Revenge of the Mettigel
Saturday, 29 January 2011 by kinakoJam
Our workmate Elke celebrated her birthday last week. As a treat for all the omnivores at the office, she created an iconic 70s German party centrepiece - the 'mettigel', a hedehog made of raw minced pork.
The mettigel is something of an urban legend, and most of my workmates claimed never to have seen one "in the flesh". But here it was, in front of our eyes, all pink and glistening and terrifying.
If I had ever encountered one of these as a kid, I'm sure I would have had recurring nightmares. It's easy to imagine that thing creeping up the stairs and chasing children from their beds, leaving a slimy trail on the banister, shedding pretzel sticks in the thick shag carpet.
If you have the stomach for it, the TV skit below shows unemployed Herbert serving a mettigel as appetiser, main course and dessert to Uta the vegetarian and Klaus the architect.
"If she has a weak stomach, she should have said so. Then I would have used the fresh eggs."
Mettigel - MyVideo
Awfully cute! So, how was it?
And why the humble hedgehog? I guess I would have expected something grander, like a boar's head, to be sculpted of raw pork.
I wasn't feeling it.. in the ranks of raw meat, it seems I prefer beef and chicken over pork and horse.
Or maybe, as Erik said, it's just not the sort of thing you feel like eating in the morning.
A boar's head would look great though: maybe a halved laugencroissant for the tusks?
Heehee :D It can be a cute decoration of 'laap', the Thai/Lao(and Khmer too?) tartar, typically made of pork with a hint of fresh liver, but also with water buffalo and freshwater fish.
I would be cautioned for raw pork and freshwater fish for obvious parasite concerns, but I am not so offended by horse meat,,, the horse fat is supposed to melt at lower temperature compared to beef and pork, so it better suited for raw consumption in that regard :o
really? how interesting. Had horse sashimi once (granted, no fat on it), and the raw gaminess didn't agree with me at all. Even though in cooked form I love gamey meats...