Faggots? British pig offal balls simmered in a gelatinous gravy ...
Vive, l'entende cordiale!
An apt meal since we've just walked away from our European brethren citing, "it's not good for The City" (albeit in a whiney toff voice) ... anyway ... enough politics, since it can get me most aggravated, and there's nothing worse than an aggravated Yorkshireman!
So, back to good things ... food.
This is a perfect paleo+ celebration of British/French conviviality ... but what the heck is it?
Aligot - the marriage of mashed potatoes with cheese. It's French, and you can google the specifics, but it's mashed potato with cheese in any language. And garlic. How else would it be French?
Potatoes? Yes! White potatoes! Eaten with fat, the glycemic load is dramatically reduced. I suppose you could do it with sweet potatoes, but it won't be nearly as much fun - the sweetness will overpower the sour depth of the cheese and it will be a little too wet. By all means try it, if white potatoes are outside of your paleo template.
The method: boil some potatoes, mince some garlic and mash it in. Next, add in some milk, cream, whatever ... just to soften it a little and then throw in a good quantity of grated cheese.
I used Comté. You could use Reblochon, Camembert or Tomme d'Auvergne if you're going to be all pure about it ... although, if you're want a purist recipe, it's bread and cheese! This is the original Monk recipe that pre-dates the introduction of the potato to France. Gah! That is a step too far ...
Accompany with faggots.
Best known in the Midlands and across to mid-Wales and South Wales, faggots are a peasant dish of pig offals - heart, liver, belly and bacon, minced together and held together with caul, or crepinette ... there I go, getting all French again ... must be the garlic!
Long cook in a thick, gelatinous gravy ...
Some time later, serve up ... Faggots on one side, Aligot, the other, some green beans in the middle. Yes, green beans! They pass the raw principle and as a primal, I am perfectly happy with them on my plate.
Vive la difference! Vive l'entende cordiale!
