Ovine Liver by R.Borgacci

What's this

What is sheep's liver?

Sheep's liver is a food of animal origin that is part of the offal group; within the fifth quarter of the animal - which also includes products such as: coratella, tripe, rinds, heart as a food, brain as a food, spleen as a food, language as a food, nerves etc - is probably one of the most consumed cuts in Italy and abroad.

Sheep liver is classified in the first fundamental group of foods, since it contains proteins with high biological value, specific minerals and vitamins. It also uses more than relevant nutritional concentrations of: other water-soluble vitamins - different from those typical of the group of foods in question, such as folic acid and vitamin B12 or cobalamin - fat-soluble vitamins - vitamin A or retinol and vitamin D or calciferol - other minerals different from those typical of the group of foods in question - for example zinc, selenium and phosphorus - cholesterol, purines, etc. Sheep's liver also provides a small concentration of glycogen - a reserve carbohydrate, however strangely detected as soluble carbohydrates - and vitamin C or ascorbic acid. The nutritional characteristics of sheep's liver are the fruit of his biological duties; for more information read also: Liver as Food.

Sheep's liver can be inserted in almost all diets; the diet against metabolic disorders and the nutritional regime of pregnant women are exceptions or require greater care. The average portion is equal to or less than that of the muscular cuts and the frequency of consumption must respect the identical recommendations for meat. It is always advisable to pay attention to the level of hygienic safety of the product.

The sheep's liver is not the most commonly used for food. It is exceeded, for commercial demand, from the liver of hen (fegatini), from the liver of bovine and from the liver of pig; it has a similar level of consumption, probably slightly higher - for some local gastronomic traditions - with equine liver.

Curiosity

In the food sector, sheep is basically understood as sheep, lamb, ram (mutton) and mutton (private ram of the gonads). Note : regardless of ethics and personal principles, young animals, such as lamb and lamb, are considered more suitable for consumption - due to their soft consistency and delicate flavor.

That of the sheep ( Ovis ) is a biological Genus belonging to the Subfamily Caprinae, Family Bovidae and Classe Mammalia. Sheep and mutton, or castrato - of which young animals are lamb and lamb - are better identified as species O. aries . Note : Moufflons and goats belong to the same Family and Subfamily; however, while the mouflon also shares the same genus ( O. musimon ), the domestic goat is of the genus Capra ( C. hircus ).

Nutritional Properties

Nutritional properties of sheep's liver

The sheep's liver belongs to the first fundamental group of foods - nutritional source of essential amino acids, mineral salts and specific vitamins.

It has a medium energy supply, mainly provided by proteins, followed by lipids and finally by few carbohydrates. Peptides have a high biological value, ie they contain all the essential amino acids in the right quantities and proportions with respect to the human protein model. The amino acid profile of sheep's liver is largely made up of: glutamic acid, aspartic acid, leucine and lysine; remarkable the presence of phenylalanine. Sheep's liver has a high amount of energy lipids - fatty acids organized in triglycerides - only when supercharged. The lipid profile of sheep's liver should highlight a prevalence of unsaturated fats on saturated fats - the latter still relevant. Carbohydrates are made up of glycogen; however, in the nutrition tables they are referred to as soluble carbohydrates.

The sheep's liver does not contain fibers and, regardless of the nutritional status of the slaughtered animal, is rich in cholesterol. It does not contain lactose, gluten or histamine; instead purines abound.

Regarding vitamins, sheep liver contains all the soluble products of group B: thiamine (vit B1), riboflavin (vit B2), niacin (vit PP), pantothenic acid (vit B5), pyridoxine (vit B6), biotin ( vit B8 or vit H), folic acid and cobalamin (vit B12); curious - and unique in the first fundamental group of foods - but quantitatively poor, the presence of ascorbic acid (vit C). The contribution of two liposoluble vitamins is also excellent: retinol (vit A) and calciferol (vit D). Note : folic acid and vitamin C are thermolabile, which is why they do not "resist" cooking by irreversibly deactivating themselves.

As for minerals, sheep's liver is distinguished by significant concentrations of: iron - highly bioavailable - zinc, phosphorus, selenium, potassium, copper and molybdenum.

Hygiene

Hygienic aspects of sheep's liver as food

Being the organ mainly responsible for metabolic processes, the liver can contain unwanted molecules; these have both pharmacological derivation and environmental or food origin - for example dioxins, methylmercury, selenates, etc. This depends above all on the lifestyle of the slaughtered animal. The sheep for slaughter come exclusively from specific farms, aimed at food, which is why the use of antibiotics and anabolics varies considerably depending on the source of supply.

Did you know that ...

Are Italian farms certainly among the most controlled and regulated in Europe? Moreover, thanks to the regulations of the European Union, products of poor healthiness are unlikely to constitute the food market of the Old Continent.

The same applies to environmental pollutants; in this case, the contamination of the meat takes place above all when the animals feed and drink on land or from compromised aquifers. The hypothesis that feed contains pollutants - especially metals - is remote, but not impossible.

Also, sheep can also be affected by parasites; for this reason, before the trade, it is essential - and therefore obligatory by law - for the veterinary inspection of farmed animals.

In general it is advisable to choose guaranteed products, equipped with traceability and traceability - better if national; buying a sheep liver taken from animals slaughtered at home can be a thoughtless choice.

