Sweetbreads - a part of the cow that tastes like chicken

Hmmm. There is a good and a bad side to my post regarding sweetbreads. I have to be cautious because I would encourage people to still try them. But let's just say you have to be in the right mindset to have them. Luc can explain all the plusses for sweetbreads because he grew up eating them. But for me, it was my second time and I hope that in the future I can have it often.
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If you are unfamiliar with sweetbreads, they are the glands--thymus and pancreas--from the cow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetbread


We ordered eight pounds of these mollejas and Luc separated the good glands from the bad glands. Since they are two different types of glands (like different cuts of meat), they will have a different taste and texture. Luc's brother then seasoned it and grilled it with the rest of the asado (Argentinian barbecue). We had it with a variety of salad greens, arugula, beet and carrot salad, grissinis, and of course, wine.

At first glance (I was going to write glands, oops!) the cooked sweetbread looked like a lumpy chicken breast. Upon cutting it, you can see that the texture of the meat retained its lumpy, almost cellulit-is look. It was white like pork and looked juicy. When I bit into, there was no resemblance to a beef taste at all. I have tried almost body parts of a cow, which tongue was the most adventurous that I tried (tasting like a juicy roast beef). In fact, it tasted like chicken. But it "felt" nothing like chicken. It almost melted in your mouth. Like fat. All I kept thinking was These are glands. What are glands supposed to taste like? I think psychologically, it was unfamiliar to me so I was trying to think back to my other experiences regarding meat. I once had sheep brain omelette but I didn't know it was sheep brain until someone told me. The same with "chocolate meat". My mom used to have me eat this meat with "chocolate" sauce until I found out it was cooked pig's blood. Anyway, how many times do we eat rump roast? Seriously, we are eating the butt of an animal right?

Anyway, like I said, I still have mixed feelings for the sweetbreads, but I think the more I have it, it will be part of my culinary repetoire.

~ Jen

Fifteen Feet Diet - Figs

If you are familiar with the "100-mile Diet", written by two freelance writers from Vancouver, BC, you will understand the premise of buying local and reducing your carbon footprint on Planet Earth. As part of blogging our culinary experience, we will try to get as local food as possible (although I admit, there is no way I can give up chocolate and coffee so I cannot undergo a full 100-mile diet). Since we are currently in Argentina, we will experiment with local foods here.

Figs. Yummy delicious fruit from the tree. Paired great with cheeses, cured hams such as prosciutto, or in desserts. In the neighbour's backyard, stands a beautiful tree of figs, ripe for picking. In Canada, where figs are usually imported, a pint of figs can cost you five or six dollars. I have seen figs sold in Canada for sixty-five cents each. In Argentina, we simply asked the neighbour for the excess of her figs and she generously gave us a full plastic bag of figs (I'm thinking we struck gold!). Another friend of the family offered to turn the figs into jam. The next day she returned with a litre of fig jam. The jam was sweet and creamy. Perfect for breakfast with criollos (light biscuits), fresh from the bakery three doors down.

~ Jen

Trip to Argentina: Fresh Milk from the farm

So we had our first local food experience. The day after we arrived in Argentina, we got two bottles of fresh milk from grandpa's farm, just hours after it was obtained. At home, we always liked to strain it first to avoid any "chunks" of milk-fat. After that, we just bring it to a boil and put it in the fridge. Although many locals don't like "farm milk" (some say you can notice a grassy aftertaste), we really enjoyed it. It is a creamier kind of milk, for sure. We all agree that this fresh farm milk would be perfect for baking or making coffee bevarages (although we have to say this is not a good coffee region!) and, of course, homemade dulce de leche - there is no way to find a better dulce than a homemade one with fresh creamy farm milk.

Welcome!

Jen and I wanted to welcome you to our new blog. In this space, we'd like to share our experience in the creation and enjoyment of food. Trying new foods and getting inspired to cook new receipes is a big part of our life as a family. It is true that sometimes preparing lunch or dinner can become a chore but we don't usually see it that way. For us, this is a way of put our creativity to work and let our imagination go wild.

You will find that sometimes we are so proud of our creations that we take photographs of the food so can show family and friends. We also enjoy shopping in farmers' markets and we particularly like to support local farmers.

We'll try to incorporate the recipes of some of the foods we create but our main purpose with this blog is to share other aspects of our "culinary experience", such as farmers' markets, local eating, sustainable production of food, etc.

Welcome once again and we hope you get inspired to start your own "culinary experience."

Luc