Anyone dived their taste buds in the unusual world of Offal? Centuries ago, medieval times and its people ate as much as they could. The history books don't have the guts to tell us how it was US that ate bones like a Zombie back in the pre-modern age.
So anyone who eats Organ meats finds it cheap.
Liver maybe the most commonly found Organ Meat. And even in my food expensive country, it goes for $3.50 a bag.
You just gotta know how to cook organs right. Bone Marrow is rare, do not put it on your grill!
Gizzards are tough but you gotta learn how to eat them!
When I have my house built, I am gonna become an offal specialist.
Quinto quarto was not eaten as much as they could because it was good. It was eaten because it was cheap. Later on, when cooking was more than roast it over open fire, it actually became good. Liver and brains were the good offal that cost money or were earned, the shit parts, entrails, stomach, were for the poor and mentally ill.
Chicken hearts are my favorite part of the chicken. I'd never even tried chicken heart until my late twenties when I went over to my brazilian friend's house and his dad was grilling them - they taste great.
Can get rather tough fast. Do not grill too long. Unless used in stews, then stew away. Cow heart is good for that.
I stear clear of liver, kidney, and digestive tract anything used to filter out toxins or hold in shit probably shouldn't be eaten habitually. Hearts, tongues, turkey necks are okay though.
Some offal of some animal should not be eaten. For example, in survival situations, dog is perfectly acceptable, and sledders are taught to eat their dogs if they must. However, the liver is so full of vitamin A that you will get poisoned by it. Otherwise it is perfectly healthy and no problem.
I fucking love liver, it's the shit.
However, whenever I cook it, it's always god-awful shoe leather.
Overdone. Take it out of the pan/oven in time. Pork liver is these days also seen more as dogfood, in fact the butchershop I worked at used pork liver and heart as dog and catfood from a freezer. This is because the taste is a bit less than veal liver and it gets tough faster. We sold fresh liver from calves only, you get a bit more leeway with cooking times, turns to shoe less fast. So if you used pork, try veal. Pork can work fine, just take it out of the pan at the exact right time.
Gastronomie Pratique has very oldtimey recipes that do well for anyone interested. But make sure to get the photocopied French edition (just use a dictionary), the English translation has most of it cut out and alters way too much. You may need to get creative to replace some ingredients that are no longer available.
Ma Cuisine (Escoffier) also has some good recipes for offal. And certain birds people forgot you can eat.
A traditional christmas recipe in the low countries is cow tongue boiled in salted water. It is then peeled and sliced thinly, served with a nice sauce and potatoes with dill. Gone out of style in the 70's/80's after centuries of being a holidays staple, sadly. I still make it every year. I also like to make sweet and sour sweetbreads, I have a modified recipe from a version close to Jonnie Boer's. Anyone should try it. A very underrated source for good organmeats is goat. Hard to get in most countries though.
I eat offal. And like it. Except for tripe and brain, not my thing. Kidneys are so so, okay if done right. The house will smell like a urinal on fire so make sure to rinse em well and open a large window.
