Chopped liver ( yi, געהאַקטע לעבער, ''gehakte leber'') is a

liver pâté Liver pâté is a pâté and meat spread popular in Northern and Eastern Europe. Made from finely or coarsely ground pork liver and lard, it is similar to certain types of French and Belgian pâtés. Scandinavia Liver pâté is a popular f ...

popular in

Ashkenazic cuisine Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that was developed by the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern, Central, Western, Northern, and Southern Europe, and their descendants, particularly in the United States and other Western countr ...

. This dish is a common menu item in

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

Jewish

delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

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

Preparation and serving

The dish is often made by sautéing or broiling

liver The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...

and

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), 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 ...

s, adding

hard-boiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

eggs,

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

and

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

, and grinding that mixture. The liver used is generally

veal Veal is the meat of calves, in contrast to the beef from older cattle. Veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, however most veal comes from young male calves of dairy breeds which are not used for breeding. Generally, v ...

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

, or

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

. The quintessential fat used is

schmaltz Schmaltz (also spelled schmalz or shmalz) is rendered (clarified) chicken or goose fat. It is an integral part of traditional Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, where it has been used for centuries in a wide array of dishes, such as chicken soup, lat ...

, 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, or with

rye bread Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat f ...

sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

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 residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

, 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 spec ...

and

cholesterol Cholesterol is any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids. It is a sterol (or modified steroid), a type of lipid. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell mem ...

. There are low-fat, mock and

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

alternatives, often made of a combination of peas, string beans, eggplant, or mushrooms.

Chopped liver as an expression

Since eating chopped liver may not be appreciated by everyone, the Jewish English expression "What am I, chopped liver?" signifies frustration or anger at being ignored on a social level. An explanation of the expression is that chopped liver was traditionally served as a side dish rather than a main course. The phrase therefore may have originally expressed a feeling of being overlooked, as a "side dish".Ask the Rabbi: What Am I, Chopped Liver?
at Ohr Somayach The origin of the expression is difficult to trace, with many spoken references in older television, comedy and cinema not written down.

Similar dishes

* Foie gras * Leberpastete * Liverwurst *

Maksalaatikko Liver casserole ( fi, maksalaatikko, sv, leverlåda) is a Finnish food that is made of rice, ground liver, butter, syrup, egg, onion, and raisin. It is traditionally served with lingonberry jam. It is also sold ready-to-eat and eaten as an ever ...

* Pâté

References

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