So how's liver?

[ericgrau]

I eat very little meat but to get what I need I can either do 2 oz. (~50g) of liver per week or 16 oz. (~450g) bluefin tuna per week. The liver is cheaper but raw tuna is just about my favorite food in the world. So what are your guys' opinions on the taste of liver, how to prepare it, etc.?

EDIT: Oh ya canned tuna is out unless they can the bluefin variety.

EDIT #2: The tuna is up to $16 btw (~12 Euro) and requires twice as much driving to get it fresh, assuming I can eat 4 oz. of liver in one sitting.

[Spiryt]

I like to eat it fried with onion. Not light for the stomach, but tasty. :smalltongue:

[factotum]

Can't stand liver, but it's mainly the texture I don't like, oddly enough...gravy which has had liver cooked in it is all kinds of awesome!

[CynicalAvocado]

i'd prefer the raw tuna

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Liver is meh. I'll eat it if I have too, but meh.

[arguskos]

Liver is a very polarizing food. People tend to either love it or hate it, probably because it's crap. :smalltongue:

Personally, as the sushi fanatic I am, I'd roll with the bluefin. Even just from a preparation stand-point, the tuna wins, since you can do like a dozen things with tuna, compared to like 2 things you can do with liver.

[Orzel]

Liver and onions with a potato side and peas was my grandmother's thursday dinner if she was out of salmon or turkey.

It's tasty but nothing I'd ask for.

[RebelRogue]

As tasty as bluefin tuna is, it's a very endangered species these days, at least the Atlantic variety :smallfrown:

As for liver, most people tend to prefer veal over pork. It's definitely not something for everyone. What about poultry liver? In my experience, most people like that better. Included in this category is foie gras, but that's probably too expensive/fat to be of use here.

[Don Julio Anejo]

Eh, I'm probably opposite. I prefer fowl liver (chicken, duck, turkey, etc). On the other hand, fish I don't like much unless it's either fish n' chips, or pollock/halibut made in a type of pie made from fish, sliced potatoes and onions.

[Adumbration]

I like to eat it fried with onion. Not light for the stomach, but tasty. :smalltongue:

And with a cream sauce. That's the best part, get's all the yummy flavors and goes fabulously with mashed potatoes.

[Em Blackleaf]

I will not eat liver. The texture, taste and after taste remind me of bloody sawdust which is something I've never eaten or even seen but I imagine it would taste like liver (of course, I'm not trying to put you off liver, I'm just stating my opinion of it, you may like it :P).

But my mom (and dad AND brothers somehow?) likes it and I think she covers it with flour, granulated garlic, salt and pepper and then fries it in a frying pan with onions and serves it with those fried onions and bacon. I just eat the fried onions and bacon.

But I'm talking about beef liver. I have no idea what any other animal's liver tastes like and it'd be interesting to try.

[ericgrau]

Pork and chicken liver are out b/c they'd require 8 oz. and 16 oz. respectively. Veal is as good as beef. Is there a difference on price and taste between beef and veal?

I checked on pacific bluefin tuna and it's not endangered but it is rapidly declining. And very tasty. I can see why the Japanese were told "eat less fish" and responded with "what if we research hunting dolphins and whales to reduce predation instead"? But it's either bluefin or 4 times as much yellowfin tuna or twice as much salmon or 8 times as much steak. Or a little liver. Or B12 pills, but they're missing both known and unknown nutrients. Choline and omega-3's off the top of my head, for example, which are what the brain and other important things are made of.

[golentan]

I like it with Fava Beans and a nice Chianti. :smalltongue:

Liver's pretty good IMO. I know people disagree wildly on the subject, so giving it a sample is a good idea. I like making it into a Mousse best, because Mousses are always awesome, but fried liver is a close second, and chopped liver with rice and spices is also a personal favorite. YMMV.

[mucat]

Eric, what is your exact goal? It sounds like you're targeting some very specific nutrient, since you've calculated exact numbers and they come out so different for various species of liver and/or tuna.

I'm in the "never really liked liver" camp. If I were just going to eat a chunk of beef liver, I would fry it with onions and garlic...but if I just wanted to eat a couple ounces a week for nutritional purposes, I would probably slice it up and use it as a minor ingredient in a pasta dish or something, where the rich flavor isn't overwhelming.

