Ever tried it? If not, you’re not alone… let’s delve into this wonderful meat and why it’s fallen out of favour, a little history, nutrition, my personal experiences with tongue and finish off with a pressed tongue recipe & bonus recipe treats.

Popularity

The mention of eating tongue does encourage a raised eyebrow for most, which is a shame. It’s fairly cheap, highly nutritious and all part of a nose to tail – or tongue to tail – philosophy ensuring that nothing goes to waste.

However, ox tongue is more popular than most offal with pressed ox tongue gracing most supermarket delis.

I believe it’s the older generations with their unpolluted minds that are enjoying this meat. All the while, juveniles will scoff and tut at such a disgusting thing whilst munching away on a sausage, which – ironically – is likely filled with pigs tongues and other unpopular cuts… it’s all classed as pork, my friend. Ah… ignorance is bliss.

If it were down to taste though, this wouldn’t be the case. Pressed ox tongue is extremely yummy, more so than any other cold cured meat. If I were to try and explain the taste, it’s similar to corned beef but only better… much better.

How do you take yours?

Tongue is not only reserved for cold pressing though. It’s also great as an alternative for any meat in a roast dinner. With some roasted veggies and a splash of gravy, it’s a winner.

Or, as I’ve tried before, it can be simply cooked and eaten with some punchy Dijon and even taken one step further and fried in butter or tallow to take it to another level.

In fact, you can do this with pressed tongue. Cut it into 1cm cubes or slices and fry it until slightly crisp and your taste buds will thank you… It’s so good.

A Brief British History

As with most offal, tongue was very popular back in the day when food was more sparse and we’re forced to make the most out of what we could get.

Here in the UK in the 19th century, McCall’s supplied ox tongues in a can called ‘Patsandu Ox Tongues‘. The British Library’s description says…

“In the 1800s ox tongue was considered to be a great luxury, sometimes it was stewed which made it very soft, other times it was pickled and the added salt made it extremely hard. Cold pies and cooked meat were common items on the breakfast menu in large and wealthy Victorian households. At this time breakfast was a much larger meal, often with as many as 3 different courses. Oxtongue was a popular choice.”

So, what changed? I can only imagine it’s the introduction of ultra-processed foods and an overabundance that’s made us drift away from such foods.

Is it any good for us?

The short answer is yes, of course it is. It comes from an animal and our digestive systems are finely tuned to extract all the goodness meat has to offer. And, by chance (or not) meat offers everything we need in the perfect ratios for us.

As with other fatty cuts of meat, you’ll find a common theme when researching the nutritional value of that meat. Tongue is no exception.

Tongue is rich in vitamin B12, Choline, Niacin (B3), Riboflavin (B2), Iron and Zinc among others… amazing, many of the things required for optimal health. But, like some twisted joke played by mother nature, it contains a load of cholesterol. Damn you mother nature!

That said, it’s now well documented that the cholesterol in food has little to no impact on the cholesterol levels in our blood (1, 2, 3, 4). Yet despite this, the ‘cholesterol is bad’ narrative is still being pushed hard.

So, it would appear that foods that are high in cholesterol may not be so bad for us after all… Mother nature, all is forgiven.

Actually, the reason why cholesterol we eat doesn’t affect the amount in our blood is that if we don’t eat it, our body will make it. Think about that, our body makes cholesterol… why would our body make something that is so bad for us? That’s a whole other topic that I’ve touched on here, but I’ll leave it there for this post.

My Personal Experience

Eating the tongue of an ox – or any other creature – is not something I’d done until recently. In fact, it was only in May this year (2020) when I sampled ox tongue for the first time, I posted pictures on Instagram here.

Now, I admit that an ox tongue looks somewhat offensive and there were a number of my friends and family that were horrified when they saw the tongue. I don’t blame them, I mean, it looks like a big tongue and – I’m nervous to say – phallic… there’s no getting away from it.

But in the name of nose to tail eating, I powered on and cooked my first ox tongue. I kept it simple – as I like to do – and prepped my beloved pressure cooker, tossed the tongue in along with some veggies and cooked for an hour and a half.

