Chopped Liver

Originally published January 26, 2016, but updated somewhat on 12-12-20 and some new photos 1-1-22

 

Perhaps you've heard the expression, "What am I, chopped liver?" It is used by someone who, rightly or wrongly, feels left out of a particular situation; that is, that they are important. Well, this is not about ruffled feathers or hurt feelings, so forget it! This is about the real chopped liver, a chicken liver specialty spread associated very strongly with Jewish culture and cuisine. The history of the dish is somewhat hazy, but it certainly seems to trace back to Jews living among Germans (especially in the Berlin area), Poles, Lithuanians, Russians and Ukrainians. Whether Jews picked up the dish from any of these cultures, or gifted it to these various peoples, is unknown to me. Like many recipes, there are variations to chopped liver, often regarding the addition of herbs or spices. This version is my own.

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken livers
1/2 cup schmaltz (chicken fat)* (you can substitute some regular olive oil or vegetable oil)**
1 medium onion, diced
3 large hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (certainly optional)
1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons dry sherry (use real sherry, cooking sherry has added salt and less flavor)
1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley
1 teaspoon paprika

In a skillet, heat and melt 2 tablespoons of chicken fat. Add the onions and cook until softened. Add the livers, the thyme, the sherry, the salt, the pepper, the cayenne pepper, and the rest of the chicken fat. Cook over medium low heat until the livers are softened, but not completely darkened and dry. Naturally, no remaining blood from the livers should be present. Remove from the heat and empty the contents onto a large platter or board. Use a good large knife to chop the livers and mixture to a coarse level. Add and mix in the chopped eggs. Put everything into a dish and sprinkle the top with parsley and paprika, then cover and place in the refrigerator for several hours. Great spread on rye or pumpernickel bread, or as a sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise, or perhaps mustard, which might be a bit too strong for such a sandwich, but if you like mustard, go for it.

As for some of the variations, some brown the onions, some add marjoram, some add Madeira or other types of wine, some add brandy, some add crunchy browned bits of chicken fat left over from making schmaltz, some do not mix in the chopped egg, but rather prefer to sprinkle it on top, many do not use cayenne pepper. In more modern times, food processors are used by many, I'm sure, and some undoubtedly make it very smooth, so make it as you feel you want it, and I'm pretty sure Golda Meir's ghost won't pay you a visit ... ahh, "Hi there Golda! What ya been up to? What's this, because of my remarks, you're going to serve everybody else lunch, but not me? What am I, chopped liver?"

* "Schmaltz" is the Yiddish spelling of German "Schmalz" (fat, grease). I assume English tends to use the Yiddish spelling, as it was originally borrowed and spread through English from Yiddish sources. Yiddish, which literally means "Jewish," is a Germanic language that developed about a thousand or more years ago, seemingly in the Rhineland area of Germany. It was based upon the High German dialect of that area, with elements from various German dialects, Hebrew, Slavic, and some Latin-based languages, like Rumanian. It was initially referred to as "taytsh/taytsch" (which meant "German," compared to Middle High German "tiutsch" and modern German "Deutsch"). As Jews moved across eastern Europe, they took this language along, thus picking up those various other characteristics from Slavic and Rumanian over time. It seems the term "Yiddish" wasn't really applied to the language until the 1700s. It is still spoken today, even in the United States, principally in New York City.

 

** I've made chopped liver with a mixture of olive oil, a little chicken fat and a little butter, and it's pretty good. The thing to remember is, specialty ethnic foods from various cultures are often based upon tradition, and traditional chopped liver is made with schmaltz. 

 

 

Chopped liver with toast and some cornichons ...

 

 

WORD HISTORY:
Spread-This word goes back to Indo European "sper-id," which had the notion of "strew, toss about." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "spreidijanan," which meant "to spread about." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sprædan," meaning "to stretch forth, spread out." This then became "spreden," before the modern version. The noun was derived from the verb in the early 1600s. The other Germanic languages have: German "spreiten," Low German Saxon "spreden," Frisian "spriedjen" (seems archaic, although perhaps still dialectal), Dutch "spreiden," Danish "sprede," Norwegian "spre," and Swedish "sprida." NOTE: The North Germanic branch, represented here by Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, "may" have borrowed the word from Low German; at least that is the belief of some, and the fact that there is no form of "spread" in Icelandic gives some support to that idea, although a form could simply have died out in Icelandic.