Tuna can be tasty as hell, and a great motivator to make up a batch of sushi. But if Bluefin is the only species that does what you want nutritionally, then I would recommend against it, and experiment with a good way to cook liver instead. Both the Atlantic and Southern Bluefin species are endangered and overfished.

[ericgrau]

B12, as above, plus misc. things as noted above hence pills are last resort. B12 makes blood. After a few years you get weaker. Practically it's so slow you'd get help before it got worse. But technically you'd die from no blood eventually.

I hope they find better fish conservation methods soon. From what I read it seems like an international diplomacy problem. Fish travel so far that if we regulate fishing it only lets another country fish more. The thing with fish farming is that, like farmed land meat, it's not nearly as good. Farmed salmon has half as much B12 for example. I'm on the west coast so I'd be eating pacific bluefin which isn't endangered but is on its way.

Thanks everyone for comments and preparation methods. Sounds like I'll have to see how liver tastes and see for myself. In the end I might do a mix of both if I can handle the liver.

[mucat]

B12, as above, plus misc. things as noted above hence pills are last resort.

Ah; sorry; I missed that info in the other post.

So yeah, beef liver is unsurpassed as a B12 source, though in the small amounts you're talking about, it won't help with omega-3 or choline. (Granted, beef liver high in choline...but at 2 oz/week, it will be providing all the B12 you need and more, but about 5% of the choline RDA.)

So it's pretty much as if you'd just gone with a B12 supplement; you'll still have to think about good sources of other nutrients. The good news, as you know, is that compared to B12, other nutrients leave you lots of possible sources to choose from. For omega-3, just making canola oil your main cooking oil is a great start, though you'll want other sources too. Omega-3 lipids are one of those "more is always better" nutrients.

Actually, I should qualify that last sentence. I'm not saying that unlimited amounts of fat are good, even if it is omega-3...but within any realistic range of diets, the greater the percentage of your fat intake that comes from omega-3 oils, the better.

[ericgrau]

1. Unknown nutrients. The liver is where the body stores everything. Heck, I'd say my odds might be better with the liver than fish for those. That on top of missing known nutrients are the general problem with pills. Vitamin C pills are notorious garbage as the misc. was discovered long ago and is in oranges. Still an antioxidant by itself though. Less useful for, y'know, scurvy (or for modern relevance blood vessel problems => platelettes => much higher chance of heart disease / stroke).

2. I do have backups for the rest, as tuna isn't enough anyway. They'd be fish oil and eggs though. Vegetable oil is omega 6, omega 3 is usually from animals. As is B12. Hence getting some kind of meat.

[Excession]

Beef (or lamb) liver can be made into pâté, so maybe try that? There's a recipe here (http://farmlet.co.nz/?p=199), though I haven't tried it myself. Personally I love pâté and mostly don't like fish, so I'd go with that option.

[shawnhcorey]

I like my liver with lots of onions, mushrooms, and bacon...and oh, leave out the liver. :smallsmile:

As for B12, most animal products have some, so most people get enough without special diets. Its the only micro-nutrient that's measured in micro-grams, about 2 to 3 µg per day. Since it takes 453 grams to make a pound, it's very small indeed.

[ericgrau]

Yeup not a concern at all for you people who eat a lot more meat than I do. A pound of beef a day does it. Or less plus milk, eggs or other meat. And that's after they increased the RDA 6-fold when they found out 6 mcg is better than 1 mcg (or 2-3mcg). Technically less is still ok.

Misleading myth from a bad highschool video that nutrients required in tiny amounts may be had from almost nothing though. Foods also contain tiny amounts.

[Orzel]

I don't know if it counts but I just had several slices of liverwurst (I bought some cause of this topic).

Sadly l'wurst is only like 1/5 liver or something.

[Coidzor]

It's a bit full of DNA and toxin for my taste. Too much of it can contribute to gout, after all.

Don't care for the texture, either.

Though, I must admit, I'm confused as to how you can think it's a good idea to only ever have one protein/meat food source. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

[Melayl]

I'm of the opinion that anything the body uses to filter toxins out of the blood should not be eaten...

