Offal

Do you like offal (“lamang loob”)?  I don’t look for it when I eat out.  I figured they’re not healthy eats to begin with.  Last night at Congee Village, I saw “fried fish intestines” on the menu and I was tempted to try it.  But I chickened out and went for the safe choice – congee with preserved egg and ginger.  It’s strange that we have no problem eating steak, which is basically large muscle tissue,  but we’re squeamish when it comes to eating sweetbreads, intestines, brains, etc.

I remember when my mom used to cook lengua.  She would get this huge, gross looking beef tongue which I found disgusting as a child.  But I would eat it anyway.  She also used caul fat to encase her embotido which I also found disgusting (it looked kinda like the picture here).  But I loved eating the cooked embutido.  Now that I’m older I can’t easily find caul fat – unless I pay for it at some 3-star restaurant.  BTW – I just learned what caul fat is from this random site on the web.  It is “the lacy fatty membrane encasing  the internal organs of an animal, pork caul is often used for wrapping faggots or patés.”  I know what pate is; but what’s a faggot?