It’s Not So Offal
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MDA’s Quick Guide to Purchasing, Preparing and Eating Organ Meats
Everything but the Squeal, Thrift Cuts, Hunting Ethics… it would seem that in recent months we’ve spent a good deal of time talking about the benefits of feasting on the entire animal, but we’ve kind of side-stepped the fact that eating the whole animal also means eating the organs.
To some, organ meats are ho-hum foods of childhood, but to others, offal is an undiscovered – and somewhat stomach turning – culinary territory. Now, we’re not suggesting that everyone needs to eat organ meat in order to be perfectly Primal. Instead we’re endorsing offal as Primal food that has both fiscal and health benefits. Take a gander and let everyone know what you think in the comment boards!
Liver
Possibly the most common organ meat consumed in the U.S., liver was once regarded as a meal for the affluent and was even named one of the Eight Delicacies in The Li-Chi, a handbook of rituals published during China’s Han era. So why should you be eating it? According to those in the know, liver is an excellent source of high quality protein; contains an abundance of vitamin A and several B vitamins; is an excellent source of folic acid and iron; is the number one food source of copper; and contains CoQ10, which is important for cardiovascular function.
There really aren’t too many animals where liver is off limits – bar the polar bear, but there aren’t too many arctic explorers among us. In the U.S., the most frequently consumed types are beef, veal, goat, lamb, bison, buffalo, chicken, geese, or duck liver. When selecting liver for consumption, it is preferable to select one from a young animal as it is the mildest and most tender. How to know that you’re making a good choice? Many swear that the younger the animal, the paler the liver. Also, look for livers that have no slimy or dry patches and are relatively odor free.
To prepare a whole liver you’ll need to first rinse it and pat dry with a damp cloth. Next, with a sharp knife, remove any exposed veins, ducts or connective tissue then use your fingers to peel away the thin outer membrane and presto, the liver is now ready to eat! Sound too gruesome? A reputable butcher can usually take care of this for you! When preparing, it should be noted that liver should be cooked until it is light pink – cooking too much can cause it to toughen.
Kidney
Kidney beans might be a no-no on the Primal eating plan, but kidneys? They’re a-ok. Kidneys are most frequently available in beef, lamb and pork form and are generally sold trimmed, with the central strip of hard white fat and the outer membrane removed. We recommend that you ease into eating kidneys by first purchasing beef kidneys, which have a milder flavor and are also the easiest – and least expensive – variety.
When shopping for kidneys, look for those that are deep red in color – except for veal, which can take on a tan-cast – are plump and glossy with no bruised or discolored areas and no strong odor. To prepare, rinse the organs in cold water and, for a milder taste, soak in chilled water with a teaspoon of salt to each quart of water for one to two hours. From there, the kidney can be broiled, sautéed or braised.
Heart
Talk about eating your heart out – depending on the size of the animal the heart is yielded from, the heart could weigh as much as 3 lbs. Because it is a muscle meat, heart is very similar to steak, roasts and ground beef, but is typically less expensive (we blame the “ick” factor for that!) and actually has a higher protein content. In addition, heart is an excellent source of a number of nutrients, including thiamin, folate, selenium, phosphorus, zinc, CoQ10 and several of the B vitamins. In addition, beef heart contains amino acids that are thought to improve metabolism and compounds that promote the production of collagen and elastin (thin and wrinkle free? Sign us up!)
When selecting a heart, look for one that is a deep reddish brown color and has a layer of fat near its top. Culinary experts universally recommend that you purchase only high quality organs. Some experts suggest that hearts from grass-fed animals can keep longer, are better in color, smell better and taste better than organs procured from other animals. As with most organ meats, hearts are pretty delicate during the cooking process, so you’ll want to be sure to cook it slowly and serve it medium rare.
