Fergus Henderson’s dish from St. John in London: marrow bones roasted until the marrow is loose and giving, scraped onto toast, salted, and topped with a sharp salad of parsley, shallot and capers.
Untested: I have not cooked this one yet. It is here because the Offal dive needed it, and it is adapted from the source named in the Notes.
Ingredients
- 8 to 12 center-cut beef or veal marrow bones, 2 to 3 inches long (about 4 pounds)
- 1 healthy bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
- 2 shallots, very thinly sliced
- 1 modest handful capers (extra-fine if you can find them)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Plenty of toast
- Coarse sea salt, to serve
Directions
- Roast. Heat the oven to 450 °F. Stand the bones in an ovenproof pan and roast in the upper third of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the marrow is loose and giving but not melted. Don’t overcook it, or the marrow liquefies and runs out.
- Make the salad. While the bones roast, chop the parsley lightly — “just enough to discipline it” — and toss with the shallots and capers. Dress with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper at the last moment.
- Serve. Put the bones, salad, toast and a pile of coarse salt on the table. Each person scrapes marrow onto toast, salts it, and tops it with salad.
Notes
Source Adapted from Fergus Henderson’s “Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad” (Nose to Tail Eating, 1999), using the oven temperature and timing from Andrew Zimmern’s adaptation (450 °F, 15–20 minutes, upper third of the oven). Henderson calls for 12 pieces of middle veal marrowbone, 7–8 cm long.
The Offal dive on the Food site covers this part in depth.