UKC

Afternoon All

Anyone ever eaten this French "delicacy"? If so, what did you think?

Grimly Feendish

In reply to grimly feendish:

My wife had some on my recommendation. But then, I didn't know what the hell it was. She said that opening it up was equivalent to ripping open a two-week old bin bag. It did smell and look truly rank.

In reply to grimly feendish: It would be a poor trip to France that didn't involve eating andouillettes, in my opinion. I think their constituents are probably pretty close to those of haggis.

In reply to John2:

Then, John, you would be wrong. Andouillettes are made from the untreated colon of pigs. In this country we call it tripe, but here our tripe is bleached. Not so the French. Brown and faecal. The majority of those who claim to like it I suspect actually detest the stuff. And for this simple reason: to consume andouillettes is to consume the very essence of pig shit. I lie not. It is the most disgusting "culinary" experience of my life, and Im a very adventurous eater.

Grimly

In reply to John2:

My wife and I played menu roulette for a couple of weeks this month in Spain and France.

I speak adequate French, she does the Spanish. And so it was that I am responsible for the live round in the chamber when we pulled the trigger - I knew I knew what andouillette was, just couldn't remember on the night in question.

So, we ordered two "menu of the day." The andouillette arrived. As I cut into the fine fat juicy sausage, I thought to myself "hmm, funny consistency, lots of bitty bits."

I selected a few and raised the fork to my mouth.

Man, it was gross.

My wife was more-or-less gagging too. She did medical training, and commented that she recognised the contents of the sausage instantly from dissections, with her only question being whether it was the small or large intestine.

We had a small disagreement - I thought it smelled strongly of wee, she thought poo.

I've travelled all over Russia, Kazakhstan and parts East and eaten odd things. But this was too much - even with the lost pride in front of a haughty frog waiter, we couldn't get more than two forkfuls in each.

Call me a wimp, whatever you like. No more a55hole sausage for me.

Y

In reply to grimly feendish: The French Wikepedia gives a more accurate discussion than the English one http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andouillette#Au_hasard_des_lectures... - 'Une bonne andouillette, qui peut se déguster froide coupée en rondelles (la meilleure façon de la tester), est assez dégraissée pour ne pas poser de problèmes diététiques. Elle ne « sent pas la merde », comme on le répéta souvent'

In reply to grimly feendish:

I can't stand 'em. Being mostly half French myself, I was made to try some as a nipper. It's like eating poo sausage.


an aquired taste me thinks.

In reply to grimly feendish:
I tried them once - absolutely foul.

They taste like an old fashioned pub latrine, blocked with cigarette ends, smells like in very hot weather. Urrrgghh!!!

In reply to grimly feendish:

Read people's experiences of andouillettes here!
http://mcmuffin.co.uk/mr_and_mrs_mcmuffin/2005/10/andouillette.html

In reply to grimly feendish:

My French in-laws presented me with an interesting sausage type thing, but refused to tell me what it was. This should have set alarm bells ringing because up to then, I had been presented with (avec fanfare and much pre-event publicity) frogs legs, snails, testicles, horse, baby cow, raw oysters, trotters, foie gras and a number of other 'delicacies'. I think they were starting to have suspicions about my 'englishness' and andouilette was their secret weapon. I'd like to say it was an acquired taste, but I can't imagine, nor would want to, the circumstances under which I might acquire it. There are any number of things I would rather eat before I would try it again and that list includes leather bound books and my own right hand.

In reply to grimly feendish: Managed a few mouthfulls but was definitely having to fight the urge to honk. Having read some of the posts above saying it is colon based I must admit I thought it was basically windpipe but happy to be corrected. Just so long as I never have to eat it again, ever.

In reply to grimly feendish:


Andouillette has to be one of the most memorable things I have ever eaten, or at least attempted to eat. It looked so delicious and my friend(with a famously cast iron constitution) and I couldn't resist. The women sensibly went for omelettes.

Oh my god, the smell when we got it. I can still summon it up in my memory 15 years on. Poo sausage is a mild description. I couldn't put it anywhere near my mouth, and I'm not generally squeamish. Mark managed two mouthfuls then gave up. How I wished I'd gone for the omelette.

