Offal
Offal is the kitchen linguistic collective term for the edible internal organs of slaughtered animals, game and poultry. The main giblets are the heart, liver, kidney, tongue, stomach, sweetbread ( rare lamb sweetbreads ), tripe, brain, lung and udder. In Bavaria and Austria also the midriff is offered as a " hanger steak ". In some countries, the testicles of various animals are eaten, especially of bulls and lambs. In a broader sense as well as blood and marrow are among the giblets. Innards are rich in vitamins and nutrients, but raw perishable. They are part of many classic dishes and various sausages, such as liver sausage and blood sausage; the French Andouille sausage consists exclusively of offal.
Traditionally, all usable parts were after the slaughter of animals processed and eaten in some way - and not just in poor households. Some of what is no longer considered edible today, was formerly a delicacy. Since innards were generally but considered less valuable and nutritious than the muscle meat, they were given away many a time at soup kitchens for the poor, which made her appear as a typical poor diet over time. On this background, people who were dependent on the diet with giblets, has been known since the late Middle Ages as a derogatory Kaldaunenschlucker.
Today offal found in Germany ( with the exception of Bavaria, Baden- Württemberg and Rhineland -Palatinate ), in England, and especially in the United States rarely use in the kitchen. Rejection is not against all offal equally strong; something that is strongly opposed by large sections of the population can be considered a minority at the same time as a delicacy, as sweetbreads. In the United States innards are particularly strong avoided representing nearly a dietary taboo dar.
Most of the entrails is now processed in the food industry, especially in sausage making. The direct consumption declined in Germany 1985-2003 by more than 70 percent of 2.1 kg to 600 g per person per year back, while meat consumption showed only a decrease of around 66 kg to 61 kg in the same period.