[mucat]

1. Unknown nutrients. The liver is where the body stores everything. Heck, I'd say my odds might be better with the liver than fish for those.
True; liver contains a lot of nutrients. But in the tiny amount you're talking about, -- two ounces of liver per week -- the only significant one will be the B12 (and that only because beef liver contains ridiculous amounts of B12). You'll still need reliable sources for all the rest.


2. I do have backups for the rest, as tuna isn't enough anyway. They'd be fish oil and eggs though. Vegetable oil is omega 6, omega 3 is usually from animals. As is B12. Hence getting some kind of meat.

That's true of most vegetable oils, but not all. Canola oil contains lots of omega-3, olive oil a pretty decent amount (along with a really good spectrum of monounsaturated fats), while something like corn oil contains almost no omega-3.

Still, if you don't eat meat (or even if you do), an extra omega-3 supplement is almost certainly a good thing.

[Lhurgyof]

I don't particularly care for liver, but you seem to like it.

So, I'd say mix it up. Go with liver and treat yourself to tuna now and again. :smallsmile:

[Ashtar]

Liver is yummy! I could it eat it for every meal. Just avoid the livers of certain animals (Hypervitaminosis A could result). Anything served at the local butcher's is fair game.

Onions is a good one to eat with the liver. I like mine with eggs and baked beans.

[John Cribati]

Liver is... alright, actually. It has an interesting texture and flavor. Kind of tangy-salty.

[RebelRogue]

It's a bit full of DNA and toxin for my taste.
Almost anything you eat will be shock full of DNA anyway :smallconfused:

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

The big thing with liver is that it's a very fatty thing to eat. So, I guess if that doesn't bother you, then have at. The tuna option is by far the better one for you, and very tasty too when seared and served rare.

[Keld Denar]

I get my B12 from my multivitain. About 250 micrograms per day, generally taken in the morning to get the maximum effect from the energy boost associated with B12 (and B6!). Multivitamins are just about the BEST thing you can do for your body, nutritionwise. I can't preach this enough.

That said, I'm pro-liver. Its got a little bit of an odd texture, but its not really that odd. Its like a REALLY REALLY REALLY tender steak. The flavor is strong, but not bad. I like it in a pan with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and some fine minced garlic. Quick and dirty, straight to the stomach. Add sautee'd onions to taste, preferably browned in the same pan the liver was cooked in, to add all that livery taste to the onions. Oh onions...is there any food you can't make better?

Then again, I'm pro-meat. If it has 4 legs, wings, or fins, I'll find a way to cook it.

I know you can't get it readily, but if you ever get the opportunity for venison liver, especially never-frozen venison liver, I highly encourage you to try it. Its simply amazing, and isn't something you'll often have the chance to try.

As for beef vs veal on price, veal ANYTHING tends to be more expensive, as you get less quantity of meat per effort that goes into the animal. Again, tends being the active word in play. If you can find cheap veal liver, then kudos to you (share your sources!).

[Assassin89]

I ate calf's liver once at some place in Chicago known as the Publican. I found it delicious, but I'm not going to have it on a weekly basis. Not sure about how to prepare it though.

[Calmness]

Liver can be delicious. However it contains a lot of fat, like Mr. cube o' doom says, and its flavor and texture are rather unique.

Liver with onions is also a heavy dish, even for people who feel little compunction about eating meat. You should probably stick with the fish if you are not a big eater. Fresh fish is always a good choice.

[Keld Denar]

Not all fat is bad though. Penuts have a lot of fat in them as well, and are one of the healthier foods. Your body needs a certain amount of fat to subsist. Simple, easy to break down fats are great for you. Its the complex polymerized fats and trans fats that do bad things to your insides.

Liver, like fish, falls in the former catagory. High protein/fat ratio, and the fat that it contains is generally the good stuff.

Fat seriously has a bad rap. I think they need better PR people...

[arguskos]

Penuts have a lot of fat in them as well, and are one of the healthier foods.

