What was once a popular Victorian breakfast is nowadays a light lunch or a flavorful appetizer: the dish is called devilled kidneys, made by frying lamb kidneys in a rich, spicy sauce made with vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and sometimes a bit of fruit jelly.
It is usually garnished with freshly chopped parsley and served with fried white or sourdough bread. The dish first appeared during the 18th century, but it grew in popularity during the 19th and the 20th century.
MOST ICONIC Devilled kidneys
View moreOften referred to as nervetti in insalata, this classic northern Italian dish consists of meat, cartilage, and tendons from beef shank that are cooked on the bone. When tender, all of the elements are removed from the bones and left to set, allowing the gelatinous properties to create a firm, jelly-like treat.
Though it is often prepared plain, various ingredients such as olives, onions, or peppers are occasionally added to the mixture. Nervetti is always served well-chilled, thinly sliced, and is mainly combined with various vegetables. The whole combination is seasoned and served in the form of a salad that is usually enjoyed as a cold appetizer.
MOST ICONIC Nervetti
Żymlok is a traditional Silesian blood sausage consisting of a mixture of pork blood, bread rolls, ground pork offal, onions, spices, and seasonings stuffed into intestines. The ground meat is cooked in meat broth and the bread rolls are soaked in the same broth before they are combined and added to the intestines.
Bread rolls are called żymła in Silesian and bułka in Polish, hence the name of this sausage. Żymlok is usually flavored with aromatic spices such as marjoram, nutmeg, black pepper, bay leaves, allspice, and juniper berries. Although it appears to be a regular sausage, its consistency is similar to black pudding.
Sneem black pudding is a traditional, firm, deep red-brown blood pudding made only in the village of Sneem, located in the Iveragh Peninsula in South Kerry, in southwest Ireland. Made with beef suet, onions, oat flakes, spices, and fresh blood collected from local pigs, lambs, and cows, Sneem black pudding is baked in trays instead of being boiled, as black puddings usually are.
The area has a long tradition of home-based black pudding production. They were traditionally made by women, and almost every household had at least one or two animals for their own purposes. Nowadays, the situation has changed, and there are only two producers in the village who still use fresh blood to make the pudding.
Czernina is a traditional soup prepared with duck or goose blood, which is preserved in vinegar so it would not coagulate. The soup is made with a flavorful duck broth, while the typical additions include dried fruits and a variety of spices such as cloves and allspice.
The name of the soups stems from the word czarny, which translates as black and refers to the dark color of the soup. Even though some modern versions occasionally omit the blood and employ other types of meat, czernina should always be tangy, slightly sweet, and dark in color.
MOST ICONIC Czernina
Blodpudding is one of traditional Swedish dishes made with animal blood. It is typically prepared with pig blood that is mixed with flour, beer or svagdricka, butter, and seasonings, then cooked in the oven. Once prepared, it is thinly sliced and fried with a little butter or oil until slightly crispy on the surface.
The traditional way of serving it is with lingonberry jam, crispy bacon, and Swedish snaps. A variant of this dish is blodkorv (blood sausage), to which pork fat, raisins, and spices are added besides the usual ingredients. As intriguing as this dish might seem to a foreigner, blood pudding is a very popular and common food eaten for lunch or dinner in most Swedish households.
Zungenwurst is a traditional blood sausage that contains pieces of pickled tongues. It typically consists of a mixture of pork blood, fat, and pieces of pickled tongues, seasoned with ground pepper and (optionally) other strong spices. Usually, the blood sausage is entirely made of animal parts, containing no fillers or cereals.
Since the sausage is typically cured and dried, it requires no cooking prior to its consumption. A common sausage in Austria as well, it can be consumed both hot and chilled, fried, or sliced in sandwiches. Its name is derived from the German words Zungen, meaning tongues in English, and Wurst, which translates to sausage.
MOST ICONIC Zungenwurst
Originating from the Pakistani city of Karachi, kata-kat is a traditional dish made with a combination of different parts of meat, typically offal, such as kidneys, brain, testicles, hearts, liver, and lungs. The meat is combined with various spices such as coriander, ginger, mint, chilis, and garam masala, along with tomatoes, garlic, and onions.
It is then cooked on a griddle and served with paratha or roti bread on the side.
MOST ICONIC Kata-kat
MAIN INGREDIENTS
This classic Roman dish is made by stewing tripe in a tart tomato sauce along with finely chopped fresh herbs. The dish is additionally flavored with garlic and onions. When ready to serve, it is recommended to finish the dish off by topping it with grated cheese such as Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano.
MOST ICONIC Trippa alla Romana
View moreMAIN INGREDIENTS
As the name might imply, this French dish consists of a calf’s head, which is boiled for a long time until the meat becomes tender and the skin develops a gelatinous consistency. The tongue and brain are also boiled separately with a combination of spices, and the three types of meat are served together in thick slices on a platter with the vegetables used in cooking, usually potatoes and carrots, and a drizzling of ravigote sauce.
Although the dish has numerous supposed origins, famous French writer Gustave Flaubert traces it back to the British celebrating the decapitation of King Charles I. After the French revolution and yet another well-known decapitation, the French followed suit.
MOST ICONIC Tête de veau
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