After peeling the outer skin away revealing the meat – albeit still in the shape of a tongue – I sliced it up and cautiously tried my first bite.

My first thought was “hmm, this doesn’t taste horrible”. As my confidence grew and I become comfortable with the texture and taste, I realised that, actually, this was damn good and before I knew it, I couldn’t get enough.

That tongue didn’t last too long and I was keen to get another. So, a few tongues later and I was in love.

And, after trying some shop-bought pressed ox tongue – all salty and set in jelly – I decided I wanted to try cold pressing for myself.

If at first, you don’t succeed…

I’ll admit, my first attempt didn’t go well. I found this Delia recipe and in short, I didn’t brine the tongue and didn’t have the right equipment… it was a flop.

It tasted ok, but nothing like I was hoping for, but never fear, persevere…

Determined to figure this thing out, I jumped onto YouTube and searched up ‘pressed ox tongue’. Top of the list was this recipe video by Scott Rea. What a revelation, if only I had found this video first.

The first thing… get a proper press.

After a short hunt around and seeing many presses well over my budget, Amazon – as always – comes to the rescue and offered me this, and with a click, it was on its way.

Next, I remembered seeing salted pigs tongues by Kimber’s Farm Shop on one of my many meat browsing sessions. After adding a few other little delights to my basket I placed my order and arranged delivery for the end of the week ready for my next tongue adventure over the weekend.

My Tongue-tastic weekend

With my press and salted pigs tongues in hand, I was ready to do this properly, so here goes.

Ingredients

2 pigs tongues (I should’ve used 4) – you can substitute this for 2 brined ox tongues
1 pigs trotter (for added gelatine)
Some veggies if you wish, such as celery, carrots, onions or whatever you have in the fridge (I didn’t actually use any)
Some herbs if you wish (again, I didn’t use any)
Filtered or mineral water
A splash of Apple Cider Vinegar

Equipment

Pressure cooker, slow cooker or saucepan & hob
Meat press

Instructions

Ok, so wash the tongues and trotter and place in the cooking utensil of choice and pour in enough water to just cover the meat. Add a splash of apple cider vinegar. If you’re using veggies and herbs, add them now.

In the pressure cooker, cook for an hour and a half.

In the slow cooker, I’d suggest around 3-4 hours or in the saucepan bring to the boil cover and simmer for around 2-3 hours. In both cases cook until the tongue skin starts peeling off easily.

Remove the tongues and the trotter and simmer the broth reducing it by around half intensifying the gelatine and flavour.

Meanwhile, peel the skin from the tongues and cut them in half lengthways, from the tip to the root. Trim off any unwanted bits from the root of the tongue.

Now you’re ready to place the tongue in the press spreading it out evenly.

Finally, test the broth, it should be nice and salty, add salt if needed and pour over the tongues until just covered. Put the lid on and start pressing. Ensure there’s good pressure, there will be a puddle of broth left on top of the lid which is fine.

Now it’s a waiting game. I suggest leaving it in the fridge and forgetting about it for 24 hours.

Once ready, release the press and remove the lid. Run a knife around the edges and turn upside down on a plate and it should – perhaps with a bit of knocking – drop out.

And there you have it! If all’s gone well you should have beautiful dark red compressed meat with little pockets of jelly. A salty, delicious meaty delight.

Try to savour and not gobble as is so easily done along with some Dijon mustard perhaps. Maybe with some other cold meats and cheese selection or however you wish. On its own is perfectly acceptable.

I can recommend frying some in a little butter over a medium heat adding an outer crisp bringing another textural pleasure into play.

Bonus Brawn

Now, have you ever tried brawn? I’ve written about this here. But, you have everything you need to make a small portion of brawn which will complement your tongue.

Take the trotter and separate the soft meat and flesh from the hard bones and cartilage and break into smallish pieces – there are no rules here.

Line out a Tupperware box with clingfilm and throw all the meat in. You should have plenty of broth leftover from the tongues, use this and cover the meat. Put the lid on – and again – leave in the fridge for 24 hours.