Penuts have a lot of fat in them

Penuts
Keld, why do you make me cry so. WHY?! WHY I ASK YOU?!! :smallfrown::smallfrown::frown:

Also, I still dislike liver on a sheer "what can be done with it" standpoint. It's just not that versatile a food, due to overwhelmingly powerful taste.

[AshDesert]

Liver's not bad, just a really powerful taste. I don't mind, though I know some people do. I think there's also the stigma of it not being one of the "normal" cow parts to eat like the muscly parts that just kind of squick people out, kind of like cow tongue (which is delicious in soup by the way, but that's not what we're talking about). I'd try it, see how you like it.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

Not all fat is bad though. Penuts have a lot of fat in them as well, and are one of the healthier foods. Your body needs a certain amount of fat to subsist. Simple, easy to break down fats are great for you. Its the complex polymerized fats and trans fats that do bad things to your insides.

Liver, like fish, falls in the former catagory. High protein/fat ratio, and the fat that it contains is generally the good stuff.

Fat seriously has a bad rap. I think they need better PR people...

You are correct to an extent. But peanuts have the type(s) of fat(s) that are generally considered good for you, whereas liver has those of which are found to be the fats you should probably avoid (not to mention the loads of cholesterol that liver contains too). That, and liver is generally very high in iron as well, and too much iron is a rather bad thing. Now I"m not saying that eating liver isn't something one should ever do. But it is a food that should not be eaten all that often.

[Linkavitch]

Well, no matter what it tastes like, or how full of vitamins or whatever it is, I don't really wanna eat another animal's poison filter.

[Fri]

As offals go, chicken livers are fine, but I really prefer giblets and intestine. I don't actually like beef liver that much.

[Coidzor]

What is it, grizzly bear or polar bear liver that's toxic due to the B-vitamin content?


That, and liver is generally very high in iron as well, and too much iron is a rather bad thing. Now I"m not saying that eating liver isn't something one should ever do. But it is a food that should not be eaten all that often.

It's generally hard to manage to get too much iron, especially for women (for whatever reason). Hadn't really heard of someone managing to do that with liver before though, then again, maybe gout comes up first from having too much liver and then causes most to lay off of it and that prevents it from being as commonly encountered/known/brought up?

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

What is it, grizzly bear or polar bear liver that's toxic due to the B-vitamin content?



It's generally hard to manage to get too much iron, especially for women (for whatever reason). Hadn't really heard of someone managing to do that with liver before though, then again, maybe gout comes up first from having too much liver and then causes most to lay off of it and that prevents it from being as commonly encountered/known/brought up?

Gout has to do with Uric acid, not iron if I recall correctly ( and if indications from my friend who gets at times really bad gout, excess alcohol can be an issue). As for the iron, I wholeheartedly disagree. Granted we as humans don't absorb a whole ton of iron through food and what not. But your body does not get rid of iron very easily. And not to mention the fact that just a little excess iron in your body can cause serious health issues as it's toxic. Especially for those who may happen to be anemic.

[alchemyprime]

I will not eat liver. The texture, taste and after taste remind me of bloody sawdust which is something I've never eaten or even seen but I imagine it would taste like liver (of course, I'm not trying to put you off liver, I'm just stating my opinion of it, you may like it :P).

But my mom (and dad AND brothers somehow?) likes it and I think she covers it with flour, granulated garlic, salt and pepper and then fries it in a frying pan with onions and serves it with those fried onions and bacon. I just eat the fried onions and bacon.

But I'm talking about beef liver. I have no idea what any other animal's liver tastes like and it'd be interesting to try.

Having tasted bloody sawdust, I can attest to this. I tripped into a pile of it while I had a nosebleed. :smallredface:

[factotum]

What is it, grizzly bear or polar bear liver that's toxic due to the B-vitamin content?


Thought it was dog liver? As discovered by some Arctic expedition that ended up eating their dogs and becoming very ill, ISTR...

[Melayl]

What is it, grizzly bear or polar bear liver that's toxic due to the B-vitamin content?Polar Bear


Gout has to do with Uric acid, not iron if I recall correctly ( and if indications from my friend who gets at times really bad gout, excess alcohol can be an issue).Both true.

