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The Wise Traditions Pantry

HOW TO COOK LIVER FOR LIVER-HATERS AND WIN THEM OVER!
By Will Winter, DVM

Liver? OMG! Run! If a chunk of liver could were excellent home cooks, so we ate very well. Ninety-nine
be a movie star—which, if you have seen Toy My mother lived to be over one hundred and percent of
Story, isn’t too much of a stretch—I’m thinking needed no prescriptions. She would join me in
Mr. Liver would look like the beat-up young admonishing “Eat your liver!” the liver
boxer Rocky Balboa, the big ol’ muscle-bound, It’s my theory that there are at least two being cooked
gruff-speaking galoot with a heart of gold. Let’s main reasons for liver’s bad reputation. I’m in homes,
face facts here: Liver has been given a bad rap! talking to you now, liver-haters. First of all, 99
There are perhaps only two other table percent of the liver being cooked in homes, and and especially
turn-offs, Limburger cheese and lutefisk, that especially in restaurants, is wretched, smelly in restaurants,
have a worse food reputation than liver. As you and toxic. This is because it is almost always is wretched,
will soon see, Mr. Liver is usually served fresh liver from confinement (commodity feedlot)
and therefore has nothing to do with these two animals. That stuff could actually damage your smelly and
fermented products—but I digress. health, and I wouldn’t blame you at all for hating toxic. This is
At the risk of being a spoiler, this story has it. And it just doesn’t taste good either.
a happy ending. In the end, and after ten hard Secondly, and equally problematic, I’ll bet because it is
rounds of getting savage punches and body that your mom has been cooking it all wrong! almost always
blows, Rocky triumphs over the bad guys. Yay! You will soon see how the cooking part can be liver from
Let’s hear it for Mr. Liver, I mean, Rocky, no easily cured. confinement
wait, I mean Mr. Liver. And, yes, I really do Lastly, and as if the first two were not rea-
want Mr. Liver to win his way back to your table sons enough, why would anyone (except a hater) animals.
and into your heart as well. curse a noble category of nutritionally healing
meats as “offal”? What a travesty. I say we start
LIFELONG LIVER EATER calling organ meats “delicacies” or maybe just
If you didn’t immediately freak out and are “num-nums.”
still reading, I feel qualified to tell this story All of you liver-haters have plenty of com-
because I consider myself a specialist in getting pany. Many of you even make gagging sounds
liver-hating people to eat and even enjoy liver. I and gestures when someone mentions the very
will admit that I know that I have my work cut word “liver.” I work for one of the largest and
out for me. So many people have been turned best 100 percent grass-fed gourmet beef produc-
into “haters” that we’ve witnessed a health and ers in the U.S.: Minnesota’s very own Thousand
culinary tragedy. Many are so hardened and Hills Cattle Company. In our local processing
jaded that they won’t even try my liver recipe plant, we document the circumstances that can
once. This story is for those who might consider lead to the demise of the liver lovers of the world.
meeting liver an inch or two closer than they Liver’s bad reputation, arising mostly from the
had before. widely circulated and erroneous myths, has
Fortunately, I was never among the hat- turned off so many of our beef customers that
ers. I grew up in a farm family where wild we currently send the majority of our incredibly
game and all sorts of cuts from homegrown wholesome and tasty grass-fed liver to various
meats found their way to our skillet and table. raw pet food recipes—oh, those lucky dogs and
My dad and uncles would compete to see who cats! They are getting our best delicacies.
would be first to snatch the tasty odd bits from It is my mission to correct this miscarriage
the platter. Luckily for me, both of my parents of justice.

SUMMER 2020 Wise Traditions 57