PhilOffal

With this device in your chest, a straight-arm salute?

2011-04-03T12:03:00.004-04:00

The April 3, 2011 NY Times has a nice piece about pacemakers from a little-known and low market share German device manufacturer, Biotronik. Apparently this company's pacemakers have pretty much cornered the market among cardiologists at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

(By the way, the Times has gone to a pay-wall, so the above link to it can't be counted on to work for too long after this posting comes out. Try a search engine. There's no permalink as one used to use to make sure the link stayed put.)

In any case, how fitting it all seems in anything-goes Nevada. The Feds may or may not be going after this egregious example of conflict of interest--let's hope they are. But at least we can make sure that what plays in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas.

Apparently some of the cardiologists at UMC are (or were) pulling down 5k a month in consulting fees. That may or may not have anything to do with the fact that the small German device-maker went from having, oh, zero 2-3 years ago to 95% of their pacemakers implanted there last year, by total number of patients.

Good work, gentlemen. Let the word go out. Come to America and roll the dice in Las Vegas. It's almost enough to make me want to become a brimstone-spouting right wing pastor. "To gamble, it's of the devil."

But this is a place where the new governor (Republican, as of the beginning of this year) is a former chair of the gaming commission.

Of course, the real culprit here is, collectively, those cardiologists. According to the article, the cardiologists who didn't enroll their patients (and presumably take dough) were on what Biotronk's sales guys called the "loser" list.

Yes, "winning" in health care is about market share and effective sales. We know that already, of course, from Wendell Potter's Deadly Spin, with which most readers of this blog are no doubt already familiar.

It sure as hell isn't about the patient winning. Last time I checked, professionalism and the Hippocratic Oath have something to say about the patient being the one who's supposed to win.

In this same vein, loss of meaning, clearly the word "university" in hospitals' names has ceased to have much real meaning. Alas, that's equally true across the rest of the country. Maybe just a wee bit more in Vegas.

Travels Without Marley

2009-01-06T15:36:00.005-05:00

Does anyone know about the legality of bringing in--personal use only--vacuum sealed meats?

Yesterday, at Philadelphia airport, the sniffer-beagle was within six inches of a cotechino sausage. Won't say whose sausage, or the ultimate disposition of said link. But, interestingly, the nose of the beast was in the some other group's bags.

Anyway, the Italians have, and we enjoyed, that wonderful New Year's tradition of lentils and either cotechino or zampone. We've seen both, time to time, at D'Angelo's in the Italian Market. For photos and more info, start here.

The latter, as you know, is made up in a hollowed-out pig's trotter. A great treat, for sure.

If you know the answer to the question above, or care to share thoughts about cotechino and zampone in this country, please add your comments below.

Trippa! Trippa! Trippa!

2008-03-23T22:22:00.003-04:00

In an earlier posting I lamented the fact that, so far, finding the perfect Ultimate Offal dish--tripe--has eluded me in Philadelphia.

That has now changed.

My dining companion and I dined this past weekend at the (relatively) new Abruzzese restaurant Le Virtù. Located on South Philadelphia's own "Restaurant Row," Passyunk Avenue, and steered by chief Luciana Spurio, Le Virtù has a number of unusual offerings that hail from Signora Spurio's former haunts on along her native Adriatic coast.

At the restaurant's Website , where you can click through to a nicely done (with music), full representative menu, I couldn't find the kind innards you and we crave. But there it was, in all its splendor, a perfect bowl of stewed tripe that stands out among the appetizers.

The quest is over. This is tripe like your Nonna made, if she happened to've learned how to do it from her own Nonna nella antica campagna. Tender little morsels swimming in the perfect red gravy--an appetizer but next time we're going to see if they'll upsize it to secondo piatto portion. Brava Luciana!

Surf over to their Website for directions, hours, and so on. They take plastic and have a wine list--a damn fine one at that.

Highly recommended. Now, who's going to pony up with the perfect andouillette, that other tripe of our dreams? And who the classic Normandy dish, tripes à la mode de Caen?

Extreme Offal: When Oh When? Where Oh Where?

2008-03-13T22:26:00.003-04:00

Those of you who've consumed andouillette, the tripe sausage thought to've originated in the village of Troyes in France's Champagne country, know it as the ultimate in eating-on-the-edge.

Maybe, like us, you're already addicted? But if so, where have you found it, anywhere west of Paris or south of Montreal? Do let your fellow bloggers know!

According to the Troyes village office of tourism--check it out here-- about 20 million andouillettes are made every year, representing the "offal of 15,000 pigs per day."

They also point out that "[a]longside the andouillette is the andouille, representing 250 tonnes each year," but let not any of our readers think for a moment that the "andouille sausage" available in this country is anything at all, whatsoever, like the véritable item itself.

Years ago, on request, we were able to cajole a few links of this wonderful sworl of rolled-up innards, mixed with a bit of onion and what-not, out of our man Sonny D'Angelo in the heart of the Philadelphia Italian Market. Those were splendiferous. But Sonny, who doesn't list this variety on his sausage list, rightly noted the market was not exactly exploding for these little bags-o'-guts. And we're sure the prep for all those intestines wasn't exactly fun, either.

Once, years ago, we tried to bring andouillette into Philadelphia through the old International Terminal at PHL. Hard to remember exactly what happened--were there already the drug-sniffer dogs there back then, 15-20 years ago, smelling guts in our suitcases? Or were we just too honest: "gee, officer, these cry-o-vac goodies we were told are just like canned goods"? (We were, over there; but they're not.)

We just remember the fervent cry of the customs officer to his colleague: "AGGGGG!!"

Has anyone in our readership got a hot wire into some good sources--for home-cooking or better yet, in local restaurants, for these plump little marvels? Anyone with a yen for that special whiff of intestinal fortitude that you get when you make that first juicy cut into a grilled specimen of one of these puppies?

Offal in New York: Dovetail

2008-02-20T17:49:00.003-05:00

Today's New York Times provides splendid details of a must-try new place on the Upper West Side. We couldn't get any info at all from their high-concept Website. But the Times piece, and a nice review at New York Magazine from about a week or so ago, suggest it'll be the basis for an early junket to the B.A.

Anyone who gets there first, puh-leeze blog about it!

Welcome

2008-02-02T23:03:00.001-05:00

Welcome to PhilOffal, the official organ you should pardon the expression of the Offal Society of Philadelphia, "dedicated to all things offal." Our Website may be found at www.philoffal.org; right now, it's mighty basic. But just wait.

In the meantime: if it's offal, we're there.

This is the blog for Delaware Valley food lovers who crave innards. Innards of the pig, the cow, even the little lamb. Especially the pig.

Come on out, folks, we know who you are anyway. Admit it: you love kidneys, sweetbreads (forget about whether that's thymus or brains or whatever, just eat 'em), foie gras, and all those lovely delicacies that used to reside in the, um, head of the pig.

Your patron saint is Fergus. You've eaten--or soon will have done--at Cochon near 6th and Catherine. And a lot of other spots we'll soon be guiding you to.

Our motto: it's offal out here. Our credo: it's much better when it's offal. Look, there are doctors here, would they steer you wrong?

If interested, just e-mail the Webmaster and he'll sign you up as an offal blogger.