Who eats liver?

[Venturer]

Fried chicken liver at my Grandmother's house every Sunday after church, & you had better grab what you wanted on 1st go around because they would be gonne fast. I have tried them at some restraunts but never found any as good as hers. Recently found some at Golden Corral in a town about 25 miles from me. They were pretty good and not cooked in a deep fryer which for me is a no no. I can eat beef liver but it's not as good to me, my DW will not touch either one.

 

[tmm99]

We occasionally eat beef and pork liver. I like the texture, taste, and everything. I don't like chicken liver as it smells bad to me. I think liver is something you either like or you don't. Kind of like uni (sea urchin), or raw oysters...

 

[NW-Bound]

We occasionally eat beef and pork liver. I like the texture, taste, and everything. I don't like chicken liver as it smells bad to me. I think liver is something you either like or you don't. Kind of like uni (sea urchin), or fresh oysters...

That's it. No sea urchin or raw oysters for me, not even sashimi. I am good with grilled oysters.

 

[Time2]

I recently discovered Braunschweiger by the brand of John Morrell. Made with pork liver and pork. The taste is very mild. It should be on the shelf at your local grocery store. There's another brand which costs more, but I don't like the taste as much.

It comes in a 1-lb log. I eat it like pâté, spread on toast, accompanied by cornichons, black olives, mustard. Yummy!

Found a photo of it on a blog:

I bought that once, as I'm on a carnivore diet and wanted to add some liver, then I saw, "Sugar, Sodium Phosphates, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite), Water, Modified Food Starch, Corn Syrup, Contains 2% or less of: Salt, Flavorings, Potassium Lactate, Sodium Lactate, Dehydrated Onion, Sodium Diacetate, Dextrose, Sodium Erythorbate, Sugar, Sodium Nitrite."


Anyway lost 35lbs on meat, butter, bacon, and eggs, making sure I get plenty of fat. I can eat all I want and feel satiated. Lot's of Ribeye and T bones. Holidays are tough and I fall of the wagon, then it takes a week or two to get off the carbs.

 

[Winemaker]

I enjoy beef liver with sweet sauteed onions. I prefer soak it in milk also a day before. I dredge it in flour, then a light saute'. Do not over cook! It is best when fresh, but when we get our annual beef, several 1# packages go to the freezer. DW will not eat it; she was forced to eat it as a kid.

She and I both love chicken livers. DW puts bite size pieces wrapped in some bacon on a toothpick, with a dab of brown sugar on each. Into the broiler for a few minutes and enjoy!!
.

 

[Alan]

I haven't had it in a very long time, but I like it. Pan fried with sage. The young wife doesn't like it, which is why I haven't had it in a long time.

You and me both

I grew up eating liver, heart, kidneys and tripe. Haven’t had heart or tripe in decades but I still love liver and kidneys.

Today our daughter and SO walked to the pie shop so I did have steak and kidney pie today. (DW doesn’t like kidney either)

ETA

When I saw dredging liver above I thought it was a typo of drench, but multiple people have said it. Another new use of a word I didn’t know about. Dredging to me is dragging stuff up from a river or sea bed.

 

[W2R]

Growing up, we had liver for dinner once a week. My brothers and I all hated it. Our parents watched us like hawks to make sure we ate every single last bite.

As an adult, I have found that I actually LIKE liver. That said, I haven't been able to persuade myself to ever spend my perfectly good hard-earned money on liver, so I seldom eat it. IIRC it is especially good when pan fried in butter with bacon.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I believe this just might be the first post on this forum that has sent shivers down my spine. We had it in the house now and then as a kid and I tried it then and hated it. Fortunately, it was never forced upon me. I'll pass on all livers, gizzards, etc. thank you.

 

[audreyh1]

It's the filter for toxins in the blood. No thanks, not interested.

If it’s pasture fed in a place with little pollution or herbicides this is fine with me. But other than buying directly from the rancher it’s hard to imagine how to verify this.

 

[djsander]

Just the smell will make me throw up. If it’s just very slight I won’t lose it. I don’t know why, but it’s always been that way. Growing up if mom made anything with liver I would eat something else and not get near the kitchen. I get people to tell me this dish is great you can’t even taste the liver. Yes I can and I can still smell it.