The following day will reveal another pork-based delight. Soft meat suspended in salty jelly… Just beautiful.

The recipe that keeps on giving…

But, why stop there? Now you should have some broth leftover and a load of bones from the trotter.

This is a perfect opportunity to throw it all back into the pressure cooker or whatever you’re cooking with along with any other bones you have.

I save all bones I use in cooking and I had some bone remains from marrowbone boats that I purchased from Godfreys… true nose to tail where nothing goes to waste. I also had a veal foot from Kimbers’ Farm Shop, packed with loads of gelatine.

Top up with water, add a splash of apple cider vinegar and cook on. In the pressure cooker cook for at least 4 hours and in the slow cooker or saucepan, cook for at least 12 hours. I’ve written more about this here.

Recap

So, eating tongue was the norm many years ago. But, true to offal form, it now turns snouts upwards and a confession of consuming such a meat may trigger disgusted outbursts. In such a situation, rest easy in the knowledge that it is they that are missing out.

It can be used an various different ways from a tantalising change to your roast dinner to a moreish cold meat.

In the 19th century, tongue was sold in a can… I’m a little jealous.

Tongue would be perfectly nutritious if it wasn’t for that evil artery-clogging cholesterol (sense the sarcasm?).

I confess to cutting culinary corners and failing. But, it’s all good… I gave myself a talking to turned out some scrumptious pressed pigs tongue and tell you exactly how to replicate it.

Added bonus, I suggest making some brawn and bone broth leaving nothing to waste.

Inspiration

I hope this post encourages you to try pressing your own pig or ox tongue. It may not come out right first time, but persevere, because when it does… it’s a sweet feeling and adds to the enjoyment of eating, knowing you’ve produced this wonderous thing.

I’m not a good cook, I watch in wonder at chefs as they turn out amazing grub effortlessly only to feel depressed when my attempt fails dismally. In the past, I would shrug and admit defeat.

I’ve since learnt that failing once means I’m one step closer to succeeding. Proper research, recording actions, not cutting corners and repeated trials eventually lead to success. And, when I get that success, it makes it so worth the effort.

It would be great to hear about your failures and successes. Either leave a comment below, email me jim.offalygood@gmail.com or tag me on Instagram @offaly.good.

Good luck!

Have a nutritious day!

There you have it! Just a reminder that I’m no doctor, dietitian or any other profession for that matter. I’m simply a bearer of information for you to do what you want with; question it, research it, erase it from your mind, you are in charge of you.

The post Tasty Tongue – Are You Missing Out? appeared first on Offaly Good.

The creamy, buttery delight that is bone marrow is underappreciated in our modern world, although this was not always the case. In fact, it’s believed that bone marrow would’ve been one of the first animal foods we would’ve eaten around 2 million years ago, before our hunting days when we were mere scavengers.

At that point, our Homo habilis ancestors were no more than 4ft tall and had much smaller brains than we do now. They wouldn’t have had the intellect nor strength to hunt big animals, so they had to settle for the scraps making use of tools to break open bones and skulls to get to the calorie-dense good stuff inside.

This may be the key that lead to our little ancestors developing larger brains and bigger and stronger bodies until we could hunt for our food and make use of the whole beast.

Despite this, bone marrow these days are generally left to the dogs which – in my opinion – is a great shame. That said, there’s one advantage for you and me… Butchers are almost giving marrow filled bones away.

What is Bone Marrow?

Many bones have a hollow centre that’s filled with a spongy tissue called bone marrow.

There are 2 types of bone marrow:

• Red (myeloid tissue) – the blood cell producing factory. It contains stem cells that make red and white blood cells. Over 200 billion new blood cells are produced in bone marrow – every day!
• Yellow (fatty tissue) – which helps to store fat.

This is a very basic summary but if you’re interested in a more detailed explanation, try here.

The point is that our bone marrow plays a vital role, and, when its function is compromised – as we see in people with blood cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma or with sickle cells anaemia – our lives are threatened and marrow transplants may be our only option.

