I was reading an article about the French and stumbled across a description of a food called “andouillette” that somehow caught my attention. So I checked out the wikipedia entry, which begins by saying:
Traditional andouillette is made from the colon and the stomach of pig. In modern times, contents vary and normally contain intestines of pig, cow and/or calf. It is not to be confused with andouille sausage, which is much spicier, but more mild in animal-derived smells …
The phrase “animal-derived smells” is troubling, especially when it follows hard after a words such as “colon” and “stomach” … but if one is only uneasy at this point - prepare for horror. The description of this food goes straight downhill after that. In fact, it walks right off a cliff. We continue reading:
French andouillette … is an acquired taste and can be an interesting challenge even for adventurous eaters who don’t object to the taste or aroma of feces.
At the end of that sentence, in my mind, all the romance of France just died. RIP.
1Zina on May 14, 2008 at 11:00 pm:
I was going to make some snarky comment about how if the French don’t start having babies they’re going to be extinct in a few more generations and the population will all be of Arab ancestry — but I read the article and then somehow ended up looking at French beaches on a tourism website and reading other articles about France and even cruising around France on Google Earth — and ended up hopelessly homesick. I wish I had a few lifetimes to spend traveling, and I would spend at least one of them on France (well, and Belgium too, of course. First a lifetime on Belgium, and then about three for France.)
2danithew on May 15, 2008 at 5:41 am:
Zina, all I can say is that is spoken as a true returned missionary.
But since you’ve lived in Belgium, I think you have a responsibility to address the issue raised by the post - that is - have you (cough) encountered andouillette?
3Karen Liu on May 15, 2008 at 11:25 pm:
Danu, I can’t stop laughing at that last sentence. Matt is coming over to see why. You so funny!!! Guess I won’t be eating andouille sausage anymore. Or haggis, for that matter.
The Scottis Haggis, according to wikipedia:
“There are many recipes, most of which have in common the following ingredients: sheep’s ‘pluck’ (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal’s stomach for approximately three hours.”
4Zina on May 17, 2008 at 1:13 am:
I have a vague memory of hearing of andouillette, but no, I never ate it. I did eat horsemeat, when some church members decided we missionaries needed to taste a traditional Belgian dish. It’s kind of tough and gamey, but not bad.