A very pleasant surprise

[Addie]

There is a service station/convenience store down the road a bit from the community college that serves chitlins every day. They are prepared very much like I remember from my youth. Just the right balance of vinegar and hot sauce.
I know they ain't everyone's idea of good eats, but I sure do like 'em!
Hope to have the opportunity someday to try haggis, 'course there is a very long list of foods I would like to try afore I shuffle off this mortal coil, as they say.

For some strange reason, it is illegal to make and serve Haggis in the United States. Guess you will have to go to Scotland. What a hardship that would be. To travel and eat new foods.

 

[taxlady]

For some strange reason, it is illegal to make and serve Haggis in the United States. Guess you will have to go to Scotland. What a hardship that would be. To travel and eat new foods.

That sounded so odd I had to look it up. It has been illegal to import haggis since 1971. It's illegal to use lungs for human consumption, so any haggis made in the US isn't quite authentic, if it's legal. Whodathunk it?

 

[Addie]

That sounded so odd I had to look it up. It has been illegal to import haggis since 1971. It's illegal to use lungs for human consumption, so any haggis made in the US isn't quite authentic, if it's legal. Whodathunk it?

Oddly enough, I only read that yesterday. Surprised me also. The article I read had a picture of it. Sure didn't look appetizing.

 

[Hoot]

I recently read that about haggis. I reckon I ain't sophisticated enough to understand the reasoning. But who knows, one of these days I might be able to travel to Scotland for an authentic taste of haggis. On the other hand, I 'spose I could make it here at Casa de Hoot. 'Course, I would be the only one to eat it.

 

[roadfix]

If they're doing menudo for their family they should make a batch for their customers as well, and have them only that day of the week.
Many places that serve menudo don't serve them daily, but usually on weekends only.
They great for hangovers.

 

[Hoot]

Great idea! I will suggest that to them.

 

[Addie]

Great idea! I will suggest that to them.

You mentioned that she makes it on a Sunday for her family. Are they open to the public on Sunday? If not would she be willing to make it Saturday for the public? That for some strange reason is the day it seems to be most popular day for the public to hanker for it.

 

[Kayelle]

Steve was also surprised about Haggis being outlawed in this country, as he ate it in Scotland many years ago and wasn't really impressed one way or another.

I wonder why lungs is such a "no no" as it seems to me Americans ingest every other part of an animal, if we know it or not.

 

[buckytom]

lungs were made illegal because testing revealed unacceptable levels of possibly dangerous stomach contents and brain matter in the lungs after slaughter, and that because of the surface area involved, lungs were more likely to harbour bad icky stuff.
i've also read somewhere that uncooked lungs can pass on tuberculosis.

 

[taxlady]

Sounds like some very odd slaughtering that gets brain and stomach contents into the lungs.

 

[Dawgluver]

Sounds like some very odd slaughtering that gets brain and stomach contents into the lungs.

Or one HUGE snort. DH would probably not make for good haggis.

 

[Mad Cook]

That's a great find. I've never had menudo. I've also never cooked tripe.

You really haven't missed anything by never cooking tripe. Having been brought up a few miles from the Lancashire I will probably be lynched for saying this but tripe is disgusting.

Texture, smell, taste - all vile. It doesn't matter how much wine and brandy or calvados you put with it, it's still dog food (if she'll eat it).

 

[Addie]

You really haven't missed anything by never cooking tripe. Having been brought up a few miles from the Lancashire I will probably be lynched for saying this but tripe is disgusting.

Texture, smell, taste - all vile. It doesn't matter how much wine and brandy or calvados you put with it, it's still dog food (if she'll eat it).

When I worked in the Italian restaurant, every Saturday was tripe day. Coco would boil it for a long time. Then the both of us would cut it into little pieces. Then she would put it the big pot of marinara sauce and finish cooking it. Always sold out.

 

[Hoot]

As an addendum, we went to Norfolk this weekend to visit Mrs Hoot's sister and family.
Her nephew married a lovely woman who is of Mexican descent. We met her parents shortly after the wedding. I related the tale of menudo to her and she was also surprised that the menudo from our new friends at the restaurant did not have hominy. During the course of the conversation, I asked Sarah if her mother would part with her recipe. I am very hopeful to be able to make a batch on my own one of these days using a traditional recipe.