Nutritional Data

It seems that bone marrow is so underappreciated that there’s little nutritional information available. Usually, a quick DuckDuckGo search on any food type reveals a whole world nutritional data, but not so with bone marrow.

So, after a little delving, I found this study that looked at nutrient levels in reindeer. It found that the bone marrow was rich in vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B12, and vitamin E, as well as being an incredibly high source of calcium.

There’s talk of other nutrients that are contained in bone marrow, such as glycine, glucosamine and chondroitin, but it’s all very woolly. There clearly needs more research is required to know for sure.

It’s certainly a very fatty animal part, which – in my opinion – shouldn’t scare you off. We’ve been eating animal fats for many, many years and our bodies are finely tuned utilise this energy source… Plus, animal fat tastes amazing.

My hunch is that – as with eating other parts of the beast – there are many health-promoting nutrients and will complement a nose-to-tail way of eating.

The Health Benefits of Eating Bone Marrow

I’ve mentioned before that eating a particular part of an animal will aid the health of the part in your own body, and this article proves this is the case.

A Swedish oncologist – Dr Brohult – tried giving calves’ marrow to children that had radiation to treat their leukaemia in an attempt to kick start their bone marrow into producing white blood cells with some promising success.

As it turns out – after further investigation – this is due to something called alkylglycerols (AKGs) that can be found in organs responsible for producing blood cells such as bone marrow and the spleen.

History, Cuisines and Cultures

Apart from being one of the first parts of the animal that our ancestors would’ve consumed in their scavenger days, bone marrow has featured heavily in many cultures and historical periods.

There are recipes dating back to medieval times documenting the use of bone marrow in ‘sluberkens‘ – small pasties stuffed with marrow and sugar, and stuffed quinces – a type of pear that’s cored then stuffed with marrow and currents then stewed.

Of course, the Italians are not afraid of parts of the animal that have fallen out of favour in modernized parts of the world. A traditional Milanese dish called Ossobucco – meaning ‘bone with the hole’ – makes use of veal shank where the meat on the bone is cut into thick slices and slow-cooked. During the cooking, the marrow melts into the tomato-based sauce adding to the sumptuousness.

The French – well known for their culinary expertise – can be caught using bone marrow for many dishes from onion soup with roasted marrow bones, to roast marrow bone and crispy ox tongue, which you’ll find in Michel Roux Jr’s recipe book ‘Les Abats’.

Allegedly – in Scandinavian countries – parents will be found serving up bone marrow soup to their kids to boost their health and strength.

Pop over to the other side of the pond to Mexico and you may find bone marrow gracing your plate in the form of ‘bone marrow tacos‘. Served roasted in the bone ready to be scooped out and used as a taco filling. The Mexicans have long been gobbling this stuff up for its added taste and texture.

And. if you seek out bone marrow recipes, you’ll be sure to stumble across a dish called ‘Pho’… a Vietnamese broth of beef, noodles and bone marrow. Although, this article has cast doubt in my mind as to how traditional this combo is, suggesting bone marrow doesn’t belong in this dish. That said, it wouldn’t stop me from giving it a try if it was on the menu.

Keeping it Simple

Me, I like to keep things simple. I either get some bones from my butcher, Deersbrook Farm. Or, I buy them from Waitrose through Ocado. Although, recently Ocado have dumped Waitrose for M&S who don’t sell prepared marrow bones… hey ho!.

Anyway, I roast the bones in the oven at 220⁰C (430⁰F) for around 15 minutes until it’s just crispy on the surface. Season with salt, scoop out with a teaspoon and slurp it up… yummy!

You’ll quickly understand why it’s nicknamed ‘meat butter’… it’s so moreish.

To be honest, I find it hard to understand why marrow is scoffed at these days when something can taste this good…

…I get it with some offal, we’re now so far removed from eating the likes of liver, kidney or heart not to mention such things as tongue and testicles, but bones are not that out of the ordinary.

So if you’re a little nervous about trying bone marrow… Don’t be. Suck it up and give it a try… You won’t regret it, trust me.

