Yesterday I ate bone marrow. The idea of it makes me squirm. It’s a strange creamy jelliness and sweet meat flavour doesn’t paint an appetizing picture. But it was tasty. It’s luxurious richness is like a poor man’s foie gras that has been reborn on modern menus.

Back in the day, our ancestors ate offal and sucked the marrow out of bones as a way of being, as a way of maintaining health and vitality. Did they know it was a potent source of Omega-3’s, Vitamin B12, RNA and DNA? Did they know that they were promoting renewal, longevity and protecting against premature ageing? Without science, my guess is they experienced the benefits for themselves. Now we have the Paleo movement affirming it.

In TCM we call marrow a Jing nourishing food. Jing being our essence, our vitality, the founding energy that kick starts and fuels all other metabolic processes. The spark plug and petrol of our internal mechanics. Everyone needs to supplement their Jing, we are constantly depleting it through simply living. If we can slow this down, supplement with certain foods, we make light of the ageing process.

Here I was enjoying soft taco with wood roasted bone marrow, chimichurri and ranchero style brisket from the Newmarket Hotel (newmarketstkilda.com.au).