Liver with fava beans and a nice chianti....

I did a google search and can't find a liver and fava been recipe - pity I have some left over sweetbreads in the freezer from when the last census taker called.

CB

Food

There is one line everyone remembers from Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal Lecter is speaking about a census taker who once "tried to quantify" him. "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a big Amarone," he brags.

What makes the line so memorable is the shocking treatment of cannibalism as a gourmet activity. It's almost camp - the idea of human organs cooked up as a nice bourgeois supper. But the specific choice of fava beans (an alternative name for broad beans) is the clever bit. Chick peas or cannellini wouldn't be anything like as scary. As Thomas Harris is surely aware, the broad bean has macabre associations, making it entirely appropriate for Lecter's dinner.

In the ancient world, Hannibal's meal would have been seen as doubly cannibalistic. Certain upper-class Greeks and Romans believed that broad beans contained the souls of the dead, one soul encased inside every bean. Roman funeral banquets sometimes offered up beans to dead relatives. Eating beans was therefore tantamount to eating one's ancestors and avoided for this very reason.

It was probably a belief in the transmigration of souls that led the philosopher Pythagoras to tell his vegetarian disciples to abstain from beans. Then again, Pythagoreans may have rejected favas for their indigestible effects. Or they may have thought they caused lust. We don't know for sure. What we do know is that Pythagoras hated broad beans, both dried and fresh, so much that he accepted capture and death at the hands of his enemies rather than escape over a beanfield.

In modern times, the broad bean is still murderous. Favism is an inherited allergy, an anaemic condition whose symptoms include vomiting, vertigo, fever, headaches and (cannibals take note) enlargement of the spleen and liver. It can be triggered by eating uncooked broad beans or even inhaling the pollen. The worst sufferers are those of Mediterranean origin.

Despite its poisonous properties, the broad bean has played a uniquely important role in our diets. Until the discovery of the New World, it was the only bean known in Europe. Farmers cultivated it as long ago as the seventh millennium BC, and it is not hard to see why it was prized. Its large seeds and hardiness made it easy to grow and the beans could be dried and stored throughout the winter, providing cheap protein. In Italy the dried bean is still il carne del povero, the meat of the poor.

Yet, as Dr Lecter knew, the fresh bean can be a very classy ingredient. The first pods in May are good eaten raw as an hors d'oeuvre, with coarse salt (feves a la croque-au-sel) or sheep's cheese. By midsummer, though, they're probably better cooked. Elizabeth David makes them into soup with celery, peas and bacon. In France, they're often boiled with savory and/or pureed. Frozen beans are surprisingly good, so long as you slip them out of their tough silvery jackets, but the trouble is you lose the sensual enjoyment of sitting and podding. As Antonio Carluccio says: "This is a very pleasant exercise because as the finger enters the pod it touches the soft, velvety, almost woolly padding inside which the beans are embedded." You can be sure horrid Hannibal pods his own beans.

Broad beans

Buy a lot of pods (four times the final weight of beans that you require). Remove the beans and skin. Divide into small and large, giving the large ones eight to ten minutes and the small ones four to six minutes in boiling water. Drain and return to the pan, with diced unsalted butter and sea salt, and toss gently. Add chopped mint at the last minute. Good with sauteed liver (lamb's, not human's).

Kan Win, I bow to you. That was one of the most articulate & interesting posts I've ever read. Please tell me you didn't copy & paste! Either way, excellent post!

Kan Win, I bow to you. That was one of the most articulate & interesting posts I've ever read. Please tell me you didn't copy & paste! Either way, excellent post!

Me Lady, I did, Ex-squeeze me please

Yours truly,

Kan Win

Right - did they wrap it in newspaper and you eat at the end of the pier?

CB

Suppose you'd need a "broadsheet" to wrap a whale.

PS It's Chateauneuf du Pape - the appellation being a reference to the infamous Avignon popes.

A sunday broadsheet no less. Thanks for correct spelling, it's usually too expensive for an everyday drinking wine, however, in Tesco (UK) it's often on special offer. So I occasionally enjoy it with my favourite pasta dish. It goes so well!!!

