# Which of these do you consider offal? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963 "2019-11-03T21:03:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/1 "2019-11-03T21:03:09Z")
Based on your personal understanding, which of the items in this poll would you classify as offal? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/2 "2019-11-03T21:49:52Z")
None really although my least favorite would probably be the liver or blood sausage. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/3 "2019-11-03T22:00:23Z")
Ditto. Liver and blood sausage are awful anyway. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/4 "2019-11-03T22:16:15Z")
Only pig trotters\*\* are\*\* offal in my book. Natural casing sausage and blood sausage are **made with** offal casings (assuming it’s natural casing blood sausage), liver&onions and foie gras \*\*contain offal \*\*because liver is offal. Possibly beef cheeks and pig ears are considered offal by some. I wouldn’t think beef cheeks though because they are muscle meat. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/5 "2019-11-03T23:05:50Z")
Right. Internal organs of red meat animals are offal. My interpretation is that fois gras is not, it’s a special case. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/6 "2019-11-03T23:23:48Z")
You left out “none of the above”. I would consider “offal” to be “parts of a butchered animal that no human is going to eat.” Gall bladders. Intestines, but not cleaned ones being used for casings. The stuff that had to be cleaned out of the intestines. That sort of thing. – Interesting. When I google for definitions, [some of them agree with me](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/offal), [others clearly don’t](https://www.britannica.com/topic/offal), and [some give both sorts of definition](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/offal). ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/7 "2019-11-03T23:49:29Z")
Offal is the guts. Heart, liver, intestines, kidneys, all that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/8 "2019-11-04T00:58:59Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Ditto. Liver and blood sausage are awful anyway. kaszanka is not bad. it doesn’t have the iron-y “bloody” or “liver-y” taste to it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/9 "2019-11-04T03:10:39Z")
None of those. Offal is the organs in the abdomen ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/10 "2019-11-04T07:19:56Z")
You left out haggis. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/11 "2019-11-04T16:31:00Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I would consider “offal” to be “parts of a butchered animal that no human is going to eat.” Gall bladders. Intestines, but not cleaned ones being used for casings. The stuff that had to be cleaned out of the intestines. That is a load of tripe. Not your reply–the intestines. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/12 "2019-11-04T17:57:18Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > My interpretation is that fois gras is not, it’s a special case. It’s awful. Some might even say evil. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/13 "2019-11-04T18:25:18Z")
Offal or awful? 😃 They’re all awful except chicken wings. Liver and Foie Gras are technically the only offal in the list. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/14 "2019-11-04T20:08:40Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Liver and Foie Gras are technically the only offal in the list. Liver is basically a blood-soaked bandage. Foie gras is more like a slightly creamed blood-soaked bandage. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/15 "2019-11-04T23:29:45Z")
Liver is considered offal, but onions? Therefore I couldn’t vote for it. But seriously, it depends on the context. Are you wanting to know what the industry considers offal? Or are you me, who refuses to eat pig’s ears? Trotters are considered offal, so is liver and sometimes aspic (if made from the trotters). I can make a case for beef cheeks too. Blood sausage is offal (and good offal) but other sausage might not be if it is made with something like pork butt. Bone marrow is an odd one. If it belongs to a bone-in steak, is it offal? Not really classified as such usually, but if it’s a bone that is usually discarded or boiled for soup, maybe. Hmm. This brings so many more questions to mind. Good puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/16 "2019-11-04T23:31:16Z")
I’ll be honest; I thought offal was a euphemism for feces. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/17 "2019-11-05T01:23:45Z")
To me, it’s organ meat and that sort of stuff. Cheeks? Really? I mean, what, you’re able to eat from the ass end of a pig or cow and are fine calling it pork or beef, and cheeks are offal? How the hell does that work? Same with trotters. Go up on that leg, and you’ve got ham and shoulder, some of the finest parts of the pigs. But get to the bonier end and it’s offal? It’s just meat with more bone to work through. Now, I love offal, except for kidneys. Not a bit fan of those, but I’ll eat 'em. But it puzzles me that trotters or oxtail or cheeks are offal. They’re still just the usual meat of the animal, in bonier places (well, except for cheeks–those I have no idea why they would be offal). By that definition, ribs should be offal. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/18 "2019-11-05T03:22:08Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > You left out haggis. My intention was to include only things that ride the line (except Chicken Wings which I assumed everyone would classify as non-offal and Liver & Onions which everyone would classify as offal). I see now that my definitions weren’t as expansive as I first though. > [@Acsenray](#): > > None of those. Offal is the organs in the abdomen What about brain? I feel like the majority of people would consider that offal. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/19 "2019-11-05T09:00:59Z")
I voted blood sauasage and liver and onions. I would have voted pig’s ears but for some reason skipped over that, so factor that in. Two I hesitated over - natural casing sausage and _foie gras_, and for me, this hinges on what I think offal is - food items made from bits that are not muscle or bone, but as a side item to the main reason that animal is butchered. _Foie gras_ is what that goose was raised for, it’s the rest of a _foie gras_ goose that’s really offal. Chicken livers would be offal. And in a sausage, the casing is not the point, so I don’t consider the sausage to be offal. Unless it’s liverwurst. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963/20 "2019-11-05T09:15:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > None of those. Offal is the organs in the abdomen +1 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-do-you-consider-offal/842963.md?page=2)