Diet

Sheep liver as a food in the diet

Sheep's liver is a cheap and very nutritious food that lends itself to the diet of all healthy subjects. In the slimming diet it is instead advisable to reduce any fat for cooking, such as oil or butter, to ensure a normolipidic and low-calorie intake.

Despite the good ratio of fatty acids (saturated: unsaturated = <1), due to the high cholesterol content, sheep's liver is not particularly suitable in case of hypercholesterolemia. In a portion of sheep's liver you should find at least 50% of the recommended daily cholesterol ration and 75% for a hypercholesterolemic.

The sheep's liver, rich in high biological value proteins, is very useful in the diet of those who find themselves in conditions of increased protein requirements; for example: pregnancy and lactation, growth, extremely intense and / or prolonged sports, old age - due to an eating disorder and a tendency to malabsorption - malabsorption, recovery from specific or generalized malnutrition, debasement, etc.

Sheep's liver provides a significant amount of phenylalanine and is not among the foods suitable for phenylketonuria.

It is an excellent food source of bio-available iron and, regularly consumed in the diet, optimizes the coverage of nutritional requirements. This is greater and, if not appropriately satisfied, related to the incidence of iron deficiency anemia, in fertile women - especially pregnant women - in marathon runners and vegetarians - especially in vegans. The sheep's liver contributes to the coverage of the phosphorus requirement, abundant in the organism - in particular in the bones, in the phospholipids of the cellular membranes and in the nervous tissue etc. The content of zinc and selenium is more than appreciable; these two antioxidant minerals also have many other functions: zinc is essential for hormonal and enzymatic production, selenium for the health of the thyroid gland. It is not considered an essential source of potassium, but still contributes to covering the specific needs - greater in case of increased sweating, for example in sports, increased diuresis and diarrhea; the lack of this ion induces, especially related to lack of magnesium and dehydration, the onset of muscle cramps and general weakness. It is an alkalizing agent - like magnesium - necessary for the functioning of the membrane potential; it can be very useful in the fight against the pathology of primary arterial hypertension.

The sheep liver is rich in B vitamins, all coenzymatic factors of great importance in cellular processes. It can therefore be considered an excellent support for the functioning of all body tissues. The vitamin D content is important and very useful; also called calciferol, this nutrient is necessary for the functioning of the immune system and for bone metabolism. It is a generally rare vitamin in food although, on the other hand, it is synthesized in the skin during the summer - thanks to sun exposure - and stored precisely in the liver. This food is therefore recommended in the diet of the growing person and also in the preventive one osteoporosis. Very rich in vitamin A, it helps support visual function, cell replication, reproductive function, etc. However, given and considering the potential teratogenic effects related to the nutritional excess of this vitamin, it is advisable for pregnant women to pay attention to the potential excesses.

The content of vitamins normally extraneous to foods of animal origin is interesting, although of secondary importance; we are talking about folic acid - necessary for the replication of nucleic acids and very important in pregnancy - and vitamin C - antioxidant and essential for the immune system. Sheep's liver is a food that - due to hygienic, organoleptic and taste issues - requires deep cooking, right down to the heart of the food, with temperatures above those of pasteurization. Folate and vitamin C are very vulnerable to high temperatures, as a result of which they tend to degrade; for this reason, sheep's liver cannot be considered a significant source of the aforementioned nutrients.

Containing important levels of purines, sheep's liver is not recommended for those suffering from hyperuricemia - especially severe, with gouty attacks - and for those who have a greater tendency to calculosis / renal urinary lithiasis.

It is instead pertinent in lactose intolerance, in celiac disease and in histamine intolerance. It is not allowed in the vegetarian and vegan diet. It is inadequate for Hindu and Buddhist food; should not have contraindications for those Muslim and Jewish; on the contrary, sheep are widely consumed by religious peoples who, from the beginning, bred them for herding purposes and for slaughter.

For the hygienic aspects mentioned above, it is necessary that the subjects with compromised immune system and those in special physiological conditions - for example pregnant women - pay particular attention:

• to the cooking of sheep's liver - which must be total and deep -
• to the choice of the source of supply, which must necessarily be of a regular and certified type, and possibly of a high quality standard.

The average portion of sheep's liver is 100-150 g (about 135-205 kcal).

Kitchen

Advice for purchases of sheep's liver

To recognize a good sheep's liver from a poor quality one, we must be able to observe:

1. Bright, turgid and NOT dehydrated appearance
2. Typical color (depending on the animal species of origin), not spotted or dotted.

Being highly perishable, it is necessary that the sheep's liver is always kept in refrigeration or by freezing.

Culinary aspects of sheep's liver

That of sheep has a very intense taste but, among the various types offered on the market, it is not the strongest and most demanding on the palate - instead attributed to the pork liver. The taste is initially sweetish, secondarily accompanied by distinctly bitter notes - more important in adult animals. The feeling of being held is common to all livers.

As we have already pointed out, sheep's liver is an exclusively cooked food to eat. The preferred processing methods are those for conduction, in the pan or in a casserole, but often it is also prepared in the oven (convection method) or grilled (irradiation and / or convection method).

The most common recipes based on sheep's liver are the same as for pork liver, bovine liver and equine liver.