Offal Good

Starred review from June 5, 2017
In his first cookbook, Cosentino, a Top Chef Masters winner and owner of San Francisco’s Cockscomb restaurant, makes a convincing case for readers to embrace offal—the unglamorous animal parts, such as the digestive organs, head, heart, and tongue. With that in mind, he offers some outstanding recipes: calf’s liver crudo with beets and balsamic vinegar; a duck-liver terrine with pickled cherries; braised trotter, tomato, and corona beans; and the Hangtown Fry Burger, which substitutes blood sausage for ground beef. Cosentino’s collection offers easy entry points such as the classic British oyster and kidney pie; a sweet take on pork cracklings (fried pig skin) with citrus and cocoa powder; and Best Parts of the Chicken Risotto, which is a savory hodgepodge of chicken offal and thighs. Fellow chefs and experienced cooks will appreciate thoughtful inclusions such as spaghetti tossed with pork skins and a recipe for sweetbreads with cucumbers and hazelnuts, as well as dramatic fare such as roasted pig and lamb heads. Though he offers whimsical riffs with nods to The Empire Strikes Back (assorted offal cooked inside an animal’s stomach, kind of like Luke Skywalker being stuffed into the stomach of taunton to avoid hypothermia) and Hannibal Lecter (liver with fava beans and a glass of Chianti), this is far from a collection of novelties. Chefs and foodies who are ready to broaden their palates (and who have a great local butcher) are sure to appreciate this imaginative and impressive assemblage.