Eating offal

13 February 2013, 15:28

Boghossian

Eating offal

In my family, the tradition is for the first time hunter eats a big bite of the deer's liver (raw obviously). Since then, I've been merry flinging the offal in the ditch whilst gralloching deer.

For some reason this season I have been giving it another chance and must admit that I am now quite pleased when I don't damage the heart as it's become my favourite part.

What do you guys get up to with offal?

Does anyone eat anything other than liver/kidneys/heart?

13 February 2013, 16:46

shakari

I'm a big fan of liver, heart & kidneys & usually dice or slice them and then fry them with onions in butter and add a thick gravy just before serving.

Lovely!

13 February 2013, 16:54

Fallow Buck

Sweetbreads are my favourite!!

I also save the caul fat if I have time and a bag handy.

K

13 February 2013, 19:12

Adam.270

quote:
Originally posted by Fallow Buck:
Sweetbreads are my favourite!!

I also save the caul fat if I have time and a bag handy.

K

For the love of God, don't get the Greek started on offal - apparently nipples, nadgers, nuts and nostrils all have an honoured place in Cypriot culinary tradition...

13 February 2013, 19:16

maki

It is called making a virtue out of necessity. I hope I never get that hungry.

Dean

13 February 2013, 21:06

DUK

The heart is a very tender and tasty muscle, so IMHO does rather belong to the "meats" and not to the "offals". Roe, fallow and red deer hearts are just delicious, google the recipee for Peruvian "anticuchos", a very tasty kind of shish kebap.

13 February 2013, 21:42

Fallow Buck

Don't go there, I was scarred during my mid teens when I turned up at a BBQ in Cyprus and was faced with a 5ft skewer of neatly impaled lambs testicles roasting over the coals....

It was a very impressionable time and I am still haunted. I also have to remove the nipples when cooking a hog roast as they just look wrong.

As for noses, well there's nothing on them worth eating...

Sweet breads, Heart, liver and kidneys are all that I can work with in that order. What I've let others eat unknowingly though has provided much amusement in the local tavernas!!

K

13 February 2013, 22:39

Boghossian

quote:
I also save the caul fat if I have time and a bag handy.

Are you wrapping roasts with this K?

13 February 2013, 23:56

Muntjac

Where are the sweetbreads on deer? Always been curious about this, and only had them served from lamb and veal in restaurants.

My after hunt treat is this:
Chop the heart, cut off all the white sinewy threads and fat, fry with chopped onion, salt and pepper, perhaps mushroom. Add cream, but the trick in my opinion is not to add too much. Add a little at a time until you like the taste but before it gets heavy and creamy. Eat with whatever on the side and a drink you think you deserve.

14 February 2013, 02:41

Fallow Buck

Bog,

Yes you can wrap roasts or make sheftalia with it.

K

14 February 2013, 11:03

Nordic2

I have made beef wellington out of a halv moose hart, better than filet.

14 February 2013, 12:33

Saeed

When we were kids, any time they killed a goat or lamb, we were waiting impatiently for the balls to be given to us.

We used to stand there while they skinned it, let a fire and cooked and ate them right there.

14 February 2013, 13:39

Ingvar J. Kristjansson

Eating sheep balls is very traditional and considered a delicacy here in Iceland..... Sheep heads is also a delicacy and very common on our dishes. You can buy these products in every grocery store !

14 February 2013, 15:18

Fallow Buck

I'm a big fan of sheeps head roasted in the clay oven Kleftiko style.

Also the cheeks form a hog roast or whole lamb/goat have to be one of the best bits of the animal to eat.

I take it that Hughs pro brain cookery never really took off here?

K

14 February 2013, 18:46

joester

Muntjac,

Sweetbreads (at least here in the US) are the thymus gland located on the neck of young deer, sheep,goats,etc. Its shaped like the letter "H" and is light tan in color. These are only found on young tender animals, as the critters sexually mature, the gland atrophies and is no longer needed by them. They are Delicious!

