The Classic Boomer Comfort Food Younger Generations Won't Touch

How likely are you to order a plate of liver and onions at your local diner? Have you ever ordered it or even cooked it at home for yourself? According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations via Today's Dietitian, America ranks 171st out of 175 countries for offal consumption, meaning organ meat. Most of the 0.97 pounds the average American eats per year comes from hot dogs and sausage. Americans just don't want to eat organ meat. Unless, of course, they're Boomers.

Although chitlins, made from pig intestine, or sweetbreads, made from thymus glands or pancreas, are regional delicacies, most organ meats are not eaten by the majority of Americans. Many Boomers, however, grew up eating things like fried gizzards or liver and onions. "My dad loved liver, gizzards, hearts, brains, tripe," one Redditor shared on a thread about liver and onions at diners. Others shared tales of fried chicken hearts or how their parents ate liver regularly.

Boomers didn't necessarily want to eat organ meat when they were kids. Offal was pushed by the government during wartime because of meat rationing. These cuts are also highly nutritious, offering more nutrients than many muscle meats we regularly consume. But America has long been opposed to the very idea of organ meat in ways few other countries are. There are a number of reasons why people didn't eat offal back in the day, and why younger generations avoid it now.

Research into why Americans weren't keen on organ meats during WWII showed some simple reasons. First, most people didn't know how to prepare it, and many in the younger generations still don't. If you have never eaten a food, odds are you won't know how to cook it. Beyond that, there was also the idea that offal and organ meat were poor people's food. This perception also contained a racial element. Chitlins, fried chicken livers, and oxtails were all considered cheap cuts and featured prominently in soul food.

You can find threads on Reddit where people discuss parents or grandparents who enjoyed liver and onions or gizzards, often describing them as family recipes from times when money was tight. The pervasive idea is that these foods belong to a bygone era and to times when there were few other options. Given the government's push for offal during the war, that holds true in more than one way. People were forced to eat these cuts, and they never really wanted to. While some developed a taste for them, they didn't stand the test of time for most.

There's a further stigma attached to organ meats, fueled by pop culture, that they're just gross. That there's something wrong with them, while muscle meat is considered normal. There's even a myth that they contain toxins. In reality, most cultures prepare offal and organ meats frequently because they can be very tasty and nutritious. If you want to try it yourself and connect with dinner the way your grandparents may have, we have a classic liver and onion recipe to guide you.