Next time you hanker for a Red Burgundy...

[Jenise]

...consider this for your meal plan from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

"Cooked kidneys should always be tender and slightly pink near the center. The bursting-out of juices is always a problem when they are sautéed in slices. Unless your source of heat is a very strong one, within a few seconds after the slices hit the pan their juices pour out and the kidneys boil and toughen rather than saute. An excellent solution - and in fat, the best method for kidneys in our experience - is to cook the whole kidney in butter, then slice it, and warm the slices briefly in a sauce. However, if you prefer to saute raw sliced kidneys, do so in a very hot butter and oil for only 2 to 3 minutes. They do not brown, they just cook through, turning a uniform gray outside but remaining somewhat pink inside. Then remove the kidneys to a hot dish, make one of the sauces described in the following recipes, and return the kidneys to warm in sauce without boiling... Red Burgundy goes especially well with kidneys."

And then let us know how it went for you. I'll stick with Coq au Vin.

[Robin Garr]

I don't know ... when I ate animals, I didn't have an organ-meat taboo (except possibly for brains, and I think that was more a texture aversion than a psychological barricade). It seemed to me that preparation is key for most organ meats, including kidneys, and Julia is on the right track with her method. No surprise there!

[Jenise]

Robin, my brother says he and his partner cook kidneys sometimes for their dogs, which causes the whole house to smell like "the bottom of a parking structure stairwell in the wrong part of town".

I definitely have psychological barriers. Heart, blood, brains are all on the other side. I didn't have to turn down the opportunity to try kidneys until just a few years ago and I remember it took some thought about whether or not I could overcome an initial aversion--had I ever smelled what Chris describes there would, of course, have been no hesitation whatsoever.

[Robin Garr]

smell like "the bottom of a parking structure stairwell in the wrong part of town". ... had I ever smelled what Chris describes there would, of course, have been no hesitation whatsoever.

Absolutely!

For what it's worth, though, if kidneys are cleaned and prepped and cooked properly, that's not an issue. I figure that was so obvious to Julia that she didn't even mention it.

[Jenise]

I would suggest that if you HAVE to go to extraordinary measures to clean it, it's not edible. My brother and John care deeply for their dogs, hence they make such food for them. But as Chris added, the dogs DO sniff butts so maybe all that effort to clean up their food is wasted.

I have only had kidneys once, and they were delicious. No hint of nasty flavor or smell. They were professionally prepared, though. Doubt that I'd try cooking them at home.

I'v had good kidney and more bad ones - too strong organ meat notes. On the whole I tend to avoid them.

I've only eaten kidneys once, in a British "mixed grill". I recall they were very slightly urine-y -- recognizable but strangely not completely off-putting -- but I saw no need to repeat it.

Indeed! I have not had kidneys since my Swiss friend David bought some from a nearby farmer, cooked them to perfection - man, that guy can cook! - and served them with a Volnay Clos des Ducs...

A true, true classic!

Greetings from Sweden / Fredrik L

[Robin Garr]

very slightly urine-y

And then you've got your andouillettes ... they go great with a barnyardy Burg, too ...

very slightly urine-y

And then you've got your andouillettes ... they go great with a barnyardy Burg, too ...

I've never had tripe (andouillettes, chitterlings). I've had brain, kidney, heart, tongue, thymus, liver, and some of the more-charismatic-but-less-edible bits (feet, knuckles, ears, tails, marrow, testicles, and god only knows what else I've suppressed from recall). Honestly, only a few are worth putting into the regular repertoire. The rest go under the heading "curiosity satisfied."

Jeff, it's interesting that you excluded tripe while including nearly everything else. I've certainly enjoyed sweetbreads (thymus) but mainly because a good chef will put every effort into the sauce, the best examples were served "sous cloche" and when the waiters lifted the silver domes you just kind of want to dive in. But without that sauce, the meat itself is nothing special. And one of my first meals at a French restaurant involved fried brains cooked in butter and served on toast. I would have eaten that again -- but it came before the whole mad cow thing.

One of my favorite Szechuan dishes is a cold appetizer -- in Chinese it's described as "sliced lung" but in reality it is a mixture of sliced beef and sliced tripe with a rich meaty sauce. I've gotten several friends to eat tripe by ordering that dish. And there are several preps including French and Italian, if it's prepared right there is nothing particularly stinky or distasteful about it.

It's interesting that some of the best French cheeses smell basically like feet -- they say "pied d'une ange" (?) feet of an angel. And in Turkish restaurants I have noticed that they somehow get the kebabs to smell rather like arm-pits which has to be the spicing, it's regular lamb or beef. To me an Andouille sausage often smells a lot like what it looks like.

[Robin Garr]

To me an Andouille sausage often smells a lot like what it looks like.

Andouille (spicy Cajun sausage) or andouillettes, though? As I expect you are well aware, these two confections resemble each other online in the similar name. Andouillettes are chit'lins, although I've never eaten the latter and I have enjoyed the former ... only in France, to be sure. In my experience, even the best andouillettes do carry a scent reminiscent of their origin, but it's very subtle and no more ojectionable than the similar scent in some Burgundies, which is what makes them such an amazing match for me. However, andouillettes also have a texture thing going on, something I can only describe as dozens of thin layers - like puff pastry or phyllo - encased in a sausage.

I had an andouillettes-and-Roquefort pasta in a Paris cheese shop once that was pretty much amazing. With a Villages Burg, of course.

[David M. Bueker]

I'm trying to figure out what I have not had. A couple of times doing a full parilla in Argentina, and you try just about everything.

I actually really enjoy kidneys, but have only had in restaurants* (same with tripe and sweetbreads).

Well prepared kidneys have never struck me as uriney. And they are great with Burgundy.

I like most organ meats. Testicles, fish eyeballs, chicken feet, ears, brains are things they I've tried but wouldn't seek out.

* or takeout- When NYCO was doing Sweeney Todd years ago, Elaine Paige had small steak and kidney pies for the orchestra ((personalized from Mrs. Lovett in the crust). Several from Betsy's section passed, so I had several.