 

[Jerry1]

I’m a finicky eater. I can’t imagine eating liver or any organ meat. Same with seafood. I eat beef, chicken and pork. That’s it. I’ve had some lamb and bison in my life, but would never seek it out. I’ve tried all kinds of seafood and except for certain types of fish, like high end tuna and some smoked trout, I can’t eat it. Things like shrimp and lobster about make me sick. Went to an authentic Mexican restaurant with a friend and she ordered something that had tripe in it. Now that I know what that is, I just wonder why anyone would eat that unless they’re literally starving. Just amazing to me what people are willing to eat.

The one regret I have as a finicky eater is when I think about traveling. Especially to places that focus on seafood (like New England and other coastal areas). Then I feel like I’m missing out. But then I smell the seafood and I’m good.

My father in law (rip) could and would eat anything. I’m talking things like squirrel. He’d also order livers when we’d get carry out chicken. No thank you. Interestingly, I never saw them eat beef liver. Not sure why.

 

[Dreamer]

It's the filter for toxins in the blood. No thanks, not interested.

I used to love liver and onions and would order it often at restaurants. I tried fixing it once and I did not do a good job of it.

Once I knew about it being the filter for toxins in the blood, I quit eating it. I have not had it in many years. Rest of my family never cared for it.

 

[W2R]

Growing up, we had liver for dinner once a week. My brothers and I all hated it. Our parents watched us like hawks to make sure we ate every single last bite.

I recently discovered Braunschweiger by the brand of John Morrell. Made with pork liver and pork.

I spent part of my childhood living in St. Louis, which has or had a large German-American population. We often had braunschweiger at school, or when having lunch at other kids' homes. I absolutely LOVED braunschweiger sandwiches! I had no idea until now that braunschweiger had any liver in it. If I had known that, I would have put forth an exceeding eloquent argument for skipping liver that week since I had already had braunschweiger. Oh well!

 

[Car-Guy]

I haven't had any since I was a kid... I don't dislike it but I'm not going to shop for it either. There's probably some mixed in the hot dogs or other things I eat, and that's enough for me.

 

[Sunset]

Like many others, as a kid I was given the opportunity (forced) to eat liver. We had it many times with onions.
Unfortunately my Mom baked it in the oven often, so it was tough as leather.
Back then, you ate everything on the plate, or waited until breakfast, and were sent to your room for the night.
Regardless, I did order it at a diner once or twice after growing up. It was much better than Mom's cooking.

We haven't had it for decades, l think I've lost the taste for it, like I lost the taste for sardines from the can.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

The couple of times I ate beef liver as a kid, I pretty much found it offal , so I have avoided it since. But I'd also love to find a recipe to make it more paletable for me.

For example, the missus introduced me to banh mi sandwiches which I love.
They typically have chicken or pork liver pate. My love of the sandwiches has now made me slightly adventurous enough to occasionally have chicken liver pate as starter now if I see it on a menu. I've even considered making it at home but haven't gone around to it yet.
I guess I also eat foie gras on occasion when I come across it when travelling.

 

[Jerry1]

. . . it was tough as leather.

I remember eating with my FIL once and the meat was tough. All he said was “well then we’re just going to have to get tougher”. He came from a time when you ate what you had - period.

 

[Gumby]

My mother, who went through WWII as an English child getting bombed every night and never having enough to eat, was a fanatic about meals. The rule in our house was that you ate what she put on your plate and you had better eat all of it. If you didn't like something - well that was too bad, because you weren't getting anything different. The upside is that I still will eat anything.

 

[NW-Bound]

I believe this just might be the first post on this forum that has sent shivers down my spine...

Hmmm... Not a very daring pirate, are you?

 

[Time2]

I used to love liver and onions and would order it often at restaurants. I tried fixing it once and I did not do a good job of it.

Once I knew about it being the filter for toxins in the blood, I quit eating it. I have not had it in many years. Rest of my family never cared for it.

