Unusual plate ideas please

Heard a foodie talking to Kim Hill this morning about delicately cooking a woodcock (banned in France but legal in England) - folding its wings back, twisting its head round and securing the wings to its back with the spike of its long beak, then after it was roasted, making a pate of the guts (apparently the bird always defaecates on take-off, so the gut is cleared out) then snapping off the head and using the beak like a spoon to suck the brains out.

I'll bet if you break ranks and take something a bit less unusual, your plate will be emptied before all the others ;)

I read about the same (or similar) incident in Anthony Bourdain's latest book (he was one of the special guests).The bird at his feast was the ortolan, once the gourmet dish of France, and he described in guilty detail the crunching of the bones etc - and napkins over their heads.I've lent the book so can't reference the page.
This is a Wiki entry:
"For centuries, a rite of passage for French gourmets has been the eating of the Ortolan. These tiny birds—captured alive, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnac—were roasted whole and eaten that way, bones and all, while the diner draped his head with a linen napkin to preserve the precious aromas and, some believe, to hide from God.

You catch the ortolan with a net spread up in the forest canopy. Take it alive. Take it home. Poke out its eyes and put it in a small cage. Force-feed it oats and millet and figs until it has swollen to four times its normal size. Drown it in brandy. Roast it whole, in an oven at high heat, for six to eight minutes. Bring it to the table. Place a cloth—a napkin will do—over your head to hide your cruelty from the sight of God. Put the whole bird into your mouth, with only the beak protruding from your lips. Bite. Put the beak on your plate and begin chewing, gently. You will taste three things: First, the sweetness of the flesh and fat. This is God. Then, the bitterness of the guts will begin to overwhelm you. This is the suffering of Jesus. Finally, as your teeth break the small, delicate bones and they begin to lacerate your gums, you will taste the salt of your own blood, mingling with the richness of the fat and the bitterness of the organs. This is the Holy Spirit, the mystery of the Trinity—three united as one. It is cruel. And beautiful."

Cook a pig's head.put it on a huge serving plate decorate it with an apple in it's mouth & cherries for it's eyes!

Great example here

http://www.sacredearth.com/ethnobotany/food/festivefood.php

Ellie - I read about that in a book called The Man who Ate the World. From memory it happened in France (so illiegal) and you had to be specially invited and the feasting happened in a locked room. Fascinating. It's by Jay Raymer.

guess I was too late for this suggestion!

pinkpig3, it would be interesting to hear not only what you decided to take, but what other people took to the party.

I read about the same (or similar) incident in Anthony Bourdain's latest book (he was one of the special guests).The bird at his feast was the ortolan, once the gourmet dish of France, and he described in guilty detail the crunching of the bones etc - and napkins over their heads.I've lent the book so can't reference the page.
This is a Wiki entry:
"For centuries, a rite of passage for French gourmets has been the eating of the Ortolan. These tiny birds—captured alive, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnac—were roasted whole and eaten that way, bones and all, while the diner draped his head with a linen napkin to preserve the precious aromas and, some believe, to hide from God.

You catch the ortolan with a net spread up in the forest canopy. Take it alive. Take it home. Poke out its eyes and put it in a small cage. Force-feed it oats and millet and figs until it has swollen to four times its normal size. Drown it in brandy. Roast it whole, in an oven at high heat, for six to eight minutes. Bring it to the table. Place a cloth—a napkin will do—over your head to hide your cruelty from the sight of God. Put the whole bird into your mouth, with only the beak protruding from your lips. Bite. Put the beak on your plate and begin chewing, gently. You will taste three things: First, the sweetness of the flesh and fat. This is God. Then, the bitterness of the guts will begin to overwhelm you. This is the suffering of Jesus. Finally, as your teeth break the small, delicate bones and they begin to lacerate your gums, you will taste the salt of your own blood, mingling with the richness of the fat and the bitterness of the organs. This is the Holy Spirit, the mystery of the Trinity—three united as one. It is cruel. And beautiful."

Cook a pig's head.put it on a huge serving plate decorate it with an apple in it's mouth & cherries for it's eyes!

Great example here

http://www.sacredearth.com/ethnobotany/food/festivefood.php

Bumping this thread as i am interested as to what was taken :)

We were served a buffet with the whole pig (including the apple) as a centrepeice recently in Fiji.Our poor daughter took one look and couldn't eat it. She's 11.

LOLHubby's Mum did one for a Christmas dinner one year when he was a kid.He has never forgotten it.Everyone enjoyed it.Appearances aren't everything eh!

Rosemary McLeod, well known for her good sense of humour - among many other talents, said that at a poncy Australian restaurant she was served a whole fish propped up on its 'elbow' staring at her and she just could not eat it ;)

LOL ugh!

BUMPwe want to know what pinkpig3 took as her unusual plate

We were served a buffet with the whole pig (including the apple) as a centrepeice recently in Fiji.Our poor daughter took one look and couldn't eat it. She's 11.

LOLHubby's Mum did one for a Christmas dinner one year when he was a kid.He has never forgotten it.Everyone enjoyed it.Appearances aren't everything eh!

Oink oink pinkpig3<(*@*)>

Rosemary McLeod, well known for her good sense of humour - among many other talents, said that at a poncy Australian restaurant she was served a whole fish propped up on its 'elbow' staring at her and she just could not eat it ;)

If pinkpig3 doesn't respond to this thread soon I may be forced to roast YOU!

BUMP

lindylambchops, with a name like yours, you might be in danger of being grilled first ;)

If pinkpig3 doesn't respond to this thread soon I may be forced to roast YOU!

BUMP

Unusual plate ideas please

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