offal those parts of a meat animal which are used as food but which are not skeletal muscle. The term literally means ‘off fall’, or the pieces which fall from a carcass when it is butchered. Originally the word applied principally to the entrails. It now covers insides including the heart, liver, and lungs (collectively known as the pluck), all abdominal organs and extremities: tails, feet, and head including brains and tongue. In the USA the expressions ‘organ meats’ or ‘variety meats’ are used instead.
