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absurdheroAt work we sell many ghastly things. Most of you have probably heard of chitterlings (boiled swine intestines,) pickled pigs feet, and tripe (stomach lining.)
However, there are two items which always attract attention in the frozen meat case.
Care to guess what this might be?
If you were to guess it was the whole head of a hog severed at the neck, you would be quite correct. I'm not quite clear on the preparation techniques for this particular piece of anatomy, but I've heard they can be boiled into some sort of stew. Less commonly, they can be used to make Head Cheese.
But we don't stop with the poor beast's head. No, sir!
The legendary Mountain Oysters. As you can see, each one of these sons-of-bitches is roughly the size of your fist.
I had heard mention of such things before in the form of jokes and anecdotes, but I actually thought they were a myth until I saw them for sale. Apparently they are sliced up and cooked as breakfast steaks. On some "oysters," I have even seen an errant semeniferous tubule poking out of the meat. A coworker of mine used to work at a restaurant that served these hideous delicacies and has actually cooked them, but claims to never have tasted them.
Perhaps the most bizarre thing is that these pig heads and hog nuts are being sold at a regular grocery store and not just a country meat market. I personally have no dealings with disgusting meats, thankfully, but I understand that neither are exactly great sellers. However, the fact that they are popular enough to justify the shelf space dedicated to them is significant in itself.
However, there are two items which always attract attention in the frozen meat case.
If you were to guess it was the whole head of a hog severed at the neck, you would be quite correct. I'm not quite clear on the preparation techniques for this particular piece of anatomy, but I've heard they can be boiled into some sort of stew. Less commonly, they can be used to make Head Cheese.
The legendary Mountain Oysters. As you can see, each one of these sons-of-bitches is roughly the size of your fist.
I had heard mention of such things before in the form of jokes and anecdotes, but I actually thought they were a myth until I saw them for sale. Apparently they are sliced up and cooked as breakfast steaks. On some "oysters," I have even seen an errant semeniferous tubule poking out of the meat. A coworker of mine used to work at a restaurant that served these hideous delicacies and has actually cooked them, but claims to never have tasted them.
Perhaps the most bizarre thing is that these pig heads and hog nuts are being sold at a regular grocery store and not just a country meat market. I personally have no dealings with disgusting meats, thankfully, but I understand that neither are exactly great sellers. However, the fact that they are popular enough to justify the shelf space dedicated to them is significant in itself.