Yes, I really did eat it!

We did not play the board game last Thursday night, instead a bunch of the grad-students and post-docs went out to dinner.  The seven of us (plus a dog) met at a local restaurant, Le Machon Lyonnais about 7:30.  We were a very international group, Greece, Austria, Germany, Argentina,  France, Netherlands, and the USA were all represented.  English is the common language and used most of the time among these friends.  They did converse in French or German at times trying to find the correct word in English. 

The restaurant is one two floors, with about 12 seats on each floor.  It is very cozy, the owner is at the bar and serving tables, the kitchen located behind the bar.  The second floor is a balcony around the room and we were in one of the corners with big open beams and brick walls making very cozy.

I asked about the menu and what the dishes were.  I was ready to eat what ever they brought me.  After discussions in which they tried to warn and dissuade me, I ordered a fix priced meal that included an entree that is a very well know local dish.  I was told it is an acquired taste.  Well that is not the half of it.

I wanted to show them that not all the Americans are afraid to eat foreign foods.  Lyon is know to eat more meat than any other location in France.  But being European, they eat all the parts of the animals.  At this time I will suggest that the vegetarians and those with weak stomachs skip the next paragraph.

So, they warned me, but I ordered the meal with Andouillette as the entree anyway.  I had no idea what I tried to eat until later.  It came as four medallions of sausage meat that were breaded and fried, placed on a bead of lettuce.  They all waited while I ate first.  I cut into the slice and an unappetizing aroma emanated from my plate.  The meat all looked ok, sorta.  There were bits of items I had seen, but never eaten.  I shut my nose and took a bite.  The smell was also in the meat.  It was not my favorite.  I ate the rest of a two inch medallion, while using the lettuce as a chaser. Two of the other guys each took a medallion because nobody had ever ordered it before and they wanted to try it. 

Andouillette: French Pig-Colon Sausage.  The smell has been compared to an outhouse, in the hot summer sun.  That is because this is a sausage made from the colon of a pig and stuffed with other entrails. The colon evidently contains the chemicals that are excreted as items pass through on their way out.  That flavors the other pieces that are packed into the colon casing.  The local sausage makers did not like to waste anything and used this casing to hold the rest of the parts.  After eating this I also tried some fried liver and it tasted much better in comparision, but even that is not my favorite.  Not sure why anyone would eat Andouillette.  But, I can say I tried it.

I ate a couple bites of Rosa's steak and it just melted in my mouth.  Florian is a vegetarian and had a dish that is described as cheese in cheese, wrapped in cheese.  It looked very good also.  The restaurant also serves these baked potatoes that are crispy on the outside and warm and buttery on the inside.  They were delicious.  We will be back to eat there again.  I will order the steak, medium rare. 

The table along the other balcony section had a birthday celebration.  The owner came up with a sparkler candle in a dessert and everyone was singing to the birthday girl,  including those at our table.  We finished our dinner and desserts and wine and a shot of the restaurants homemade rum at 11:30.  Just four hours for a meal.  I had a great time.