Sweetbreads
Sweet and bread? Sounds like a recipe for a carb overload, but in actuality, “sweetbreads” refers to the thymus and – depending on who you talk to – the pancreas glands of a calf or young cow, lamb or pig. In general, sweetbreads are pinkish-white in color, with those from the heart or belly taking on a round, plump appearance and those from the throat appearing more elongated and cylindrical.
In terms of taste, sweetbreads are…uhhh, sweet tasting (as opposed to the savory flavor of most meats), but they are by no means doughy! The “bread” part of the name comes from an old English word meaning flesh. The following is a delicious recipe from Cooks.com for sweetbreads and bacon that includes some solid tips for preparing the sweetbread for consumption: Sweetbreads and Bacon.
Tongue
If you’ve made it this far in the article, then chances are you aren’t going to be grossed out by the concept of eating tongue. In general, beef and veal tongues are the most commonly consumed, with both sharing a grainy, firm texture and a pinkish-grey color.
Tongue can be stewed, boiled or poached and is often pickled, or served roasted like roast beef. Before final prepping and serving the skin of the tongue is usually removed.
Brain
Type “eating brain” into a Google search engine and you find far more entries about zombies and brain, and the benefits of eating fish to boost brain power than you do for recipes that include actual brain. If you do dig deep (in a totally non-zombie sense), however, you’ll learn that brain has a delicate, crumbly texture and is popular in dishes from many different parts of the world, including French and Indian cuisine.
It should be noted, however, that brain can in some cases contain prions, a unique type of protein that has been linked to the development of mad cow disease. If you’re not perturbed by these warnings, check out this simple recipe for scrambled eggs and calf brains.
Tripe
Saving the best for last? You betcha! Tripe is generally defined as the stomach lining of sheep, goats, pig and deer. In the case of beef, tripe generally only refers to the first three portions of the cows stomach. Sound disgusting? Perhaps. But long ago, the dish was so revered that it was said to have spurred a tiff between between William the Conqueror and Phillip I, the King of France.
Since there is an obvious “ick” factor associated with eating another being’s stomach, you’ll want to take steps to ensure that the tripe that you eat is thoroughly cleaned. In most cases, a butcher will also remove any extra fat and bleach it for you so that it looks more appetizing, but it will be up to you to boil it so that the lining – the edible part – is fully cooked. Since the lining has somewhat of a rubbery texture, you’ll want to cook it for at least 2-3 hours to make it tender. From there, you can use it in salad, as an ingredient in soups, casseroles or stews, or as a main dish all by itself.
What do you think, readers? Did you grow up on this stuff? Old hat? Or does even the word “tripe” make you queasy? (Or maybe both?) Voice your opinion in the comment board!
t0fugurl, ulterior epicure, stu spivack, Toasty Ken, Nick Bair, perago89, gogogadgetscott, La Blageur a Paris, KitLKat, avlxyz Flickr Photos (CC)
Further Reading:
A Visual Guide to Antioxidants
Cheap Meat Round II: “Thrift Cuts”
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Posted By: Worker Bee
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All of the above are purchased by me and eaten regularly…by my dog. Sorry Mark. Can’t. Not. There. Yet.
I am trying… trying.. TRYING to warm up to organ meats. I forced myself to read this entire article… but i am not going to lie… my stomache was turning the whole time.
The SoG
I have a grass fed beef heart in my storage freezer that I’ve been putting off eating for close to 8 months now.
Any suggestions for how to cook this (maybe a crok pot recipe) in a way that disguises the “ick” factor.
I’d like to avoid onions too – so that it’s safe to feed it to my girlfriend’s dog if I can’t wrap my head around what I’m eating. I realize my disgust at the idea of organ meats is entirely a cultural thing, and a pretty stupid one at that, but it’s going to take some effort to overcome.
Great post, Mark! I’ve been thinking about writing you for some time regarding the consumption of the “spare parts” of animals. To be “primal,” one should eat lots of such parts, not just tenderloin and choice cuts. Plus, in a diet which promotes an increasing reliance upon the consumption of meats, it is only ethical to consume that which is normally discarded. If we were to all eat just the best parts of an animal, it would (and does) constitute a tremendous amount of waste, as animals, especially ungulates, occupy a high position on the food chain.
