[Sca-cooks] Liver for Stefan

[Philippa Alderton]

--- Stefan li Rous <stefan at texas.net> wrote:

> > As far as liver goes, being an organ meat, in
> terms of
> > flavor, IMO, liver is liver, without the
> > differentiation so noticeable in the muscle meats.
> > Where it is very different is in the veining, ie,
> the
> > internal veins which run through the liver for the
> > blood supply. Obviously, those of a chicken are
> much
> > smaller, and unnoticeable, compared to those of a
> much
> > larger animal such as a calf or a pig.
>
> Okay,  this is the kind of info I was interested in.
> Thus
> that cookbook author's substitution of chicken
> livers
> for pig livers might not be that bad.

Well, less different than subbing in chicken for pork
might be in a recipe. Perhaps about as much
differentiation as you would get for subbing chicken
and rabbit for each other. Have I mentioned to you
that you can sub those two in any recipe, with no
tweaking, other than those recipes requiring the
chicken skin, as in my Chicken a la Benson?

> > If you want to taste and compare liver flavors,
> the
> > easiest way is to get some liverwurst, which is
> made
> > of pig liver, and compare it to a liverwurst you
> can
> > make at home from chicken livers.
>
> Well, not particularly. The questions were more of
> an
> academic nature to me. I do question the use of the
> liverwurst to be used to compare two different
> beast's
> livers. Unless you knew they were spiced identically
> with the same additional ingredients added, I think
> you'd
> have to wonder if any taste differance was due to
> the
> different animals or something else.

Well, true, but I was looking for a quick and easy way
for you to try it. Here's a definition from Barron's:

liverwurst

Definition: [LIHV-uhr-wurst; LIHV-uhr-vursht] A broad
term for "liver sausage" referring to well-seasoned,
ready-to-eat sausage made from at least 30 percent
pork liver mixed with pork or other meat. The texture
of liverwurst can range from firm enough to slice to
creamy-smooth and spreadable. It can be smoked or
plain and comes in large links, loaves and slices.
It's generally used for snacks and sandwiches and is
especially suited to rye bread and crackers. See also
sausage; braunschweiger--the most popular of the
liverwursts.

Here's a link to a more or less standard recipe, if
you're interested.

http://www.kitchenlink.com/cgi/public_frames?page=ch/2000/may/homesausage2

Braunschweiger is what I like- it's a very useful,
tasty way to eat liver. Couldn't find any recipes
though.

> > Honestly, the important thing about various livers
> is
> > not the flavor differences from species to
> species,
> > but the freshness from day to day. A fresh liver
> from
> > a freshly killed animal, unfrozen, is the absolute
> > best. Any delay in cooking or freezing has an
> > unfortunate effect on it, in my opinion.
>
> This make sense. But if the taste deteriorates that
> fast, how can you use it in a sausage, haggis or
> liverwurst which are generally done for longtime
> storage?

Actually, most of the recipes I've run across instruct
you to eat them within about a week or two, and
require refrigeration, and all of them require
cooking, and as you know, application of heat changes
the very nature of a food, as well as killing off
nasty little bugs.

I suspect most of these recipes were designed to keep
the liver edible for a longer time originally, as ham,
bacon, and cheese preservation methods were. It was
simply serendipity (and generations of motivated cooks
;-) which made these preserved foods edible as treats
in their own right. When I just ran a search on
liverwurst and braunschweiger recipes, I found most of
them to be those using the two items as an ingredient,
rather than being able to find the recipes for them,
themselves. Muiredach, remember our conversation about
mayonaise last night?

My discovery of the wonders of fresh liver came many
years ago, in New Hampshire, when a friend's father,
who ran a butchering plant, brought over a couple of
calf livers, still warm from the animal. Up to that
point, liver had always been sorta oh well, gotta eat
stuff (I was 11 or 12 at the time) but frying it up
quickly, without over-cooking it, completely changed
my liver view. I still like the older, grocery srore
version, but I will make a serious effort to feed
myself the freshest liver I can get my fork into. It's
one of the treats I look forward to when I butcher ;-)

Phlip

=====
Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions!
http://auctions.yahoo.com