Head to Tail eating is a fine dining trend that bridges cultures, tradition and innovation and brings food ethics into sharp focus, as well. What is it, who's doing it and why?
Traditional Cooking Includes Offal
Nearly every culture has a tradition of eating offal. ("oh-ful" or "ah-ful"). Ask anyone what their grandparents ate and chances are there's some offal the list. Anyone using resources to feed and raise a pig or a cow, would naturally want to consume as much of the animal as possible to get the best return on their investment of time and food.
Chittlins, trotters, tripe, pickled pig's feet, tongue, liver, kidneys - these are all part of the animal fewer people are ignoring and many grew up eating. The pig's ear salad at Cochon, or the sweetbreads at Momofuku.
While we have grown accustomed to all animal proteins in plastic wrapped/styrofoam packages, they don't grow that way.
The more we think about the farm to table connection, the use of resources in responsible ways, going green and so forth, the more Head to Tail eating makes sense.
It's noteworthy that Frank Bruni's #2 pick for restaurants to know is Ubuntu in Napa Valley: a vegetarian fine dining spot that goes further than farm-to-table and sources their produce from their own garden.
Bits, Bobbles, Butchers
When an animal is quartered and butchered steaks, chops, roasts are some of the cuts that result. The so-called "Fifth Quarter" described also as "bits and bobbles" are the parts that are left over.
A recent celebration of Head to Tail dining took place at the Astor Center in NYC. Chef Chris Cosentino of Incanto in the San Francisco Bay area's Noe Valley took his menu on the road to spread the gospel.
From Tradition to Innovation - Chef Chris Cosentino
Raised in Rhode Island, Cosentino graduated Johnson & Wales in 1992. Since then he's worked in top kitchens across the country including Red Sage in Washington, D.C.; Rubicon, Chez Panisse, Belon, Redwood Park in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also consulted to Aqua and the Kimpton Group along the way to Incanto, where he is now chef. He is a passionate person. Who else could be a full-time chef and a part-time professional endurance cyclist?
His Head to Tail dinners have garnered acclaim both for the delicious food which comprises the meal, as well as the ethical choices underpinning them.
- A salad of beef tendon with sweetbreads, chile and mint.
- Fritto of honeycomb tripe with picholine olives and marjoram.
- Whole roasted Spring lamb neck with sheep's milk polenta and gremolata.
- Blood orange-candied cockscombs with bay leaf rice pudding.
These dishes showcase the talents of the chef and the variety of techniques used from braising and shaving the tendons, to frying the tripe, slow roasting (6 hours!) the lamb's neck and candying cockscombs.
- For more on the Astor Center Head to Tail event read here.
- To see a video clip of the dinner, see here.
- For more about the passion of "obsessive" Chef Cosentino, see this video on Chow.com. This is a great series.
- For more on offal see Chef's own website: Offal Good.