A little tip… there’ll be a good amount of fat left in the baking dish – do not chuck it! It’s perfect for roasting or frying your next meal.

Have a nutritious day!

There you have it! Just a reminder that I’m no doctor, dietitian or any other profession for that matter. I’m simply a bearer of information for you to do what you want with; question it, research it, erase it from your mind, you are in charge of you.

The post Bone Marrow – The Buttery Delight appeared first on Offaly Good.

From the day we can understand what foods are good and bad for us, we were told that fat – and specifically saturated fat – is evil and we should avoid it at all costs. We were blessed with an image of fat clogging our arteries like gunk clogging a U-bend.

Whether we actually understand the types of fat or not, the word ‘saturated’ conjures up images of the grim reaper lurking in the mist ready to claim his next clogged up victim.

This is a massive and complex subject that could take me much time to thoroughly research and present. But, if you’ve read any of my other posts, you’ll likely know that I like to keep things just like myself… simple.

In a previous post, I ask you to forget everything you know about what you should and shouldn’t eat and just use common sense. Think about what our ancestors would’ve eaten for millions of years before this world of Shops and fast-food. When we’re told that animal fat is bad for us, does that really make logical sense considering we’ve been eating it for millions of years?

That said, we do need to have a (very) basic understanding of fats.

The Basics on Fats

Fats are actually called fatty acids and are made up of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen molecules. The backbone is made up of carbon chain of various lengths, the shortest being one carbon and is called acetic acid – or to you and me – vinegar.

There are 2 types of fats or fatty acids we’ll look at here… Saturated and unsaturated.

Saturated

• Saturated with hydrogen – meaning that all the carbon molecules in the chain have 2 hydrogen atoms attached.
• This makes saturated fats stable and less prone to oxidization.
• Saturated fats are solid at room temperature.
• Our body turns excess glucose into saturated fat (not unsaturated) to store in our fat cells.
• Breast milk is very high in saturated fat.

Unsaturated

• Unsaturated with hydrogen – at least two carbon molecules in the chain have only one hydrogen atom attached resulting in a double bond with the next carbon molecule in the chain.
• This makes unsaturated fats less stable and more prone to oxidization.
• There are two types of unsaturated fats… Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).

Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA)

• One (mono) double bond between one hydrogen and the next in the chain.
• MUFAs are liquid at room temperature and solid in the fridge.
• More stable than PUFAs but not as stable as saturated fats.
• The most known MUFA is oleic which is found naturally in the oils of olives, almonds, pecans, cashews, peanuts and avocado.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)

• Two or more (poly) double bonds between one hydrogen and the next in the chain.
• PUFAs are liquid in room and fridge temperature.
• The least stable of the fats – they are easily oxidized by light, heat and oxygen exposure.
• Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are PUFAs
• Omega 3 and 6 are essential fatty acids meaning our body cannot make them, so we need to consume them for optimal health.
• Omega 3 is mostly found in oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, kippers, herring, trout & sardines.
• Omega 6 is found in abundance in Canola, soybean, cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, peanut, and corn oil. All of which are highly processed manmade oils.

The Contradictory Guidelines

If we follow the dietary guidelines of consuming no more than 30g of saturated fat if your male or 20g if you’re female, this seriously limits the amount of animal products we can eat in a day. For example, one ribeye steak of 291g has 28g of saturated fat.

We’re also recommended to eat 1 portion of oily fish per week. Around 140g – the recommended portion size – of mackerel gives us 10g of saturated fat (8g PUFA and 11g MUFA). Fry that in a tablespoon of coconut oil and you’ll bump that up to 22g of saturated fat in one meal not counting any sides you may add.

Coconut oil fact – did you know this health-promoting plant-based oil has the highest concentration of saturated fat than any other food known to humans? It contains a staggering 87% saturated fat (1.8% PUFA, 6% MUFA).

Baffled? Let’s add to the confusion… if I asked you which would be lower in saturated fat between a pork chop and a tablespoon of olive oil, what would you say? Well, a pork chop has 1.5g and a tablespoon of olive oil is 1.9g. Yet, we’re advised to limit our consumption of fatty cuts of meat.

