Heart as Food: Nutrition, Diet and Cooking by R.Borgacci

Generality

Generalities on the heart as food

The heart is a meat food; it is a muscle that, at the same time, belongs to the whole of the fifth quarter - the same as the offal. Read also: Liver as Food.

The hearts most widespread in the Italian diet are: bovine heart, pork heart, sheep's heart, horse's heart and chicken's heart.

From a nutritional point of view, being rich in high biological value proteins, specific vitamins and minerals, it belongs to the first fundamental food group; however, certain undesirable characteristics must also be mentioned, such as the richness of cholesterol, purines and poor chewiness and digestibility. From the hygienic point of view, as regards the presence of pharmacological residues and environmental contaminants, it is to be considered safer than other offal such as the liver, kidneys, brain, bone marrow etc.

As we all know, the heart is the organ responsible for pumping blood inside the body; therefore, it has a remarkable contractile function. This mechanical-hydraulic capacity - self-managed by the pacemaker cells, although influenced by hormones and neurotransmitters - is carried out by a complex physiological mechanism which translates as follows: signal triggering and transduction, fibrocellule shortening and muscle bundles - myocardium - increase in internal pressure of the cavities - first the atria and then the ventricles - synchronization of the opening and closing of the valves - atrioventricular and semilunar.

The culinary preparation of the heart requires, first of all, an accurate cleansing - modeling of the cut of meat, eliminating the excess connective tissues. It is cooked quickly, mostly in a pan. Only very few recipes require a long and intense heat treatment. It goes well with any vegetable ingredient, from cereals, tubers and legumes to vegetables and even sweet and oily fruits. It goes well with both butter and extra virgin olive oil.

Nutritional Properties

Nutritional properties of the food heart

Rich in high biological value proteins, category-specific vitamins and minerals, the heart belongs to the first fundamental food group. It also has some not really desirable characteristics, such as the richness in cholesterol - not visible in the table below, since it is available only for cooked food - it is quite high - and purines, and a chewiness as well as a difficult digestion, which we will analyze better in the next lines and in the paragraph below.

The heart is a more nutritious and less fat food than the average of musculoskeletal meat. Calories are mainly supplied by proteins, followed by lipids and traces of carbohydrates. The peptides of the heart are of high biological value, that is they contain all the essential amino acids in the right quantities and proportions with respect to the human model. The prevalent amino acids are: glutamic acid, leucine, lysine and aspartic acid. The fatty acids have a prevalence of the unsaturated compared to the saturated ones, and the polyunsaturated ones - among which the essential seeds of the omega 6 and omega 3 group - have a ratio of 1: 1 with the saturated ones. The carbohydrates contained in the fibrocellule should be soluble.

The heart does not contain dietary fiber; it is instead rich in cholesterol and purines. No traces of lactose, gluten or histamine are seen.

As far as minerals are concerned, the heart seems to abound with phosphorus even though, in relation to human nutritional needs, it is more interesting for the proportion of heme iron - highly bioavailable. Discrete levels of zinc and potassium are not lacking.

Also with regard to vitamin supply the heart does not disappoint; an abundant portion of the heart is able to cover the total needs of riboflavin (vit. B2), and almost all of thiamine (vit. B1) and niacin (vit. PP); the concentration of pyridoxine and cobalamin is also good - not visible in the table. However, considerable levels of vitamin C - ascorbic acid - and of any liposoluble vitamin are not appreciated.

Various types of heart food compared

Nutritional composition of the Heart - Reference values ​​of the INRAN Food Composition Tables

Hygienic aspects of the food heart

From a physiological and compositional point of view, the heart is very similar to skeletal muscle. This distinguishes it from most other offal, for example the liver, the kidney (kidneys), the brain, the bone marrow etc; instead it is similar to secondary slaughter derivatives such as the diaphragm. It has no metabolic or filtering function and is poorly equipped with fat deposits; for this "it should" constitute a safer food from the hygienic point of view, as regards the pharmacological residues - for example antibiotics or hormones - and the environmental or alimentary contaminants.

Diet

Heart in the diet

The heart is a food that, due to its low caloric intake and low concentration of fatty acids, is suitable for weight-loss diets - low-calorie and normolipidic.

On the other hand, this food is not entirely advisable in the case of metabolic pathologies, especially as regards hypercholesterolemia. This does not depend on the ratio of fatty acids, as much as on the level of cholesterol; in an average portion of the heart half of the recommended daily cholesterol ration is reached and as much as 2/3 of that suggested for a hypercholesterolemic.

The heart, like the rest of the meats, the milk and the lean derivatives, the fishery products and the eggs - but not only - is instead a strongly advisable food to guarantee the contribution of essential amino acids. Conditions that determine an increased protein requirement are: pregnancy and lactation, growth, extremely intense and / or prolonged sporting practice, third age - due to an eating disorder and a tendency to malabsorption - malabsorption, recovery from specific or generalized malnutrition, debasement.

It could be considered among the best nutritional sources of iron. Placing it regularly in the diet would undoubtedly facilitate the coverage of the recommended ration, greater in fertile women, above all pregnant and in conditions of iron deficiency anemia.

It favors the coverage of phosphorus requirements, abundant in bones and phospholipids - contained in cell membranes and in the nervous tissue - of potassium, alkalizing and necessary for the functioning of the membrane potential - is lost profusely with sweating, urine and possibly with diarrhea - and zinc - antioxidant and enzymatic constituent of great importance.

It is rich in B vitamins, coenzymatic factors of great importance in cellular processes, the heart could be considered an excellent nutritional source for the correct functioning of all tissues.

Containing very significant levels of purines, it is not recommended for those suffering from hyperuricemia and especially gouty attacks, as well as for those who tend to kidney stones or uric acid lithiasis. It has no contraindications for lactose intolerance, for celiac disease and for histamine intolerance.

It is not allowed in the vegetarian and vegan diet. Relevance in religious nutritional regimes depends almost always on the animal of origin.

The average portion of the heart is 100-150 g (about 140-210 kcal).

Kitchen

Heart food in the kitchen

The heart is a fairly difficult food to cook. Regardless of taste, the cardiac is a very dense, compact and rich in connective tissue - peri and endocardium, heart valves, origin of the large vessels. For this reason, cooking tends to give it a certain "chewiness" and requires a fairly energetic chewing.

The loose fibrillar connective tissue that covers the muscles and the cavities of the heart is very resistant, both to thermal and mechanical stress. This means that, even trying to melt it through very long cooking, it is practically impossible to make it tender - as is the case with broth muscle.

It should also be specified that, when cooked intensely, different myocardial proteins tend to contract hardening and "squeezing" the meat making it lose all the liquids. For this reason, in the pan, the heart must be cooked quickly and not too intensely. As an alternative it is possible to baste a medium long cooking that will have a positive effect on the myocardium but - as already said - not on most of the connectives.

Personally, I suggest working the heart as follows:

1. External cleaning of the food, elimination of blood vessels and possible removal of the covering connective tissue;
2. In the case of a large heart, it is necessary to cut into thin and absolutely TRANSVERSAL steaks with respect to the direction of the fibers; to avoid the longitudinal cut of the heart, since after cooking the meat would be so hard that it is almost inedible;
3. Trim the slices of heart, trimming the cavities from the removable connective tissue.

The cooking of the heart must take place with a hot but not hot pan, with a little oil or butter and possibly without salt. Cooked very intensely, the food tends to lose water and harden quickly, so I suggest using fairly thin cuts and treating them with very quick cooking and direct salting in the dish. Alternatively, we can blend with white wine and prolong the cooking of the heart over medium heat by adding broth - if you also want tomato sauce - for about two hours.