PrintFergusStock at The Breslin
[Photographs: Robyn Lee]
For nasty bits lovers, eating a meal designed by Fergus Henderson is just about as thrilling as it gets. Henderson, chef and author of the cult classic The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating, is renowned for his offal-loving, skin-and-bones approach to cooking. FergusStock '09, Henderson's exchange program that pairs his creative talents with that of the city's best chefs, took place between October 15 and 17 at two different restaurants: The Spotted Pig and The Breslin, the latter just opened by April Bloomfield by Ken Friedman.
We attended Friday night at The Breslin, a space so new that the faint smell of black lacquered paint greeted us as we walked in.
The interior and the feast, after the jump.
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20 Comments:
really bad slideshow engine (page refreshes on prev/next??) but it looks gangster. thanks robyn (although i'm sure you were paid back fully in pig parts that night)
avisualperson at 5:47PM on 10/18/09
Oaky, except for the bone marrow, I am officially somewhat grossed out. The eyeball thing, did me in.
And I only ate the bone marrow in small bites at the end of the steak when I was a kid.
Or the pork chop. I'm from Michigan, this shouldn't bother me. I know where food comes from and how it is slaughtered. But looking at the half pig face and the head of bone, got to me.
Sorry. I'm sure it was delicious.
Scoreboard44 at 7:22PM on 10/18/09
:o ....
that turned my cold, miserable morning into a warm, optimistic day, so
cheers for that!
yongo at 8:09PM on 10/18/09
Great pics Robyn, and nice writeup, Chichi. Wish I was there!
FYI - what you bit into was the lens. The pupil is just the hole in the middle of the iris. Can't really bite into it - it's like saying I just ate the pig's a**hole.
J. Kenji Lopez-Alt at 10:46PM on 10/18/09
I'm sure all this is great, but it's not really a slideshow if the page has to refresh every time. Just something that's been frustrating me in a few posts, SE.
amadaun at 12:43AM on 10/19/09
Egads that all looks killer-diller!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I don't use exclamation points lightly. Robyn your pix are so good I was licking my monitor screen, then I realized it was just a photo of lamb neck.
Chichi, you're my kinda gal, you took the skull home. You should get some of those little beetles that the Museum of Natural history uses to clean the flesh off animal skeletons.
Joe DiStefano at 4:40AM on 10/19/09
Eating a pig's eyeball... uugghhhhhhhh.....!!! (But I must say you've got seriously large balls if you can eat something like THAT!)
Sameer at 5:46AM on 10/19/09
Does the pig's eyeball taste and have the same texture as fish eyeballs? I looove eating fish eyes since I was a kid. The texture is great.
Cassaendra at 7:28AM on 10/19/09
Great interactive thumbnail feature!
...for some reason I think the 'head' looks really apetizing!
hungrychristel at 9:47AM on 10/19/09
I am jealous beyond belief, ugh! I had the roasted marrow at Prune this spring, it was one of the most memorable meals of my life. That head looks decadent and wonderful, but I have to admit, the eye is all yours :)
I don't think of Fergus doing desserts (or at least desserts that don't have brains or spleen ;), both looked lovely.
Mandyhello at 9:52AM on 10/19/09
I am sad today, folks. I tried to clean the skull but had no idea what i was doing and now it is in the trash can, with the bones severely softened and meat still clinging to the eye socket.
Joe - maybe I will take your advice and get some of those beetles the next time I have a pig's skull :)
Chichi Wang at 10:38AM on 10/19/09
You should have made stock with it.
simon at 10:59AM on 10/19/09
wow-i'm so jealous-that's looked incredibly delicious, but the thumbnail nonsense was a little frustrating and took away some from my enjoyment.
gastronomeg at 11:09AM on 10/19/09
Thanks for the new screensaver!
browngravy at 12:01PM on 10/19/09
Thanks for the comments regarding the slideshow feature, all. We'll be making changes to the system shortly.
Carey Jones at 12:09PM on 10/19/09
Nice photos. Good to see some adventurous eaters out there. I wrote my own post about FergusStock at the Breslin at http://demianrepucci.com/2009/10/17/the-breslin-fergus-henderson/
Thanks!
Demian Repucci at 6:49PM on 10/21/09
The desserts were from The Breslin, not St. John.
sweetnyc at 8:53AM on 10/27/09
No thanks for the eyeball, but I'd love to try the head. It's all pork skin and fat what's not to love?! Lamb neck looks amazing too.
2 slices at 10:02AM on 11/06/09
I'm sure pig's eyes are edible, but why bother? I know I'm man enough, but I just don't see the point of testing our mettle by eating bugs, eyeballs, Fugu, or boars testicles just to prove that we can.
That said, April made us an awesome dish of cod sperm at John Dory, and we loved it.
mymymichl at 7:44PM on 11/08/09
Why bother with the pig's eyeballs? Because they are DELICIOUS. I just want to emphasize that - the meat in the socket was extremely tender and gelatinous, like a braised trotter. Soooo....that's WHY :)
I don't want to get into bugs and testicles right now, but I have very similar sentiments about those as well! More on that some other time!
Chichi Wang at 12:46PM on 11/09/09