Why does it matter which bits of the animal you eat?

[BroccoliSpears]

This is partly prompted by that Disgusting Food programme that was on last night. I don't understand. Why is it yummy and delicious to eat flesh, but abhorrent to eat connective tissue? Liver - fine. Kidneys - fine. Bladder - noooo. Why? It seems pretty arbitrary to me.

"Yum, I am really enjoying this sausage because I think it consists of arms, legs, back and neck... what's that? It contains ears?? I think I'm going to be sick!"

It meks noh senze.

Doesn't bother me although I don't like the texture of liver or kidney so don't eat those although I can cope if liver is pate.

You forgot this sausage has intestines holding it all together, surely?

I remember people trying to gross me out as a kid by informing me that sausages were made by blasting the leftover flesh off the bones. I remember thinking, "what, so exactly the same flesh as the rest of the animal? Why is that gross?"

people are neurotic about offal. I love it and remember being fascinated by a primary school trip to the butchers to find out about this stuff (standard childhood outing in Lincolnshire)

I agree, especially re the blsting the flesh off the bones, and things like ear etc.

T our bodies, it is all just protein, our body doesn't care if it's rump steak of neck.

People are weird.

people often don't like being reminded that they are eating animals

they prefer to think ham just came from a factory somewhere...

Its the thought of putting rubbish like that in mine and my childs bodies.

I buy the highest meat content of everything , sausages, burgers when we have them (normally once a year) Scampi. I dont buy anything that has the word minced and formed on it, like scampi there is a vast difference in price bcause of the actual amount of scampi there is.

I like to think the higher price/higher meat and fish content the better the cut of meat and fish and the less amount sinew, beaks, ears, anus goes into it.

I just can't bear the though of that shit in mine and my childrens mouths.

but why is it rubbish? Why is the muscle on a cow's arse (i.e. steak) so much worse than the muscle that pumps blood round the cow's body (i.e. heart?). It's all protein and from the same animal...

Well I wouldn't eat the gall bladder.
I have spent the last two nights gutting chickens though and now have a container full of chicken necks in my freezer.

what do you do with chicken necks?

but for goodness sake shiny, why is it rubbish? and why would the meat content actually make a differnece (apart from in terms of wanting to pay for protein rather than carbs)?

Seriously, to your body, to anyone's body, protein is protein is protein, ragardless of whether it came form the neck of an animal or the leg.

beaks? shiny I hate to break it to you, but I think you are overly paranoid.

I agree entirely, if an animal is going to lose it's life to become food for us we should respect it enough to eat all of it. Obviously there are one or two bits that won't be edible but the rest is just protein and in the hands of an expert can be turned into tasty, nutritious food.
the whole reason that intensively reared chickens are bred to have unhealthily large breasts that mean that they have a shit quality of life is because, largely, the western world believe that they deserve the 'best' part of the chicken, so what if the animal lives in pain?
Nose to tail eating is the best way of respecting the fact that a living thing has died to feed you.

Necks have a fair amount offlesh on them compared to what you imagine so they go in the stock pot.
I have to admit I balked at keeping the feet but I have tried fried chicken feet and didn't enjoy them.
I do try and abide by the meat manifesto at the beginning of Hugh F-Ws meat book though as it sums up well how I feel. As he sys Offal offers us the chance to pay our respects, ina full and holistic manner......

Scary Carmenere you got there first I wentoff to sort children mid paragraph. He also talks about nose to tail which is such a good way of putting it.

chicken necks are also surprisingly good, shredded, deep fried and seasoned with lots of chilli as a bar snack

Lol at EffiePerine's "standard childhood outing"!

No wonder you cope so well with the vicissitudes of life in N16!

Its just me being over precious I suppose I can't bear the thought of eating anything other than breast, thigh and leg.

Isn't pig the only animal that you can eat every single part of? (i'm guessing apart from eyes)

I really can't stand offal, I have tried it and it's foul tasting, it stinks to high heaven too. Even the dog turned his nose up at hearts

Carmenere I read that as children's necks

SSB: I remember more pigs and less drive-by shootings

oh and shiny, plenty of people eat eyes!

I personally, would draw the line at eating eyes, tongue and bollox but that is because I don't like them, rather than because I think they are inferior as far as protein sources go

Even good quality sausages contain bits you haven't listed shiny because its still good quality meat.

The English are more squeamish about their food than other nationalities it's why we call our meat beef (instead of cattle flesh ~ Rindfleisch) and pork (instead of pig flesh~ Schweinefleisch)

eyelashes too ... i think certain bits are less good for you, certainly any toxins will be in the liver, so whatever pharma drugs they have been given will be hanging about in there. Depends what the animal itself has eaten too, you are what you eat as they say. At the height of BSE cows were fed bone meal, from the ganges now believed to be of human origin.