I'd never eat the organs of an animal, but I do fully understand why people do. I can imagine it being very tasty, I just cant get the idea of what exactly it is I would be eating out of my head, even though I know it's a bit daft. But then I'm odd; I don't even like to eat off the bone(though I can and have killed/skinned a chicken, and prepared several fresh fish, so I'm not that squeamish!)
Lamb Hearts
- Thread starter theNude
- Start date
I didnt know it would cause such a discussion 
For what its worth, the hearts were really cheap, around £2 for 3 which easily fed three of us. My freinds here had the same perceptions as many on this board but were open minded enough to try and they really enjoyed them, and now I can see 3 packs in the fridge! (live in halls).
I think that many people these days have grown up around Bernard Mathews turkey drummers and perfect cuts of meat that are very detached from the animals they originated from and therefore the thought of anything else seems gross or icky as it is not perfect and mainstream.
Offal is far from rubbish and the notion that it is being used in restaurants now to con people with garbage pieces of the animals is untrue. These parts have actually always been prized as they contain far more flavour and nutrients than just eating muscle, it is just that these chefs are just re-using older recipes as people are getting fed up of eating the same thing.
I have started eating things like this as I love trying new things and I am open minded, I personally don't enjoy kidneys and liver (unless pate) due to the taste, but other things such as hearts and sweetbreads i love!
For what its worth, the hearts were really cheap, around £2 for 3 which easily fed three of us. My freinds here had the same perceptions as many on this board but were open minded enough to try and they really enjoyed them, and now I can see 3 packs in the fridge! (live in halls).
I think that many people these days have grown up around Bernard Mathews turkey drummers and perfect cuts of meat that are very detached from the animals they originated from and therefore the thought of anything else seems gross or icky as it is not perfect and mainstream.
Offal is far from rubbish and the notion that it is being used in restaurants now to con people with garbage pieces of the animals is untrue. These parts have actually always been prized as they contain far more flavour and nutrients than just eating muscle, it is just that these chefs are just re-using older recipes as people are getting fed up of eating the same thing.
I have started eating things like this as I love trying new things and I am open minded, I personally don't enjoy kidneys and liver (unless pate) due to the taste, but other things such as hearts and sweetbreads i love!
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The vast majority of salami/chorizo casings are either artificial, or from the small intestine - like black pudding casing. That's way before it turns into anything resembling crap! Next time you see a rabbit being cleaned, check out the difference - you get grass in the upper intestine, and it gradually turns to crap. Same as sausages, but I actually prefer the man-made casing for those - it give it that proper "snap" that proper casings just don't do!
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Caporegime
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You never ever eat salami or chorizo then?
Can't believe peeps are trying to suggest offal is a gastro fad, you couldn't be any farther from the truth. People didn't used to be able to afford the decent cuts, so were left with the shanks, scrag ends and offal. It is a time honoured tradition the world over, not just here.
If you don't like it, fine. But trying to sit on a high horse suggesting it's some pompous unnecessary food is very naieve.
Time-honoured amongst poor people and northerners
. You misunderstand. The fad argument isn't that people are eating it now. Everyone knows that many races have eaten offal since the dawn of time.
The fad argument (or mine at least) is that restaurants have managed to make offal a popular part of a modern cuisine and to encourage the use of almost the entire animal, presenting themselves (hilariously when you see what they throw away) as anti-waste evangelists, when in fact their main game is to make the numbers stack up in whichever way they can.
Bottom line (hah!): most offal simply tastes revolting to me and restaurants are doing a roaring trade in it.