What are turkey giblets and gizzards, and what are you supposed to do with them?

If you're a new cook making a Thanksgiving turkey for the first time, you might be puzzled by what's inside the body cavity of your bird: strange little lumps of flesh, oddly shaped and, even odder, gift-wrapped in paper or plastic like something of value.

It's the humble yet clever giblets, which we now attempt to explain. Read on to learn what your turkey did with these bits and pieces, and why you might find them valuable, as well.

Even if you end up throwing them out, you'll learn all about turkey anatomy and poultry parts, which you can use as fodder for the inevitable small talk at your Thanksgiving table.

Of giblets and gizzards

First: giblets (pronounced "JIH-bluhts") is the general term used to describe the "edible offal" of a fowl, typically organs such as the heart, liver, gizzard and sometimes the kidneys. The detached, deskinned turkey neck, which you'll also find tucked inside the bird, is also often included in the catch-all term of giblets.

The heart, liver and neck, unsurprisingly, have a similar function in a bird as they do in a human. But the gizzard is something special. It's part of the digestive system, a muscular food-grinding organ that helps a bird such as a turkey to digest seeds and insects. It's also known as the gastric mill or hen's teeth, because it does what teeth would do — if birds had teeth.

A more scientific name for the organ is the ventriculus. But almost everyone just calls it the gizzard, said Prof. Rob Porter, an avian expert at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.

All birds have gizzards, but so do crocodiles, alligators, earthworms, some fish and crustaceans and even dinosaurs, according to the "8 Things You Didn't Know About Gizzards" page on the website for DeLong's Gizzard Equipment, a poultry processing equipment company in Macon, Ga.

Gizzards and other giblet parts can be simmered with herbs and vegetables to make stock. At Thanksgiving, the stock and minced-up giblets can be mixed with turkey pan drippings, flour and cream to make giblet gravy. Or they can be used to make giblet dressing. The strong-tasting liver, however, is most often roasted rather than boiled before being made into gravy or stuffing.

A Midwestern delicacy

Sometimes these extra bird parts are a star attraction of their own.

You can find recipes for smothered turkey necks, Southern smoked turkey necks, slow cooker turkey necks and curried turkey necks. The New York Times once published a recipe for turkey necks "osso buco style," braised slowly "until the flesh fell away from the bones in tender silky strands."

"There's a lot of muscle in that neck," Porter said.

And fried chicken gizzards are a traditional Southern dish.

"In Uganda, Cameroon, and Nigeria, the gizzard is traditionally set aside for the oldest and most respected male at the table," according to DeLong's.

But Wikipedia asserts that pickled turkey gizzards are a delicacy particular to the Midwest.

It's true, says Reinhard Liebner, owner of the Milwaukee-based Bay View Packing Co. Liebner said his company's pickled turkey gizzards sell well in Minnesota, where they can be found in taverns and grocery stores. They're especially popular among hunters, anglers, snowmobilers and football tailgaters, maybe because the jars of brine-soaked gizzards don't need refrigeration, even months after opening.

"It's convenient. It's ready to eat," Liebner said, and they taste like the dark meat of a turkey, except it's richer, with "more organ flavor. It's a delicacy," he said.

Other giblet gems