Engaging in one of my favorite Sunday pastimes this weekend, I began contemplating the origins of trends in the culinary world, and specifically, the now popular “nose to tail” eating.
Let me preface by saying that this pastime is lunch in Chinatown, and this week, I met a friend of mine to explore a different Chinese cuisine that neither of us were well versed in. We ventured on East Broadway, directly under the Manhattan Bridge to a place called Xi’an famous foods. Walking up to the miniscule storefront, we were blown away by the picture menu covering almost the entire wall. As I studied it closer, trying not to get distracted by the noodle-making going on inside, the urge to order everything was overwhelming. Dishes such as lamb offal soup, pig’s pudding (blood) salad, spicy and tingly lamb face salad, and the list went on and on.
What struck me by the menu is that there was hardly a recognizable piece of meat listed, and all the dishes were using underutilized cuts and presenting them in such fresh, clean, simple preparations, lots of handmade noodles, pickled vegetables, herbs, and chili oils. It brought my mind to the way that many chefs are working and moving forward in their creativity in New York City.
Upscale restaurants purchase entire animals raised naturally on local farms and are butchering in house to utilize every part. They are challenging our conventional relationship with the food we rely on for physical nourishment and pleasure. And while considering the whole animal and the farmer that raised it, we are also relating closely to several significant factors that influence our human existence–ecological health, cultural nourishment and economic sustainability.
This practice has been going on for centuries, and is continually being pushed into the mainstream. What we need to realize is that nose to tail eating not only reduces our excessive demand for a high volume of processed animals, but it can also offer better quality food for a cheaper price per ounce. Applying it in our daily lives can lead to nothing but good things for ourselves and the world we live in.