Floffal
[ Flo-ff-al], noun
an approach to sourcing, cooking and understanding food - specifically offal (the entrails and internal organs of an animal used as food) - established by an individual called Flora.
The 'approach' noted above is one that I (Flora) have been considering and developing in my own mind and through my own efforts I believe ever since I was first introduced to offal, approximately around the aged of 12. Here begins the 'Prelude':
My mother had bought liver just on the off-chance one day, given it was so cheap and she herself hadn't eaten it for a good while. She asked tentatively if I wanted to try some, and all I can remember is being immediately fascinated by the idea itself of eating a version of something already 'inside' myself, not to mention at the alien-like appearance and texture of it in its raw form. I'm aware that this is precisely reason for why so many people actively dislike something like liver and offal, both literally and conceptually. It's understandable, as a reaction of empathy and realisation of the fact that a living, breathing, feeling and sentient animal (like us) has died for the sake of this being here on the plate. But, of course, this is the case for every single cut and type of meat - the reason why in general a steak doesn't ignite the same feeling is a complex one.
Personally, such a thing is really what inspires and excites me about offal - it's a more interesting, more intense and strangely more 'intimate' type of meat to consume, precisely because it's parts of the animal which I can associate with myself, which is important in terms of a more rounded sense of self and being within the world and amongst living things. and just another part of the animal. Since this time, I’ve just enjoyed finding more, new, weirder cuts and types of meat, from as many different (native to the UK) animals as possible. It’s made me appreciate the process, and certainly made me a better, more confident and creative cook.
I grew up in Dorset, surrounded by rural landscapes and farmland, and therefore both wildlife and livestock animals (and pets). A sense of wonderment and reverence for the beauty, power and sensitivity of animals certainly came strongly from my mother - a keen and very talented drawer and painter, she was often illustrating wild or ancient animals, inspired stylistically and narratively by cave paintings and with that the spirit of co-existing with them as our archaic ancestors would have done. This didn't stop them eating meat, though.
Respect, reverence and genuine affection for such capable and reciprocating beings is still valid and practicable - there's an angle I take to eating offal and talking about it that is aimed directly as this. Rather than discriminating between which parts of the animal we consume, for the sake of dissociating our own bodies with that of an animal's body part which we are eating, it is precisely the consuming and appreciating of offal, the internal and vital organs, that can bring us 'closer' to the animal and therefore access a greater level of appreciation for it and its death for the sake of our sustenance.
It’s about trying to reignite some of that ‘animal’ in us. The term 'domestic scavenger' came to my mind a little while ago trying to encapsulate my ways of going about sourcing food and reconnecting with a more instinctual - more 'animal' - and what I consider, humble, approach to eating and having fun with food.
Admittedly, it's a delicate and even somewhat dangerous thing to talk about and engage in - I do literally pick things out of bins. If it's still in its packaging, or still fresh, perhaps with a touch of mould or withering, it's almost certainly ok. Something I will happily preach about is doing away with sell-by-dates, particularly when it comes to excessively packaged fruit and vegetables. We have eyes - we can't help but use them to see, and to therefore be able I think to detect whether something actually is mouldy or not.
In this way, I want to build up our immunity - both physiological and psychological - through eating and approaching food in a more immediate, immersive, and I dare say intimate way. Though it sounds like effort, which initially it is for those who are so used to convenient, clear and clean-cut instruction and access to food, very quickly it becomes simpler, more familiar, more fun and more rewarding. There's a sense of the unpredictable - like a ‘treasure hunt’ - the more one does it. This platform is my means to communicate this, in as many forms as I can, towards as many opportunities to build and grow the benefits and sense of life I have described as possible.
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