My fiance and I practice a “spare parts” diet to great effect, consuming a fair amount of liver, heart (especially in stocks and soups), and tripe (mainly at ethnic restaurants). I would also add to your list the following:
- marrow: roasted ox marrow on toast with a parsley/garlic/onion topping is excellent
- various bones: pork necks, hocks, etc., are all excellent in soups or bean dishes (we’re not fully primal); bones should also be used in stocks — waste not, want not!
- gizzards and necks: mainly good for sauces and reductions
- rendered fat: good for general cooking purposes
Eating offal is simply part of a commitment to living well and ethically. It’s part of paying attention to what, and how, one consumes. I think this post, Mark, along with the previous posts on hunting and so forth, show how a primal lifestyle might converge with a more ethical — and pleasurable! — way of living.
SoG — toughen up, Spartan
I hardly ate vegetables as a kid, but I loved my mom’s fresh liver and onions — until I was a teenager, that and lettuce with mayo was the only ’salad stuff’ I would touch. Or when she cleaned a chicken and would boil the liver and gizzards, and we’d stand over the stove, eating them hot from the pan with a little salt and pepper? Maybe she didn’t manage to teach me French, or how to identify trees and flowers, but if it weren’t for her I wouldn’t be the marrow-scraping, stock-making, fat-rendering liver lover I am today! THANKS, MOM!
When I was a child we often had boiled tongue, it was served with mashed potatoes and peas. It was very good.
After I got married and my mother-in-law moved into our house, I used to serve this often. It is a tender piece of meat and she had no problems eating tongue with her dentures. My kids loved it also!
I remember my grandmothe also cooking up sweetbreads and the whole house stunk and could never get passed the smell.
Helen
I’ve got 3 organ meat recipes on the docket for tomorrow everyone, so check back!
I think the best liver to start with is goose, first as foie gras of course. Once I had that, I moved on to whole livers which I ate with sour cherries in Budapest…mmmm. I would strongly strongly recommend readers NOT try to cook offal until they have had it cooked properly by a real chef or someone with knowhow. Authentic Chinese and Mexican restaurants often serve these things. Dealing with the organs is much easier once you know they taste good.
I grew up eating liver and i think it’s pretty good. Season it up and cooked with onions, peppers, mushrooms, carrots. Adding whatever you like gives it that extra flavor you want, get creative.
I also used to make a wonderful chicken pate. I would just boil up some carrots, garlic, when the carrots were done, I would throw in the chicken livers and cook until done. The water needs to seasoned with salt and pepper. When everything was cooked, I would put carrots, garlic, chicken livers, dill weed and one cube butter into the food processor. Make it smooth adding more butter or maybe the saved broth. Check for seasonings. Let cool.
Of course, you need some wonderful chunky bread to spread this on, so I don’t make it any longer. We are trying to be grain free.
Helen
You left out testicles or (what i overheard my cousin telling her husband a dish was) huevos del toro.
You left out gizzards (although someone did comment on this!), my all time favorite! I love taking organs and using them for homemade beef/chicken stock – all the parts that would usually go to waste otherwise (for the average Joe). I’m sure Grok savored all of these “cuts”!
I love beef liver but don’t have access to grass-fed beef. If I’m not mistaken, the liver is an organ that filters toxins. With all the crap that’s pumped into cows, are their livers any less safe to eat?
Yes, nonegiven, Erica. It isn’t meant to be a fully comprehensive guide. There certainly are other organ meats. I’ve just included a select (and most popular) few. Thanks for your additions!
Grok says is myth offal is primal.
You farmers eat that crap because you are so desperate for animal protein and fat you will eat anything.
Grok only eat: bone marrow (yum!), fat deposits and fatty meat (including fatty brain, but most animals have tiny brains!), maybe liver (some animals only), and maybe tongue.