Homemade Liverwurst

A lot of people do not seem to like liver, but liver sausage in various forms has been quite popular in many cultures and cuisines. Of course, by liver, I don't just mean beef or calves liver, but liver from other animals too, most often pigs, chickens, ducks and geese, but certainly from other animals too. There are different names for liver sausage from the various cultures, most commonly: "Leberwurst" in German, pâté in French, and chopped liver in Jewish cuisine. In English interestingly, the most common word is "liverwurst," a compound using the English word "liver," and the German word "Wurst," which means sausage, although "liver" is the close relative of German "Leber." * By the way, this has nothing to do with German "Leberkäse," also, at times, spelled without the ending "e," except for much of the preparation.** So I'm going to do a series of four articles on liverwurst of different types. Of course, liverwurst can often be soft and spreadable, or it can be a bit firmer, and sliced, or sometimes it's something of both. Some liverwurst is in some kind of casing, be it from an animal or artificially made. Some liverwurst is boiled for the cooking process, some is baked, often called a terrine. Some liverwurst is actually smoked, while some has a smoky flavor from the addition of smoked bacon, or smoked flavoring, and other liverwurst has no such aroma or flavor. Many Americans are likely most familiar with the term "Braunschweiger" for liverwurst. "Brauschweig" is the name of a German city located in the state of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), many times rendered as "Brunswick" in English. "To my knowledge" (a dangerous thing), there is no liver sausage made in that city using the name "Braunschweiger." The name seems to have been applied in the United States for liver sausage produced here. One more thing, liverwurst, of whatever type, is high in cholesterol and fat, so you should take that into consideration and eat it in moderation. Now let's get cooking so we can gorge ourselves .... Just joking, nutritionists.  I've seen lots of recipes for liverwurst, but this is something of my own, although many recipes are similar, and I don't use casings, but rather I bake it in a dish.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb calves liver
1 lb pork liver
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 lb pork sausage
1/4 lb smoked bacon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon ground marjoram
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon mace
small amount of butter or oil
1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

In a skillet, add a pat of butter or a small amount of oil, like canola. Add the onions and cook over relatively low heat, just until the onion is softened. In food processor or grinder, add one half of each type of liver and pulse or grind until finely chopped. Add this to the onion in a mixing bowl. Take the remaining liver and pulse it or grind it, but leave it with a more coarse texture, then add it to the mixing bowl. Chop the bacon into small pieces and add it to the mixture, along with the sausage and all of the other ingredients. If you want more smoke flavor, use the liquid smoke. Mix all of the ingredients well by hand and put the mixture into a baking dish, with a lid. You may choose to grease the baking dish first, but I do not. If your dish does not have a lid, use foil to cover the dish. Get an ovenproof pan large enough to hold the baking dish and add about an inch of water to the pan, then place the baking dish into the middle of the pan. The water will naturally rise up the side of the dish, so be careful. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Put the pan with the dish into the oven, mid level rack. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Do not over bake. Remember, while this may look something on the order of meatloaf, it is not supposed to be crispy on any part of it, so definitely check the temperature at the 45 minute mark. The finished product should be easy to slice, but more delicate than meatloaf. (Note: While I haven't done this, I would say the mixture can be stuffed into casings and then boiled as the cooking process.)

* For the history of the words "liver/Leber," see my article:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/11/german-question-part-fifty-nine.html

And for the word history for "Wurst," see my article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/09/german-question-part-forty.html

** "Leberkäse," which means "liver cheese," has no liver and no cheese in its ingredients. Hey, don't complain to me about the name, tell the Germans! It is popular in many parts of the southern German language area, including Austria, Bavaria and Switzerland.

WORD HISTORY:
Crane-This noun goes back to Indo European "gereh/gerohn," which meant "to shriek, to cry out in a rasping voice." This gave Old Germanic "krano," which meant the name for one of the wading birds with a screeching cry. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "cran," with the same meaning. It was quite some time before the word added the ending "e" to signify that the "a" had a long sound. The bird's long neck and general build gave rise to the use of the name for the mechanical device used for lifting. The verb form came from the noun circa 1800.