Chopped liver (, ''gehakte leber'') is a liver pâté popular in

Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of Traditional food, cooking traditions that was developed by the Ashkenazi Jews of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, Northwestern Europe, Northwestern and Northern Europe, Northern Europe, ...

. This dish is a common menu item in kosher Jewish

delicatessen A delicatessen or deli is a grocery that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessens originated in Germany (contemporary spelling: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the mid-19th centur ...

s in Britain, Canada, South Africa, Argentina and the United States.

Preparation and serving

The dish is often made by sautéing or broiling

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

and

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

s, adding hard-boiled eggs,

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

and pepper, and grinding that mixture. The liver used is generally

veal Veal is the meat of Calf (animal), calves, in contrast to the beef from older cattle. Veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any List of cattle breeds, breed; however, most veal comes from young male calves of Dairy cattle, dairy b ...

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

, or

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

. The quintessential fat used is schmaltz, but different methods and materials exist, and the exact process and ingredients may vary from chef to chef. Chopped liver is often served on

matzah Matzah, matzo, or maẓẓah ('','' : matzot or Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashk. matzos) is an Unleavened bread, unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which ''chametz'' (lea ...

, or with rye bread as

sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

es. File:כבד קצוץ.jpg, Chopped liver File:Chopped liver.jpg, A chopped liver meal on bagels with sour cream herring and onions

Variations and alternatives

Chopped liver is high in

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

, but also high in

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...

and

cholesterol Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body Tissue (biology), tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in Animal fat, animal fats and oils. Cholesterol is biosynthesis, biosynthesized by all anima ...

. There are low-fat, mock and

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

alternatives, often made of a combination of peas, lentils, string beans, eggplant, or mushrooms.Vegetarian Chopped Liver (Pareve) http://kosherfood.about.com/od/vegetarianmaindishes/r/vegie_chopliver.htm

As an expression

The Random House '' Historical Dictionary of American Slang'' identifies the earliest use of the expression "chopped liver" in its derogatory sense—meaning "something trivial; something to be scoffed at"—as

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

's statement on his 1954 CBS-TV show, "Now that ain't chopped liver." In a 1980 monologue,

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...

humorously referenced the phrase while discussing unemployment statistics, saying, "If everyone on welfare were chopped liver, you could spread them on a line of Ritz crackers from here to Bulgaria." A decade later, actor Michael Douglas used the phrase to express frustration about his secondary role in a movie, saying, "What was I—chopped liver or something?" This show-business usage helped transform the dish into a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

for disdain. Its evolution may also have been shaped by underworld

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

, where it referred to "a beaten and scarred person," and by the urban adaptation of the rural expression "That ain't hay." The dish became associated with triviality and was often used as a humorous metaphor by Jewish comedians in the Borscht Belt. Lexicographer Sol Steinmetz suggests that its status as a mere side dish or appetizer, overshadowed by staples like chicken soup or gefilte fish, made it an apt symbol of insignificance.

Similar dishes

Foie gras ; (, ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a Domestic duck, duck or Domestic goose, goose. According to French law, ''foie gras'' is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by ''gavage'' (force feeding). ''Foie gras'' i ...

* Leberpastete *

Liverwurst Liverwurst, leberwurst, or liver sausage is a kind of sausage made from liver (food), liver. It is eaten throughout Europe, as well as North and South America, notably in Argentina and Chile. Some liverwurst varieties are spreadable. Liverwurst ...

* Maksalaatikko *

Pâté Pâté ( , , ) is a forcemeat. Originally, the dish was cooked in a pastry case; in more recent times it is more usually cooked without pastry in a terrine. Various ingredients are used, which may include meat from pork, poultry, fish or bee ...

References

{{Shabbat Appetizers Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine Food paste Liver (food) Shabbat food Spreads (food)