][1]Exploring the fifth quarter sounds rather adventurous. One can imagine it’s the sort of thing done by Lawrence of Arabia as he set off into the desert: ‘Just off to scout around the fifth quarter, chaps. I’ll be over that sand dune somewhere. See you in two years!’
In actual fact, the fifth quarter can be used to refer to offal; those lesser used cuts of meat which our grandparents felt quite at home with but which have dipped below the radar more recently. If you fancy exploring the fifth quarter then you may want to sign up to the slow food masterclass taking place at Café St Honoré on Saturday 1st March.
Resurgence in restaurants
Neil Forbes of Café St Honoré and Sascha Grierson of Grierson Organic will be discussing offal, showing guests what to buy and how to cook with these ingredients that are generally overlooked in home-cooking.
Once a staple of the British diet, offal has seen a slight resurgence on restaurant menus in recent years, yet few of us know what to do with tongue, suet or oxtail at home. Fifth quarter cuts are cheap, readily available, and most importantly, very tasty. This masterclass aims to teach how to introduce them into your kitchen repertoire.
Tastings
There will be tastings throughout the class, as well as opportunities to ask questions. The demo will be followed by a lunch of organic chicken liver parfait terrine with lardy cake and leaves followed by Bath Chaps with Arran mustard, kale and mashed potato.
Tickets cost £27.50 including a 2-course lunch with wine, Black Isle beer or Cuddybridge apple juice. The class takes place at Café St Honoré, 34 NW Thistle Street Lane, Edinburgh on Saturday 1st March. Arrive 11am for coffee and shortbread.
Slow Food
Café St Honoré and Grierson Organic work closely with Slow Food Edinburgh to help promote ‘a better way to eat’.
£2.50 from every ticket will go to supporting a Scottish delegation to Terra Madre in Turin in October, when thousands of Slow Food producers, chefs, farmers, activists and food communities from all across the world will meet to showcase national food cultures and produce.