The offal truth: Organ meats & their ilk ascend the food chain

WATCHING Anthony Bourdain eat pig's ears and lamb's tongue on the Travel Channel is one thing. Eating it yourself is something else altogether.

But call it what you will - spare parts, offal, variety meats, mixed grille - the nose-to-tail movement is alive and well in some area chefs' kitchens.

Although Chip Roman didn't grow up on organ meats - "I'm from Fishtown, we don't eat that stuff!" - the Blackfish chef/owner uses plenty of parts on the menu at his well-regarded Conshohocken bistro. From foie gras to lamb neck, kidney and heart, Roman takes a waste-not-want-not attitude to meat. He even included sweetbreads (that would be the thymus and pancreas of a beef calf or lamb) on his Valentine's Day menu for lovebirds with an adventurous streak.

Then there's his face bacon - meat picked from the pig's head - and fried cockscombs, tasty bits he uses like lardoons. "I guess this stuff is just more interesting. It takes a long time to cook and prepare. I know it's not for everybody, but in my opinion, a braised lamb neck tastes way better than your typical rack of lamb."

Over the 25 years she's been in the gourmet meat business as head of New Jersey-based D'Artagnan, Arianne Daguin has seen one trend emerge crystal clear. "Chefs drive what the consumer buys," she said. "Whether you're talking about sustainable agriculture and farm to table or using the whole animal, chefs are always the first to do it."

Thus, while New Jersey restaurateur David Burke recently asked her to hunt down rabbit ears ("That's a first for me"), Daguin said interest in oddball parts hasn't yet trickled down to the consumer. "Then again, even 10 years ago, the consumer wasn't buying venison, buffalo, flat-iron steak, pork belly. And now they are."

It comes down to mouth feel for Joe McAtee, chef/owner of Honey in Doylestown.

"What I love about using offal is flavor. Wherever there are bones, cartilage, connective tissue, you find extra richness. Something like oxtail or veal cheek is just loaded with collagen. That's why they make such great braises and sauces."

McAtee understands that eating these parts may not be for the faint of heart.

"Too many people think meat comes shrink-wrapped in the supermarket. When you're cleaning a pig's head or pulling out a whole tail bone, there's no denying that you're eating an animal."