Offal

Related Topics:
Offaly

Offal is the entrails and internal organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of organs, but includes most internal organs other than muscles or bones. Depending on the cultural context, offal may be considered as waste material that is thrown away, or as delicacies that command a high price. Offal not used directly for human or animal food is often processed in a rendering plant, producing material that is used for animal feed, fertilizer or fuel.

Offal as food, by region

Europe

In some parts of Europe, brain, chitterlings or andouilles (pig's large intestine), feet or trotters, gizzard (bird's crop), heart, head (of pigs or calves), kidney, liver, lights (lung), sweetbreads (thymus or pancreas), tongue, and tripe (stomach) from various mammals are common menu items.

The traditional Scottish haggis consists of sheep stomach stuffed with a boiled mix of liver, heart, lungs, rolled oats and other ingredients. In the UK Midlands faggots are made from ground or minced pig offal (mainly liver and cheek), bread, herbs and onion wrapped in pig's caul. Steak and kidney pie (typically featuring veal or beef kidneys) is widely known and enjoyed in Britain. Brawn is the British term for "head cheese" or the collection of meat and tissue found on an animal's skull (typically a pig) that is chilled and set in gelatin.

In Greece, splinantero consists of liver, spleen and small intestine, roasted over an open fire. A festive variety is kokoretsi: pieces of lamb offal (liver, heart, lungs, spleen, kidney and fat) are pierced on a spit and covered by washed small intestine wound around in a tube-like fashion. Kokoretsi is then roasted over coal fire. It is a traditional Easter feature food. Another traditional Easter food is Mageiritsa: a soup made with lamb or kid's offal and lettuce in a white sauce. Tzigerosarmas and Gardoympa are two varieties of splinantero and kokoretsi made in different sizes and with extra spices to improve the taste.

In Italy consumption of entrails and internal organs is quite widespread, among the most popular preparations are fried or stewed brain, boiled intestines (Trippa), often served with tomato sauce, lampredotto (one of the cow intestines), boiled in broth and seasoned with parsley sauce and chili, liver (stir-fried with onions, roasted), kidneys, heart and coronaries (coratella or animelle), head, eyes, testicles of pig, several preparations are based on chicken entrails.

Latin America

In some Latin American countries, tripe is used to make menudo; in others, like Peru, cow heart is used for anticuchos - a sort of brochettes.

In Brazil, churrasco often includes chicken hearts, roasted in a big skewer. The typical feijoada often contains pork trimmings (ears, feet and tail). Gizzard stews, fried beef liver and beef stomach stews are also popular dishes.

Asia

In China many organs and animal-parts are used for food or traditional Chinese medicine.

In Japan chicken offal is often skewered and grilled over charcoal as yakitori, to be served alongside drinks in izakayas (Japanese food-pubs).

In Korea and Japan, offal (especially from cattle) is often served in Korean barbecue restaurants. See bulgogi (in Korea) and yakiniku (in Japan).

US and Canada

In the United States, offal is less often used for human consumption. Sometimes the euphemism "variety meats" is used. Offal is somewhat more popular in the American South where some recipes include chitterlings, hog maw, or other offal. Scrapple, made from pork offal, is fairly common in the Northeast US. Fried-brain sandwiches are a specialty of St. Louis, Missouri. Some traditional recipes for turkey gravy include the bird's giblets.

Food safety issues

Certain organs of certain animals are unsafe to consume. The liver of Polar bear and other polar animals is so high in vitamin A that it can have a toxic effect on human metabolism. The internal organs of the Fugu pufferfish are highly toxic and in Japan can only be prepared by trained master chefs, working under extremely strict regulations and licensing. Some animal intestines may be very high in coliform bacteria and need to be washed and cooked thoroughly to be safe for eating. Other offal (especially nervous tissue) may be contaminated with TSE prions; in some jurisdictions these offal classified as specified risk materials are subject to special regulations.

Offal is usually very high in purines. People suffering from gout should avoid offal in their diet.

The practice of feeding raw offal to work dogs on farms and ranches is known to spread echinococcosis.

Trivia

The words offal and awful are homophones — one dictionary shows the pronunciation of awful as being the same as the most frequent pronunciation of offal — a fact which offers opportunity for many inevitable puns.

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