Food has never been so offal at Otterton Mill!

Braised Tongue, Stuffed Lambs Hearts, Liver & Bacon and Ham-Hock Terrine are some of the offal dishes featuring on the menu at East Devon's Otterton Mill recently and the chefs are struggling to keep up with demand.  "We decided to trial this traditional British fare in an effort to continue offering our customers delicious dishes sourced sustainably, but we have been surprised by the demand" said Simon Spiller who co-owns the Mill with his wife Caroline.

"These dishes seem to be in tune with a nostalgia for meals which were popular during more austere times, when no part of the animal was wasted" said Simon.  "The recession has had many impacts on customer dining habits, but this is one we hadn't expected.  We now have customers asking when Tongue will next be on the menu so they can plan their visit." he added.

Otterton Mill has received recognition and awards for its local and sustainable food sourcing practices and the team is not afraid to court controversy in the pursuit of this goal.  "Our range of offal based dishes is entirely in keeping with our philosophy to serve fresh and tasty food from sustainable sources.  In many other European and Asian countries, it's accepted that no animal part should go to waste and that - as the saying goes - you can eat all of the pig except the squeal" said Simon.  "We received a few sentimental objections last year when we started serving meat from grey squirrels in an effort to highlight the plight of our native red squirrel.   Like squirrel, offal dishes taste great and can be more nutritious than conventionally popular cuts of meat, and this is why we serve them.  It's also the reason they have been so well received by the majority of our customers.  It's certainly no gimmick." he added.

Britain once had its own traditional ways of using all parts of the animal. In decades past there were more butchers, and offal and other economical cuts of meat were often sold ready to eat. Bath Chaps (pigs' cheeks in breadcrumbs), Lincolnshire Chine (cured shoulder stuffed with parsley and other herbs) are just two regional specialities.  In the south, Brawn was a way of using up the pig's head and Chitterlings, pigs' intestines, were sometimes plaited before cooking and serving.  

The Spillers are encouraging their chefs to continue working with their local meat suppliers to source offal cuts and serve them to customers in imaginative but traditional dishes. "We are pleased offal has become a mainstay of our menu.  It adds another dimension to the sustainably sourced vegetarian, game and free range meat dishes for which we have become well known" said Caroline.

Date added: Friday 17th July 2009
Latest updated: Tuesday 17th August 2010