The layperson – who hasn’t considered this subject – would likely believe that a ribeye steak is full of saturated fat and lacking in the so-called ‘health-promoting’ unsaturated fats that we’re encouraged to consume. This is far from the truth – a typical ribeye steak of 291g has 28g of saturated fat 3g PUFA and 30g MUFA. So it has 5g more unsaturated than saturated fat.

In fact, every edible substance on the planet – with the exception of sucrose – contains all three fats of varying amounts and proportions.

Our body can make most fats with the exception of omega 3 and 6 which are known as essential fatty acids. Essential because if we don’t consume them, we’ll eventually perish. The fat that our body makes and store in our fat cells are the dreaded saturated fat. (can you sense the sarcasm?)

A Quick Omega 3 & 6 Interlude

The ratio of omega 6 to 3 is important according to this review. It suggests that the ratio evolutionary would’ve been around 1:1 but in our modern diet of increased omega 6 (from seed and vegetable oils) and reduction in omega 3 consumption ratio is somewhere between 15:1 and 16.7:1.

This dramatic skewing of the ratios is said to promote diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases with the reduction of the ratios reversing them.

Vegetable and seed oils and spreads are also highly prone to oxidization before it enters our mouths due to its unstable nature. As Chris Kresser wrote this his informative article…

“The polyunsaturated fatty acids in industrial seed oils are highly unstable and oxidize easily upon exposure to heat, light, and chemical inputs. When industrial seed oils are exposed to these factors, two harmful substances—trans fats and lipid peroxides—are created. Trans fats are well known for their role in the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes; in fact, for every 2 percent increase in calories from trans fats, your risk of heart disease is nearly doubled! Lipid peroxides, on the other hand, are toxic byproducts that damage DNA, proteins, and membrane lipids throughout the body. The accumulation of lipid peroxides in the body promotes aging and the development of chronic diseases.”

Despite this, the NHS website advises to reduce saturated fat by…

“try reduced-fat spreads, such as spreads based on olive or sunflower oils.”

Back to Saturated Fat…

Interesting fact… dairy is the only food group that has higher saturated fat than unsaturated.

Simple truth… All fats are essential for human life, without them, we would die.

In fact, over millions of years, our body’s have evolved and developed an exquisite lipid (fat) transport system. This system is extremely complicated but on a ridiculously basic level; blood is water-based but needs to transport fat used for energy and fat-soluble vitamins and cholesterol among other things around the body. The liver works its magic and makes lipoproteins that are then able to carry the ‘hydrophobic’ molecules around the body in the blood.

Fat and Us

Without adequate fat, we get sick easily… Yes, fat helps maintain our immune system.

Without fat, we can’t absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E & K.

It’s our primary energy source – why do you think our bodies have developed a fat-storage system?

Fat insulates our internal organs.

It regulates our body temperature.

And fat helps in maintaining healthy skin and hair.

So, with fat – and especially saturated fat – being so essential so us humans, why have we been taught to fear it so much and told to reduce our consumption as much as physically possible?

We Should Look To Our Ancestors

When we look back to what our ancestors would’ve eaten – with only animals and some seasonal fruit and vegetables on offer – would they have cut the fat off their steak? I very much doubt it. To be honest, fat makes us feel full and satiated. I believe our ancestors would have gobbled the fatty cuts of the animal up.

Somewhere in the recent history (within the last 100 years), I think we’ve gone off track when it comes to many nutritional recommendations… fat being one of the biggest. It was likely one of the first detours from a truly healthy diet that lead to many more along the way.

For example, according to Dr Zoe Harcombe, diets generally have an average of 15% protein content, so when we reduce the fat down, the carbohydrates automatically go up which leads to a low fat, high carbohydrate diet.

Anyone who’s an advocate for the Eatwell guide would suggest this is absolutely fine and if you’re struggling with weight and health, you’re lacking control over what you shove in your gob and you need to peel yourself off the sofa and get your running shoes on you lazy so-and-so.