Grok leave rest of animal on the ground where it belongs.
Modern day hunter-gatherers, living in your farmer’s world, have to eat whatever they can get, since they usually only kill little animals.
But in my day we kill big animals! Eat only good parts.
So no, you don’t need to eat this crap. Contain no vitamins or minerals not found in good tasting fats.
In case you doubt Grok’s word you should consider what the Inuit eat. Very few Inuit eat offal. Most feed it to their dogs. Plains Indians of 19th Century and before ate nothing but buffalo – and discarded everything but tasty fats and fatty meat. Never ate offal!
LOVE your articles and I’ve learned so much from MDA! But, today’s post, hmm….it left me thinking EW!! I’m sticking with my tenderloin, nice and pretty – the thought of tripe is a Fear Factor Event for me!
How can anyone not love perfectly cooked grilled beef liver and onions? My husband can’t even stand the smell, so my son and I have it for lunch once a week while he’s at work.
I had some Lamb’s lung the other day. It’s a bit rubbery and insubstantial, but tastes quite a lot like liver. Certainly edible. I fried it in coconut oil with onion.
I am so close to passing out…some of us were just meant to eat tofu!! Mark, I think I’m going to have to take the heart (no pun intended)of your message on this site… and leave the meat!!!!
Beef tongue and heart are actually VERY tasty when prepared correctly.
I recommend pressure cooking first so that they become very tender. After cleaning it up and shredding it, you won’t even be able to tell that you’re not eating a normal roast. Then you can either make a sauce and eat as a roast, or make tongue chili, omelets, etc.
Having eaten all of those except for brain, I actually find liver to be my least favourite.
For those wishing to cook heart, a beef bourguignon with lots of bacon, mushrooms, and red wine makes a superb dish.
There are excellent recipes for a taiwanese stomach salad with green onions, chilis and a vinaigrette, it really is crunchy and pleasant.
Tongue is excellent when sliced quite thin and briefly marinated in lemon juice; or garlic, vinegar, and soysace; or even balsamic vinegar and then briefly grilled. It’s really really delicious, and you will not notice you are eating tongue.
May I just take this opportunity to express my appreciation of the title of this post?
One question, not really nutrition related: why is the phrase “chopped liver” used to designate someone who is insignificant?
It’s all BLECH to me, but I’ve lived many years off and on in China and Hong Kong, where all of these dishes are eaten regularly — weekly, even. Tripe is often hanging from restaurant windows. They also eat lots of noodles and rice in China, of course. In fact, they eat just about everything edible.
We recently tried to feed beef tripe to our primal-eating dog, and I must confess: I vomited. It smelled SOOOO bad. I opened all the windows, burned 2 tons of incense, and it STILL smelled so nasty the following morning that a friend came into the house and asked “what’s that smell?”
As for eating organs myself, I find that ground heart & tongue & liver are easily disguised when mixed with ground beef in a marinara sauce. You can’t taste them or feel them. If I hadn’t made the meal myself, I wouldn’t even know they were there!
I tried liver once and didn’t like it, but I just sauteed it in olive oil. Maybe if I had a good recipe… From what I’ve read it does have a lot to offer, nutritionally, so I’m open to eating the offal stuff, but I gotta admit, when I drive home from work across the ranch and see all those cattle grazing on the nice Oregon pasture, I just think, how many NEW YORK STEAKs are out there?!
I’ll just quickly summarize my take home notes so that I can remember them:
-choose paler liver
-choose deep reddish kidney/heart
-pinkish gray tongue
I love brain and tongue!
My question – any suggestions for picking out good brain?
Yavor
Oh please, NO! Forgive me but I stopped at the liver. I’m still trying to recover from the liver & onions meals that were forced on me as a child. It’s child abuse, I say! Ahhhhh!
Beef tongue and heart are actually VERY tasty when prepared correctly – ADAM, YES, I AGREE WITH YOU!