I have been tempted a couple of times since then but beware old ladies in French markets with their special artisan andouille is all I can say.

In reply to grimly feendish:

I have eaten them and to general amazement didn't run to the bogs for a no. 3.

I wouldnt have one again though.

Thats the trouble with the French, they *do* insist that tripe, offal, chickens lips and ar$eholes are as worth consuming as the bits of muscle.

And its hard to find a decent curry shop.

And they drive on the wrong side of the road.



And DONT get me started about their toilets.....

In reply to grimly feendish:
When I tried them I liked em. I feel a bit of a freak looking at the other replies.

In reply to grimly feendish:
From the wiki:
"French andouillette, on the other hand, is an acquired taste and can be an interesting challenge even for adventurous eaters who don't object to the taste or aroma of feces."

How do they know it tastes like feces?

In reply to J1234:

Fill yer boots. I can easily imagine that one might like them, I just don't.

For me, back to the fromage de tete, the Ukrainian salo (solid pork fat, streaky bacon without the bacon), the hakarl in iceland, all fine no problem. Things that make other people feel faint. But, as I said, a55hole sausage ? Vive la difference !

Y

In reply to dread-i:

They've stayed in an NHS hospital.

Y

In reply to grimly feendish:

Hee hee - yup!

Had one as part of a set menu in a pretty swanky place in Paris. I consider myself unsqueamish and quite an adventurous eater, but this thing really was vile. A couple of forkfuls were OK, but it soon became rather unpleasant. By the end of the meal I was nearly gagging. Still left a clean plate though, cos I was brought up that way

In reply to Jimmy D:

Oh and so was my partner - and she wasn't even eating it!

They're really, er, quite something.

In reply to grimly feendish:

I had a rather large Andouillette in a french restaurant once.
It did have distinct overtones of arse.

I didn't think it was that bad, but I don't think I'll have it again.

In reply to everyone: I think that most of you would be surprised to discover what the average Frenchman thought of the food that is generally eaten in England.

In reply to John2:

Go on, tell me they love it!

In reply to John2:

But as a Francophile with a very low opinion of English food (& indeed most things English) even I wasn't much taken with Andouillette, embarrassed as I am to admit it.

In reply to i.munro: Perhaps you weren't drinking the correct wine with your andouillettes - some suggestions here http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andouillette#Au_hasard_des_lectures...

In reply to J1234:

We had them more or less by accident once in Rouen and not only did my wife and I quite like them but also my two teenage kids (eh, reaver?). Now I think the whole family must be freaky. Mind you we did also sample donkey bolognaise and a whole lot of horsemeat on our most recent foray into Italy.

Mike

Why are we Brits so squeamish about eating horse? I admit I've never tried it but only because the opportunity has never arisen. Frogs legs are nice, as are escargots

In reply to Benglog:

Beats me, considering some of the processed and deep fried gunge the average brit eats. When I brought some donkey saucisson back from Corsica as gifts, some people were slightly appalled.

I had my first pigs trotter in Girona on Monday. It was a bit fatty and gelatinous, but I'd like to try another. The flavour was sublime. I thought frogs legs were a bit over-rated, but I've not had them in years. Escargot are yummy, as are gizzards (i have many tins of them in the cupboard) and that controversial foie gras. I'm hungry now.

I've never, afaik, had andouillettes, but I love andouille.

In reply to grimly feendish: I'm of the "try anything once apart from buggery and voting Tory" camp and despite extensive culinary adventures from raw all sorts to icky bits to insects, ampibians and reptiles there's not many things I've tried that I would never eat again out of choice but andouillettes? - only if my life depended on it. I was really just posting to add by way of info that those travelling to Spain should be aware that madejas are a very similar and equally offensive comestible

cheers P

In reply to grimly feendish: Not exactly knowing what they were I ordered one in a restaurant in Fountainebleau. Luckily they asked if I knew what it consisted of, when I pleaded ignorance they refused to serve them to me, recommended something else. A few days later I saw them on a menu of a self service restaurant so just had to try one. I then found out why the restaurant refused to serve me. Never been near them since.

