One could say, another version of a ‘gateway’ into eating offal are kidneys. They’ve appeared in pies and colluding with the devil on toast for decades, and remain canonised in a lot of British cuisine.

As with all offal, freshness is key to depth and impact of flavour. The colours change, too, depending on this & according to oxygenation. It doesn’t mean the meat is necessarily ‘off’, it just naturally alters the flavour & therefore we learn to adapt to how we cook and combine ingredients with it.

These particular little lambs’ ‘pearls’, harvested directly out of a carcass (always one of my favourite tasks), provide the ultimate Floffal and 'baby butcher's' lunchtime boost. Just them, and me, seasoned & rested, nothing else needed. The rich, shining and sumptuous purple-blood colour denotes apt time for consumption - hung within the carcass for a few days, still fresh, full and flavourful.

I really think one of the joys and fulfillments in cooking with offal is the sheer simplicity in, and satisfaction that can be gained from, eating it just as it is. There is a time and place for individual, immersive enjoyment in the thing itself.