Spring time is a good time to cook dishes with lamb offal.
I buy lamb which less than one year old, and weigh no more than 12 kilograms.
Of course you can buy offal separately if you wish.
The most typical dish we cook is a lamb offal soup the night before Easter. I like this dish, but I wanted to try something new this time.
Lamb offal – marinated and ready to cook
So I marinated the offal (liver, lung, heart, sweetbreads) in red wine and oregano just to moderate the strong odor of the material, and then diced it finely.
I prepared a mix of fresh onion, fresh garlic, parsley, dill, fresh oregano, pickled hot peppers and placed it in a big pan with olive oil, salt and pepper. If you like, you can add some sultana raisins for sweetness and pine kernels for texture. After the greens started sweating, I threw in the diced offal and let it cook for about five minutes. After that I took the offal out of the pan, added the juice of one lemon to the mix (it needs the acidity to counter the intensity of the offal) and slowly reduced the liquids of the greens so that the mix is juicy with being runny.
In parallel, in a pot I prepared sticky rice with salt and added at the last minute of big dollop of butter.
Lamb offal with sticky rice and yogurt
I served the rice and offal in separate partitions of the plate, and added some strained yogurt because it adds a feeling of smoothness which I enjoy after the encounter with the intensity of the offal. The red bits that you see on the plate are chili pepper flakes.
Lamb offal – detail
The rice and yogurt work well together to enhance and promote the offal, which dressed in its green glory is hot, aromatic and powerful. The tricky part of the dish is the offal – greens ratio. Too little offal and you have a warm funny tasting green salad. Too little, and you are over powered by the offal.
Monemvassios 2006
I served the dish with a red wine from the area of Monemvasia on the Peloponnese, called “Monemvassios 2006“. It is a blend of St. George’s red and Mavroudi. I liked its balance and moderate intensity.
During my recent visit to London (October 2012) I had the opportunity to visit the restaurant in the St John Hotel in London’s Chinatown in two consecutive days.
The Hotel (and restaurant) is located a few meters away from Leicester Square and is easily accessible by all means of transportation.
The reason I went there has a name: Fergus Henderson.
St John Hotel Chinatown, London
Fergus Henderson is the “Nose to Tail” man. The simple principle that he pushed forward with his cooking is that when we slaughter an animal, it is a matter of respect but also of practicality, to eat all the bits. From nose to tail.
The Hotel in central London’s Leicester Square was opened in the Spring of 2011.
St John Hotel Chinatown, London: Johann Strauss Plaque
And it’s already a part of London history, housed in Manzi’s, the fish restaurant on the fringes of Chinatown that had been there forever, until suddenly it wasn’t.
Mr. Manzi one day sold everything, and headed off to Mone Carlo, giving to Fergus Henderson and his business partner Trevor Gulliver the opportunity to try out their hotel and restaurant concept in Central London.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London
The restaurant’s layout is simple with an open kitchen.
The staff is exceptional indeed. You feel right at home.
And what is most important for the weary traveller, is that the kitchen is open continuously from 12 noon to 12 midnight. So no matter when you can, you drop by and eat. This is exactly what I did on both days.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Devilled Pig’s Skin & Smoked Cod’s Roe
The two-day feast began with “Devilled Pig’s Skin & Smoked Cod’s Roe”.
When I saw it arriving to the table, I thought that this is not a dish, this is a sculpture. Nevertheless, I went ahead and enjoyed it.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Devilled Pig’s Skin & Smoked Cod’s Roe – detail
This is a dish that epitomizes the concept of the appetizer. Crunchy texture, accompanied by the creamy and flavorfull roe.
St John Hotel Chinatown, London: Black pudding and eggs
I absolutely loooooove black pudding, or boudin noir as it is known in France.
It is one of the humblest but terribly delicious dishes, a real tribute to blood and guts.
St John Hotel Chinatown, London: Black pudding and eggs – detail
It is only on the breakfast menu, but when I asked for it, at around 1730 hrs on a Friday afternoon, for what was a lunch and dinner meal after an exhaustive business meeting, it appeared miraculously in front of me. The restaurant’s maitr d’ hotel, a delightful lady, presented it with a glorious smile. The guys in the open kitchen were watching knowingly. I was in heaven! Needless to say, the divine pudding was “house” made.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Cuttlefish, Fennel & Green Sauce
Although Henderson is known as the “offal” man, St John Hotel have a menu with seafood items in addition to the “regular” meat and offal items. One of them was the cuttlefish with fennel and green sauce.
I was very curious to taste it, as cuttlefish is extremely light in flavour, and difficult in texture.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Cuttlefish, Fennel & Green Sauce – Detail
I was really lucky to taste this dish. Perfectly tender, full of flavor, and I had to ask for a spoon for the sauce.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Snail,s Duck Hearts & Lovage
The “Snails, Duck Hearts & Lovage”, sounded like a strange mix of diverse ingredients, but this was one more reason to taste it. And it worked!
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Snail,s Duck Hearts & Lovage – detail
I enjoyed the subtlety of the snails, and the robustness of the heart’s texture. The rather big chunks of fried bread were absolutely delicious.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Ox Heart, Beetroot & Red Cabbage
The “Ox Heart, Beetroot & Red Cabbage” is a tribute to texture.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Ox Heart, Beetroot & Red Cabbage – detail
Firm, robust muscle, perfectly accompanied by the crunchy red cabbage and the beetroot.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Bacon & Beans
And now the ultimate classic: “Bacon & Beans”. I do not recall bacon ever tasting so good.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Bacon & Beans – detail
After the black pudding, this is the second dish that made me feel that I was in my mother’s kitchen.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Bacon & Beans
The bacon was juicy and full of flavors, the beans tender and tasty, and the sauce absolutely divine, and thick.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Brill, Leaks & Aioli
I was very curious to taste a fish dish. Especially after having tasted the meat heavy weights. I chose “Brill, Leeks & Aioli”.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Brill, Leaks & Aioli – detail
The fish was perfectly cooked. As you can see.
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Brill, Leaks & Aioli – detail
I ate the skin and it was crispy and delicious!!!
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London: Brill, Leaks & Aioli – detail
I wish I could eat more leeks and aioli. But I couldn’t.
A good meal (or two meals for that matter) always ends with a new one.
So here is my list of what I wish to taste during my next visit: Mussels, Razor Clams, Lamb Sweetbreads, Pork Chops…
St John Restaurant, Chinatown, London
Thank you Mssrs. Henderson and Gulliver, thank you to all staff of the restaurant, You all gave me an unforgetable culinary experience.