But on the other hand, there will be plenty of type 2 diabetics that’ve put their T2 into remission going completely the opposite direction with a high fat, low carb diet. Eating to satiety – because fat makes you feel full – and exercising if you feel like it because it’s healthy, not as a tool to lose weight.

Mother Nature Up To Her Old Tricks

If, at this point, you still believe that saturated fat is bad for our health, I can’t deny you may well be right. But, if it is so bad, it would be such a shame…

…You see, animal foods are the most nutritious foods on the planet in the most bio-available form for the human digestive system to extract all that goodness.

So, it’d be like Mother Nature playing some evil trick…

…For us to get the nutritional benefits of meat, we need to take the health-threatening risk of consuming much more saturated fat than we are recommended to consume with the potential to suffer the dire consequences of heart disease or cancer or whatever other diseases fat’s been accused of inflicting.

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps…

Or… Perhaps the powers-to-be went on a tangent, lost their way a little. Perhaps they found some cholesterol in clogged up arteries, and made the assumptions that the cholesterol and saturated fat that we eat somehow causes heart disease. It sounds logical, no?

Perhaps, based on this logical hypothesis, multi-billion pound industries were born selling low-fat products despite a lack of robust evidence to back the claims.

Perhaps, those scientists and clever people who backed the theory were too invested to admit they were wrong.

The juggernaut had built up too much momentum to turn back around and now we’re living in a world of increasing disease and obesity despite many following the dietary guidelines and pounding the treadmills.

Perhaps, we’re in quite the mess, aren’t we?

Let’s Use Common Sense

We rely heavily on guidelines that we’re advised to follow, and the nutritional guidelines are no exception. We expect these guidelines to factual and based on solid science, so why would we question them?

But, if we did question them, used a bit of common sense and asked ourselves… ‘what are we actually designed to eat?’ It doesn’t take long to realise that our ancestors would’ve only had limited food options before this world of plenty and endless choices we live in now.

My opinion is that these clever people that use facts and figures, studies and graphs, can get a little too clever for their own good, and the good of others. Sometimes we need to question them, especially when it affects our health and the health of our loved ones.

So, ask yourself… ‘is fat found in meat, that we as humans have been eating for millions of years, really bad for our health?’

Have a nutritious day!

There you have it! Just a reminder that I’m no doctor, dietitian or any other profession for that matter. I’m simply a bearer of information for you to do what you want with; question it, research it, erase it from your mind, you are in charge of you.

The post Saturated Fat – So Bad, It’s Essential appeared first on Offaly Good.

Before I started on my offal adventures, the only oxtail I’d tried was soup out of a can, it was ok, but I preferred the tomato variety. So, when I cooked up some real oxtail in my beloved pressure cooker, an instant love affair blossomed.

Now one of, if not my number one favourite cut, the mixture of meat, fat, connective tissue and bone is the perfect combination for a decadent culinary delight.

At the slightest mention of oxtail to my fellow Instagram #offal followers, the responses are unanimous… “oxtail is the best!”

When I’m devouring my oxtail, I go into a kind of blissful trance as the taste and texture sensations consume me like the first time I’m eating food after a 3 day fast. Or like a toddler eating candy for the first time, like a drug, at that moment nothing else matters.

I feel simultaneously blessed that I’m experiencing this taste sensation while also feeling regret that it’s taken me 39 years of roaming this planet before I discovered this wonder… What other sensual delights am I missing out on?

You gotta try this

In other words, oxtail is super tasty, and – if you haven’t tried it already – I highly recommend you march on down to your butcher and demand (politely)… “some of your finest tail from an ox, please”.

When you return home, waste no time, fire up your pressure cooker, slow cooker, oven or hob – there are many recipes and cooking methods to be found – cook and wait a while. Your patience will be rewarded with a flavoursome flamenco on your tongue, smooth but punchy.

Forgive yourself as you slurp and groan, just give in to it, all will become a dreamy blur. After, rest easy with a full fuzzy feeling, a warm afterglow of content and notice your involuntary smile… You have just experienced one of Mother Nature’s comforting hugs.