ERICA, I like chicken gizzards, too!
Bon’ Appetite’ to some of you, and the rest of you, NOT so Bon’!!
I’ve cooked grass fed beef liver before. Probably over cooked it a little but it was decent. Had a bunch of liver dishes in Italy, along with some stuff I didn’t know what it was. This post is good and hopefully the recipes will include one for tongue. I have to cook this stuff when my wife’s out of town. No way she’s trying it. Pain enough in Italy to get her to try my dishes.
So when I get back from Vegas a couple days before her, I think I’ll try tongue. I know you can get it near by. Also have to check the the meat store for other cuts.
I think trying them first in a restaurant is a great suggestion. That how I do it. Especially your better restaurants.
I haven’t tried nearly everything on that list, but sweetbreads for me are totally where it’s at for #1. They are unspeakably delicious. A few years ago in Montreal, I had venison sweetbreads for a Thanksgiving dinner, which were out of this world. Far more delicate and interesting than most liver preparations (save better fois gras).
I think delving into heart and tongue will probably happen this year…
We eat grassfed liver every week (had some last night!) and we are able to get whole hearts from the same local grassfed farm, but we haven’t made anything with a whole one yet. We have made chili with some ground beefheart we are able to find at a local natural foods store (it’s ‘natural’, not grassfed unfortunately). The chili is wonderful!
Bleck! Can’t do it! My dog is on a raw food diet and it still makes me queezy!
She eats tripe… and it smells AWFUL!
Keep in mind that primal man would probably have only eaten one animal at a time. In other words, one heart, one liver, etc. would have been shared among three, four or more hunters – or maybe the elder would get the heart, etc. But the point is that primal man wasn’t eating a big plate of a half a dozen chicken livers every day, far from it.
I agree with you – organ meats can be most yummy indeed! We always get spicy intestines and beef stomach at the local chinese restaurant (and yes, my dogs love organ meat as well).
Great article!
Tripe is a definite YEUCH!!! it’s the texture.
However I drool for liver (fried and then broiled) with bacon and runner beans.
Also steak and kidney pie without the pie, and sometimes without the steak (I use venison) seared in olive oil with mushrooms also fried in the same oil followed by some coloured peppers and garlic, then casseroled in red wine with a few bay leaves and black pepper.
Worth warning though that these may induce gout. This happens to mother which is why I can’t eat them any more.
Great post Mark! I love organ meats. I eat about a pound of liver each week and try to work heart (either ground or whole) and tongue into my rotation as well…in fact, I have a whole heart and a tongue in my freezer that need some eatin’!
I’ve had sweetbreads at a local Argentinian restaurant and loved it. Had the consistency of chicken. Unfortunately, I can’t find anybody that will sell me sweetbreads or tripe. Brain is the only one I won’t eat because of the risks you mentioned.
I’m actually doing a cooking demo of liver and kidneys for my local co-op tomorrow. Good times!
Cheers
Scott Kustes
Life Spotlight
Hi Mark, this is my first post although I subscribe to your RSS.
As a American-Mexican or the other way around who cares, my grandmother would make sweetbreads, she would make them with a green chile sauce and I remember they were delicious, I obviously did not know what they were or as a child I would’ve probably rejected them.
And you should know that tripe is a sunday ritual in Most Mexican families, It is served in Menudo. It is a soup that has red chile, and hominy. delicious, Have you ever had cow head? it’s strong.
Ive had tripe in tacos and I liked it!
I like foie and chicken liver, but what do I do with a beef liver?!
Kidney… ? Im out on that one.
Brain… HELL NO! Prions are scary, and incurable. You wont know you have them for years possibly. Sorry, too risky. My Mex friend refuses to eat boiled cows head her family cooks b/c of the brain/prion issue.
