Creste di gallo

There are a select few of the less noteworthy foodstuffs that I've been curious to work with, and these are just one of them. Identified the specimens yet? They are cockscombs, that innocuous part of a chicken that I have never imagined as something remotely edible. I'm familiar with chicken feet from the islands (even if I never tried them), but that thing on top of its head? My husband sings praises over le creste, for his mother cooked these "delicacies", if you want to call it that, when he was a child.

The first thing to do after purchasing my prize was to call my mother-in-law, the family expert on these sort of things. "Ci-a-o-o-o TESORO!" she exclaimed. Did she just call me precious? More than delighted to share her cooking wisdom, she advised me to prepare them in umido, a style of braising that uses a small amount of liquid and includes finely chopped onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste, wine, and seasonings. She went on to say that le creste are usually served as a second plate, but with my meager 200 grams — "Tesoro, you have enough for only one serving." — I realized that I needed to find a way to stretch my limited supply.

Enter the idea of risotto, but when I came across an Alain Ducasse original requiring cockscombs as one of the ingredients (besides truffle juice, calf's foot jelly, and a Breton lobster), well that was that, and I decided to make risotto bianco with a ragu topping that was a combination of italian, french, and the cooking advice of Mamma.

It didn't rock my tastebuds.

Plain risotto and a french-inspired ragu seemed like a grand idea in my head but I expected cockscombs to have a unique, distinct flavor to them. They barely hinted of giblets, and tasted rather ho-hum? Borrowing from the culinary finesse that is Ducasse, I simmered the combs in chicken broth and nervetti (calf's foot aspic) until tender, then finished them briefly in the style of mamma. To the risotto bianco I added mascarpone instead of heavy cream at the end. The finishing touch was a drizzle of truffle oil over all.

My husband actually liked the results, but I think another problem was that I couldn't get past the visuals; with nothing to wow my palate, appreciating the dish was a challenge. I'd be willing to give this a try again, but only the way mamma would prepare it.

Recipe references:
Risotto Bianco
An original from Alain Ducasse

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Saved comment(s)

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Hi Ro!! I must say, you've taken something rather "interesting" and unexpected and turned it into something truly spectacular. The end product looks delish. This is coming from a rather squemish, non-adventuresome kind of eater too. I'm learning so much from you and I'm inspired and getting excited to be in Italy. Just a little over 4 months to go! Aloha!
Lettie | 05.04.07 - 12:40 am

Oh my gosh - you caught me totally by surprise. It's such a beautiful picture (at least it was before I knew what it was a picture of !), but I'd never have guessed... I was thinking it was some sort of pasta!!
Cathy | Homepage | 05.03.07 - 9:41 pm

Wow rowena! i love your mother-in-law's reaction to your dilemma: "Tesoro, you have enough for only one serving." here's where i have to go with my vegetarian-side, but you are brave for trying it! the finished result is beautiful!
jackie | Homepage | 05.03.07 - 4:57 pm

Hi Rowena,
I wasn't sure what was in the tray (it doesn't ring a bell seen like that), until you told us. Maybe there are foods that don't appeal, but when well prepared and seasoned, might surprise us. I'm sure that you don't get "chicken skin", when trying new foods! Take care,
barbara | Homepage | 05.03.07 - 2:36 pm

All I can say is brave, brave, brave.....goes where others fear to tread! You go girl!
Pasticciera | Homepage | 05.03.07 - 10:45 am

Holy Chickenparts!
Even if I prefer to personally reply to each comment when appropriate, all of YOU GREAT OUTSPOKEN READERS who visit this blog have really taken me by surprise! I will admit, the subject selected was fueled by impish humor, and to write for the purpose of leaving everyone speechless, (or should that be cluckless?) is something that I live for. So then, I suppose it'll be a tad blasé if I wrote my thoughts on uhm..."mountain oysters"? I am not eating chicken feet. BTW, the cockscombs were a little over 4.50 euro per/lb, or whatever is the current $ equivalent.
~rowena~ | 05.03.07 - 9:41 am

I thought it was a plate of ginger--as you find on the side of sushi platters. Hope you didn't spend a fortune on your meager 200 grams!
Poppy | 05.03.07 - 9:11 am

Sorry to say this but ewwww...lol. The colors are nice but there's no way I could eat that. Very interesting though, and very impressive you'd even try it! I wonder how the first person to eat that decided it might be tasty? hehe
stacy Simpson | Homepage | 05.03.07 - 7:22 am

The top image caught my eye first, before reading, and I wondered what kind of lovely pink and gold fruit that could possibly be. But alas . . . not fruit.

This post made me laugh. Thanks for having such great humor about a dish you clearly didn't love.
Christina | Homepage | 05.03.07 - 6:55 am

If i'm not mistaken, i saw a show about adrian fera cooked cookscomb in his restaurant, El Bulli in PBS series, Gourmet Diary of a Foodie. Very interesting, but like you i can't get past the visual! Though, i don't mind eating duck feet's skin, duck's tongue!
eliza | Homepage | 05.03.07 - 6:13 am

Cockscomb seems weird.. Perhaps you could give it another shot and buy enough cockscomb to try your mother-in-law's method. :-) Would be interesting to know about a new dish.
piccola | 05.03.07 - 4:36 am

Fascinating! I had no idea one could even eat cockscombs, although I don't know why not... many other "parts" are consumed by various cultures. They look lovely...but not quite sure they'd be my thing.
Carla | Homepage | 05.03.07 - 12:38 am

rowena, that photo of gallina thingys looks like a great canadian autumn day! but oh my god i, i, think i'm gonna be si.... and let me guess.... it tastes like chicken lol!
whozyerdanny | 05.02.07 - 11:52 pm

It's a beautiful photo but a disgusting image if you know what I mean! I don't think I could eat those either.
Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy | Homepage | 05.02.07 - 2:26 pm

Eww, please don't tell me when you serve this one to me..that way I'll eat it.
Kat | Homepage | 05.02.07 - 1:49 pm