Human Feet & Pigs Trotters

There I was waiting for my Pilates class, as I casually looked down I noticed a startling sight – – someone’s open toed sandals displaying a set of bare feet and toes nails.

It’s not that I have ‘whatever the opposite to a foot pettish’ is – it is just the sublime realism that feet really are quite ugly along with other parts of the anatomy, that are, quite rightly so covered up in public.

So, as I covertly pondered upon that poor ladies’ feet with one in growing toe nail and the other one sticking out at a right angle, the tufts of hair on her big toes blowing casually in the draft from beneath the gym door and the general odd shape of them, really odd with added bunions – – – I had but one thought!

Pigs Trotters – how ludicrously vile are pig’s trotters, it’s not even the taste because after all tender slow cooked actual pork meat falling of the bone is quite delicious but thick thick pig skin slimy and tough, covering an inch of porky fat and sinew with a wedge of bone in the middle added to that the visible pig nail trotters protruding out at the end – – – EWWW!!!!

This thought only leads to one conclusion – – certain things really shouldn’t be visible to the human eye and one of them is feet!

By all means cook those lovely tender pigs feet for a few hours but take that delicious succulent meat away from the ‘hideousness’ and serve it to me without the offence of a trauma.

It’s the same as chicken feet – – you might as well serve me duck beaks, there’s probably more meat on them anyway – – gross, pointless and ugly.

Once in Egypt we were served pigeon – only it was brought to us with 2 dangling feet and its ‘I was murdered head’ on display (they usually do have 2 feet and a head – but if it’s not edible!!!!) I’m not one to shirk food so we simply covered its head and feet with a serviette and divulged the good stuff, all but meat sparse as are the poor pigeons of Egypt – not like the old fatties of Trafalgar Square (I know they’ve been banished now – health and Safety!)

The other revolting food stuff is head – – I mean it’s bad enough being a carnivore in today’s society without having the victim of your hunger staring back at you with a grimace on its face and a full set of nashers set in a rigamortice smile. Sheep’s or goats head, I’m not sure if I can tell the difference in a continental butcher’s shop! Is again rather delish, succulent and tasty SO why oh, why can’t we enjoy it without its inedible skull – – give me the meat, give me its cheek, give me its other cheek, give me it on a plate with a side dish of veggies.

Maybe it’s just my culture – I often moan about the way food is packaged these days, all neatly butchered and plumped up in a plastic box with a nappy, with a nice little picture of a farm – where it never went. So, people aren’t used to bone, skin or scales let alone head or feet. I don’t mind scaling fish, gutting it if need-be, boning out a chicken or cutting the head of a Salmon, but I know so many people these days aren’t used to even that so are easily revolted by a mere fish bone – – but I guess I wasn’t brought up on head or feet like so many other cultures are.

Thinking about it, it’s all a matter of psychology, it’s what we are used to, what we have been brought up on or what we can get our head around.

Maybe I should get my head around a head – this spring I’m going to Reykjavik and I noticed while researching FOOD that there is a restaurant that specialises in Sheep’s head called ‘Sheeps head’ or ‘Fljótt og Gott’ – what else would you call it? An Icelandic delicacy – unlike the Minkie whale which is ‘putrefied in urine’ (well it might as well be) – – I’m not doing that one.

One head at a time –

Will I go for it – – keep tuned in and I’ll let you know?

Happy food Tails – Zena x