Pluck? Pappa? Cod Tongues? Incanto’s 2010 Head to Tail Dinner

There is a certain thrill each Spring when one receives an email from Incanto with the words “Head to Tail Dinner” in the subject line. Incanto started these annual dinners in 2004 and this year marked the 7th in the series. Unfortunately I missed the first two, but have made every one since.

I was also excited this year because I had three friends who were not just willing, but in fact eager to join me at the dinner. As suggested by my post following last year’s dinner when I had but one companion (thanks again Vanessa!), the H2T celebrates the use of lesser-used ingredients mixed with equal doses of inventiveness and playfulness, and the combination is not for everyone.

One of the things I look forward to when I receive Incanto’s announcement is to see how many ingredients there are which I have never heard of, and the description of the 2010 dinner did not disappoint. “Pluck”? “Pappa”? “Cod tripe”? What new treats were in store for us?

When I went online and entered “pluck,” I was directed first to a commercial site for high school anatomy supplies – Home Science Tools: The Gateway to Discovery – which provided the following tasty illumination:

“The sheep pluck includes the heart, lungs, and fully attached trachea. We
recommend that you use specimens within one year of purchase to ensure the best tissue quality. Specimen discoloration over time is normal and does not indicate decay. For an instructional video, see here.”

The next entry was a recipe for Scottish haggis in which I learned pluck is the key ingredient:

It was clear we were in for another memorable evening!

So at 6:30 on Monday evening I met up at the restaurant with my friends Antonio, Jim and Eriko. Mark Pastore, Incanto’s owner, greeted us and told us that the approach they would be taking with the meal was to serve the heavier dishes at the start of the meal, with the lighter to follow. We were then shown to our table where we were introduced to our server, Nahide, and presented with the evening’s menu and recommended wine pairings.


First Course: Venison pluck fra diavolo, mint & onion ash

After my visit to the Home Science Tools website I was ready for anything with the first course, but as it turned out it was rather tame – and very tasty. The “pluck” in this case was a mix of deer heart, liver and kidneys, nicely grilled and served with a spicy “fra diavolo” (“brother devil”) sauce.

I was not familiar with fra diavolo sauce but found the following description:

“A spicy sauce of Italian-American origin used for pasta or seafood. It often, but not always, is tomato-based, and customarily includes chili, cayenne or other forms of pepper.”

As far as the “onion ash” referred to in the dish’s name, Mark Pastore told me that was nigella seed which are toasted and then pulverized in a food processor. Again back to Google since I had never heard of nigella seeds:

“The seeds of the Nigella sativa flower have a variety of names including Roman coriander, black onion seed and kalonji. The dry roasted seeds flavor curries, vegetables and pulses. They taste somewhat like oregano and have a bitterness to them like mustard-seeds.”

Second Course: Salt cured pork liver, blood mousse, egg & peasant pappa

This was by far my favorite dish of the evening, with great flavor, color and texture. I learned that “pappa” is an Italian soup or porridge, often thickened with bread (they use focaccia at Incanto), with perhaps the most well-known variant being the Tuscan pappa al pomodoro with tomatoes.

As you can see from the above photo, this was some dish, with the pork liver and scallions shaved over the dish, and a poached egg in the middle. Incanto’s chef, Chris Cosentino, also Tweeted the following photo of the blood mousse which was also a key ingredient. Fantastic!


Third Course: Beef lip & oxtail terrina, artichokes, tarragon


Can you figure out what is in the following photo?

When I saw that I assumed it was a closeup of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but in fact it is from inside the a cow’s mouth. Here is another photo in which you can make out the location of those protuberances a bit more clearly.

According to our son, Patrick, who is in his first year of vet school at Auburn and my new go-to source for all questions of animal anatomy, “they look like some sort of papillae, and judging by their location I assume they would aid in the prehension of forage or cud.” Just as I thought!

My quest to learn more about beef lips also let me to this hilarious site (how many other recipes have you read that begin: “Rinse off the beef lips and try to keep yourself from screaming”?) with a fantastic recipe for Braised Cow Lips, accompanied by a not-to-be-missed video.

However, after that buildup, the actual dish was a bit aesthetically disappointing. It was certainly flavorful, but as you can see from the above photo, did little to reflect its origins.

