Variety Meats aka Organ Meats, Offal and Guts

Hi,

Labor Day was shopping day for the Son of a Bitch stew I am bringing to the picnic.

I bought marrow guts, veal tongue and veal oxtails from H-Mart. I bought lamb sweet breads at Sahar Meat Market. If it had not been a holiday weekend, then I might have gotten my kidneys and suet there, too.

I have veal breast from Fresh Farms in Northbrook.

Unless someone can identify where I can buy calves brains, kidneys and suet, then I will be special ordering from Sunset Foods. I am especially concerned about the brains because the butcher at Sunset Foods advised he could get a 5 pound pail. I need only one brain.

I will talk to Peoria Packing House in the morning as a beginning. Any other ideas are appreciated.

Thanks!

Regards,

Dave Zier at Zier's Prime Meats in Wilmette may be able to get this stuff for you. It's probably worth a call. 2 other places I seem to recall seeing similar items were Produce World and Lincolnwood Produce.

Zier's Prime Meats
813 Ridge Avenue
Wilmette, IL
847 251-4000

Produce World
8800 Waukegan Rd
Morton Grove, IL 60053
847 581-1029

Lincolnwood Produce
7175 N Lincoln Ave
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
847 329-0600

=R=

Cathy, I'm going to Caputo's in a few minutes. I'm pretty sure that stuff will be there, but I'll double check.

HI,

What I know so far:

Peoria Packing House doesn't offer kidneys nor brains.

Lincolnwood Produce has it occasionally if they are fresh. They haven't had any for two months because they are all being frozen. They don't carry kidneys.

Produce World does not offer brains. The only kidneys they offer are from lambs.

I'm calling Sunset now for an estimate.

Regards,

Carniceria Jimenez often offers brains in their little cafe, so I imagine they'd have them available at the meat counter if you asked. They may have everything else you need, as well.

Cynthia wrote:Carniceria Jimenez often offers brains in their little cafe, so I imagine they'd have them available at the meat counter if you asked. They may have everything else you need, as well.

I walked into several Mexican markets yesterday to find they had no organ meats beyond tripe.

I will give Jimenez a call just to check.

Regards,

C2,

It occurred to me any number of Devon Ave restaurants offer brains masala, Sabri Nehari, Usmania and Shan to name three, stood to reason brains would be for sale on Devon as well.

I called Farm City Meat, one of Evil Ronnie's picks for quality reasonably priced veal, and the person I spoke to said they had goat, lamb and cow brains in stock, fresh not frozen.

Looking forward to your Son of a Bitch stew.

Enjoy,
Gary

Farm City Meat
2255 W Devon
Chicago, IL
773-274-2255

I was going to recommend this place, too. This is definitely my favorite butcher shop in Chicago, mainly because it is always so busy.

G Wiv wrote:C2,

It occurred to me any number of Devon Ave restaurants offer brains masala, Sabri Nehari, Usmania and Shan to name three, stood to reason brains would be for sale on Devon as well.

I called Farm City Meat, one of Evil Ronnie's picks for quality reasonably priced veal, and the person I spoke to said they had goat, lamb and cow brains in stock, fresh not frozen.

Looking forward to your Son of a Bitch stew.

Enjoy,
Gary

Farm City Meat
2255 W Devon
Chicago, IL
773-274-2255

Can't help you with brains (though I'm very curious about them and can't wait to try your stew) but Marketplace on Oakton does carry many different kinds of offal including beef and veal kidneys, hearts, and of course is where I got my tongue. They also carry whole heads of lamb and various lamb parts, but I don't know if the brain is still included.

Curiously, I was at City Fresh Market at Devon and Kedzie yesterday, and was amazed at the butcher selection - I'm going to have to go back with a camera. The butcher shop seems to be mostly Mexican with a good helping of Eastern European and some other cultures thrown in for good measure.

In with the roasted chickens they had a whole roasted pig's head, which I'd have bought if I wasn't budget-restricted by cash that day. Will report back soon.

Vital Information wrote:Cathy, I'm going to Caputo's in a few minutes. I'm pretty sure that stuff will be there, but I'll double check.

As Cathy2 said, when I gave her the lowdown, "offaly good." Fergus Henderson would feel right at home at Caputo's, at least the Harlem branch in Elmwood Park. Don't forget if you are that hood to stop for about the best coffee in the city at Caffe Italia across the street.

They had the elusive calves brains, they had liver (beef, veal and pork); kidneys both veal and pork, tripe, lotsa extremities like tails and feet. The only couple of things I did not see were tongue (I'm sure it's there, just did not look) and sweetbreads. Of course, if this was Antonios cooking, I did not see any lights either.

A couple of other things. C2 mentioned Sahar. This is a great market and should be on everyone's short list. They have amazingly low prices for lamb, and they make an especially good merguez style sausage.

City Fresh on Devon has outstanding Yugoslavian style round bureks. Well worth a stop just for those.

A way long time back (pre-LTH for me) we ventured into a nice Mid-Eastern centric grocery store that did have sheep brains (and other offalia). This was, I think on 67th Street, but possibly on 63rd St (as we also around then ventured into Steve's shish kabob after asking around n that area). I never did buy the brains there (no cooler) but it did look very fresh (which it must be).
I've also seen and purchased brains at the 53rd St. Coop in Hyde Park (don't know if they still carry it.) I cleaned it and ended up throwing it away because I thought it past - and have avoided buying brains there since.

I also just thought of Schmeiser's, where they butcher such a considerable amount of meat -- might they have some innards available?

What about Andy's Fruit Ranch in Albany Park? I have seen disassembled whole- and I mean whole veal there. I think they sort of pride themselves in their offal selection.

Andy's Fruit Ranch
4733 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago
Tel: (773) 583-2322

Hi,

I was in Oak Park yesterday, so swinging by Caputo's was no big deal. As Rob promised, I bought the veal brains, veal kidneys, veal liver and veal heart. Interestingly the liver at almost $5 per pound was the most expensive acquired there.

It was also very kind of Gary to contact Farm City Market to verify they indeed had brains, too.

FYI - Zier's Prime Meats also did not carry brains and kidneys.

***

Does anyone have experience with lamb sweetbreads? Zahar said they are mild tastng. He also commented they used to carry beef sweetbreads, but too many people complained about the strong smell and taste. While he carries veal sweetbreads they were out, which is when he suggested the lamb.

I keep thinking mixed in a pot of offal, the lamb sweetbreads will mix in well. Or is it especially assertive and I am fooling myself?

Regards,

I've gotten lamb sweetbreads at Marketplace on Oakton, and yes, they were very mild in flavor.