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I know that eating organ meats is good for us, but I just can't get myself past the "icky factor". When I was a child I was forced to eat beef liver, and made myself physically ill getting so worked up over it. I would like to try organ meats, but would like to know what would be the most mild flavored, as to not scare me off. Anyone have suggestions?

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liverwurst is pretty tasty – Payam Dec 11 2011 at 0:06
Calf brains are very mild. I like them with pastured butter, chives, and white pepper. – PaleoGran Dec 11 2011 at 19:46

13 Answers

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Chicken liver is the mildest that I've personally had.

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Tongue. Tastes almost the same as muscle meat.

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I've heard that about tongue as well, but is it considered an organ for all intents and purposes? I've seen others label it as an organ, as well, but I'm confused by this. – NewPaleoMamaAz Dec 11 2011 at 0:22
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It fits with the spirit of eating the whole animal, as well as having plenty of ick factor but without actually tasting strange. So more a psychological organ than a biological one. – AndyM Dec 11 2011 at 10:20
Yup, it is an organ. I watched a Cordain lecture off youtube, where he mentioned that he found fossils with broken jawbones and markings on the inside of the jaws. Turns out that tongue has the same kind of n3:n6 ratio as brain (due to the high nerve content?), without eating brain. I've had brain before when I was a kid, it's very mushy and not tasty. It was like eating a sponge. I wouldn't do it now with beef brains, oxtails, or anything else that can get mad cow or similar diseases. Bison should be safe. I hear deer is not. – raydawg Dec 11 2011 at 18:04
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I made beef heart skewers a couple of months ago and they tasted surprisingly good. The meat is super-lean and needs to be marinated and cooked through, otherwise it's very chewy. You also have to make sure to trim off any of the remaining visceral fat and arteries, which calls for a very sharp knife and steady hands.

I cut mine into thin fajita-type strips and poured in lime, garlic, salt and pepper. Coated all of the meat with it and let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours. Then I slow cooked them over a grill until they were to medium, and turned up the heat until they got a bit of char. They tasted just like steak!

The second most mild-tasting organ is organic chicken liver. The regular livers you buy from the store from battery birds are strong-tasting and sort of nasty. Chicken livers are perfect for a pate (which calls for LOTS of butter!), and I also had good results by dredging them in egg and pecan meal, and frying in bacon grease.

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That heart recipe sounds great. I've got some bison heart in the freezer, I'll have to remember your method for it. – raydawg Dec 11 2011 at 18:05
Heart meat is always chewy in my experience, but I like a little chew sometimes! – Matt Dec 11 2011 at 19:48
+1 I must try the heart fajita recipe – PilatesGatekeeper Apr 30 at 2:53
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Sweetbreads, wild deer liver (which is amazing, very mild but with super high retinol content atleast in finnish wild deer.). Whole cod liver, very nice texture, smooth and buttery. Beef pancreas might be too, i will get one next week so i will report back :)

Marrow is very mild, and so is beef tendon, which is nearly sweet. Lamb kidneys are suprisingly mild for a kidney, has to be fresh. Very nice in good mustard sauce, almost like some saugages :) Beef kidneys are never as good.

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Tendons are awesome in soup, a really great source of gelatin/glycine. – raydawg Dec 11 2011 at 18:18
Second for sweetbreads! Lightly tossed in coconut flour or arrowroot, then sauteed gently in ghee. THE BEST! – ricechek Dec 11 2011 at 22:35
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Calf liver would be milder, but at the end of the day it's going to be a strange taste and texture until you get used to it. So a good starting point is liverwurst and liver pates, any way of changing the texture and masking the taste so you get used to eating it and get enough confidence to just cook some with caramelised onions and wonder what you were doing missing out on this.

Tongue and heart, once processed, will be more familiar being muscles, but then that's kind of missing the point.

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Lamb or beef heart. I regularly stir fry lamb hearts without guests even realizing it's not muscle meat. No prep or spices needed to cover flavor.

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Lamb's fry (liver) is pretty mild. I cook onions in lamb fat until they're just starting to colour, and then I turn up the heat and sear strips of lamb's liver in the pan so they're browned on the outside but still well pink in the middle.

I had liver that's tasted unpleasant and I'm beginning to suspect that freshness plays an important part. Aging is good for steak, but I'm pretty sure liver should be as fresh as possible. Offal spoils fast.

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Coming from the Midlands (UK) I was bought up on tripe. In fact, my Mum used to give it to me raw, cubed in malt vinegar and pepper. Deeeee-licious !!!! The other traditional way to eat it is with onions.

http://greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/recipebook/index.php?option=com_rapidrecipe&page=viewrecipe&recipe_id=1113&Itemid=28

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Nothing like a big bowl of menudo with lots of tasty tripe, minus the hominy! My local mexican eatery accommodates my peculiar low-carb request. :) – ricechek Dec 11 2011 at 22:37
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I ordered a beef heart from US Wellness and it was very mild, as was the bison liver I ordered from them.

The best way to make these seem less strong is to cook them in fat that's one of your favorites and then, when it's about done, toss in a tbsp of water and cover it. The steam seems to take some of the flavor out.

And make sure you blend it with foods you like--bacon, favored veggies, etc.

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i slow roast beef heart totally wrapped in bacon – sage_ Dec 11 2011 at 0:18
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Lamb kidneys are the mildest of the kidneys. I would also say it was milder than liver, but my tastes may be different from yours.

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First time i had them, i though, they are THIS good, seriously. I had cooked beef kidney manytimes before. Becouse its dirt cheap. – Jan Dec 11 2011 at 20:00
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Calf's thymus is probably the mildest meat I have ever eaten and also very delicious. Its taste blends great with cream sauce.
Recently I've also tried pork spleen and it is probably the second mildest meat. Here's some good recipe:
http://www.nosetotailathome.com/2008/01/rolled-pigs-spleen/

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Surprised no one is recommending duck. Duck organs are so universally recognized as delicious that they are often priced higher than duck muscle meat. I guess that's the problem... but duck organs are pretty readily available made into fancy pates.

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What do the guts taste like? Sausage?

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