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Offal is the entrails and internal organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a
particular list of organs, but includes most internal organs other than muscles or bones-not skeletal
muscle. The term literally means off fall, or the pieces, which fall from a carcase 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 Australia the term fancy meats can be used to describe offal.
Depending on the cultural context, offal might be considered as waste material that is thrown away,
or as a delicacy food commanding a high price. Offal not used directly for human or animal food is
often processed in a rendering plant, producing material that is used for animal feed, fertiliser or fuel.
The taste and texture of offal depends on the particular organ, and on the species and age of animal
from which it came.
The type of offal used in any given culture depends on the favoured meat animal, which might, in
turn depend on religious dietary laws. For example, Muslim countries use much lamb offal. The
Chinese have numerous ways of dealing with organs from pigs. In China, in fact, many organs and
animal-parts are used for food or traditional Chinese medicine.

In some parts of Europe, brain, chitterlings or andouilles (pig's large intestine), feet or trotters,
gizzard (bird's crop), heart, head (of pigs or calves), kidney, liver, lights (lung), sweetbreads (thymus
or pancreas), tongue, and tripe (stomach) from various mammals are common menu items.
The traditional Scottish haggis consists of sheep stomach stuffed with a boiled mix of liver, heart,
lungs, rolled oats and other ingredients. In the UK Midlands faggots are made from ground or minced
pig offal (mainly liver and cheek), bread, herbs and onion wrapped in pig's caul. Steak and kidney pie
(typically featuring veal or beef kidneys) is widely known and enjoyed in Britain. Brawn is an English
term for head cheese or the collection of meat and tissue found on an animal's skull (typically a pig)
that is chilled and set in gelatine.
Iceland has its own version of both the haggis and the brawn. There actually exists two types of
Icelandic haggis where one is liver-based and the other one consists of blood, wheat, salt and fat and
is completely black in colour when cooked. Icelandic brawn is made from sheep and it is eaten either
hot or cold, off the bone or set in gelatine.

In Greece and Turkey, splinantero consists of liver, spleen and small intestine, roasted over an open
fire. A festive variety is kokoretsi (from Turkish kokoreç) - pieces of lamb offal (liver, heart, lungs,
spleen, kidney and fat) are pierced on a spit and covered by washed small intestine wound around in
a tube-like fashion. Kokoretsi is then roasted over coal fire. It is a traditional Easter feature food.
Another traditional Easter food is Mageiritsa - a soup made with lamb or kid offal and lettuce in a
white sauce. Tzigerosarmas (from Turkish Ciger Sarmasi-meaning Liver Wrap) and Gardoympa are
two varieties of splinantero and kokoretsi made in different sizes and with extra spices to improve
the taste.

In Italy consumption of entrails and internal organs is quite widespread. Among the most popular
preparations are fried or stewed brain, boiled intestines (Trippa), often served with tomato sauce,
lampredotto (the fourth stomach of the cow), boiled in broth and seasoned with parsley sauce and
chilli, liver (stir-fried with onions, roasted), kidneys, heart and coronaries (coratella or animelle), head,
eyes, testicles of pig; and several preparations are based on chicken entrails.

In the French city of Marseilles pig's feet and a package of pig tripe are a traditional food under the
name pied paquet.

In some Latin American countries, tripe is used to make menudo; in others, like Peru, cow heart is
used for anticuchos - a sort of brochettes.
In Brazil, churrasco often includes chicken hearts, roasted in a big skewer. The typical feijoada often
contains pork trimmings (ears, feet and tail). Gizzard stews, fried beef liver and beef stomach stews