Last updated 09:22, Monday, 07 July 2008

Credit crunch... fuel crisis... rising inflation...our finances are getting tighter and tighter.

Mark tries sheep's testicles

Household budgets are being squeezed more than ever before as crops fail, demand grows and fuel costs increase, causing food prices to rise. The supermarkets have started a new round of price wars.

Many of us are changing the way we eat, cutting back on the little luxuries we usually treat ourselves to and buying cheaper cuts of meat.

Which brings me to offal.

Not everyone’s favourite meat, I know, but it’s cheap, nutritious and tasty. Most of us know about liver and kidneys, but I want to talk about something else –... two more parts that modern shopping baskets never reach. Both are seasonal and are so rarely used nowadays that they may need ordering from your butcher.

I want to talk ... lamb’s fries (for want of another word).

I can hear a chorus of “eeeeew” echoing through the streets of Carlisle and across the fields of Cumbria – but hang on a minute!

Some argue that you should only eat what you could kill yourself. I know plenty of people who wouldn’t swat a fly, but they’ve no problem chomping through a thick steak, a bacon buttie or a pork chop.

I’m not suggesting we all need to set up our own abattoirs and stage ritual slaughtering sessions, or turn into yoghurt-knitting, lentil-weaving vegans.

We should just make full use of the creature we have decided to slaughter. But cow’s heel, tripe and tongue have become oddities that only old people can stomach, while pig’s cheek, pig’s trotters and sweetbreads are only on the plate in swanky London restaurants and country house hotels. Lamb’s fries (or sheep’s testicles) have a delicate, sweet flavour and are much prized around the world.

Known in the US as ‘Rocky Mountain Oysters’ they are similar in shape to a kidney, but have a softer texture. Costing around £4.40 a kilo, there are different ways of cooking them, but the quickest and easiest is to blanch in boiling water for a few minutes then cool.

Using a sharp knife skin each testicle (if your butcher hasn’t done it already) then smear with oil and grill, or dip in a light batter or flour and breadcrumbs and fry in a little oil or butter for two minutes each side.

Do not overcook as they will become tough and rubbery.

Confusingly, lambs testicles are sometimes referred to as sweetbreads, but usually sweetbreads refers to glands situated in the neck and above the heart of a young lamb.

These have a delicate flavour with a smooth, velvety texture and are popular with fancy restaurant chefs. They are associated with spring lamb as the glands diminish in size rapidly as the animal grows.

Soak them in cold water (change it several times) for a couple of hours, then blanche in boiling water for a couple of minutes, cool, skin and shallow fry. Both fries and sweetbreads are only available for a couple of months at this time each year and time is running out if you want to try them – you’ve got about three weeks left. Go on try them, they’re offally good.

• Would you ever be tempted by 'delicacies' such as Lamb's fries, pig trotters or tripe? Tell us here...