Breakfast, lunch and dinner at Tiffany’s

The storefront shared the same aesthetic as a French market at Les Halles in Paris ‘-‘- with a brick face and dark awnings, it featured Julia Child’s actual scrawl reading Bon Appetit! etched into the cement, greeting foodies as they enter Savenor’s Market. We made our way to the back of the market, where a group of people clutching paper cups stood contemplatively as’ head butcher, Vadim Akimenko, squeezed what looked like melon-yellow play-doh through a sievein. This process removes the veins from foie gras, producing a silky texture. Before his heavily tattooed arms delicately twisted a cloth around to trusse the fatty liver, Akimenko douses the mousse in Grand Marnier.

As a student of one of the monthly Butcher Series Savenor’s Market classes, for $25 I got to experience this week’s lesson: offal. The staff at this renowned market expose the mysteries of cuisine ‘-‘- how to make a perfectly fried sweetbread or a cost-friendly foie gras and fig confit appetizer.

After sampling the seared duck liver on grilled bread, a friendly woman who managed the event poured a Costi’egrave;res de Nimes, similar to a Rh’ocirc;ne, for the small gathering as the butcher explained how rendered animal fat is superior to butter or oil for searing organ meat.

As the sizzling hot pan filled with syrupy pig fat to prep for a fried rendition, Akimenko debated the merits of using thymus glands over pancreas for sweetbread dishes. He removed the stubborn membrane clinging to the meat and, using a prepared puff pastry (making one is too time-consuming), instructed us to generously wrap the glands in thick-cut bacon and then bake in an oven at 450 degrees. An assistant sliced a pre-baked version of the dish for us to sample as we watched our pedagogue lightly dust the remaining sweetbreads in spiced flour and then fry in hot fat.

A middle-aged Russian man cracked a joke about subscribing to a cardiologist as the creamy and soft sweetbreads, surrounded by a crispy fried shell, were passed around. Almost on cue, our teacher took out a raw pig’s heart to show how to properly prep the organ, bypassing enormous arteries and tough muscle in order to attain the perfect filet. He used a lamb’s heart for the demo, as they are far more flavorful.

Using a basic marinade of garlic, red wine and fresh rosemary, the hearts were braised (for two hours) and served with caramelized onions and discs of oyster mushrooms. This would be a perfect hors d’ouvre at a dinner party, especially now that we are transitioning to warmer weather. Lamb hearts share the same texture as a beef top sirloin, but because of their prolonged stewing, they were delectably tender.

The class ended with more wine, haggis and steak-and-kidney pie ‘-‘- both typically English entr’eacute;es. Haggis ‘-‘- where oatmeal and bits of lamb meat combine as a hearty, gritty casserole ‘-‘- is served in a flaky potpie crust and was delicious but too heavy after an hour of sampling and drinking. Akimenko explained that perfect haggis features lung meat but is unattainable in the U.S. because of FDA standards on certain organs. The steak-and-kidney pie was also a full-bodied dish, with chunks of chuck steak and velvety kidney suspended in a red wine demi-glace.

The class was definitely worth it ‘-‘- lasting more than the hour promised and was a non-pretentious atmosphere where foodies united to improve both palates and kitchen skills. Now, off to cheaptickets.com for a ticket to Wales for some lung-heavy haggis!