Just cook heart like a roast–it just tastes like roast beef. That’s the easiest way to eat offal. I’ve gotten used to liver, which is amazing since I hated it as a kid worse than anything. I do have a cow tongue in the freezer that I’m trying to get my nerve up for–I think it’s the idea of it.
Bill, boil that tongue with an onion and a few ribs of celery for a couple hours. Here’s a tongue recipe I’ve used with success several times.
It’ll be the most tender roast you’ve ever eaten. You just have to get past the fact that it’s covered in taste buds (which you should cut off!). Slice it like a roast, peel off the outer layer, and prepare to eat an amazingly juicy piece of meat.
Unfortunately, heart and tongue pale in comparison to the health attributes of liver.
Cheers
Scott Kustes
Life Spotlight
Even though a couple of these are “ho-hum” foods from my childhood (tongue and liver), that’s exactly how they’ll remain: foods from childhood. I’ll eat steak and kidney pie, but the rest, as one poster said, goes to the dog.
As an Argie, I’ve eaten all sorts of ofal. Sweetbreads just of the grill covered in chimichurri is godsent. I think some people bad experience with organ meat comes from childhood horrors of overcooked liver . When properly cooked most organ meat is wonderful. You may not like them all. I myself am not that fond of brains..to mushy but most people will find something to like
The prion thing, I’m not sure about. It might be true that prions are contagious, but that doesn’t explain, for instance, how grass-eating sheep get scrapie from one another… I mean, that’s just *weird.* Or deer either, who also are not fed ground animal brains. I heard something about how certain classes of pesticide might be implicated in some cases of prion brain disease. And in other cases it may be caused by certain mineral deficiencies in people who live on volcanic soils.
There are people who get CJD allegedly from eating squirrel brains… but gee… Americans with mineral deficiencies? THAT never happens.
So I’d say that if you’re all fired up about trying brain, stick with grass-fed and go for it. Organic, even better.
But I’m with Grok. The Inuit ate the heart and the kidneys but left most offal to their dogs. If they ever ate more than heart and kidneys it was because they were about to move on to eating their dogs next. There’s something to be said for leaving something for the scavengers–it isn’t really waste! Especially now with us killing so many of them off.
When I was a baby, my mum used feed me lambs brains and vegetables, I grew up on tripe, liver, steak & kidney stew with dumplings …mmmmm
When I met my wife who is from Fiji I got use to eating fish heads (brain is delicious) pigs heads (brain also delicious) and a lot of other cuts you haven’t mentioned but I know you’ve probably tried. (to have the head of an animal given to you to eat is the height of respect in Fiji)
My favourite cut is definitely ox tongue.. oh boy that is choice eating right there
I looove tongue. Cow’s tongue is a delicatessen in Russia. I love chicken liver and hearts! But I wasn’t able to purchase any cow’s tongue or chicken hearts in London
My local butcher looked at me like I was crazy.
Great article!
When I was little my mom used to prepare thin slices of cow’s udder, fried in real butter with slices of apple. It was delicious. Beef’s tongue she prepared in tomato sauce with button mushrooms and madeira wine and a dollop of mashed potato on the side. I was never a fan of liver or kidneys, but have learned to appreciate the taste and now eat it with gusto (and onions). Sweetmeats are considered a delicacy here. Duck gizzard are lovely fried in duck fat with a bit of rosemary and tossed in a green salad. Tripe I find a bit more difficult, mostly because of the texture. To those people who think it is all gross, remember this: you can be certain that you have already eaten it anyway, ground up in sausages… If you are going to have an animal killed to eat it, it’s only polite to the poor beast to eat all of it.
