Offal

[Adam Balic]

Re. stopping blood from clotting: Fergus Henderson (in his recipe for jugged hare) says that, when the hare is skinned, and the blood saved, you should mix a splash of red wine vinegar with the blood.

Or you can beat the blood, which will make the fribrinogen (clotting agent) drop out of solution.

[Gavin Jones]

Could you feed your dinner warfarin pre-decease?

[Kristian]

Wilfrid, did you manage to re-liquidify your cooked blood? My reason tells me that once the blood's structure has been destroyed by cooking it, it should not be possible to restore it in any fashion... But what do I know?

[nightscotsman]

Git yer Australian camel offal here.

[Wilfrid]

Wilfrid, did you manage to re-liquidify your cooked blood? My reason tells me that once the blood's structure has been destroyed by cooking it, it should not be possible to restore it in any fashion... But what do I know? 

Still in the freezer!

[Nick]

I would still make liver at home (my fegato veneziana was the best -- if I had a reliable source of organic veal.  Liver is de-toxifying organ and I'm afraid of what I'd be ingesting in the liver of a conventionally-raised animal.

Just came across this while following the Tony Bourdain Q&A.

I used to start craving deer liver when September would roll around. (Some folks here don't wait for the official hunting season to begin.)

We're now told that deer and moose liver contain concentrations of Cadmium above whatever the appropriate health agency now recommends as "safe." There is no safe level of Cadmium. Some people can tolerate more than others I suppose, but that doesn't make it safe.

I bring this up because of Sandra's, " ...I'm afraid of what I'd be ingesting in the liver of a conventionally-raised animal." If heavy metals are piling up in deer and moose (elk, caribou, etc.), who eat the most naturally, what might be happening in the livers of more "conventionally" raised animals?

I have some fresh deer liver in my fridge right now and it's a bummer that I don't crave it like I used to.

Edit: Fresh water fish in some waters in Maine now have enough mercury in them that there are "fish-eating advisories" recommending no more than two small fish a week and no fish for pregnant women. So far we don't have any pregnant men.

[Wilfrid]

I would like to know a lot more about this cadmium problem before panicking. Cadmium is a heavy metal which can potentially cause liver damage - researchers have been able to produce lesions in the livers of laboratory animals by exposing them to cadmium in their diet. However, I would be surprised if you could get enough cadmium in your diet from eating deer liver once or twice a year to present any concern.

Of course, I haven't seen what the health agencies have said - just speculating based on what I know. I think I take much bigger risks every day of my life than presented by the cadmium from nibbling a bit of deer liver.