Cooking a cow, month by month - The heart

Be brave and cook up a stew with this much-overlooked cut

It’s easy to shy away from offal (from ‘off fall’ – the stuff that falls out when a carcass is opened), but wondrous gastronomic experiences await eaters who dare venture from the greatest hits in the butcher’s repertoire.

With hefty, well-looked-after cattle, the body’s engine block is the size of a slightly deflated rugby ball.The simplest cooking method we could find was to slice the heart (trimmed of the white bits) into slivers, and then frying in plenty of fresh thyme and garlic. But we can be more ambitious.

The tastiest recipe is anticuchos (‘cut stew meat’ in the South American language of Quechua) – grilled, skewered kebab-like dishes often found as street food in countries around the Andes (similar to French brochettes, Indonesian satay, Greek souvlaki and of course the Beijing chuan’r).

The recipe below is a ‘picante’ variation – the marinade of garlic, chilli, cumin and oregano makes a peppy accompaniment to the surprisingly mild taste of the heart.You'll feel a sense of satisfaction in having paid respect to the magnificent animal that provided your dinner. So go on – have a heart.

HOW TO COOK IT

Using a sharp knife, clean the heart by trimming off any nerves or fat. Cut it into one-inch cubes and set aside. Combine three diced chillis, four finely chopped garlic cloves, a heaped tablespoon of cumin, a tea-spoon of oregano, a glug of olive oil and 200ml of red-wine vinegar in a bowl.

Mix, pour over the heart and marinate for at least 12 hours in the fridge. Thread the meat on to presoaked wooden skewers, and then stick them under a hot grill (or on a barbecue) for about four minutes each side. Serve with flatbread wraps. Alan Rutter

Buy your meat at Boucherie Michel, First Floor, Jiezuo Building, Xingfucun Zhong Lu, Chaoyang district (6417 0489); open 9am-8.30pm daily.

Buy your chillis, garlic, cumin and olive oil at April Gourmet, Xingfucun Zhong Lu, Chaoyang district (6417 7970); open 8am-midnight daily.