Be kind of a food blog, please

“We care about what you’re doing and trying to do,” you the public has said. “We want you to become your better person. But we want to know what you’re cooking these days, too, and whether you’re liking it or not. We want to remember that you still cook.”

I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in some whole animal butchery lately, which I hate to call trendy, since it’s been going on since before the caveman days, but really, has become quite trendy as of late. Nose-to-tail cooking and dining (usually pork and offal related) has become extraordinarily popular, and I won’t lie, even when I’m by myself I feel rather awesome after I’ve deboned a pig’s head, or unmold a particularly successful trotter terrine. None of it is exactly difficult, it’s more knowing what to do with the part and just rather time consuming.

So here we go then. My first fooding post. Piggy and other animal parts related. Some photos included. Oh, but wait. Someone else already beat me documenting the actual butchery of it, because I’m not the most on top of it kind of food blogger. Which is great. I’m just going to refer you over to his site: http://beerandnosh.com/2011/03/pig-breakdown-with-hapa-ramen/

In my defense though, I have taken some pictures of a couple of recent past projects, which we the hapa ramen team have deemed our modus operandi of "not quite traditional". Our current trend is what we like to call Japanese noodles and Italian charcuterie. In the back are a set of jowls curing nicely into guanciale, and that brown block in the front is an entire belly we turned into pancetta.

Next to pork, we deal with chicken the most. I'm a big fan of the livers and gizzards, the neck gets roasted for our soup stock, and the heart gets trashed. I'm not a fan of the heart. Can't quite seem to get it to a place where I'm happy with it, but if you have any suggestions, I'm all (crispy fried) ears. You know I hate throwing it out.

See more pictures of food projects here. If you actually click onto the flickr set, I've included some descriptions of the process used to make or create whatever using that ingredient. See? I am trying.