 

[Kayelle]

As an addendum, we went to Norfolk this weekend to visit Mrs Hoot's sister and family.
Her nephew married a lovely woman who is of Mexican descent. We met her parents shortly after the wedding. I related the tale of menudo to her and she was also surprised that the menudo from our new friends at the restaurant did not have hominy. During the course of the conversation, I asked Sarah if her mother would part with her recipe. I am very hopeful to be able to make a batch on my own one of these days using a traditional recipe.

Hoot, I'm still on the hunt for dried hominy here as I hear that it's better than the canned. They have it at Amazon but it gripes me to get it there when I live where there are lots of Mexican markets and not one of them has it. I like it in Menudo but I also use it in my Posole, a pork Mexican stew, that's much easier to deal with and also has a wonderful flavor.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Sounds like some very odd slaughtering that gets brain and stomach contents into the lungs.

The tuberculosis threat is the primary reason, from what I understand.

My German-born grandmother used to cook something called "calf lights" when we were kids. Basically, it was strips of meat swimming in a beige colored gravy. It had a decent flavor but the texture was kind of off-putting. I remember my brother and I also thought the name was pretty cool, until we found out it was made from lungs. Neither of us ate it again. It was just too weird and the flavor, while good, wasn't fantastic enough to draw us back to eating it again. Now it's just one of those "remember the time grandma made that" stories. Besides, I don't think you can even find it anywhere these days.

Strangely enough, other than that, there aren't many parts of an animal I won't eat. While I will eat tripe, I draw the line at sphincters, and I won't eat eyeballs, either (both just give me the heebie-jeebies ). But I've had brains, heart, liver, kidneys, tongue, and most other things, and it doesn't bother me.

On a trip to Paris a few years back, one of the most delicious things I ate was crépinette de veau, which is veal endocrine gland wrapped in caul fat and fried. Sounds offal (pun intended) but is very tasty, as long as you don't spend a lot of time thinking about it.

In Istanbul they have these interesting rest stops. You can fill up the tank, get something to eat, and do your praying in a mosque. The food in these places isn't your standard convenience store fare. It's more like a deli/buffet. Anyway, none of the people in our group spoke Turkish, so we would just kind of point at things we wanted. I had a wonderful dish that looked a lot like Louisiana dirty rice with tomatoes and yogurt plopped on the top. After I finished eating, I asked our Turkish bus driver what it was that I had. He didn't speak much English and had to look up the name in a Turkish-English dictionary. The best description he could come up with was "brain of small sheep with rice". Again, weird but good.

 

[taxlady]

I'm surprised that tuberculosis is a threat nowadays. I thought all animals with TB had to be culled.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I'm surprised that tuberculosis is a threat nowadays. I thought all animals with TB had to be culled.

I don't know. Bovine TB is a fairly insignificant threat in the US but, from what I understand, part of the reason it's insignificant is because of all the regulations they have, including what meat can't be imported. We can't control how people raise their herds in other parts of the world, but we can control the import of the meat. It's also one of the reasons you can't import raw milk products here.

 

[Hoot]

Hoot, I'm still on the hunt for dried hominy here as I hear that it's better than the canned. They have it at Amazon but it gripes me to get it there when I live where there are lots of Mexican markets and not one of them has it. I like it in Menudo but I also use it in my Posole, a pork Mexican stew, that's much easier to deal with and also has a wonderful flavor.

After reading your post, I got to thinking.....Rancho Gordo, Inc. which is headquartered in Napa has many outlets where their products are sold.

Here is the page for prepared hominy (white corn posole)

You can see the list of markets here: Rancho Gordo Market Schedule
There are a lot of stores listed, maybe one of these in your area either has dried hominy or can get it in.

I have an uncle that lives in Fairfield, and while he is more of an asian aficianado, I will ask him if he has ever seen dried hominy in his neck of the woods, next time I give him a call.

 

[Kayelle]

TSM for your help Hoot, but it seems they too are out of it. I signed up for the waiting list however. Their nearest store is about 45 min. north in Santa Barbara. It's a spectacular drive up there along the ocean, so when they get it in, we can make a day of it. What a beautiful area to call home.