# Let's talk about Liver **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [March 2, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144 "2026-03-02T18:02:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/61 "2026-03-04T01:32:34Z")
I love chicken liver. Also duck and goose liver. I enjoy a nicely prepared calves liver. I’ve had pork and lamb liver, and i liked them as much as calves liver, although the flavor and texture are a little different. Beef liver tends to be tough, but carefully prepared (_not overcooked_) it’s nice enough. Overcooked it’s tough and dry and can be bitter. Chicken liver is always available where i shop. Calves liver is a sometimes food. I can often find frozen lamb and pork liver at the farm store. Nothing is cheap at the farm store. Chicken liver isn’t super cheap, but it’s affordable for the food value. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/62 "2026-03-04T05:49:26Z")
Do you also like lizard livers? (Couldn’t resist; I’m assuming you meant to say “liver” and typed “lizard” instead.) I was at my local Fareway (budget Midwestern grocery chain) today and saw beef and calf liver, packaged separately, in the freezer case, and, of all things, alligator steaks. Didn’t buy any of them. I liked liver until I realized it was the body’s OTHER toxic waste disposal site. Once in a blue moon, I’ll eat chicken liver if I buy a bird with giblets. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/63 "2026-03-04T05:52:24Z")
I understand that soaking liver in milk before cooking it is like a marinade in reverse, and the milk soaks up some of the strong flavors. As for cheap meat, I remember seeing a thread, and I’m pretty sure it was here, started by someone who was possibly going to be facing unemployment and had kids to feed, and among other things wanted to know if tripe or chitterlings would be a good meat alternative. Most of us said, “Unless you really know how to prepare those, NO.” ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/64 "2026-03-04T09:52:21Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’m assuming you meant to say “liver” and typed “lizard” instead. Nope, that was what we called them when I was kid. Every whole ckicken would come with a pack innards that mom would fry up and she would give them to us kids while she was finishing frying up the bigger pieces. Lizard, gizzard, heart and a neck would be handed out before supper. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/65 "2026-03-04T10:11:21Z")
I have noted when searching for meat bargains on my local grocery site that there is a lot more of tongue, and tripe, and hearts than there used to be. I think it’s a response to high prices and folks are just willing to try anything to get high-quality protein these days. Two years ago they just didn’t carry those things. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/66 "2026-03-04T16:59:14Z")
I enjoy liver a lot, but (like others have said) I don’t cook it at home because of the smell. I like the aroma but my wife complains. I order it in restaurants when I can. There’s a place just across the border that makes excellent liver Spätzle. Basically this: > **[Liver spätzle with apples and onions ('Gebratene Leberspätzle') - My German...](https://www.mygermantable.com/liver-spatzle-with-apples-and-onions-gebratene-leberspatzle/)** > > Liver spätzle are super delicious. They're savoriness is incredible and they're a staple in the Swabian cuisine. Check out my recipe. When I’m in northern Italy I always look for this: > **[Crostini di fegatini (Tuscan Chicken Liver Crostini)](https://memoriediangelina.com/2014/11/21/crostini-di-fegatini-tuscan-canapes/)** > > Crostini di fegatini—bread slices topped with a savory chicken liver paste—are the iconic Tuscan antipasto. In this version from Giuliano Bugialli's Both times I’ve been in Venice, I’ve ordered this: > **[Kavey Eats » Fegato alla Veneziana (Venetian-style Liver)](https://www.kaveyeats.com/venetian-style-fegato-liver)** Delicious stuff, but admittedly not for all tastes. It’s also pretty rich and a little goes a long way. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/67 "2026-03-04T17:45:48Z")
Is that just maybe catering to a Hispanic market or something? Tongue and tripe are a Mexican staple, not sure about heart, though it’s South American at least (anticucho). I love tongue and heart, I’d like to see it more often at my stores. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/68 "2026-03-04T21:20:05Z")
One wonders if this was how King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard got their name. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/69 "2026-03-04T23:20:46Z")
I don’t think that I could eat liver after reading this article about orca’s fondness for shark livers. Yum. > **[‘Awe-inspiring and harrowing’: how two orcas with a taste for liver decimated...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/23/south-africa-gansbaai-marine-biology-apex-predators-orcas-conquer-great-white-sharks-seals-penguins-trophic-cascade-aoe)** > > A decade ago, up to 1,000 of the apex predators lived in one South African bay. Now they have gone, fleeing from killer whales. But the gap they have left creates problems for other species ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/70 "2026-03-05T18:37:50Z")
tripe is also in southern African American cuisine ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/71 "2026-03-05T18:47:00Z")
I just bought a little piece of calf’s liver. $11, about the size of the palm of my hand! I trimmed it of icky bits as best I could, but there was still some chewy bits while eating, not good! It tasted delicious, otherwise, but expensive, not worth it….I do love chicken livers, I cook them once a year or so with onions and bacon. Always looking for new ways to prepare them, I might have them more often. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/72 "2026-03-05T19:11:07Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > .I do love chicken livers, I cook them once a year or so with onions and bacon. Always looking for new ways to prepare them, I might have them more often. Cerviase’s recommended [Crostini di fegatini (Tuscan Chicken Liver Crostini)](https://memoriediangelina.com/2014/11/21/crostini-di-fegatini-tuscan-canapes/) above looks delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/73 "2026-03-05T19:14:05Z")
I’ve tried making it myself, but it just doesn’t taste as good as when one is sitting on a restaurant terrace in Florence at dusk with a Negroni. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/74 "2026-03-05T19:47:13Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > but it just doesn’t taste as good as when one is sitting on a restaurant terrace in Florence at dusk with a Negroni. Yep, that’s going to increase the prep time for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/75 "2026-03-05T20:33:52Z")
Canada is a nation of immigrants and fresh liver from several animals is available at most local grocers, though not necessarily on every day. (It is freshest in a specific day, which differs for each store). Beef liver goes for perhaps five Canadian dollars a pound, US $3.50… While I grew up eating organ meats, I rarely cook them at home. A local restaurant still makes beef liver with onions, bacon and gravy with sides - they say they sell a lot of it - sold at a reasonable price and better than my efforts. I think liver is healthy, though not a panacea. Cheap cuts of beef and other meats can often be converted to ambrosia with a little patience and knowledge. The bigger problem is cheap meats are often no longer cheap; such as chicken wings. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144/76 "2026-03-06T17:09:07Z")
While all of the giblets from a dinosauroid are acceptable in a giblet gravy, it is my contention that the livers of mammals are not made out of food. If you have to take a liver out of a dead cow, transplant it into a cow with cirrhosis. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-liver/1028144.md?page=3)