Wednesday, 28 August 2024

Hearts and Minds


I have just read in the paper that Waitrose (a high-end UK food store) it to start selling Lamb's Hearts again, after having previously stopped in 2016.

I must have been born an 'adventurous eater'. As a small child nothing was more delicious to me than chewing on a lump of raw Beef, and/or my mother's roasted stuffed Lambs hearts. 


As my mother prepared her Sunday roasts, she would always give me pieces of raw Beef to eat, which I absolutely loved. 

I think the Lamb's hearts were probably a particular post-war dish, and very cheap; you don't see them these days (until now at Waitrose). I absolutely loved them, and had forgotten all about them until recently. I expect these days they've mostly gone into the making of Haggis.

I was born in 1946, and in those post-war years we ate 'different' things. Food was still rationed, and you survived on what was available. We were lucky, my people had a large garden with fruit, vegs, and poultry. For some reason Lambs hearts must have been amongst the readily 'available' meats at the village butcher's.

They were stuffed with a standard Sage-n-Onion stuffing, and roasted. I wonder what I would make of them today? Somehow they no longer really appeal, but I might buy some anyway, just to see! I think plenty of Olive oil, salt, and ground cumin would make them really delicious.

I remember them as being a real treat. 

 

22 comments:

Susan Heather said...

I can't remember ever eating lamb Hearts. We buy them for the cat. Might have a go at cooking tgem.

Cro Magnon said...

I'm surprised. I used to love them. We used to have them just like the photo above; stuffed and tied.

Le Pré de la Forge said...

Having survived my mother's roasted stuffed Lambs hearts, I rediscovered heart as a meat when we got a slow cooker.
There was a recipe in the "attached" "How to use your Slow Cooker" book and as oxheart is easy to get hold of in France, I gave it a go.
6hrs on low, overnight on medium and 6hrs on high.... in a tomato sauce [recipe suggested wine... I used a dark beer]....
sauce was onions, garlic, tomatoes [I used oxheart], red pepper and radishes [which make wonderful bitesize, peppery turnips]
Never looked back, use a heart based dish at least half-a-dozen times a year.
It is actually very good for you... next to venison and ostrich, one of the least fatty meats around!

Sue in Suffolk said...

We were always told that eating raw meat would give you worms!!

Poppypatchwork said...

My mum loved them and we had them often.

JayCee said...

I do remember my mother cooked hearts just once. I am not sure why she didn't repeat the experiment as I recall it tasted OK.

Cro Magnon said...

I remember it as being very tasty meat, not unlike Duck. I would think that after 6 hrs slow cooking it would be superb.
Are you taking paying guests???

Cro Magnon said...

I wouldn't eat raw Pork or Chicken, but I think Beef is OK.

Cro Magnon said...

I expect we had them at least once a month. It's a long time ago!

Cro Magnon said...

The idea is a bit strange, but the taste is good. As with all offal, one needs to be 'open-minded'.

local alien said...

Stuffed lambs heart sounds good. The lamb heart here goes into making the spit of offal called kokoretsi or straight into the frying pan.
I don't know about raw beef, though I've heard you get a lot more nourishment from the raw beef. Your mother gave you a good start to life.

Coppa's girl said...

Not something I've ever eaten - as far as I know! Nor something I've seen in the supermarkets here, and even if available I'm unlikely to buy.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Your mother threw you lumps of raw beef? Did they think you would become a lion when you grew up - like Simba in "The Lion King"?

Cro Magnon said...

I think my mother simply had a seriously carnivore son! I think I was a bit of 'a handful'.

Cro Magnon said...

It certainly wouldn't appeal to everyone. As a child I probably didn't even know what a 'heart' was! As long as it tasted good.....

Cro Magnon said...

Grrrrrr! More like the Lion in The Wizard of Oz.

Camille said...

My French mother frequently made steak tartare which was delicious and I adored. Was briefly shocked one day to discover it was made and eaten as minced raw beef, but admit I got over it quickly.

Travel said...

Try it when you are home.

Cro Magnon said...

As you might imagine, I am a Steak Tartare fan. I love it.

Cro Magnon said...

I think I will, although my appetite isn't what it was.

Le Pré de la Forge said...

Nope! In fact we have now lost the guest room as my good lady now needs an upeee-downeee medical bed, so our clothes are now in the guest room.... and we've had a chairlift installed.... sorreeee!
Try it for yourself!

Tressa said...

When we used to butcher our beef we would eat the heart and the tongue. Boiled it first, sliced it and rolled it in flour, and fried it. It made a tasty sandwich for when all hands were busy processing beef.

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