You might do a little reading on liver, it is a processing plant, not a storage tank. It does not hold toxins any better than the other meats we eat.
This article says liver (of reindeer) contain a bit more of some chemicals and less of others, but none to the levels that would be harmful. ( I guess reindeer because they knew what they ate and what was in what they ate.)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3417694/


https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/why-liver-is-a-superfood#TOC_TITLE_HDR_5
"Another common concern about eating liver is that it contains toxins. However, the liver does not store toxins. Rather, its job is to process toxins and make them safe or turn them into something that can be safely removed from the body.
In conclusion, toxins in liver are not an issue, and it should certainly not be avoided for this reason."



https://www.marksdailyapple.com/does-the-liver-store-toxins/
"To call the liver a simple filter is incorrect. If we want to maintain the metaphor, it’s more like a chemical processing plant. The liver receives shipments, determines what they contain, and reacts accordingly. It converts protein to glucose, converts glucose to glycogen, manufactures triglycerides, among many other tasks, but its best-known responsibility is to render toxins inert and shuttle them out to be expelled – usually in the urine via the kidney. It doesn’t just hang on to toxins, as if the liver is somehow separate from the body and immune to contamination."


https://riemerfamilyfarm.com/blog/beef-liver

Many people have concerns about liver acting as a storage for toxins in the body. The liver's job as a part of the body is to process toxins and then continue them on through the body's elimination systems. The liver does not store toxins, but it does store many essential nutrients that are used to process the toxins. These nutrients include vitamins A, E, D, K, B12; folic acid, and minerals such as copper and iron. Of all the organ meats, liver is by far the most nutrient dense.

 

[bloom2708]

It's the filter for toxins in the blood. No thanks, not interested.

This is also the reason to be wary of fish. They are essentially a water filter. Trapping all the lead, mercury, pesticides and fun stuff.

My liver hurts thinking about it.

 

[braumeister]

The liver is also one of the organs that are constantly renewing themselves. There is probably not a single cell in your liver that is more than three years old.

But we all have our favorite and despised foods, so I'm a bit surprised that some folks make a big deal out of it.

 

[Winemaker]

I’m a finicky eater. I can’t imagine eating liver or any organ meat. Same with seafood. I eat beef, chicken and pork. That’s it. I’ve had some lamb and bison in my life, but would never seek it out. I’ve tried all kinds of seafood and except for certain types of fish, like high end tuna and some smoked trout, I can’t eat it. Things like shrimp and lobster about make me sick. Went to an authentic Mexican restaurant with a friend and she ordered something that had tripe in it. Now that I know what that is, I just wonder why anyone would eat that unless they’re literally starving. Just amazing to me what people are willing to eat.

The one regret I have as a finicky eater is when I think about traveling. Especially to places that focus on seafood (like New England and other coastal areas). Then I feel like I’m missing out. But then I smell the seafood and I’m good.

My father in law (rip) could and would eat anything. I’m talking things like squirrel. He’d also order livers when we’d get carry out chicken. No thank you. Interestingly, I never saw them eat beef liver. Not sure why.

DW was a finicky eater once but has really changed her variety. She worked at a KFC in HS, so we never at there. She was diagnosed with celiac while we were dating, and stays pretty much gluten free. She detested all seafood at on time, but now enjoys just about everything but clams and beef liver. One of her favorite meals now is braised octopus with chorizo sausage and a glass of Grenache Noir.

 

[tulak]

Liver Dumpling Soup. One of my favorites. We make it with beef livers.

 

[CindyBlue]

Mmm, I love liver!

The best I ever tasted was our own (when I was growing up on the farm) rabbit, chicken, and beef liver.

Rabbit liver, fried (but not overdone!) in butter (no flour coating!) with Lawry's Seasoned Salt applied liberally. I haven't eaten rabbit liver since we left the farm...sigh...

Chicken liver, our own or from the grocery store, is a close second, cooked the same way.

I don't cook beef liver anymore, but beef liver is best when fried in butter and then nestled into a bowl or plate with lots of caramelized onions and perfectly fried bacon. One of the best beef liver bowls (liver, onions and bacon) I've ever eaten was at Bertha's (hope that's the name - it's been years!) in Baltimore.

BUT...I have found liver nirvana at the Harris Ranch Restaurant near Coalinga, California. The fresh beef liver there is perfectly cooked and perfectly presented, on a plate piled high with grilled onions and bacon, on top of a bed of mashed potatoes. I am practically drooling thinking about it...(grin!)