Time Magazine reports, with a soupçon of punny glee, that sales of offal in Great Britain have surged as of late, likely in response to the international economic downturn. Quoth London's Liz Logan:

"Tough economic times have Britons eating their hearts out and swallowing their tongues. Not literally, of course. But offal - or "variety meats," as the food category is euphemistically called in the U.K. - is experiencing a surge in popularity, with sales up 67% over the past five years."

Thing is, even in advance of the pound sterling's plunge, the nose-to-tail herd, helmed by offal stalwarts like Fergus Henderson and River Cottage's Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, had been squealing 'bout the culinary benefits of tripe, kidneys, brains, tail, giblets and trotters. Come for the savings, stay for the savoring -- the message seems to have come home to roost.

I posted a while back about my love of grilled chicken hearts, and I'm no stranger to whisking up a batch of giblet gravy, or a neckbone ragout, but I'm hungry for your favorite takes on organ meats. Post 'em in the comments below.

[via: Time]

Thank you to Flickr user vvvanessa for uploading this drool-inducing image to the Slashfood pool.

Giblet gravy recipe after the jump.

British food always gets knocked about, and now it's getting an added slap from Jamie Oliver. The BBC reports that Paris Match magazine has interviewed the popular celebrity chef, who is not too happy about the state of food in the UK. In fact, he even said that there was a better variety of food in South African slums.

But he doesn't think it was always that way. He says that "We have lost our traditions," and that Britain's "poverty shows in the way they feed themselves." Basically, he says they do so by spending everything on technology and booze, rather than meals around the dinner table -- something that seems far from UK-centric.

The Sydney Morning Herald also notes that Oliver went on to discuss how well France has kept up their food traditions, and how he'd like to shoot a new television show there. My suggestion: Oliver should go to France, research the continuing traditions practiced there and then head back to the UK for a British food Renaissance.

AOL Health Editor Katherine Steinberg submitted the photo above for inclusion in the Midnight Sausage series, but we thought it was worthy of a post all its own.

"As I was wandering the streets of London foraging for food, I came across something even more foreign to me than the British slang -- the hot dog hamburger, or the 'express special'. It was so strange that I had to take a picture. I'm not sure what about this makes it faster than your average meal, but I do know that it comes with fries. But don't get too excited, judging by the recent price dip, it won't be popping up in your local deli anytime soon."

Has anyone seen or sampled this frankenfood in London or elsewhere? We'd love a first-hand account.

[via Katherine Steinberg's Flickr]

According to this great article from last weeks Guardian us Brits are ignoring some of our most exciting native foods. Not only do we ignore them but we export them overseas for others to enjoy.

Eight foods that need a appreciating in the UK

1. Pilchards - did you know pilchards and sardines are the same fish? Sardines are the babies, any longer than 15cm and they become pilchards.
2. Hemp - in hot demand as a source of essential fatty acids. The US is the biggest market because they can't grow it due to the visual similarity between hemp and cannabis.
3. Spider Crabs - spiky shells... huge claws... messy to eat... the British aren't into that.
4. Chicken Feet - after my experience of these in the back streets of old Shanghai I can see why we want to shove these over to Hong Kong and mainland China!
5. Pigs Trotters - had these in St John; can't really rave that much...
6. Megrim - a flat fish found around the British coast. Never heard of it myself which might explain why 1000 tonnes a month goes to Italy and Spain
7. Langoustines - now these I do appreciate but we export 20,000 tonnes to Europe every year.
8. Razor Fish - in huge demand in Europe and the Far East
   

The Telegraph and Sainsbury's have agreed, that following last years success with the Taste of Britian Awards, they are going to hold another event this year.

With the support of the Prince of Wales the awards give recognition to enterprise and innovation. Last years winners "displayed the courage to step out from behind the protective shield of run-of-the-mill, sure-fire commercial success to produce food and drink that was exotic yet gave more than a nod to the great traditions of British food".

The force of local British food seems unstoppable at the moment and these awards are a great way to encourage its continued development and raise awarness of all things British.

Who says there is nothing great about British food! If the diverse range of British food bloggers is anything to go by the UK is really leading the food world, from historical English recreations, thoughtful comment through to recipes from the Ottoman Empire...

1. Cooking With Ginger has a great rant on what to eat, or rather, when what we are supposed to eat one day is countered by some other revelation the next.
2. Anne of Baking For Britain may not be one of the most frequent posters, but by heck laddie her writing is well worth waiting for. I love the mix of historical facts and adapted recipes. The latest compares homemade Sedgemoor Easter Cakes and a pack purchased from M&S.
3. Eating Leeds has AT LAST become a proper Englishman in actually liking custard - and seems to be a master at making it too.
4. The English Patis has posted one of those 'I must make this' recipes, a Spiced Apple Cake.
5. Fiordizucca Goes English is keeping it local with a Nettle Tart. Do nettles grow anywhere outside Europe, it's something we should all know?
6. Sqeezeweasle writing as Gastronomy Domaine got a mention in Olive magazine, but didnt boast about it like I did!
7. A new blog to me - Rustic - details how to recreate Hunkar Begendi and Tas Kabab which is basically lamb and aubergine from her Turkish homeland's Ottoman past.
8. Finally Johanna has been out partying and plying welcome party-people with Tomato & Pesto mini-Galettes.

I've already marvelled at that incredible sausage-covered, deep fried egg called the Scotch egg, and raved about HP Sauce, both of which I encountered at an English pub in Santa Monica, CA, Ye Olde King's Head.

Well here's another first that I loved during my happy hour there: Cornish pastie.

Wait! It's not what you think. It's pronounced "pastie" with a short "a," i.e. it rhymes with "nasty." It most certainly is not one of those tiny, round, nickel-sized stickers that "dancers" use to *ahem* cover up certain parts. The pastie is a type of savory pie, like a pot-pie, but it's held in your hands without the pot. I guess that makes it a hand-pie.

 

Obviously, this will be nothing new to a good number of people, but HP sauce is something brand new to me. Okay, actually, I have seen it many times before, and even bought a bottle of it from Surfas to take to some friends who live in an area where it's not as accessible. I had just never tasted a single drop of brown sauce.

I like it a lot. The thing is, I have absolutely no idea how to use it. Is it like ketchup for dipping? Is it something like mustard that you put on sandwiches? Like Nick and Jamaican Pickapeppa, it kind of reminds me of A1 Steak Sauce, because it is brown, but a little fruitier, and much less spicy.

When I went to Ye Old King's Head in Santa Monica, I tried several English-ish things for the first time, like a Scotch egg. (There are a few more things I tried that will get their moments of fame in the next few days). I used that HP sauce with everything - dumped on, poured in, dipped into, and was "mmm"-ing through the whole meal. I'm not sure if the staff at Ye Olde King's Head was completely appalled or maybe mildly amused.

Was I doing the equivalent of someone going bonkers over ketchup the first time?