Cooking corner: Billy Bob trotters

David W. Cowles

guest columnist

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.

— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

When it comes to food, some people have peculiar ideas. I once knew an otherwise intelligent guy who wouldn’t eat beans or cheese (and a number of other foods) simply because he didn’t like the way the words sounded.

How many people do you know who refuse to eat tongue just because it comes from an animal’s mouth? I’d be willing to bet that those same people eat eggs and drink milk.

Ordinary garden snails are generally considered to be disgusting. Yet, the identical gastropods, cleaned and cooked with garlic and butter and renamed escargot are an expensive delicacy.

Squid sounds icky. Calamari is a seafood treat.

Rocky mountain oysters are a gourmet’s delight, until someone mentions they’re lamb testicles.

Mention tripe (cow’s stomach), brains or chitterlings (pork intestines), and some folks make a face and feign revulsion.

But offal is not always awful. It all depends on how it’s cooked.

Pickled pigs feet is a regional southern U.S. culinary specialty (that means soul food). Pickled pigs feet were served in bars long before Buffalo wings, jalapeño poppers or sliders became popular.

James Beard, the father of American gastronomy, praised their “delicious flavor, tender texture and pleasing, gelatinous quality.”

In order to appease those who have a queasy stomach, we’ll refer to the sticky, delicious morsels of skin, cartilage and meat in the vernacular of the British: Trotters.

Billy Bob trotters (pickled pigs feet)

INGREDIENTS

7 pounds pigs feet (split by a butcher)

4 cups cider vinegar

2 large onions, sliced

1 jalapeno pepper, sliced

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 cup pickling spice

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Water, if needed, to cover

DIRECTIONS

Inspect and rinse the pigs feet. These days, most come from the butcher impeccably clean, but if there should be any small hairs remaining, burn them off by holding the foot briefly over a gas stove burner.

Place all ingredients in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for two to three, or until the meat is tender.

Eat either hot or cold — you’ll squeal with joy! This is hand food — expect to get sticky fingers!

Pickling spice

You can save money by making your own pickling spice. This blend has a superior flavor to store-bought pickling spice, which is usually long on the cheaper ingredients, such as mustard seed and bay leaves, and short on the more costly ones, such as allspice and juniper berries.

Before you buy the expensive little jars of spices at the supermarket, compare their prices with those of companies that sell spices by the pound, such as Butcher and Packer (www.butcher-packer.com) or Whole Spice (www.wholespice.com). You’ll find that there’s a tremendous savings!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup mustard seeds

1/2 cup bay leaves, crumbled

6 sticks cinnamon, broken

1/4 cup allspice berries

1/4 cup juniper berries

1/4 cup coriander seeds

1/4 cup black peppercorns

1/4 cup hot red chile pepper flakes

2 tablespoons cardamom seed

2 tablespoons dried ginger root

2 tablespoons whole cloves

2 tablespoons ground mace

1 tablespoon dill seeds

DIRECTIONS

Using a small mallet, pound the spices to break them into small pieces and crumble or crush them to release flavors.

Mix all ingredients and store in an air-tight container.

Cooking Corner columnist David W. Cowles, the Fastest Chef in the West, can be reached by e-mail at dwcowles-gateway@comcast.net.