Pigs' Trotters

When it comes to all things culinary I'm up for trying most things once. I say most things, I would probably draw the line at brains, testicles, eyes, that sort of thing. I'm not really an offal girl, you see. Yes, I admit it, I'm a little too squeamish and blood, guts and gore on a plate just don't do it for me (I'll leave that to Sweeny Todd and Mrs Lovett). If you were to measure my level of adventurism I would say I stand firmly past the 'average' line but neatly tucked away behind the long line of those in front of me who are the Indiana Joneses of the culinary world.

My own little adventures have included trying frogs legs, cooking a lobster, lopping off a cow's tail and simmering it for soup (OK, I didn't do the lopping), becoming a bunny boiler, and cooking with duck's eggs. OK, the last one may not seem all that brave but you may be surprised just how many people exclaim to me 'eww, duck's eggs!?'. I really don't know why (if you, reader, are one of them please do comment and let me know, I promise I will not judge you; we're all opening up on this post, or at least, I am).

Now, pigs' trotters. They seemed harmless enough, I mean, OK, they're feet, and they're feet that are particularly comfortable in, um, poo, but they get a very good clean-up before they're sold to you and, really, what could be so bad about little tootsies? I've always been intrigued and when I saw them being sold for less than a pound at my local supermarket I grabbed them fast. I was quite excited all the way home and was even more encouraged when I enthusiastically waved them in Rob's face saying 'look what I've got' and he muttered that he'd try them and then carried on what he was doing while shaking his head at his wife's crazy antics. Excellent. Off to the kitchen then.

All started well; they were very clean indeed, had very few hairs on them and when I neatly arranged them in a pot they looked quite promising. I covered them with cold water and brought it to the boil. As the water started to bubble the aroma coming from the pot reminded me of something. It took a while to put my finger on it but when I did the likeness was quite remarkable. Dog food, that was it. They smelt disgusting. It wasn’t a good start.

As the trotters continued to boil scum started to come to the top of the water. I'm used to scum, that's no problem at all, you get it when you make stock, it's quite normal. This scum, though, had a greenish-tinge to it and the water started to take on the look of pond water. I wasn't encouraged. But after this moment of doubt I mustered up my enthusiasm again and figured all would be well when I rinsed away the water and added fresh, along with lots of lovely stock vegetables. So that's what I did.



Three hours of simmering later and Rob and I peered into the pot. Rob was the first to break the silence 'They don't smell too good'. 'No,' I agreed 'They don't'. The dogs looked pleadingly up at us and for once it was looking likely that they may just get their wish. Rob was the first to go in with a fork. The trotters seemed to be all bone, skin and gristle, but he picked around for a bit and finely found a morsel of meat. He popped it into his mouth and I looked at him expectantly. 'Bland' was his unimpressed conclusion. And bland they were. In fact, completely and utterly tasteless may be a better way of describing them.

Now, at this point it seems that many cooks will painstakingly take off the meat, mix it up with all manner of flavoursome ingredients (I wonder why that is...), make them into little terrines, or coat them in breadcrumbs and fry them up. They are also often cooked with Chinese ingredients. The common theme seems to be to add so much other flavouring to them so that they actually taste nice. I just don't really get it, I mean there's hardly any meat on them and what meat there is tastes (to me) bland at best and disgusting at worse. And if you have to add other ingredients to make them flavoursome and substantial why bother? Somewhat perplexed I Twittered my findings and was surprised and relieved to find that I wasn't alone in my conclusion. I guess, like many things in life, pigs trotters are one of those things you either like or you don't.



If you want to try this unappetising dish yourself here's what I did.

Ingredients

2-4 pig trotters, cut in half lengthways
1 onion, quartered
2 carrots, roughly chopped
3 or 4 sprigs of thyme
A small handful of flat leafed parsley
1 bay leaf
8 peppercorns

Cover with cold water and bring it to the boil, then empty away the water, rinse the trotters and put them into a clean pan. Cover them with fresh cold water and the rest of the ingredients. Bring the water to the boil and then simmer for 3 hours.

Just don't say I didn't warn you.

In the Bag: Cooking the Month of January - The Round-up

For January's challenge we decided a bit of a detox was needed, so we put lemons, garlic and sesame seeds into the bag. Here's a round-up of the entries from Pan Gravy Kadai Curry, As Strong As Soup, Said Simon to the Pieman, dlyn:

A Peek Inside the Cookbook

Photography Cristian Barnett (www.crisbarnett.com), food styling Andrea O'Connor. Copyright Absolute Press. All rights reserved.

February 2010 Book Update

My goodness, 3 weeks since my last blog post. How time flies! I'm sorry for my extended absence without leave. Sadly I haven't been away sunning myself but, aside from working hard 9-5, I have been doing something rather exciting: finalising the text of 'A Slice of Cherry Pie' with my editor and working with the creative geniuses at Absolute Press on the design of the book and food styling for the photography.

The book is really coming together now; the whole process has really picked up pace as all the elements come together. The editing process buffs and polishes the text, leaving the recipes clear and consise, and the design and photography seem to breathe life into the book. As Andrea, who is part of Absolute's creative team, said, the book almost starts revealing itself to you. It's as though the seed I have planted has been lovingly nutured, fed and watered by the team at Absolute and is now blossoming.

The editing process is going at a great pace and it should all be completed at the beginning of March. My brilliant editor, Jane Bamforth, has been sending me through queries chapter by chapter, which I have been working on and sending back. It's so great to have such an experienced pair of eyes going over the recipes.

One of the most exciting parts of the whole process for me was being given a sneak peak of the cover for the book. Claire, who works closely with Matt on the design elements, has come up with a fabulous concept which is just perfect for the text and feel of the book.

Andrea has been working hard with Matt on planning the food styling for the photography. Like Matt, Claire, Jon and Meg, she entirely understands the feel of the book and we are so much on the same wavelength that I feel as though her ideas and thinking is a (much better!) extension of mine. Together, over email, we have pondered which recipes to select to give the right balance and distribution throughout the book, how they would be best shot and the best style to use. Between us and Matt we easily came to a consensus, which only highlights how much we are all in tune on the book. I feel very fortunate indeed to be working with them, and to have been able to input so much and to be given such creative license; it makes the book even more personal.

The ideas Andrea has come up with are really fabulous and I just know the photographs are going to look stunning, particularly as I am so very fortunate enough to have a very talented photographer working on them: Cristian Barnett, who has just recently finished working on The Hairy Bikers' latest book. You can take a look at some of his work on his website www.crisbarnett.com. I can't wait to see the finished shots of my own recipes!