After those, tongue is my favorite, followed by heart. I waste very little, I cook the liver/kidneys/lungs/spleen to feed to my poultry. And, yes, I love Haggis!

14 February 2013, 19:26

Boghossian

I have heard of people eating diaphragm, but haven't tried it myself. Feels a bit chewy!

I love beef tongue so deer can't be bad. Yet another random plastic bag to carry with me!

14 February 2013, 20:30

pagosawingnut

The heart, liver, kidneys and tongue aren't considered offal by my family. We enjoy them a great deal.

14 February 2013, 21:00

conifer

quote:
Originally posted by joester:
Muntjac,

Sweetbreads (at least here in the US) are the thymus gland located on the neck of young deer, sheep,goats,etc. Its shaped like the letter "H" and is light tan in color. These are only found on young tender animals, as the critters sexually mature, the gland atrophies and is no longer needed by them. They are Delicious!

There was a time when sweetbreads referred only to the pancreas. But, "the industry" has somehow managed to convince the consuming public ... that the thymus is "sweetbreads". I wonder what advantage there is to meat packers, to push the thymus, rather than the pancreas. Afterall, just as there's only one thymus per animal....there's also only one pancreas. Is the pancreas more economically valuable for other reasons??? ....insulin harvest???....other chemicals??? Does anyone in AR have answers?

After those, tongue is my favorite, followed by heart. I waste very little, I cook the liver/kidneys/lungs/spleen to feed to my poultry. And, yes, I love Haggis!

14 February 2013, 21:35

Pirate's Life

My family has always eaten the heart and liver of our game. Usually we have them the same day the animal is taken. We prepare them sliced, floured and fried with onions. Then we make pan gravy from the drippings. A feast fit for a king.

I've eaten kidneys too, but don't care for them and have also eaten tongue. Tongue is good albeit a little small on things like deer. Elk, moose or bison is a different story size wise. Boil the tongue with some pickling spice, remove the skin and slice it thin for a great cold sandwich. Tasty!

14 February 2013, 21:53

shakari

Not offal but my two African favourites are the tongue and tail of a cape buffalo. Tongue sliced or pressed and served cold in sandwiches and tail made into soup which is paradise on earth.

Here in Portugal, they eat a lot of pork and many of their pork dishes are simply to die for. They do eat the head in a similar way Ingvar shows in his pic but I've yet to try that.

A traditional Brit recipe is to turn the head into brawn and I used to like that as a kid but haven't had it for some years.

As for eating nuts........ I was persuaded to try eating buffalo nuts once but didn't reckon it very much and would be happy never to try it again.

14 February 2013, 21:57

N E 450 No2

I always save the heart of deer and pigs. I save the liver on doe deer, and I save the "oysters" on pigs.

I also save the heart liver, and gizzard of the birds I shoot.

14 February 2013, 22:04

Norwegianwoods

I love eating the heart and tongue of all animals.
I also like the liver from young animals.
I love to cook and eat it the same day I shot the animal.
I leave the kidneys together with the guts for the crows and foxes.

14 February 2013, 22:50

Scriptus

quote:
Originally posted by Ingvar J. Kristjansson:
Eating sheep balls is very traditional and considered a delicacy here in Iceland..... Sheep heads is also a delicacy and very common on our dishes. You can buy these products in every grocery store !

Did ya clean the teeth first? Aarrrh, what about the nasal passges and the ears?

I will stick to liver, kidneys and heart.
Many years ago, my skinner pretended to eat a couple of big fat "nasal bot fly larvae" [ Oestrus sp] out of a black wildebeest's nose. The poor bloody client was crawling around barking at the ants.

15 February 2013, 00:56

505G

quote:
liver, heart & kidneys

All good to eat depending on the animal.

Tripe (cows stomach lining) is always taken
as some like it, I don't.

15 February 2013, 02:09

Nakihunter

In my ancestral district of the deep south of India (100 km from the Cape), goat ofal was eaten all the time.

I remember as a kid in the 1960s vsiting the village for a wedding. In those days there was no refidgeration. The norm was that a goat will be killed by the butcher once or twice a week. All the ofal including intestines is eaten.