Is it magic?

What’s actually going here with all of these orgasmic sensations?

I’ve got an amazing book that I turn to when I’m pondering such questions. It’s called ‘Deep Nutrition‘ by Catherine (Cate) Shanahan and her husband Luke.

The book explains…

“Cooking meat slowly is the best way to turn an ordinary meal into something extraordinary – in terms of taste and nutrition. The potential flavour of meat, or any food, derives from its complexity. Depending on the cut, “meat” may include muscle, tendon, bone, fat, skin, blood and glands – each a world of chemical diversity. When that diversity is released onto the tongue you can taste it, and the rich, savoury flavour means a world of nutrients are on their way.”

So, not only does it taste amazing, but we’re also getting a powerful hit of nutrients and collagen. They go on to explain the process…

“All you need is moisture, time and parts (as many different tissue types as possible: ligament, bone, fat, skin etc.). Making soup, stewing, keeping a top on to trap the steam, basting often when cooking in the oven – all these techniques keep moisture inside the meat, enabling water molecules to make magic happen.”

Oh yeah, and magic does happen with oxtail, which makes sense… This one cut has numerous tissue types including ligament, bone, fat and muscle meat. The book further explains…

“[It] begins when heated moisture trapped in the meat creates the perfect conditions for hydrolytic cleavage… How does hydrolytic cleavage translate in to taste? It’s simple. Taste buds are small. The receptor site where the chemicals bind to them is tiny. So things that impart taste (called flavour ligands) must be tiny too…

Cooking releases trapped flavour because, during the process of hydrolytic cleavage, some proteins are chopped into very small segments, creating short strings of amino acids called peptides. Peptides are tiny enough to fit into receptors in our taste buds. When they do, we get the sensation of savouriness food manufacturers call the “fifth flavour”, or umami.”

It’s just a feeling

This rich, decadent, succulent joy called oxtail can be summed up in one word… Umami.

Umami is well known in the world of food. It’s considered to be a taste along with sweetness, sourness, saltness and bitterness. We have taste receptors that respond to glutamates which are found in various foods, although mainly slow-cooked animal foods that have a mixture of different parts such as muscle meat, bones, connective tissue and skin.

It’s these glutamates that when they hit your tongue, sensations of euphoria ensue. Food manufacturers know about this and use this to their advantage. A man-made version called monosodium glutamate (MSG) is used in many fast foods to cheat your taste buds and make you want more of their food.

Umami is more than a taste through… It’s a sensation, a feeling, almost an emotion. Another one of Mother Nature’s wonders.

There are no rules here

You’ll find a wealth of recipes to try out with a quick DuckDuckGo search, but it’s pretty easy to wing it. Here’s what I did…

Ingredients

• 1.5kg oxtail
• 500ml of beef bone broth (or beef stock)
• 3 carrots cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 celery sticks cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 small onions cut into bite-size pieces
• A few cloves of garlic roughly chopped
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup of red wine
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp of salt
• Filtered or bottled mineral water

Method

Nice and simple… using a pressure cooker, throw everything in. Give it a mix around, then top it up with water until it’s just covering everything. Cook for an hour and a half.

If you haven’t got a pressure cooker, you can use a slow cooker which will take around 8 hours. Or you can simmer or bake in a casserole in the oven on 170C/325F/gas mark 3 for 4 to 5 hours.

When it’s done the meat should fall off the bone and any connective tissue should be soft and gooey.

If the sauce is not thick enough for you, mix up 2 tbsp of flour with a splash of water in a cup until there are no lumps. Then add this and stir in. The sauce should thicken. Repeat if needed.

I enjoy it on its own but you can have it with some mash, or some buttered French stick perhaps. There are no rules here.

Devour and enjoy!

Have a nutritious day!

There you have it! Just a reminder that I’m no doctor, dietitian or any other profession for that matter. I’m simply a bearer of information for you to do what you want with; question it, research it, erase it from your mind, you are in charge of you.

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