A place in my neighborhood, billed as the only 100% Paleo restaurant in the city, puts a chalkboard on the sidewalk listing daily specials. I love to walk by and envision a Neanderthal family sitting in their cave breakfasting on something like No-Yo Matcha Parfait: coconut milk, maple syrup, taro root, almond butter, matcha, banana, and grain-free granola. Where in the world could a group of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers have collected that combination of foodstuffs?!
Such absurdities make it impossible for me to take the Paleo diet seriously. While I’m quite happy to eat meat, vegetables, fruits, and nuts, there’s no way I’d give up all dairy products, grains, bread, pasta, sugar, salt, and coffee. (Not to mention wine.) But leaving aside the pros, cons, and controversies of the Paleo approach, it can be fun on occasion to eat something “primordial” – and there’s nothing more primordial than roasted marrow bones.
Here’s the batch that we had one recent evening:
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They’re perfectly easy to prepare: Place the bones in a roasting pan with the wider side of the marrow openings up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put the pan in a 450° oven until the marrow softens and begins to ooze out – about 15 minutes. Serve. Except for the salt and pepper, any Paleolithic cook could have done it.
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It’s hard to overstate how elementally satisfying the succulence of marrow is at the end of a grey, cold, winter day. However, I destroyed the Paleo purity of the dish by having a loaf of crusty ciabatta bread as its accompaniment.
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There’s nothing roasted marrow likes better than to be scooped out and spread on a slice of warm toast, there to be blissfully devoured.
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And one more post-Paleolithic touch: Marrow loves a good, soft, round red wine. So do I.
Another Year in Recipes 
So do I
Who needs carry out with a delicious dish like this! Thanks for the post.
Love the post and the idea of that as a simple supper. Maybe with a side salad/
Brava Diane ! Here’s raising a glass to you in agreement!
I use the bones to make bone marrow soup, too. Just roast with vegetables and then put in a stock pot for up to 24 hours. Yum! Upper West Siders can now buy beautiful beef marrow bones at White Gold, April Bloomfield’s butcher shop/restaurant on 78th and Amsterdam. They’re not quite as cheap as at the Union Square Market, but not outrageously expensive, either.
A great set of images. Rich Table uses marrow for all sorts of things, but I agree with you that simplest is best – at least with marrow. Also gives you an opportunity to dig out the marrow spoons.
Did you keep your marrow spoons when you moved? Brave of you. I don’t have actual marrow spoons — only occo buco fork/spoons, but they do well enough. Nice to hear from you.
On my last visit to Paris I visited my old favourite restaurant in the 6th which had been uprated and changed hands for lunch.
Of the 40 diners at least half chose the marrow bones with toasted bread as a starter.