After trying tongue, lung, and sweet breads, we discovered that once you get past the mental ick factor, offal is actually darn tasty.
Such culinary bravery has come as a surprise to us both, especially since a year ago Adam didn’t consider raw fish edible, but apparently desperation is not the only reason why people eat this stuff.
The most recent meat to hit our plates was anticucho, brochettes of marinated, grilled beef heart. A popular dish of Peru, we found this “appetizer” at Piolin on New Britain Ave., in Hartford, where the portions are so large that our starter was really a platter.
Our friendly and helpful server, who immediately saw we were out of our element, warned us of the imposing portion sizes, so we decided to simply split an entrée after we finished eating our hearts out.
The heart meat was firm and a bit chewy, but very flavorful and mildly spiced with aji, or Peruvian peppers.
As we enjoyed the seasoned skewers, however, we made a grave mistake; we looked a little too closely at what we were eating. That was when our bravery flagged. Upon finding we could make out ventricles, we decided to save room for our entrée.
On the recommendation of our server, we ordered the chupe de pescado, a popular dish of Peruvian coastal cuisine and of Piolin. A mix of octopus, squid, shrimp, mussels and potatoes in a light cream broth with cilantro, garlic and aji pepper, the chupe was even larger than the anticucho.
Renowned Peruvian chef Gaston Acurio recently called the yellow aji pepper the most important ingredient in Peruvian cooking, and it is easy to see why. Looking through Piolin’s menu, I notice the hot and distinctively fruity peppers are used in everything. Even the delicious creamy green “secret sauce” offered with bread to each table, which Piolin is known for, contains the pervasive South American peppers.
Another staple of Peruvian cuisine is corn. With 35 different indigenous kinds available, there is little wonder why. The most common type, a large kernelled, unsweet variety that tastes more like popcorn than corn on the cob, appears in each dish as well.
To wash it all down, we tried an Inca Kola, a bright yellow lemon verbena flavored soda. The national beverage of Peru, this candy-like cola was at one point the only soda worldwide to beat Coca-Cola in sales. Despite it’s popularity, however, it was a little too sweet for even Adam.
No matter how sweet though, the Inca Kola would have to serve as our dessert since there was no way we had any room left for rice pudding or alfajores, delicate shortbread cookies filled with dulce de leche and dusted with powdered sugar.
So what’s next for your intrepid eaters? Who knows, Rocky Mountain oysters?
"Piolin" means "Tweety" in Spanish
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