In modern times, the broad bean is still murderous. Favism is an inherited allergy, an anaemic condition whose symptoms include vomiting, vertigo, fever, headaches and (cannibals take note) enlargement of the spleen and liver. It can be triggered by eating uncooked broad beans or even inhaling the pollen. The worst sufferers are those of Mediterranean origin.

I always knew that there was a good reason for avoiding those little bastids, now I know what it is.

My pick.

Beef stew and dumplings with a side order of lightly grilled lamb chops, a bowl of diced pineapple as a palette cleanser and a flagon of Sancerre (Chateau Neuf is my favourite, but it would be far too heavy for that meal)

And as this is the last supper, a polystyrene box full of Larb Gai, sliced cucumber and a dozen Spy Wine Coolers (red) ............ to go

PS It's Chateauneuf du Pape - the appellation being a reference to the infamous Avignon popes.

Thanks for that - I am not really a wine drinker, the antihistamines kill me. I was going from memory.

CB

Ya' can't beat a good Sancerre...

Ya' can't beat a good Sancerre...

Is that a type of fish?

CB

Why do the Americans call it Jelly? These are the important questions in life that we need answered

CB

Yea see us Yanks/Septics have a very keen palate (or is that pallet).

In any case jelly is that highly processed stuff containing tons of artificial flavors and preservatives, while jam is the good stuff that one can still taste/see/feel the seeds and fruit bits (also typically a more gooey as compared to the basic gelatin type consistency of jelly).

As for the PB - crunchy or smooth?

I posted this over on the main board – but since this thread is all about the last supper I would have to include a bottle or two of Southern Comfort with soda water after one glass of the sweet tea.

Last supper:

Cincinnati three-way chili, a few chili cheese coney’s, and a dozen or so White Castle Jalapeno cheese burgers, washed down with a glass of real brewed sweet tea and a bottle or two of Southern Comfort mixed with a bit of soda water and ice.

Cincinnati three-way chili

Chili cheese coney's

White Castle jalapeno cheese burgers

Brewed sweet tea

SoCo with a dash of soda water and lots of ice

Edit in: While the picture shows the standard 76 proof stuff, I would go for the 100 proof stuff - last supper and all.

Why do the Americans call it Jelly? These are the important questions in life that we need answered

CB

Yea see us Yanks/Septics have a very keen palate (or is that pallet).

In any case jelly is that highly processed stuff containing tons of artificial flavors and preservatives, while jam is the good stuff that one can still taste/see/feel the seeds and fruit bits (also typically a more gooey as compared to the basic gelatin type consistency of jelly).

But you guys don't eat jam or conserve you eat weird stuff like grape jelly, <deleted> is that? Jam is made from strawberries, apricots, or blackberries not grapes. Wine comes from grapes yes, jam does not come from grapes this is an important thing to remember.

Jelly is served with icecream and is made of rendered down hooves or from seaweed depending on personal preference

As for the PB - crunchy or smooth?

Crunchy - smooth sticks to my beak

CB

But you guys don't eat jam or conserve you eat weird stuff like grape jelly, <deleted> is that? Jam is made from strawberries, apricots, or blackberries not grapes. Wine comes from grapes yes, jam does not come from grapes this is an important thing to remember.

Jelly is served with icecream and is made of rendered down hooves or from seaweed depending on personal preference

CB

Ah, but we do eat Jam, and Jelly as well. The terms just mean slightly different things - well at least to me.

As for grape anything – last time I looked grapes were considered fruits so in accordance with EU Council Directive 2001/113/EC of 20 December 2001 – relating to fruit jams, jellies, and marmalades and sweetened chestnut puree intended for human consumption. Grapes would be fit for jam production – since grapes are a fruit they would be allowed for use in the production of grape jam and even grape jelly for that matter.

From the EU Council Directive:

- "Jam" is a mixture, brought to a suitable gelled consistency, of sugars, the pulp and/or purée of one or more kinds of fruit and water. However, citrus jam may be obtained from the whole fruit, cut into strips and/or sliced.