Differnt spices and cooking methods were used to make the food last for 3 days.

In hunting camps in the 70s, we ate tongue, liver, pancreas, heart, kidney, nuts and brain.

Goat brain is a real delicacy & I love it. Most traditional resteraunts serve goat brain fried with onions & spices - even in a big city like Chennai (Madras).Does not seem to be as common in the North.

Here in NZ we shoot feral goats on farms. very rarely I will take the brain and cook it at home. The real hurdle is to remove the brain without mushing it up. If goat brain is removed cleanly with the outer membrane & cut into bite sized bits before cooking, it becomes firm like eggs.

I am starting to drool - I must arrange for a goot shoot tomorrow!

15 February 2013, 06:25

dhufish

In New Zealand,Lamb testicles are known as ''Mountain Oysters'' and in OZ they are ''Outback Oysters'' Delicious when grilled over hot coals.When Biltong hunting in South Africa, the Springbok and Impala hearts , livers and tongues are always grilled for lunch.Maybe washed down with a little Klipdrift.

15 February 2013, 07:31

N E 450 No2

Once upon a time I was a Butcher...

There is an old Butcher joke that goes..

How do you cook kidneys???

Easy, you just boil the Piss out of them...

So, I do NOT eat kidneys...

15 February 2013, 13:11

Norwegianwoods

quote:
Originally posted by Scriptus:
quote:
Originally posted by Ingvar J. Kristjansson:
Eating sheep balls is very traditional and considered a delicacy here in Iceland..... Sheep heads is also a delicacy and very common on our dishes. You can buy these products in every grocery store !

Did ya clean the teeth first? Aarrrh, what about the nasal passges and the ears?
I will stick to liver, kidneys and heart.
Many years ago, my skinner pretended to eat a couple of big fat "nasal bot fly larvae" [ Oestrus sp] out of a black wildebeest's nose. The poor bloody client was crawling around barking at the ants.

The sheep head is also a common dish in parts of Norway and it tastes very nice.
And the heads are very well cleaned after the slaughter

In Philippines I have eaten all sorts of offal from pigs, beef and chickens.
Some taste nice and some taste total shit.
Everything with just a hint of proteins is considered as food there.
I can't say I see much of a point eating chicken heads and feet. And chicken intestines taste BAD.....

15 February 2013, 20:01

Trapper Dave

I've always made Pate with the Liver and its proved to be very popular (or is at least received with great politeness!).

The Heart, not so much as its usually damaged so Quiddy gets it as a perk.
The tongue is worth a bit of effort though.

I'm not keen on eating raw liver though. The last deer I shot had a large cyst on the side of the liver, full parasite eggs, not something I want to be host to.

Deer Offal is supposed to be the main ingredient of Umble "Humble" Pie.
I'm not sure I can be bothered with connecting a hose up and washing the innards out to prep it though. So that one is very much on the perhaps list.

25 February 2013, 09:42

jwm

Many years ago, before anyone had heard of such things as Chronic Wasting or Mad Cow diseases, we considered the brain of a freshly-killed deer to be quite a special delicacy. We normally scrambled it with eggs and fried the mixture in butter.

26 February 2013, 01:31

BEJ

I saw a video on some TV channel where a delicacy, of I believe Iceland, was rotted shark. They would hang a shark up for about six months or until the butcher proclaimed it ready to consume. I think it was eaten in a raw state. I'm unsure as to which parts were eaten.
Just looking for confirmation of sea creature type and country.

26 February 2013, 13:28

Ingvar J. Kristjansson

quote:
Originally posted by BEJ:
I saw a video on some TV channel where a delicacy, of I believe Iceland, was rotted shark. They would hang a shark up for about six months or until the butcher proclaimed it ready to consume.

That’s almost correct !....It’s not rotten....We eat shark meat here in Iceland which has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for 4-6 months. The Shark for short has a very distinctive ammonia smell and fishy taste, similar to very strong cheese. The shark itself is inedible when fresh due to a high content of uric acid but may be consumed after being processed.