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08 September, 2006

What Have I DONE???

Ever since the year I gave up eating mammal for New Years, I've had a weird relationship with meat. Sure, I'll eat any of the standard stuff -- beef, pork, chicken, etc. I even had buffalo (bison?) and elk at my cousin's wedding. But I wouldn't or veal or lamb. C'mon... how could I possibly eat poor little Norman? (by the way, I was so hoping to find a picture of Norman to accompany this entry, but I googled every combination of Norman Cow City Slickers and couldn't find a single one!) But now I have this job in this fancy restaurant, and I feel like I'd be doing myself a disservice to not taste anything that's offered.

So yesterday my boss saved me a bite of his dinner -- a piece of veal sweetbreads. Not only did I eat BABY COW, I ate "thymus (neck/throat/gullet sweetbread) or the pancreas (belly/stomach/heart sweetbread) or genitalia of an animal younger than one year old." (wikipedia) It was quite tasty, but I don't think I'd order it. I can't get over the face of poor sweet Norman.

And today I was in the kitchen and I was handed a spoon with a piece of meat and some potatoes (I would say "mashed potatoes," but it was probably "potato puree") on it. It was lamb. I ate it, and it was delicious. And I would eat it again. And I would enjoy it. Sheep be damned... I'm a lamb fan now!

We also had a special request tonight for butternut squash soup, and I sweet-talked myself into a half mug full. I really love squash soup. The stuff at my restaurant is so different from the stuff they serve at Puck's I can't even compare the two. It was great...and quite rich. I didn't even eat the dinner I packed for myself tonight!

Tomorrow we have a new temp starting (hopefully this one will last more than a week). And apparently I'm training him. That's so ridiculous I can barely fathon it! I've only been here for 2 months. Am I qualified to teach someone else? I guess we'll find out...

1 comment:

Janette said...

Mm, all of it sounds so good! Sorry but I am a huge fan of Veal Piccata, it has to be one of my top ten favorite dishes. Chicken Piccata is a very poor substitute. Ooh and then there's Lamb and Artichoke Stew, drool. Poor fuzzy little animals, it's not our fault that they're so tasty!