Was raised on this stuff, and love it! Try chicken livers with green peppers, and don’t forget giblet stew! Fry beef-heart lightly in butter, tastes like sirloin! Shank meat, rarely seen in the supermarket, makes the best stew, and ox-tail was a bargain-meat at one time! Need some nutrition, try pig’s feet, in a baking pan! Get some bones – beef bones, and hope the butcher left a little meat on them, and boil them for soups! Now, go snare a rabbit, and cook him up too! Next, catch some suckers, (a freshwater fish found in Canada) and get Mom to can them – tastes just like salmon, only better! I love smelts too, spring smelt runs meant fresh fish to fry after a long cold winter, and we would feast on them until we burst at the seams! Pike, Pickerel are the mainstays of our diet, but we like “poor man’s lobster” the Ling, easy to catch through the ice, and the secret to good eating is a good woman, who knows how to cook it just right! Deer and Moose, and even some Bear meat will get you through a long cold Canadian winter, so will a couple of squirrels if you are really hungry, they make a nice meat pie! Porcupines are good, and can be eaten raw if you are really desperate. We ate blueberries in season, and fresh dug potatoes, and pork hawks, sow-belly, and home made beans, French-fried potatoes in lard, and pancakes! Some of you city folks are , well, so citified! Try a BBQ’ed Prairie Dog lately?
Uncle B, that sounds impressively delicious. I’m hungry after your comment!
I’m a recovering vegetarian who is also salivating at the thought of tender tongues and hearts, and the unknown taste of kidneys and livers properly prepared. I’m surprised so many of you tough meat eaters are such big wusses when it comes to a nice slice of tongue or a chunk of heart! I’m not paleo – I’m a mixed type, but I desperately need more protein which is why I’m no longer vegetarian – even with a focus on eggs, yogurt and fish, it just don’t add up enough, I needed more. Like – kidney for breakfast! Tongue for dinner!
Found this page when I was searching for a little info on organ meats. I hear tongue, once cooked, is nice out of the fridge sliced like a coldcut. My little girl and I will definitely be eating organ meats! Where else can you find such low cost and high nutrition?! After all, one of the benefits of being vegetarian/fisheater was the cheap factor, so to add meat and poultry back in, I have to be cost conscious. Glad I’m good with a slow cooker, I can get those tougher cuts and make them really tender.
I just made beef bone broth for 16 hours in the slow cooker – so healthful – I haven’t eaten beef in ages but here we go! Bone broth heals the stomach (good for the celiacs!) and is a great source of calcium if you are sure to prepare it with a splash of vinegar. Beef bones are freely available in the grocery store, but I hear broth made with a lamb’s neck is quite nice – and similar to oxtail. Hmmm… off to find a lamb’s neck!
I just think the practice of eating organ meats was tossed out with the practice of eating cod liver oil, and butter, and raw milk and so much else so many of us find appalling today. Citified? Good word for it.
I just read “nose to tail eating” by fergus henderson, owner of St. John’s restaurant in London. amazing book.
I recently acquired a freshly killed 50 lb pig which sparked my interest in learning how to prepare the “nasty bits.” I ate some liver, kidney, the heart and used two feet in soup. tried a slice of what I thought was pancreas but might have been spleen… afraid the rest of the offal went to waste. never again, I am prepared!
Offal provides wonderful nutrition, at a budget price. I encourage everyone to eat it.
Ox liver is my current favorite. I’ve yet to try sweetbreads, but have tried everything else mentioned in this article.
Kind regards,
Steve H
Hi, I found your website is very interesting. I’m looking for PIG INTERNAL ORGAN from all the farms in US and buy them export to other countries.
Could you do mw a favor and let’s form a partnership?
Please email me.
Thanks
Kevin
Wot about pig’s uterus ?
Readily available frozen in most Chinese supermarket. Just ask !
Hi Mark,
Everything that you show here looks delicious. I love organ meats especially the brain and tounge. My only problem is that I do not know where to buy them.
Have a nice one!
I grew up eating Jewish deli foods including tongue and chopped chicken liver. I now eat chopped liver with cucumber slices instead of bread.
I’ve eaten organ meats for as long as I’ve lived – 67 years! Mother used to feed me raw scraped beef liver. I usually stuff a beef heart as I would a chicken or turkey, roast slowly and yummy! Tripe is the only organ I can’t touch!