This is one of my all time favorite dishes, and it was inspired by a great book by Chef Fergus Henderson, “The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating.”
The book is all about using the less desirable and unusual parts of the animal to make amazingly simple and delicious dishes. Henderson’s philosophy clearly shines through as less is more, and nothing exemplifies this philosophy more than his classic dish of roasted bone marrow with caper and parsley salad.
Inspired by this dish, I ran it as a special at The Big Water Grille, (picture on left), calling it “Roasted Bone Marrow a la St. John,” paying tribute to the restaurant were chef Henderson serves this extraordinary dish.
To Cook:
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Place the marrow bones upright in either a heavy sautée pan or a roasting pan. If you ask nicely, you should be able to order the marrow bones through your local butcher or supermarket. Tell them that you want veal marrow bones cut into 3″ lengths.
- Roast the marrow bones in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until the outside of the bones are a rich golden brown, and the the marrow inside is loose and sizzling.
- Remove marrow bones from oven and place on serving platter of your choice.
- Present the dish with chopped parsley, tossed with capers and your favorite vinaigrette. Serve lots of crusty bread and a good sea salt on the side.
- I like prefer to grill my bread (as shown in the picture above) and drizzle it with a little good truffle or olive oil.
To eat this beautiful masterpiece, simply get a long narrow spoon or knife, using it to pull the marrow out from inside the bones. Spread the marrow on toasted bread, sprinkle on a little sea salt and your parsley-caper salad, and enjoy!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m very glad to have found your podcast.
I will be going to culinary school in the near
future and the way you present the how to and
the tips about cooking has inspired me!!
Great job!! Enjoy being married It is a wonerful
life. Thank you,
Jerry Holst
Jerry,
Thank you for your kind comments. Congratulations on taking the leap into the professional cooking arena. Make sure you keep us posted on how you’re doing as you begin your journey towards becoming a professional chef!
Oh my that sounds absolutely intense. And so elegantly presented. I imagine the roasted marrow becomes almost pate-like in texture.
Yes, it becomes nice and spreadable. Another very simple dish, but this one is really hard to beat. And bone marrow is one of those things that you don’t want to hide with complexity. It’s beautiful in its simplicity.
this appears to be the exact recipe and description from Anthony Bourdain
@ Andrea,
I’m not quite sure what you mean, could you please clarify?
This recipe, as stated in the article, was from “The Whole Beast” cookbook, and on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservation he does visit St. John and have Fergus
Henderson cook him this dish.
As far as the descriptions in this article, they are completely original.
hello all.
I am executive chef de’ quisine at a french bistro in the Washington metropolitan area. I would just like to comment on your exquisite plating and beautifully described recipe straight to the point and clear. i went to local restaurant recently and had veal marrow that had been steamed with rosemary and sliced garlic. it was phenomenal!! maybe with an arugala salad with capers. im going to go look for this book “the whole beast” sounds fascinating. thanks for this jacob.
I ate marrow bones at La Flotilla restaurant in Palace Varsailles past summer serviced with just the toast and sea salt made the day memorable.