The Fifth Quarter: Cow Heel Soup
Even before the credit crunch, eating offal and ‘neglected cuts’ (such as ears and feet) became fashionable among the chattering classes, thanks to celebrity chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Fergus Henderson. But they are mainly regarded as things to chat about, not get stuck in day-to-day.
For me such meats have always been on the menu. I grew up in the countryside, and my elders tolerated no fuss when it came to eating. But I remember that most of the dishes were quite dull. The challenge is to come up with new and exciting ways to cook them. And, as always, travel provides the answer.
Tails, trotters, ears, noses and some bits of offal are what is generally known as the ‘fifth quarter’—food that was sold to the poor or given to slaves. While the Brits and North Americans nowadays tend to grind this sort of thing into their hot dogs, these items are still for sale in ethnic neighbourhoods (and some farmers’ markets), and they greatly influence the cuisines of the Caribbean and the US Deep South.
Nothing rams history down your throat like eating local fare. You can get pig tail stew a scant three-minute stroll from Tobago’s five-star Coco Reef Resort. Ditto cow heel soup. Cow heel soup is everywhere in Trinidad and Tobago. But as with so many ethnic dishes, over here it’s a closely guarded secret, and I had to go to T&T to find out what the fuss is about.
So when we were in London last week, I took a deep breath and pointed at one of the huge scorched cow’s legs that are for sale at the butchers in Deptford, wondering how I would get the thing into my pot.
No problem. Every ghetto butcher’s comes with a band saw.
The thing is, in T&T you can buy your cow heels in dainty little packages, and I’m sure that they are already skinned. The Cow Heel Soup recipe that I wanted to make specifies 1 lb, or about 5 pieces, whereas I ended up with an entire lower leg (for £1.75, or three for a fiver) which is much more. How much, I don’t know, but before it was sawn into pieces I’m sure you could have knocked somebody out with it. The huge chunks filled up my entire pot, leaving no room for the provisions: sweet potato, yams and dasheen.
The things looked frightening to boot. I had no choice but to cut off the bristly skin one hour into cooking, tipping out the scummy water while I was at it. Now it was time to add some of the aromatics: a few chopped fat cloves of garlic, a bunch of spring onions, some rubbed thyme, a chicken stock cube and a piece of Scotch Bonnet pepper that would be fished out at the end. A small handful of red lentils would thicken the soup. That would take at least another hour.
I was running late.
I called John at the office, then skimmed the stew and fished out the Scotch Bonnet pepper before adding a sliced carrot and some chopped yellow bell pepper. Then I prodded the meat again. It would take at least another ninety minutes.
Two hours later, the cow foot was still as tough as shoe leather, except that shoe leather would be soft by now. This was nothing like the tender, transparent morsels I had tasted in T&T. I’m convinced that they were actually calves’ feet whereas the cows that end up at the Deptford butchers have died of old age.
To be fair, the recipe specifies pressure-cooking the heels first, but I don’t have a pressure cooker. Besides, two out of the three recipes I consulted said to simmer the heel for 2½ hrs, which I had more than done.
I cooked the provisions separately, dumped them into the pot (along with dumplings made from a paste of flour, water, sugar and salt and rolled into small sausages) and served the resulting mess twenty minutes later.
Eeek.
Don’t try this at home.
Tags: 'Round the World Recipes, Cow Heel Soup, Food, Tadley Times, Trinidad and Tobago, Tag Index
Denni
May 1st, 2009 at 14:46
Sorry to hear about your dilemna with this dish! To make that authentic trini cow heel soup you really really need to have a pressure cooker. Thats the way to truly get what you’re looking for!
My parents sometimes use a slow cooker as well and leave it cooking overnight (requires too much pre planning for me hahaha)
Either way, I think you should try it again! It is definitely worth it!
May 7th, 2009 at 12:07
Making this delicious soup right now. Have not got my usual thickener (Pumpkin) So am using your idea of lentils instead. I am more than preparwd to wait the 5/6 hours it will take to make cos the best things in life are always worth waiting for.
June 4th, 2009 at 15:22
It will take longer than 5/6 hrs unless you have a pressure cooker 😉
(I’m scared of pressure cookers…)
August 12th, 2009 at 16:38
Aye man, I’m eating this right now…11:30 and I started cooking at 9:00. Try this; cook the cow heel in water and instead of adding salt add some meat tenderizer (I use the Chief brand available in Trinidad). Leave that to boil for about 1.5 – 2 hours. Add the veggies and provisions etc when the meat if just starting to soften. Best meal ever!