one of those meals today.
Tripe was once considered a staple in Boston, and in most of the northeastern United States. But that was long before I was born. My mother never had any trouble finding it, though only at the butchers' shops in the Italian North End. I never remembered seeing it at Stop 'n' Shop, or Star Market, or Purity Supreme. (Do these supermarkets even still exist?) The traditional recipe with tripe in Spain is callos. It has tripe, chick peas, onion, paprika, and cow and pig's feet, along with good spices, though the final ingredients depend on the region. Some places also add chourizo. Contrary to what one might think, it's delicious, and on a cold winter's day, absolute heaven. Since it also takes a while to make, I reserve it for a Sunday.
Chestnuts now are considered a nut to roast and eat in the fall, or to cook in a syrup and eat for desert as marron glacé. Once upon a time, the households of the provinces of Ourense, Lugo, and others, used them as a staple food. The chestnuts would be gathered in the fall and put in the sun to dry. Then, they would be peeled and put away to use as potatoes are used today. There are still recipes with a side dish of chestnuts, but they're not as common anymore.
Some meats not generally found in a U.S. supermarket include bull's tail, and bull's testicles. Though, I suppose they might be found in small, specialty mom-and-pop stores that cater to Latin American populations. I haven't tried them yet, more than anything because it's an expensive proposition that I would be the only one eating. Also, they're not common foods in Galicia. I have seen bull's tail in one or two butcher shops, but not everywhere. I think I haven't seen bull's testicles, nor lamb testicles (another delicacy) around here. Recipes with those meats are generally more popular in other parts of Spain. Here, we prefer strange seafoods.
Have you ever eaten a barnacle? I have, and they taste good. If that sounds strange, how about a limpet? The funny thing is, we never heard of anyone eating a limpet until my husband and I went to a small town on the north coast, that, until relatively recently, was quite isolated. There we overheard a conversation on limpets as seafood. Okay. Barnacles, however, or percebes, are a very expensive delicacy. They are among the aristocracy of seafood. Prices can fetch two hundred euros a kilo for the good, thick barnacles with plenty of meat. But the price is understandable when you discover where they grow. They abound on the rocks that face the open sea, where the waves smash against the land. Percebeiros, the men and women who collect them, sometimes risk their lives to pick a few handfuls off a rock. Some have died collecting them.
Other morsels commonly eaten here are periwinkles. Generally, the meat is fished out with a needle or a sharp toothpick. My father likes them, though he's the only one in the family who does. A couple of years ago, I bought some for him, cooked them, and took them next door, along with a pin cushion with a single needle that had some thread attached. He brought back the pin cushion at a moment when we weren't home. When my daughter and I arrived home, the pin cushion was sitting, empty, on the table. Our cat, Anton, was sitting next to it, licking his chops. We rushed him to the vet, where he had an x-ray, and we could see the needle cozily resting in his stomach. After emergency surgery, he was declared a very lucky cat. And a lover of seafood. The needle, still smelling of periwinkles, had been too irresistible.
Then there's sea urchins, which I have no intention of eating. I wouldn't even know how to cook and open them to get at the orange part, which is eaten with a spoon. Visions of its needles stuck in my hands abound when I think about doing it. There are also octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. Octopus is good, cuttlefish can be good, and fried squid is terrific. I had always like fried squid, but when I was pregnant it was my fetish food. I craved fried squid at practically every hour, every day. Since then, it has remained one of my favorite foods.
My culinary curiosity, however, extends outside my borders. Whenever I can, I like to try new foods. Few make me hold my nose. Except insects. I have no future plans to try any kind of insect, even if they're covered in the most delicious chocolatey chocolate!
Tripe was once considered a staple in Boston, and in most of the northeastern United States. But that was long before I was born. My mother never had any trouble finding it, though only at the butchers' shops in the Italian North End. I never remembered seeing it at Stop 'n' Shop, or Star Market, or Purity Supreme. (Do these supermarkets even still exist?) The traditional recipe with tripe in Spain is callos. It has tripe, chick peas, onion, paprika, and cow and pig's feet, along with good spices, though the final ingredients depend on the region. Some places also add chourizo. Contrary to what one might think, it's delicious, and on a cold winter's day, absolute heaven. Since it also takes a while to make, I reserve it for a Sunday.
Chestnuts now are considered a nut to roast and eat in the fall, or to cook in a syrup and eat for desert as marron glacé. Once upon a time, the households of the provinces of Ourense, Lugo, and others, used them as a staple food. The chestnuts would be gathered in the fall and put in the sun to dry. Then, they would be peeled and put away to use as potatoes are used today. There are still recipes with a side dish of chestnuts, but they're not as common anymore.
Some meats not generally found in a U.S. supermarket include bull's tail, and bull's testicles. Though, I suppose they might be found in small, specialty mom-and-pop stores that cater to Latin American populations. I haven't tried them yet, more than anything because it's an expensive proposition that I would be the only one eating. Also, they're not common foods in Galicia. I have seen bull's tail in one or two butcher shops, but not everywhere. I think I haven't seen bull's testicles, nor lamb testicles (another delicacy) around here. Recipes with those meats are generally more popular in other parts of Spain. Here, we prefer strange seafoods.
Have you ever eaten a barnacle? I have, and they taste good. If that sounds strange, how about a limpet? The funny thing is, we never heard of anyone eating a limpet until my husband and I went to a small town on the north coast, that, until relatively recently, was quite isolated. There we overheard a conversation on limpets as seafood. Okay. Barnacles, however, or percebes, are a very expensive delicacy. They are among the aristocracy of seafood. Prices can fetch two hundred euros a kilo for the good, thick barnacles with plenty of meat. But the price is understandable when you discover where they grow. They abound on the rocks that face the open sea, where the waves smash against the land. Percebeiros, the men and women who collect them, sometimes risk their lives to pick a few handfuls off a rock. Some have died collecting them.
Other morsels commonly eaten here are periwinkles. Generally, the meat is fished out with a needle or a sharp toothpick. My father likes them, though he's the only one in the family who does. A couple of years ago, I bought some for him, cooked them, and took them next door, along with a pin cushion with a single needle that had some thread attached. He brought back the pin cushion at a moment when we weren't home. When my daughter and I arrived home, the pin cushion was sitting, empty, on the table. Our cat, Anton, was sitting next to it, licking his chops. We rushed him to the vet, where he had an x-ray, and we could see the needle cozily resting in his stomach. After emergency surgery, he was declared a very lucky cat. And a lover of seafood. The needle, still smelling of periwinkles, had been too irresistible.
Then there's sea urchins, which I have no intention of eating. I wouldn't even know how to cook and open them to get at the orange part, which is eaten with a spoon. Visions of its needles stuck in my hands abound when I think about doing it. There are also octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. Octopus is good, cuttlefish can be good, and fried squid is terrific. I had always like fried squid, but when I was pregnant it was my fetish food. I craved fried squid at practically every hour, every day. Since then, it has remained one of my favorite foods.
My culinary curiosity, however, extends outside my borders. Whenever I can, I like to try new foods. Few make me hold my nose. Except insects. I have no future plans to try any kind of insect, even if they're covered in the most delicious chocolatey chocolate!
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