Fourth Course: Sicilian cod tripe & tongue

This dish was also a bit disappointing. It was poached in a fish broth (which was itself very good), but was relatively bland in flavor and texture, and somewhat overpowered by the fennel. It might have been better lightly fried, especially since there were no other crispy dishes on the menu.

The name of the dish is also a bit misleading. First, regarding "cod tongue,” I had just finished reading Mark Kurlansky’s very interesting “Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World,” where I learned that cod tongues are not really the fish’s tongue but rather a triangular muscle behind and under the tongue.

As far as the “tripe” goes, when I see the word tripe I think stomach. However, when I asked Mark Pastore for confirmation, all he could tell me was that “tripe” was what Incanto’s fish purveyor had called it.

So I then turned to another source, Rosetta Costantino of Cooking with Rosetta in the East Bay, whose “A Taste of Calabria” cooking class we had recently taken. Happily, Rosetta knew exactly what I was talking about, although she too was uncertain as to what that part of the cod is called in English. She did say that in Calabria, where the dish is eaten during the winter months, it is called “ventricelli” (or “ventricieddi” in Calabrian dialect) meaning "little belly." Rosetta also sent me the following extract from her new cookbook “My Calabria” which will be coming out this Fall, just in time for Christmas:

"Despite many queries, I have not been able to confirm the anatomical name in English for ventricelli, but I believe it is the cod’s swim bladder. In its dried state, ventricelli resembles the flat, bony, dark dried fish you see in Chinatown markets. After five days of soaking, changing the water daily, the ventricelli will be soft enough to remove the tiny bones. Cooking renders it gelatinous, akin to jellyfish or braised beef tendon. It does not have a lot of flavor of its own, but, like tripe, it absorbs other flavors, and its texture is appealing.“

That description (i.e. “akin to jellyfish”) certainly matched what we were served at Incanto, as well as the following photo Tweeted by Chris:

Rosetta also advised that her husband, Lino, who is from Palermo, had never heard of the dish before, so the “Sicilian” designation for the dish may be questionable.

Dessert: Lamb mincemeat pie & lavender-hay ice cream

Unfortunately you cannot see in the above photo the mincemeat lurking under the shortbread. This dish was quite good, although it did have a rather strong lamb flavor which was a bit distracting (even for someone like me who loves lamb), and despite Mark’s comment about the heavy to light trend of the dishes, it seemed a fairly weighty end to the meal and left Antonio and me craving a shot of Averna, which sadly Incanto does not serve. I was not sure where the lavender came into play in the dish, other than perhaps just the straw upon which the bowl was resting.

I did appreciate the chance to try mincemeat with real meat as it was traditionally prepared. Here is a Chronicle article which has a mincemeat pie recipe which looks pretty good. While that recipe does not call for meat, it does include suet, and it certainly shows the medley of fruit and spices that goes into traditional mincemeat.

Finally, I thought it might be of interest at this point, after having participated in five of these dinners, to reflect back to select my favorite dishes. Here are the five I would pick:

~ First course: Fried rabbit ear – 2007
~ Second course: Salt cured pork liver, blood mousse, egg & peasant pappa - 2010
~ Third course: Crispy sweetbreads & warm beef tendon with chilies & mint - 2007
~ Fourth course: Big brain, small brain - 2009
~ Dessert (tie): Candied cockscomb with cherries and rice pudding – 2007 &
Coffee & donut – 2009

The “Big brain, small brain” and Coffee & donut” dishes deserve far more of an explanation than those names can convey – for that see my post from last year’s dinner.

So we will now have to wait another year to see what Chris and the gang at Incanto will have in store for us next. All I know is that I am sure it will be fun!

Thanks again to Mark, Chris, Nahide and the rest of the Incanto team for a fun and educational evening.

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11 Species/ 15 Organs and Counting – Incanto’s 2009 Head to Tail Dinner

I will always harbor a special fondness for Incanto. I came across the Noe Valley restaurant not long after I had begun my study of Italian and was happy, apart from their food, to find their Dante Room with its huge mural depicting the return of Dante and Virgil following their descent to the Inferno – “E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle/ Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars.”