- "Extra jam" is a mixture, brought to a suitable gelled consistency, of sugars, the unconcentrated pulp of one or more kinds of fruit and water. However, rosehip extra jam and seedless raspberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry and redcurrant extra jam may be obtained entirely or in part from unconcentrated purée of the respective fruits. Citrus extra jam may be obtained from the whole fruit, cut into strips and/or sliced.

- "Jelly" is an appropriately gelled mixture of sugars and the juice and/or aqueous extracts of one or more kinds of fruit.

The quantity of juice and/or aqueous extracts used in the manufacture of 1000 g of finished product must not be less than that laid down for the manufacture of jam. These quantities are calculated after deduction of the weight of water used in preparing the aqueous extracts.

As for grape anything – last time I looked grapes were considered fruits so in accordance with EU Council Directive 2001/113/EC of 20 December 2001 – relating to fruit jams, jellies, and marmalades and sweetened chestnut puree intended for human consumption. Grapes would be fit for jam production – since grapes are a fruit they would be allowed for use in the production of grape jam and even grape jelly for that matter.

Yeah yeah, typical bring in facts to destroy a good arguement

CB

Where has this thread gone? Quoting EU directives!!! WT...

I thought God had a dictatorship.

Don't know about the entree but the desert would be mango & sticky rice with a little evaporated milk over it. Best danm desert on the planet!

Where has this thread gone? Quoting EU directives!!! WT...

To HamsterJam me tink

Where has this thread gone? Quoting EU directives!!! WT...

To HamsterJam me tink

Yes, yes, it’s all about enough to give one some indigestion – during one’s last supper even.

I prefer pickled hamster.

Some form of pasta with a Carbonara sauce. One of my favorite dishes on the planet, closely followed by Beef Oyster sauce (Nuea na man hoy)

Probably some crate of liter bottles of beer, else a good Red.

Some form of pasta with a Carbonara sauce. One of my favorite dishes on the planet, closely followed by Beef Oyster sauce (Nuea na man hoy)

Probably some crate of liter bottles of beer, else a good Red.

Wow kayo, I make the best carbonara on the face of the planet! It's also one of my favs. It's sooo fattening! So I suppose I wouldn't mind having it for my last meal!

Oh you dooooo, do you?

I may have to bump up my visit to the nether regions of the Norf

but please, I pray it won't be my last meal mate!!!!!.... ?

Oh you dooooo, do you?

I may have to bump up my visit to the nether regions of the Norf

but please, I pray it won't be my last meal mate!!!!!.... ?

You'd be more than welcome - it shouldn't be your last meal though! Well, I hope not, it is very fattening...

Wow kayo, I make the best carbonara on the face of the planet! It's also one of my favs. It's sooo fattening! So I suppose I wouldn't mind having it for my last meal!

I have not seen the recipe for this yet on the foodie forum. Wanna share? It's one of my favs, too.

Wow kayo, I make the best carbonara on the face of the planet! It's also one of my favs. It's sooo fattening! So I suppose I wouldn't mind having it for my last meal!

I have not seen the recipe for this yet on the foodie forum. Wanna share? It's one of my favs, too.

I'll have to think about it as it's not really a 'recipe', it's more ingredients mixed together and judged by texture and colour, then added to pasta. Leave it with me and I'll get back to you...

My last supper would be three course:

Course 1:

Roast Beef Sunday lunch brought in from Jools on soi4 (with extra yorkie puds)

Course 2:

Roast Lamb Sunday lunch also brought from Jools on soi4

Course 3:

One whole lemon cheesecake

Complimentry Cheese plater

Drinks:

4 pints of Guiness

1 keg of Stella

And then Tequilla until the button is pressed.

An explosive mixture there from phazey. I wonder what would happen when they actually pushed the button?

ps why so little Guiness?

Any more Guiness and you wouldn't have to wait until someone pushed his button

Any more Guiness and you wouldn't have to wait until someone pushed his button

Okay, good point. But only 4 pints, you're only laying the foundation... Although I did like his tequila suggestion.

There is a math equation for Guinness. Which explains how much you blow out one end after consuming a quantity of it in the other. Just be thankful they haven't invented scratch and smell computer screens yet.