Mr. Brain's Pork Faggots (in a rich West Country Sauce)
Right.
I buy my groceries online at Tesco.com. It's great - they're delivered right to my door for just £5, no tips allowed. The selection is as big as the biggest supermarket they've got and if you know exactly what you want then this is the best way to shop. A taxi back from a grocery store costs more than five quid anyway, so I save myself the time of shopping and the money of a cab.
Tesco.com has a nifty function where you can enter in a grocery list and it does it's best to choose what you mean. It's fairly bright and has done well for me each time I try it.
This time, I wanted some pork. I got a bit of a surprise.
Here's what Tesco.com suggested for the 'pork' entry on my grocery list.
Naturally, I had to order them. They just couldn't be real.
Well, they were. Here's a look at the ingredients.
Wow! A whole 11% actual meat! And, ooh, the promise of scrumptiousness that comes from modified waxy maize starch! What the hell is 'rusk' anyway? I asked Bj this question. He thinks that a certain former Secretary of State's burial was faked. Ewww!
Anyway, I cooked these up, here are the final results!
And I did eat them - and, for all the "rusk" and pork liver, they tasted almost as good as Scrapple. I think it's the rich West Country sauce that does it.
I had to wonder what pork faggots in a poor east country sauce would taste like. Beets? Vodka? I believe this is a less than subtle endorsement of the Franco-German opposition to Eastern European enlargement of the EU.
Gregg points out that anything made by Mr. Brain would be a perfect food for zombies.
For fall down laughing fun, check this out! Yes, Mr. Brain's Faggots have their very own website.
As Bj said, you can't make this stuff up, it just has to happen this way. Be sure to click on the description of the Faggot Family.
Bon Appetit!
Comments
I feel so deprived, living in a country where pork is anything but abundant... sigh.
Of course, a freshly bled goat or sheep is not too hard to come by in this country (whether you want to or not).
Posted by: Mara | June 1, 2004 4:14 AM
You know, Nae, for being a 'crap photographer', you sure are putting that camera to good use. I love the sharing. Rusk used to be a sort of toast.
Posted by: Maman | June 1, 2004 11:39 AM
Rusk used to be a kind of toast?
How ironic. Now, Dean Rusk is toast!
Ha ha ha!
Mara, I have this excellent recipe for lamb neck bordelaise - I'll have to look it up when I get home.
Posted by: Nathan Dornbrook | June 2, 2004 5:24 AM
http://www.freerecipe.org/Bread/Rolls/rusk-rolls-recipe.htm
Posted by: Maman | June 2, 2004 3:53 PM
Eww!! Gross!! Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! No thanks. I'll pass, but thank you for thinking of me :-)
Posted by: Mara | June 3, 2004 1:33 AM
What, you don't like French cooking?
I can understand your trepidation at anything Bordelaise as it all must come from Bordeaux (obviously), but I assure you, there is no wine in this recipe.
And, to be fair, it's not my recipe, it's actually Joël Robuchon's, from the Larousse Gastronomique.
But the most important part is to find a good butcher, because you're going to want to get boneless lamb neck filets, which are not a standard cut of meat, but are instead the extension of the tenderloin up into the collet.
I know I've mixed and matched both French and American butchery terms there, but, well, it's a non-standard cut.
Monsieur Robuchon instructs us to trim the bones and fat from a loin but I assure you that the boneless neck filet is a more appropriate cut. Make sure you are getting the meat of a broutart (6-9 months); conversely, you can ask for agneau gris, which is just "grey lamb," but it has specific technical meaning to a well trained French butcher.
What is it about Bordelaise that has you so grossed out, anyway?
Hugs!
Posted by: Nathan Dornbrook | June 3, 2004 2:45 AM
Bordelaise? Nothing (dude, that's where our family's from).
It's the lamb neck I'm not so keen on. However, I'm sure I'd eat it if you prepared it :-)
Posted by: Mara | June 3, 2004 5:00 AM
Oh! Sorry.
Well, gosh, thanks for the kind words about my cooking!
If you're up here again, I'm makin' lamb Bordelaise! Also, I'm moving out, hopefully by the end of next week.
Hugs!
Posted by: Nathan Dornbrook | June 3, 2004 10:42 AM
Hey all,
looks like we'll be moving soon too! We found a townhouse in North Old Town Alexandria (near braddock rd metro, Nate). We're pretty excited about it. We still have to get approved to rent it. But we'll be moving in July:)
Posted by: Rae | June 4, 2004 12:38 PM
Hey, Nae, I'll take the recipe. Sounds yummy. Mara -- Lamb neck is simply another muscle. Like leg of lamb. Any sign of Carol?
Posted by: Maman | June 11, 2004 4:31 PM
Phone call from Carol just this morning! Maybe two hours ago. She's been surfing for a week in some remote atoll off the coast of Australia where they have no Internet (No Internet! Aaaaaigh!).
I'll post the recipe, but I need to finish up the post on Six Legged Death!!!
I also need to write some more Iraq stuff - Emily King is on NPR, Skylor has written some good stuff and I kinda need his permission before I publish it.
Anyway, I'm off to run some errands and get my swim on; I'll see you guys later!
Posted by: Nathan Dornbrook | June 12, 2004 10:56 AM
Mmm... I just love the thought of a faggot melting in my mouth... The creamy stuff squirting everywhere! I love faggot balls in my mouth!
Posted by: Jack Davis | April 16, 2007 6:29 PM