By Iron Chef Leftovers
Apologies to John Lennon.
Yesterday, I received my copy of Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal by Jennifer McLagan. I haven’t made it all the way through the book yet, and I will post a review when I finally do, but I do want to share a quote that was in the book by M.F.K Fisher
People who feel that a lamb’s cheek is gross and vulgar when a chop is not are like the medieval philosophers who argued about such hairsplitting problems as how many angels could dance on the point of a pin. If you have these prejudices, ask yourself if they are not built on what you may have been taught when you were young and unthinking, and then if you can, teach yourself to enjoy some of the parts of the animal that are not commonly prepared.
The quote makes more sense as you read the book. Jennifer’s talks about her experiences eating some poorly prepared things as a child and how she in situations later in her life ended up eating the same things with an open mind, falling in love with them. It is not a bad attitude to take in both eating and life.
So many times I have tried things later in life that I hated as a kid – mushrooms and mustard come to mind; I would never eat them when I was younger now I rank them among my favorite foods on the planet. You won’t love everything that you try, but you are probably missing out on some things that you will probably love.
A real review to follow soon…
FlatbreadGarden 