One of my daughters-in-law was speaking about liver tonight and she said "It tastes and smells just like something that processes bodily waste...." My sentiments exactly!
I don't think she has ever had them as she has lived her entire life up here with a short time in Hawaii. I don't know what she would think. The difference is, chittlins CONTAIN the waste, but liver processes it and stores the toxins it can't process.
@Don Alaska I just HAD to know, so: "Chitterlings (/ˈtʃɪtərlɪŋz/ or /ˈtʃɪtlɪnz/; sometimes spelled/pronounced chitlins or chittlins) are a prepared food usually made from the small intestines of a pig, although the intestines of cattle and other animals are sometimes used." Anyone who eats sausage, hot dogs, etc., having skin, is eating the well-cleansed gut of an animal. Always wondered how they effectively clean such difficult to handle stuff in the first place. Nothing gets wasted. Nothing. Frank
Only natural casings use intestines, but most are not natural casings--only the better, more natural sausages use natural casings since they are a pain to prepare. That is not chittlins or chitterings however. Someone here from the South can probably tell how they are made, but if I remember, they are cleaned, boiled, then fried. It is a long process and was considered a delicacy by poor folks in the South, especially Black folks.
None of the above mentioned ...so called food items...have ot will ever cross my lips! Give me dang beans ,cornbread and some taters...
Friends, Liver is a good source of Iron. Also Steel, Copper, Zinc, Aluminum, Magnesium, Silver, Gold, Lead, and Uranium. Harold
Surprisingly, (or maybe not), liver might be called "closest food to complete nutriotion" because of it's wide variation of nutrients, even Vitamin C! Frank
Growing up we had bacon liver and onions with mashed potatoes and milk gravy once a week. I looked forward to it but I have to confess that I did give each bite of liver a dunk in a little puddle of catsup on the corner of my plate. I remember that we always got our liver from the little local IGA store. The butcher kept the sliced liver in a white enamel pan filled with a bloody water solution. He would fish the liver out of the pan and put it into a paper food container with a wire handle similar to the ones used for Chinese takeout. When I got older I started enjoying chicken livers in tomato sauce over long pasta at a local Italian restaurant. Here is a recipe but you can take a shortcut and use a bottle of your favorite pasta sauce. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1523-spaghetti-caruso
@Ken Anderson, I'm rolling at your comments. Fried liver, onions, and gravy with rice or mashed potatoes was one of my favorite meals cooked by my mother. Though since on my own I've discovered I'm the only one who eats it so it's not a meal I cooked for my family when my boys were young nor for my husband presently.
@Don Alaska Can you describe how something that processes bodily waste smells, other than claiming "how liver smells"? Frank
Well, you know if liver don't get you the GMOs will, and if they don't the air pollution will, and if it don't, something else will. There is a limit how far you can go to stay healthy, without venturing into OCD territory. I try to avoid junk food, but now and then Dairy Queen has my number, and calls me in. I try to avoid GMO crap, but I gotta thing for Velveeta Cheese and PastaRoni Alfredo. Chicken Liver & hickory-smoked brown onions is just added to the list. Best I can do is try to balance the healthy foods with the questionable stuff. Yeah, I know about the current thought on liver (https://www.livestrong.com/article/401502-are-chicken-livers-healthy-eating/), but don't pay a lot of attention to it. Eggs started out good, then they were bad, then good, then bad...no idea what the current standing is among the talking heads. Don't know how far my "penchant for things technical" goes. I'm probably the only one here that don't got a pocket phone, MP3 player, and all that rot. On the other side, I'm bigtime on exploring the internet!
I had a Liver and Onions dinner at a local restaurant last night. Wife had a Chicken Salad. It was delicious, as well as the huge Baked Potato and Green Salad that came with it! Hal