Variety Meats

Variety meats include the edible internal parts of an animal, such as the liver and kidneys, as well as the head, tail and feet. The term also covers delicacies such as sweetbreads, brains and testicles (also called fries and mountain oysters), and more robust food like tongue and tripe, as well as oddities that are more rarely eaten, such as ears, cheeks and stomach.

Liver is generally accepted, but a taste for kidneys and sweetbreads varies from country to country. Interest in other types of variety meats is even more limited in the United States and Britain, where dishes such as Lancashire tripe and onions, and Texas mountain oysters (calf’s testicles) are regarded as regional eccentricities.