Here is a video, including comments from both Incanto’s owner, Mark Pastrore, and its chef, Chris Cosentino – more about both of them below – which provides a good overview of the restaurant.

Incanto was also where I began my exploration of Italian wines on six consecutive Saturday afternoons under the guidance of Edward Ruiz, Incanto’s Wine Director. However, not long after I had discovered Incanto I learned about the event which really captured my imagination – their tradition of an annual dinner to celebrate sustainable consumption and to illustrate the many which less commonly used portions of animals could be put to very tasty use – their Head to Tail Dinner.

My first Head to Tail was in 2006 – Incanto’s 3rd such annual dinner - and I have not missed one since. Hence, when I received a few weeks back the announcement of the 6th Annual Head to Tail Dinner, I was pretty excited....

Chris Cosentino has been the chef at Incanto since I started going there, and his fame has grown over the years (in addition, he and Mark Pastore have now opened Boccalone, the salume company with a store in the Ferry Building Marketplace). For any who have not met Chris, I think it is fair to say that he pushes the envelope in several different directions. Perhaps one need do no more than visit Chris’ website – Offal Good – to capture some of that flavor. Here is also a good video interview of Chris in which I believe his philosophy and passion comes through.

Although I love offal (”frattaglie” was one of the first words I learned in Italian), it can be a challenge dinner companions to join me at the Head to Tail. I have long ago learned not to count on any family members, and it can be a difficult sell even for many wide-spectrum foodies. My friend Antonio from Salerno was always my ace-in-the-hole for such events, but I had a touch of panic when I learned Antonio was going to be in Italy on March 23. What to do???

To the rescue came a new friend, Vanessa, who I have gotten to know through her excellent Italian food blog Italy in SF - "the directory to everything Italian in the Bay Area." I had mentioned to Vanessa my dilemma of not being able to find a dinner companion for the evening, and, although not without a slight bit of trepidation, she kindly offered to go with me.

So on Monday night Vanessa and I showed up at Incanto full of high expectations. We had a chance to say hello to Mark, Chris and Edward, and then turned to study the menu for the work ahead.

Venison heart tartare, foie gas & ciccioli brioche



Leading off was one my favorite dishes of the evening, and it had just the right balance of fattiness and meatiness. Vanessa and I paired it with the slightly frizzante Oltrepò Pavese Bonarda Viti di Luna from Francesco Montagna in Pavia which cut the fat a bit. The brioche with bits of ciccioli was also a good match. I came across the following good definition of ciccioli (although that is a bit different from the ciccioli they sell at Boccalone which is more of a head cheese):

"Ciccioli are prepared by pressing and aging what is left of the pork after most of the other preparations have been carried to effect. Because of this,
the spectacle of the making of the ciccioli is not for the weak of stomach (but if you don't think about it, you'll find the taste is more than agreeable). The last (aging) stage in the traditional preparation involves a special press, where the meat (wrapped in sack cloth) is gradually squeezed, over a period of several weeks, to remove excess fat. A practical demonstration of the peasant saying "Del maiale non si butta via nulla" (“Nothing of the pig goes to waste”). Ciccioli come in two varieties: the regular, unattributed one - which are eaten sliced - and "ciccioli frolli" (sometimes called greppole) which have been subjected to further drying, which turns them into a crunchy snack."

Here is a picture of a stack of ciccioli which Nancy and I came across in the market in Bologna on one of our trips – as noted, a crunchy snack:

Goose intestines, fava beans & artichokes

This dish was interesting primarily because of the consistency of the goose intestines – a bit rough in texture - think cat tongue - and chewy. It had a rather mild flavor, although a very tasty broth. It was served with pasta rings – “anelli” in Italian (which Chris mentioned he had been hoping, given the nature of the dish, to identify as “analli” on the menu until he had been overruled by some adult supervisor).

Big brain, small brain with asparagus


This dish had given rise to all sorts of speculation when it appeared on the announcement. Would this be a parent and offspring combination? Perhaps a cross-species adventure (horse/quail? cow/fish?). As it turned out it was neither. The “big” brain was the real thing – veal in nature – which was apparently intended to represent woman. The “small brain” – the male contribution – was also taken from a bovine, but from the aft end – think “men think with their b----s” or “mountain oysters” (which we had in a slightly different presentation at the 2004 H2T). A bit of Incanto humor.