In reply to grimly feendish: I ordered it once (and once only), years ago as a very young man on my first visit to France, simply because it was the cheapest thing on the menu - and I can still remember it! The best (and most generous) description would be "minced condom, sauteed lightly in bile and lovingly wrapped in an old inner tube". Now I understand the waiter's smile as he placed this delicacy before me.

In reply to grimly feendish:
I think they are delicious. But that is because I have bought them from a good butcher and cooked them myself. The one I had in a restaurant wasn't so nice.

In reply to grimly feendish:

A few years ago, a group of us were staying in a gite in France. Some non-french speakers did the shopping. I lit the barbecue, grabbed a pack of sausages from the fridge and stuck them on to cook. As the appalling smell eddied around the house, I grabbed the pack to see what I was cooking. Chuckling to myself, I carried on, served them up and sat back to watch. My young son managed a mouthful: no-one else could get near them. Supper was delayed while something else was cooked.

The smell wouldn't go away. In the end they were put into a carrier bag, hung off a bicycle handlebars and pedalled three miles up a very steep hill to the village and thrown into the municipal bins.

They're starving peasant food - 'What have we got left to eat?' 'Well we could stuff those pig guts into a bit of pig gut and pretend it's a sausage....' Same deal with frog's legs and snails.

In reply to grimly feendish:

Had some at a French sevice staion once. They were, without doubt, the most revolting thing I have ever tasted. It was easy to tell they had been made from lower intestine, if you get my drift.

Did you know there is a french society that celebrates them: the AAAA something like Association Ancienne de Appreciation de Andouilettes.....

I am not a member

In reply to Yorkspud:

Fanciers of andouilles set themselves apart from the ordinary ranks of sausage lovers. The town of Jargeau, near Orleans, boasts the title of "Capitale de L'Andouille" and is the headquarters of a society called "La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Goute-Andouille", with a world- wide membership.

It conducts annual competitions in which a Grand Jury selects medal winners from as many as 160 examples of this highly esteemed sausage. There are several other societies of French gastronomes devoted to the appreciation of andouilles and andouillettes.

... from the following URL

http://www.tripesite.com/lore.html

which also contains the following practical advice on making your own:

"If you have to clean the tripes yourself, the bath is the best place because, as well as
having plenty of room, you can fix the ends of the intestines over the cold tap and run plenty of water through. When it comes to the manufacture, a relay of unsqueamish helpers with neat fingers is an advantage."

Bon appetit !

Y

In reply to Yanchik:

Thank you so much....there goes my lunch :P

In reply to grimly feendish:

I'm surprised no one on this thread seems to like them... I think they are ok, as long as you breathe through the mouth while eating... it's the smell that's a bit off, the taste is fine... although I don't often choose the dish myself, sometimes they are forced upon you and I don't like to offend by refusing.

I don't think it's true that they contain pig shit, that would be against EU regulations.... the smell is more urine like than anything, so it should appeal to the majority of ukc posters who always seem to insist on their heterosexual preferences.

In reply to Benglog:

I don't get that either. I like horsemeat. I've never tried andouillettes because I don't like tripe and so assumed I wouldn't like them.

OK - I like them, but there's a get-out clause!

I first tried them on a French exchange, aged 14, where they were announced as 'sausages' ... I think. Tasted great until I found the definition in my Collins Pocket and couldn't eat any more!

I've had them since, and they've varied from foul and disgusting to delicious (last summer, from people who travelled several hundred km to a renowned seller ... and they were GOOD!). Oh, and they've never done m any harm , including the partially reheated ones!!!

I think it very much depends on the recipe and the variety. They CAN be very good, no rubberiness, smell delicious, but it can be hit and miss. I trust the French on this ones, my friends anyway!

BTW I loathe tripe - the ones I had were meaty!

In reply to grimly feendish:

I'm quite impressed that a thread about a small sausage made from a pigs' shite-pipe is getting so many posts.