The food that tastes much better than it sounds

Bone marrow is not only a delicacy in gourmet restaurants, but is also becoming increasingly popular among health and fitness enthusiasts due to its excellent nutrients. You have never tried bone marrow? Then it's high time to indulge your taste buds with this delicacy.

What does bone marrow actually taste like?
Many people say it has an umami flavor and tastes very buttery and creamy because of its high fat content. Cooked properly, it has a slightly sweet, savory full-bodied flavor.

If you're worried that it will taste unpleasant or bitter, we can promise you that this is definitely not the case! In this blog post, we'll explain how to use bone marrow in cooking and how it affects, if not enhances, the flavor of a wide variety of dishes.

How should you prepare bone marrow?
There is no one right way to eat bone marrow. You can cook it and enjoy it straight from the bone, spread it like butter on bread, melt it over your steak, cook it in the oven, or make a delicious broth with it.

However, there are a few things to keep in mind when eating it, such as how to get all the marrow out of the bone. Since it is inside a hollow bone, it can be a little difficult to get it all out. The best way is to use your hands to get to all of the contents. Handle the bone carefully as it can be a bit greasy and slippery due to the marrow.

Scoop out the cooked marrow with a spoon, similar to how you would scoop out the inside of a pumpkin or zucchini. Make sure that no hard pieces of bone come off during cooking. To get as much of the marrow out of the bone as possible, you can use chopsticks to scrape it out of hard-to-reach places. You can use a piece of bread to dab the inside of the bone to soak up all the valuable, delicious juices so you can enjoy the last bit of marrow.

How to use bone marrow?
Until a few years ago, bone marrow was considered food for dogs and was incredibly cheap. However, as it has become more popular, it has become harder to find and more expensive to buy.

Basically, you can use bones from any animal, including goats and sheep, though beef bone marrow is the most popular with amateur cooks and beginners due to the size of the bones and easy availability.

If you want to cook bone marrow at home, a little preparation is required, and you'll need to decide whether to use whole bone pieces or bones cut from the center. If you want to use bone marrow as a base for broth or soup, you can use whole bones.

However, if you want to roast or grill the marrow, you should ask the butcher to split the bones lengthwise to make it easier to get the marrow out and make them more presentable.

Although marrow is present in all bones, not every bone is suitable for preparing marrow dishes. So ask for wider bones with thick marrow deposits.

To prepare the bones for cooking, you should soak them in a 6 percent brine a day ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator. For the brine, you will need 1 liter of water and 60 grams of salt. This step removes blood stains and bacteria and strengthens the marrow for cooking.

The longer you leave the bones in the salt water, the more blood will be removed from them, and you will quickly notice how clean they become. As an additional step, you can remove excess meat from the bones before cooking.

Roasted bone marrow
Roasted bone marrow is a great appetizer that you can easily make at home. Ask your butcher to cut the bones lengthwise so you can season them more easily and pull out the marrow once it's cooked.

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Take the bones out of the brine, place them marrow side up in a cast iron pan or simply on a baking sheet and sprinkle with some sea salt. Let the marrow bones cook for about 25 minutes.  Be careful not to overcook the bones or the marrow will melt completely and you won't be able to eat it. When the marrow starts to bubble, it's done. Of course, bone marrow is also great cooked on the grill.

Spread the baked bone marrow on a slice of bread or - much better - put a little marrow on your perfectly grilled steak! The slightly nutty and mildly spicy flavor gives your steak a wonderful hearty touch.

Have we aroused your interest? Then head to your nearest butcher and get to the marrow! What about a delicious Bone Marrow Burger from your Otto Grill?