Can anyone explain what these are?

lamb offal = chitlins

I don't know what chitlins are but offal in my book covers liver, kidney, heart etc. <BR> <BR>Maisonettes are apartments, usually within houses, and usually with their own separate front door. Or at least that's one Brit's understanding of the term.

The Scots have haggis - we have chitlins

I though that chitlins (a/k/a/ chitterlings) were always from hogs, not lambs.

Technically, chitlins are from hogs, but it's such a good word to describe such a nasty thing to eat. <BR>Which makes me think of an interesting question: there was a thread a while ago about the worst meal or weirdest food ever eaten. What about weird food from your own country/region that a visitor would find...ahem...different? I remember Tony wanted to know what a corn dog was. Chitlins (chitterlings) are a good example. And my cultural background's (French-Canadian) blood sausage (boudin). <BR>

Elvira- <BR> <BR>I'm originally from Rhode Island, and the local specialty at feast days (think Catholic carnival) is stuffed quahogs. For the uninitiated, a quahog (pronounced Coh-hog)is essentially a clam with a heavy shell that measures about 3 inches across; what we call a clam is very small with a thin shell). Quahogs are stuffed with the chopped quahog meat mixed with bread and spices, then baked. RI also has johnny cakes, a sort of thin pancake made with very coarse cornmeal. The odd specialty from my cultural background (portuguese) is similar to yours, a blood pudding. I can barely pronounce, let alone spell the portuguese word for it.

Do you think the word "offal" and the word "awful" really mean the same thing? <BR> <BR>When I was going to school in Philadelphia my roommate used to eat something called "scrapple". I think its a Pennsylvania thing. It looks like bits of spam embedded in pork fat. I'm really not sure what is actually in the stuff, but its really yucky!

Hi Beth- <BR> <BR>You're right, I think Scrapple is a Pennsylvania thing. My husband's background is Pennsylvania Dutch (even though he grew up in Delaware), and believe me, it gets stranger than scrapple. My mother-in-law's favorite dish is stuffed beef heart! Pig's stomach is also a family dish. Luckily, I've never been served any of these specialties.

My mom is from PA, and she always talks about scrapple (my dad thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen - the scrapple, that is, not my mom). It appears to be pork scraps (hence scrapple?) like the shoulder and ribs, with pork liver (blllecchh)and onions and spices. About as appetizing as head cheese. <BR>Mmmm, Cheryl, I do miss those quahogs, which reminds me of a New England feast, the clambake. Give us seafood and kelp, and we do just fine. Give us meat and a pot of boiling water, and imagine the worst. <BR>And what about dem cajuns and da crawfish bahl...suck dem haids...

In Defense of Scapple:I'm born and bred in Phila.and have eaten more Scrapple than I would care to admit to my Doctor. Scrapple is great think of it as an "everyman's pate".If the readers of this form ever grow tired of Europe Phila.has an annual Scrapple Fest complete with a crowning of a Scrapple Queen.

Many of yu have heard me refer to where I live as "Hooterville"....Maisonettes are what we call a farm that the realtors can't sell.

You know, there might be a market for scrapple-in-a-tube!!

Beth- <BR> <BR>Not in my kitchen there isn't!

Beth- I think you might have something there. Having never tasted either, I've always regarded scrapple and haggis as kissin' cousins. I would be more interested in trying cheese steak in a tube, myself!