Offal fashionable

Offal may be awful to some but cooking liver or kidney has become trendy.

Nelson businesses have seen an increase in demand for the product, which they believe is due to its popularity in cookery books, magazines and television shows.

In Richmond, O’Neill’s Gourmet Butchery and Delicatessen owner Jeffery O’Neill said he had seen a 30 per cent increase in the sales of offal.

‘‘I don’t think it is a cost thing, I think it is maybe more with the cooking shows on television.’’

He said to buy lamb’s liver it only cost about $3.90 a kilogram while kidneys were only about 50 cents each.

However, ‘‘foodies’’ were being more experimental with their cooking and were not necessarily choosing it because of the price.

They were going into his shop and deciding they might try cooking offal instead of a rack of lamb, he said.

He said the popularity of offal had skipped a generation and come back into fashion.

Westmeat butchery manager Kevin Krammer said customers purchasing offal was not uncommon. People were buying offal because of the price and the availability but also because it is more common in recipes these days.

While they had not seen a huge increase in customers buying the products, when it was on special it sold well, Mr Krammer said.

He said restaurants were buying more of the products too, because they could use them to add variety to their menus.

Nelson’s Fresh Choice owner Mark A’Court said offal was increasing in popularity.

He had seen a ‘‘considerable increase’’ in sales.