The “small brains” were lightly fried and very nicely done. The real brain was also well prepared - perhaps broiled - and with a nice creamy texture. It reminded me of a firm custard. Chris also added a splash of Japanese sudachi juice to the preparation which was a nice touch. I had a glass of the Massolino Dolcetto d’ Alba from the Serralunga d'Alba area in Piemonte with the dish which was somewhat sharp and tannic but a nice counterpoint to the meat.

Cordedda with peas, mint & sheep’s milk polenta

This dish also caused some speculation when it was announced. Googling “cordedda” led to very few clear results as to what it might be, until I stumbled across the website of the Hotel Ispinigoli, located in Dorgali in the mountainous Nuoro region of eastern Sardinia. There they described and provided a photo of one of their specialties – “Cordedda in Salsa”.

My rough translation of the Hotel’s description of the dish: “A braid of baby sheep intestines, cooked in a sauce with fresh tomatoes, spices and local herbs. It is very flavorful appetizer or main course characteristic of barbaricina cuisine [the cuisine of the Barbagia region].”

Now this was exciting. I could imagine Chris hunched over a prep table braiding sheep intestines late into the night prior to our dinner using some ancient Sardinian patterns handed down by grandmothers in the Nuoro area.

However, the dish turned out to be a bit different – a mix of grilled lamb kidney, liver and spleen wrapped in lamb caul fat (aka the greater omentum) and braised. A bit hard to describe, but the following photo that Chris Tweeted on Monday evening ("First cordedda of the evening") gives a better idea of the dish’s construction.

Chris said that unfortunately there were some health code restrictions on the use of lamb intestines, and hence he had some up with this dish as a substitute, although it does not appear that the Sardinian cordedda described above contains any stuffing. He indicated that his dish also had some Sicilian influence, which led me to the following description of stigghiola, a grilled street food staple from the Palermo area:

“Stigghiola is defined by Antonino Traina, a noted nineteenth-century Sicilian lexographer, as "a dainty of intestines entwisted around kid, lamb or even chicken omenta." The omerta, also called caul fat, is a net-like membrane which covers the small intestine. The Sicilian cookbook author Tommaso d'Alba relates that in the outskirts of Palermo, streets are filled with the smell and smoke of u stigghiularu, the stigghiola-vendors, who sell them for a pittance. Variations on stigghiole are found throughout the Mediterranean. In Sardinia it goes by the name cordula. In Apulia it is called carramarra or gniummeriddi. In Calabria it is formed with Provola cheese, pancetta, garlic, parsley and lemon juice and called gliommarieddri.”

I had a glass of the Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia from Toscana with the dish. It was an excellent wine – by far the best of the evening and definitely one to try again.

Coffee & doughnut: blood & espresso – pork liver & chocolate

Our journey ended with dessert – espresso mixed with a bit of pork blood, and a doughnut stuffed with a mixture of chocolate and minced pork liver. Both excellent. The ingredients may sound a bit unusual, but if one were to try then without knowing what was in them I doubt one would know they included any pork products. The coffee was thick and a bit grainy, a bit like a warm milk shake. The doughnut was a perfect match, and Zane, who patiently waited on us and answered our questions during the evening, encouraged us to dip it into the coffee. Yummy.

On the way out we said good by to the Incanto crew, and Vanessa checked the ladies’ room to answer a question I have wondered about for some time – whether the same wonderful “Vinferno” map of the twelve circles of hell from Da Vino Commedia by Al Dente Allegory (c/o the genius of Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard) that is in the men’s room is also in the ladies’ room. The answer is no – score one for the small brains!

I am already looking forward to the 2010 installment. So far in four years the H2T dinners I have attended have explored 15 different organs and body parts (tongues hold the lead) contributed by 11 different species (bovines ahead by a nose) — although strangely no tails! Hopefully that oversight will soon be corrected.

Part of the Incanto Brain Trust – Possible Captions: "Big Brain, Small Brain?" -- "Do Two Small Brains Equal a Big One?" -- "You Put WHAT in the Coffee!!??"

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