The Offal Truth
Our Tongue Sandwiches Speak for Themselves – Sign in a NY Deli
Despite the fact that dictionaries have them phonetically equivalent, offal is far from awful. Offal, from the Middle English “off + fall”, referring to parts fallen or cut off, is the pieces and parts of pigs, cows and chickens like livers, hearts, brains, sweetbreads, kidneys, tripe, hocks, ears and neck bones that are leftover after the animal is “harvested”. In 2010 approximately 2.5BB lbs (give or take) of beef and pork offal were generated in this country – enough for 8 lbs for every man, woman and child (about the equivalent of lamb/veal consumption in the 1950’s). However, most is frozen and shipped overseas to countries like Egypt, Russia, Latin America and the Far East where, unlike here, they appreciate a good beef liver or pig maw.
Dictionary.com defines “offal” as “the parts of a butchered animal that are considered inedible by human beings; carrion. Given a definition that conjures images of dead animals and vultures, it should come as no surprise that, according to the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the average American consumes just over two pounds of offal per year, placing the U.S. 96th among nations of the world for per capita offal consumption (Note: Compare this to St. Lucia, an island country in the Eastern Caribbean Sea occupying 238 sq miles with an estimated population of 173,765 is 1st in world with 25 kilograms of offal consumption per capita).
Here, only 5% or 6% (at most) of offal finds itself into US foodservice, most for consumption by ethnic diners at home or in restaurants. How is it then that the Japanese are so enamored with beef tongue it can be exported by American suppliers for near 4 times that price it commands locally? How does one explain the fact that consumption of offal in the UK rose by 67% between 2003 and 2008? Clearly, the bulk of the American dining public is missing something. What they are missing are proteins that are nutritious, flavorful, versatile and perhaps most importantly in this day and age of rising food costs, relatively cheap.
Offal is a very nutritious protein. Liver is an excellent source of vitamin A, which promotes healthy skin, teeth, and eyes, as well as full of iron, zinc, B vitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin D. Beef liver contains huge amounts of copper and good amounts of healthy fatty acids. Heart is low in sodium and very high in iron. It also contains selenium, zinc, phosphorus, niacin, and riboflavin. Brains are high in niacin, phosophorus, B12, and vitamin C. (and if you are indeed what you eat, that’s not bad either). Tripe, which is found in a myriad of cuisines ranging from Mexican to Italian to Cajun to Vietnamese contains vitamin B12 and significant amounts of protein.
Meatopia 2011, an annual culinary festival in NY celebrating all things meat, (the website, www.meatopia.org,) touts itself as “the Woodstock of Edible Animals.”), is a showcase for the versatility and flavorfulness of offal. Event goers will be treated to, among other things:
- Grilled Chicken Hearts with Burnt Eggplant Puree
- Crispy Mangalitsa pig’s head torchon with green beans and horseradish
- Braised Beef Cheeks with Sour Cherry Glaze and Rustic Summer Herb Salad
- Greek lamb offal mixed grill
- Nose-to-Tail Ground Veal Hoagies with Pickled Peppers
- Crispy Pig Head Stuffed with Scrapple on a Buttermilk Biscuit with Oregon Chow Chow
But offal does not require elaborate preparation. It can be remarkably easy to prepare as well. Take beef tongue for example. If you can boil water, you can prepare beef tongue: throw it in water with stock vegetables and bay leaf and simmer for two-and-a-half hours. Done. Simple as that.
Lastly, offal is an inexpensive protein compared to other cuts of beef, chicken or pork. Many cuts of offal can be had for less than $1.00 a pound.
Now despite the fact that all those things may be well and true, Americans are squeamish about eating certain things: bugs, sandwiches from vending machines, shelf stable milk, halva (ok, that’s just me) and virtually anything that Andrew Zimmern chows on, to name but a few. Needless to say, despite the enthusiastic efforts of such chefs as Chris Cosentino at Incanto and the driving force behind www.offalgood.com, the self described educational and inspirational tool for those who are interested in learning and cooking with offal and British chef Fergus Henderson, author of the ground breaking book “Nose to Tail Eating”, offal falls squarely in this squeamish category. But the question is why?
Sociologists, scientists and authors have a number of theories on the matter. Stephen Mennel, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at University College Dublin, believes people’s increasing tendency to identify themselves with animals is an underlying driver fueling peoples’ revulsion at eating brains, eyes and testicles. This no doubt explains why we don’t eat our pets, even pets people actually eat in other countries (Guinea Pig anyone?). Noelie Vialles, author of “Animal to Edible”, identifies two interesting logics in regards to the consumption of meat: ‘zoophagan’ logic is favoured by those who like to acknowledge that what they are eating was a living and breathing entity and who therefore have no qualms about eating offal. A ‘sarcophagan’ logic is held by those prefer their meat to be abstract, divorced from its living origins and who therefore find consuming offal repugnant. The latter goes a long way to explaining why when you ask the average 6 year old where hamburger comes from, the answer is invariably not a steer, but rather a grocery store.
Whatever the reason, people are missing out on a good thing. And that’s the offal truth.