[ericgrau]

Iron toxicity usually only happens from pills and - unlike other nutrients - happens instantly, not over months. It talks a 1/2 lb. to a pound of liver to get your daily requirement of iron. The amount of iron stored in the body is 200 times that amount so it's hard to build up too much long term. For other nutrients it's a lot harder to overdose. Overdose from food is overhyped and nearly impossible even if you tried. At worst you might get an amount that's so much it's... worse than ideal. You might never notice. Hmm, maybe if you tried really hard you might pull off iron toxicity, head to the hospital then get completely better in a day or so.

[Ravens_cry]

It's something I have enjoyed, though I haven't eaten it that much. The flavour is definitely unique, as is the texture. Still, I enjoyed it, though I would certainly choose a steak first.

[grimbold]

liver
you have to try it to decide if you like it or not

[Beleriphon]

The big thing with liver is that it's a very fatty thing to eat. So, I guess if that doesn't bother you, then have at. The tuna option is by far the better one for you, and very tasty too when seared and served rare.

Liver should have very little, to no fat in it. Thus why you need an outside fat source to cook it normally, otherwise it gets all dry and nasty.

As for options, chicken livers deep fried are good, although any kind of frying is a good way to go. If you want something a bit different try simmer in some manner of broth (your choice) and make pate, which has the benefit of adding other elements into the liver and helps with texture if you don't enjoy the texture.

[ericgrau]

So I gave it a try and it was a bit strong for my tastes. Not bad, but I don't think I finished even an ounce of it.

On the matter of bluefin tuna, I believe what we really need to push for is are international fishing limits. Laws for local fishing limits only let another country fish more, and you're doing the same thing if you avoid eating it. That solution is really no solution at all. And if we get international limits prices will go up at first of course from less supply, but then as the fish return prices will go down and everyone will be happier.

I don't believe fish farming or eating other fish is a sensible conservation solution either when you need to eat several times as much to get the same benefit. That seems like the opposite effect. And it's not just the B12. For example farmed salmon are white not pink, and must be dyed pink. The color is from a compound in what wild salmon eat, which is a good antioxidant and has other interesting benefits. Likewise land based meats aren't so hot either.

Sustainable methods have already worked in other industries, such as the lumber industry which is already on a managed cycle of selective cutting which can go on forever. It is a shame when misguided environmentalists try to get logging shut down and force us to import from countries that aren't so environmentally friendly. So do what you can to push for an international agreement on sustainable bluefin fishing.

[H Birchgrove]

Swedish chef time! :smallbiggrin:

Have you tried leverpostej or Braunschweiger? It's similar to pâté but softer and easy to spread on bread.

I like fried liver with onions, but my favourite is "liver beef". I don't remember how my mum did them :smallredface: , but I've found some recipes in Swedish:

http://www.coop.se/Recept--mat/Recept/m/mald-leverbiff/

http://www.recept.org/Mald_leverbiff.html

http://airamsmat.webblogg.se/2008/may/pa-g-3.html :belkar: The writer is into the LCHF diet, so if that isn't your cup of tea you may ignore it. On the other hand, she includes European anchovy in the recipe, which a fish lover like you might appreciate.

Copy and paste into Google Translate, and hopefully you get the gist of it. Remember that we use the metric system over here. :smallwink:

http://translate.google.com/#

[AtomicKitKat]

I eat both fairly regularly, so I don't really favour one over the other. Liver needs less chewing(if you dunk it in boiling water for about 20-30 seconds. May vary with altitude.). It's generally sweeter than tuna. If the squeam factor is equal, go with the one which takes less chewing(liver). Although if the tuna's thinly sliced enough, you can swallow it whole. This is assuming raw tuna of course. Cooked tuna tends to require a lot more mastication.

[Amiel]

I hear liver goes great with red wine :smalltongue:

[AtomicKitKat]

I hear liver goes great with red wine :smalltongue:

Preferrably a Chianti?

Liver toxicity is from hyper-vitaminosis A. Only Seals, Dogs, Polar Bears, maybe Punguins(the others are mammals)?

[Gitman00]

As tasty as bluefin tuna is, it's a very endangered species these days, at least the Atlantic variety :smallfrown:

Indeed. Not just endangered, but critically endangered. You're better off eating Siberian tiger. :smalltongue: