Something I really hope to keep showcasing is the raw beauty, delicacy & intricacies of heart as an ingredient, in visual, textural & nutritional terms. Ox Heart is an impactful example of this, given its sheer size, & also in terms of the various cooking methods & ingredient-pairings it enables us to explore.

In what I find as something of personal a Bible, 'The Book of St John' (following the infamous 'Nose to Tail') by Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver, it reminds us:
"A heart truly is the heart of the matter; nothing expresses an animal more perfectly. An ox heart tastes like the essence of ox... It is surprising how tender a heart is, given how hard it works. A great truism for our own hearts, too."

The poetic intonation here is much deserved, and I found to be reinforced in this particular recipe which was one of the first instances where I really attempted to 'elevate' the dish in every aspect to that of another cut of beef. Paired with seasonal British ingredients, some of which were also foraged fresh from Dulwich Park (comprising the salsa verde, which you can of course also substitute for a more traditional recipe and ingredients), it was simple and immersive and deeply rewarding.

Ox Heart might appear intimidating and visually complex, but it takes just a little time and focus in trimming away he hardened fat (to be kept safe and used for rendering down and cooking) and sinew around it to unveil a bold, lean, compact meat beneath - to be sliced and portioned as you would a steak. Against some common perceptions, I personally feel heart is one of the most accessible and exciting entry points into eating offal, and further re-introducing it and re-homogenising it with the rest of our culinary radars. Flavour-wise, and texturally (once prepped with care as described above), it really can resemble what we ‘normally’ experience and enjoy as ‘meat’.

Leading from this, ensure the ‘steak’ you are cooking is at room temperature, patted dry of any residual moisture and seasoned well all over. For the pan, no need for oil or butter in my opinion; save money, supplies, and more of the animal by simply adding the trimmed fat and sinew-bits from the heart back into the pan to render down and double down on beefy impact. When these have caramelised nicely and the fat has melted and is sparkling and sizzling in the pan, place the heart into the pan and, once again, cook exactly as and how you’d like your steak of the same thickness to cook - timings dependent upon your preferences for rare, medium, etc. - I like every meat I eat to be as rare as possible, so for the portion here (about 10cm or so in thickness), I only cooked it for approximately 1.5-2 minutes on each side. Preserving a pink-red centre is crucial, but so is achieving a decently seared ‘crust’ on the outside, which does require time and the correct heat. Anyone adept at cooking their steak will know this, too, so forgive me if I’m re-stating the obvious. My point is - cooking offal so often is, and should, be obvious.

Once out of the pan, again and as with anything of the same ilk, it must rest. I’d advise for always at least double the time it spent in the pan. So, in this case, I allowed 6 minutes minimum resting time. To accompany, the purple carrot purée was a simple process of chopping the carrots and adding to salted boiling water to soften. I didn’t peel them, because there’s such nutrition in the skins and because I’m really not too fussed about a totalitarian-smoothness - it’s entirely up to you whether you peel them or not, I couldn’t judge. Once soft enough that the carrot pieces can be pierced with a knife and quite immediately fall off the blade, strain and leave to steam to continue softening. Add to a blender with 1 tsp of ground cumin and 1tsp of rapeseed oil and blend to a purée consistency (basically however thick or loose you like it) - adding oil or residual carrot-boiling liquid if needed. Taste as you go and add more salt or cumin as you wish.

For the leeks, I simply cut these to size, the halved to act as little ‘boats’ to vehicle the foraged salsa verde I made, and just roasted them in oil, seasoning and lemon juice until soft and coloured on the edges. While this is happening, you can roughly chop all and any of the herbs you find (whether in Dulwich Park or in your supermarket), along with capers and some of the juice, lemon zest and juice, and olive oil (I added a touch of truffle oil, given the exciting occasion of creating this dish). To assemble on the plate - do what feels natural to you - but if advise is helpful, I would always consider colours and levels and how to combine and contrast them. I love how the purples and pinks here contrast with the organic-acrid-greens. It’s often fun to colour-clash in some ways too, as I did here with the purple purée and pink of the heart.

I hope, if anything, this can enlighten in you even just the curiosity to consider heart, in any form and from any beast. Heart really is the heartening factor.