Cooking the Unthinkable: Bone Marrow

Cooking the Unthinkable is a series that examines some of the more eccentric ingredients. Whether you are a fan of the bizarre or are preparing for the eminent collapse of Western society this series will help you better stomach weird food.

If you watch enough cooking contests you know that there are two ingredients that never fail to give judges the culinary equivalent to an erection.  The first is sea urchin (more on that HERE).  The other is bone marrow.  Sea urchin isn’t the easiest thing to get your hand on but bone marrow is.

The name “bone marrow” is not a euphemistic title for some fern bar dish, like calling stuffed jalapenos Armadillo Eggs.  It is exactly what the name implies, the actual marrow from inside a bone.  It is usually served as an appetizer and  in Manhattan it’ll run you between $15 and $25 for an order.  That’s ridiculous since you can buy marrow bones for four for about $5 (American).

So why would someone want to eat bone marrow?  It’s easy to take the high road and click off the long list of health benefits but I figure if you are interested in that you can just click HERE.  The main reason to eat the marrow is that it’s is utterly amazing.  The marrow is what makes BBQ ribs so lip smacking good.  It’s the difference between beef flavored stock and a rich, hearty beef stock.  So don’t kid yourself that you’ve never eaten it because you have just maybe not roasted by itself and spread on toast points like a dip.

I paid $3.50 for three marrow bones at the butcher section of my grocer.  I roasted them at 425 for about 20 minutes.  I toasted some garlic naan, spread the marrow and topped it with a salsa of finely diced onions, sesame oil, sriracha and cilantro with a sprinkle of kosher salt to finish it off.  Yeah I know, that does sound great.

My good friend, John Mitzewich, has done a terrific video showing you the basics of roasting marrow at home on his awarding winning (2 Tastys!) webcast Foodwishes: