“Chopped Liver” may have a bad rap as an underappreciated accompaniment to better fare, but there’s a reason why Chopped Liver Pate has survived the test of time. In deli counters across the country, you’ll find it in big tubs made according to Kosher laws. If you’re lucky, it will still include duck fat or smaltz, which – combined with the livers – are a special source of essential nutrients. Try it yourself and let me know what you think!
Tradition
A quick internet search suggests that Chopped Liver originates from wealthy Jewish goose farmers from medieval Germany. Or from poor Eastern European Jews who had to make due with unwanted cuts. Both versions are likely true to some extent.
To follow kosher laws, use poultry livers along with the rendered fat of the same bird. Never mix meat and milk. Read: no cheeseburgers, no meat on pizza, and no cooking chicken livers in butter! The kosher way to remove blood from liver is by broiling. Devein the livers to remove forbidden fats.
Vitamin K2 and the Fat-Soluble Vitamins
The traditional preparation of this dish uses rendered fat from the same bird. Don’t be confused by the modern call to use ‘neutral’ oils in Chopped Liver (or any other recipe)! Go out of your way for poultry fats (duck fat, goose fat, or schmaltz / chicken fat) that (along with poultry livers) have hard-to-find nutrients, including vitamin K2.
Here is how Weston A Price described this nutrient in his landmark book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (emphasis added):
To judge from the skeletal remains, people of the past obtained a substance that modern generations do not have…
[It] plays an essential role in the maximum utilization of body-building minerals and tissue components… its presence can be demonstrated readily in the butterfat of milk of mammals, the eggs of fishes and the organs and fats of animals… and [it] plays an important role in infant growth and also in reproduction.
How do poultry livers and fats stack up? Here is a reference chart for fat-soluble nutrient values.
Let’s get cooking!
Chopped Liver Pate
The simplest version of Chopped Liver Pate includes broiled livers, poultry fat, salt and pepper, along with a generous portion of caramelized onions – all chopped or pureed together.
Many modern variations include hard-boiled eggs. Add creaminess or moisture with homemade mayonnaise (sub duck fat). My 1949 copy of Jewish Cookery also includes garlic salt and paprika. Green garnishes like parsley or dill are essential for bright appeal.
As always, make it your own. 😊 I hope your family enjoys this timeless classic as much as we do!
Ingredients
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
- yellow onion, sliced
- garlic clove, minced
- 1 lb chicken livers, stringy bits removed & chopped into cubes (size of thumbnail)
- 6T duck fat, divided
- 1 t salt
- 1/2 t pepper
- parsley or dill, chopped
- pinch (1/8 t) sweet paprika
Instructions
- Add 1 tablespoon of duck fat to a pan on medium-high heat, add onion slices and saute for 6-8 minutes until translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook for another 30 seconds. Reserve.
- In a large pan on medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of duck fat and cook chicken liver cubes until centers are rosy - about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add hard-boiled eggs, sauteed onions, chicken livers, remaining 1/4 cup duck fat, salt and pepper to a food processor and pulse for 1 second about 5-6 times until the pate is crumbled and integrated, but still chunky and chopped.
- Garnish with chopped parsley or dill and a sprinkling of paprika. Serve alongside pickles or cornichons on matza or challah (or straight from the spoon) - enjoy!
Janine,
Your recipes sound delicious and also interesting to read a little history. I imagine some of the old Kosher laws helped prevent food-borne illness. Some make sense to me, some I do not understand.
I am trying to encourage a Jewish friend to eat chopped liver, but no luck so far! She is adamant that she hates liver!
Some of us are dealing with osteopenia and osteoporosis. If you had any ideas related to that, we would love to know.
It was interesting to hear how you changed your families diet. You mentioned your son’s health problems, but how did things change for him?
Hi Cristina,
Awww, such a familiar cry “I don’t like liver.” Sure, you don’t like bad liver, but no one would! It’s like eating mushy overcooked yellowish brussel sprouts once when growing up and saying you hate brussel sprouts for the rest of your life, but if I steamed them til tender and then roasted covered in parmesan so they were crispy and still an appealing green, well… that’s just not the same thing!
Anyway, it’s not for everyone and that’s fine, too. More for us! Try this recipe for yourself and let me know what you think! I made another batch this week and it disappeared. 🙂
Bone density – this is a great question and one for which I haven’t yet done a deep dive! That said, take my thoughts with a grain of salt… 1) Protein can help build bone density. For rebuilding, your ideal weight in grams of protein is a popular guideline and I think it’s a great place to start. 2) Use it or lose it. Are you in physical condition that you could jump rope for even 1 minute per day and increase from there? 3) Along the lines of like supports like… I would include bone marrow in your diet weekly or even more!
Thank you so much for asking about my son – he is absolutely thriving. I look back now – on the years of vegetarianism before pregnancy and his first foods… there were so many things I didn’t know, and what my doctors told me at the time! But the human body (and mind and spirit, no?!) are unbelievably resilient, especially while growing (but really for as long as we assert our vitality!)
xo
Janine