Are we seeing the tail end of offal...
LIVER | BRAIN | INTESTINES
GIBLETS | BONE MARROW BLOOD | OXTAIL | TROTTERS
When referring to produce and cooking, offal is the general term used to categorise the entrails and organs from lamb, pork, beef, and fowl. The term is said to mean the “off-fall” which are the pieces that fall from a carcase when it’s butchered such as the heart, liver, and kidneys, however, other parts of the body such as the head, tail, and trotters are often covered under this term as well.
Offal is packed with an incredibly high amount of nutrients and is said to be one of the healthiest foods available to us, in particular the liver, heart, and the kidneys. But from a consumption standpoint there are divided opinions.
Only around 20-30 years ago it wasn’t uncommon in Australia to see some form of offal on a pub or café menu, and as recently as the 1970s, lambs liver, kidneys, lambs brains, and tripe were a common part of the Australian diet. While it still may feature on menus around the country and consumed in some Australian homes, the popularity has declined.
A lot of people that regularly consume offal usually have memories of eating it with the family while growing up, then the ones that have never seen it on their dinner plate find it harder to accept now. Taking this into account, along with the wider variety of food and delivery options available today, this may explain why it’s getting less attention than once before.
It will occasionally pop up on a few menus, which will inspire a few more to jump on board, and then offal threatens us with a comeback. But the hype slowly loses momentum and shifts towards another trend. There are still butchers and eateries around that actively promote offal and it has gained popularity with people following paleo and keto (ketogenic) diets, but is this a food that is destined to die out completely?
The classics and traditionals will almost certainly stick around such as liver pâté, haggis, black pudding and the like but it’s hard to imagine that it’ll again become a popular addition to menus across Australia as a stand-alone dish. Perhaps a new fresh marketing approach could bring it back into the spotlight.
Well-Known Offal-Based Dishes
BLACK PUDDING
Black pudding, blood pudding, or blood sausage is a type of sausage made by cooking blood with a filler until its thick enough to congeal when cooled. The dish exists in various cultures from Asia to America but mostly recognised from the UK.
You can buy ready-made puddings that are already cooked and just need a gentle re-heating by slicing it thickly and grilling it, or heating it in the oven, or lightly frying it.
HAGGIS
A traditional Scottish dish made with sheep’s liver, lung, heart, oatmeal, onion, suet, and seasoning which are stuffed into the sheep’s stomach and gently boiled. Traditionally it’s served with mashed potatoes (tatties) and mashed turnips (neeps) and a whisky cream sauce. A modern haggis variant is the "Flying Scotsman", which is chicken breast stuffed with haggis. This can be wrapped in bacon to create a dish known as "Chicken Balmoral".
BRAWN
A terrine most commonly made by boiling a whole pig's head, with spices and then set as in its own jelly. It’s served cold and commonly served with crackers or as a sandwich filling.
PÂTÉ
Made using liver, onion, herbs, and other flavourings which is pureed and baked in the oven. A flavoured gelatine mix is set on top to create a seal. It’s typically served cold with bread or toast. Dating back to the late 1700’s in France's gastronomical history, one of the most well-known versions of pate is Foie Gras. It’s made from the liver of duck or geese which have been fed using a controlled technique.
Individual Offal
TONGUE
Tongue has a firm but tender texture and a distinctive, hearty taste. Many people enjoy tongue, whether it is beef, pork, lamb or ox tongue, and all are relatively cheap to purchase. Tongue can be cooked several ways, including smoking, boiling and pickling. Regardless of the cooking method, slow cooking is essential for preventing it becoming tough. Typically, the smaller the tongue the better it will be. Common uses are sliced for a sandwich filling or shredded and added to tacos.
OXTAIL
Oxtail is simply the tail from beef or veal. It’s usually skinned and cut into large ‘rounds’ before being sold. It needs to be cooked slowly in liquid to draw out the flavour and tenderise the meat, therefore stewing and braising are the recommended cooking methods. There’s a good amount of fat and collagen that melt into the dish adding that sticky feel to the meat and the marrow further enhances the flavour during cooking.
BLOOD
Blood can be found in many cuisines and dishes all over the world. It’s often used as a thickening agent for stews and soups and to also add colour to sweet and savoury dishes. One of the most recognised uses is a key ingredient in Black Pudding.
HEART
The heart is a muscle therefore the taste is closer to typical cuts of meat. Common uses are mincing it and adding it to other ground meats to add extra flavour and nutrition for hamburgers or meatballs. It’s low in fat and can be a little tough therefore adding it to other meats increases the fat content. Lamb hearts are often stuffed and braised (pictured right) and used as a single portion. It can also be simply grilled but shouldn’t be cooked past medium-rare. Bacon and onions are good with heart, as are mushrooms, and wine-based sauces.
