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EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Kokoretsi at Opa
For every fan like us, there are just as many funk-averse folks who run away bawling at the mere mention of such a dish.
EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Kokoretsi at Opa
Vasiliki Tsiouris, who owns Opa (1311 Sansom St.) with her brother George, has not tried her chef Andy Brown's rendition of kokoretsi just yet. It's not that it's not good — on the contrary, it wouldn't be getting our ETI treatment if we didn't think it was well worth ordering — it just ain't for her. That she'll readily admit as much should tell you all you need to know about the reputation of this very traditional Greek delicacy, various organs (in Brown's case, a lamb's sweetbreads, liver and heart) bound by lamb's intestines.
Wait, where are you going?!
Yep, kokoretsi, which is typically slow-roasted on a horizontal spit, is just one of those things — for every fan like us, there are just as many apprehensive folks who run away bawling at the mere mention of such a dish. George, a vocal pro-koko booster, says he wasn't originally going to put it on Opa's opening menu, but then circled back and figured what the hell — if it didn't catch, Brown could always pull it off.
A good number of people — not a great number, but good one — have responded positively to the kokoretsi, so much so that they've tinkered with its preparation a little. They don't throw it on a spit at Opa — instead, Brown rubs and seasons everything up simply (olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper) and both grills and roasts the pieces, allowing the layer of caul fat just below the entrails to make nice with its organ-ic buds. Served with a side of oregano fries, it's mixed-bag offal consumption at its most honest, especially in the instances where every bit of guts finds its way onto a single forkful — funky, gamey, chewy, silky, crunchy. Awesome.
Eat this immediately. And pick up this Thursday's CP for Adam Erace's official review of Opa.
Photo: Neal Santos
I think I'm in love, this morsel better watch out
#foodsbeenwarned— Twitterless Persico- I'm simultaneously intrigued and filled with despair. I love sweetbreads and liver, but it's the "bound by lamb intestines" that has me squealing in my cubicle. Still...I'd try it. I— JulieC
- Julie, you've probably eaten plenty of pig intestines encasing good sausage.— BarryG
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