PIG TROTTERS
Pig trotters require a long, slow cooking method, at least three to four hours to make them tender. The cooked meat can be removed from the bone and then set with its own cooking stock by reducing the liquid. You can buy them fresh or even smoked. Smoked trotters are ideal to make a stock for a minestrone soup or a pea and ham soup using the meat as it falls of the bone.
SWEETBREADS
There are two kinds of sweetbreads, and despite their name, they bear no resemblance to a sweet bakery product. Instead it’s the culinary term for the thymus gland found near the throat and the pancreas gland near the belly of younger animals. Both lamb and veal sweetbreads can be used with the most popular being the thymus gland in the throat. They are soft, mild, and creamy but require several hours of soaking beforehand to remove impurities. They can then be cooked a number of different ways, and are commonly crumbed/battered and fried.
INTESTINES
Pork intestines are used as sausage casings, and although these days’ bulk sausages now use manufactured casings, intestines are still used for gourmet and traditional sausage varieties. Intestines can also be used to encase sweet and savoury fillings to hold shape while cooking or setting. In this case the intestine would be removed once the filling had solidified.
TRIPE
Tripe is the stomach lining from ruminant animals, most commonly the cow. Cattle and sheep stomachs have four compartments which can all be used to make tripe but the most common comes from the rumen and reticulum. Rumen tripe is from the first compartment and known as blanket tripe and reticulum tripe is from the second compartment and known as honeycomb tripe (pictured right).
Tripe has a low fat content and is made up of smooth muscle and lots of connective tissue. When properly cooked, it is tender with a chewy texture but if undercooked it can be very tough. The taste is mild and it will take on flavours of surrounding ingredients while cooking.
Tripe is found in many cuisines and is most commonly eaten in dishes like soups, stews, sauced foods, and added to sausages. It's typically combined with strong flavoured foods and spices. Aside from tripe being a useful form of protein, it's also loaded with essential nutrients.
BONE MARROW
Bone marrow is rich in protein and fat. It has a subtle taste that’s creamy, nutty, sweet, and very rich. It can be incorporated into sauces, melted over your steak, folded into mashed potatoes, or spread onto toast. Personally I like to slurp it out straight from the bone.
BRAINS
Brains have a creamy firm texture with a delicate savoury flavour.
Before cooking, the brains should soak in salted water for an hour to remove excess blood. The skin and membrane coating the brains should also be removed as much as possible. They should then simmer lightly in salted water for around 5 minutes. They need to be handled carefully throughout the cooking process as the tissue is delicate and will easily break up. Brains are best left to cool and set a little before any further preparation is done.
They are commonly served crumbed and fried, the US often serve them with scrambled eggs, they can be used in a terrine, or sliced for a sandwich filling.
LIVER
Liver is considered the most nutrient dense organ containing protein, folate, iron, vitamins A and B, zinc, selenium, copper, and coenzyme Q10. It’s very rich, dense, and creamy and is often grilled or fried, or pureed to make pâté.
Lamb is the most popular and when cooked properly, it can be tender and very tasty. Pork liver tends to be the strongest tasting of all the livers and has a coarse texture.
Soaking the liver in milk for 30-60 minutes prior to cooking can assist in removing the bitter flavour from the liver. It is best when sliced and quickly cooked so that it retains a slight pinkness otherwise it can dry out and become tough if overcooked.
Lamb’s Fry (pictured) was once a very popular dish that involved the liver being cooked up with onion and bacon then de-glazing the pan to create the gravy.
KIDNEYS
A small organ with a strong flavour and rich in vitamins A and K. Lamb, pig, calf, and beef kidneys are all commonly fried, grilled, or braised but lamb kidneys are the most popular and have the mildest flavour. Beef kidneys are favoured for hearty, strong-tasting dishes, like the steak and kidney pie and also go well cooked with mushrooms, onions, and red wine; while a creamy mustard sauce is suitable for lamb kidneys. Finely chopped lamb kidneys which have been briefly cooked in butter can also be added to an omelette. Milk-fed animals will produce kidneys of lighter colour and milder flavour.
Devilled Kidneys on toast (pictured) was once a really popular dish which was basically kidneys pan fried in butter with onions, a sprinkle of flour, and a little bit of stock to make a binding sauce. Then tomato puree, English mustard, and Worcestershire sauce was added then served on crusty toast and topped with chopped parsley.
GIBLETS
Giblets refer to offal contained from fowl such as chicken, duck, and turkey. Giblets include the liver, heart, and gizzards but the neck, head, and feet can also be included.