LIVER. IL FEGATO. LE FOIE. EL HÍGADO. LEVERN.
When I was a child we had cow’s liver at least once a week. It was a very common (and cheap) food. We always had it with mashed potatoes and loads of fried onions and fried apple slices. I liked my liver just slightly rare in the middle, so that it would be soft and juicy. That was during the late 60ies and early 70ies. Like all things, food is subjected to fashion and in the early seventies chicken liver became the thing to eat. It was fried together with onions, garlic, red and green peppers and then left to stew in Sherry. It was served with white rice.
What you eat reflects your attitude and lifestyle, doesn’t it? When I became a young mother I turned health conscious and experimented with vegetarian food, and whole food, followed by a phase of Asian cooking. At the same time we had many food scares in Germany, the worst perhaps the fear of BSE or cow madness, and liver disappeared from the shops.
During the last months I have now and then seen liver at the butcher’s, but still, I feel uneasy about buying it. Liver is food of another era, the same era in which we considered cow’s tongue in white wine sauce (almost free of fat and very tender meat), a delicacy, had whipped egg with sugar as a sweet and thought nothing of eating ‘Bregenwurst’, a sausage, that at that time still contained some brain of pigs.
Trina's North Germany 
Hi Trina, so glad you entered. I’m glad to say that my mother only cooked liver 3 or 4 times a year. She always cooked it until it was very tough. I learned how to cook it properly as an adult and I love it now. I’m sorry that it’s so hard to find in Germany these days. Do you eat Liverwurst?
Actually, I have never liked Liverwurst, even as a child I hated it, just as much as I hated and still dislike peppermint tea. My sons and my partner like Liverwurst a lot though, and I buy it nearly every week. Otherwise I like just about any kind of food and like cooking, too 🙂
Gosh, Trina – you certainly know of some really nice-sounding ways to cook Leber! – haute cuisine, they seem! 🙂 But you’ve also raised a topic I’d forgotten about, in terms of those awful diseases …
You have re-opened my eyes. Thanks so much for entering!!!
Once I started thinking about liver, all kind of memories popped up. It was fun to join.
Don’t go away forever, then!
Danke schön! 🙂
Gern! Bis zum nächsten Mal! Looking forward to coming back 🙂
I don’t think my mom ever fixed liver, even though it would have been cheap. We did have chicken wings, though, which used to be inexpensive until they were “discovered.” Now they’re broken into two parts and called two wings. Sigh. 🙂 I went with poetry for my LIOLI response. I hope you enjoy it.
janet
I love your poem, I am still smiling after reading it! Chicken wings I like as well, when I am totally out of any idea what to cook I will buy frozen ones covered in spicy sauce and serve it with white bread and garlic butter.
Am looking forward to reading your next poem!
Trina, I’m happy you liked my limericks. They were so much fun to do. If you’d like to read more poems, click on the “Categories” spot on the left side of my blog and click on “Poetry.” Most of them are there. Thanks for stopping by and for following my blog. I hope you enjoy it!
I am sure I will!
Trina, that was a wonderful glimpse into your childhood. My mother didn’t ever eat meat, so she didn’t cook it often. You make those cheap cuts sound very enticing! I know my grandmother used all of them too.
Thank you. I wonder what my children will say about the things I cooked for them when they were small. I was into all kind of organic wholefood then. 🙂
I used to like liver and still like it. I do it occasionally but only for me nobody else likes it. It is so good for iron. Mashed potatoes, onions and apples… hmmmmmm yummy
Do you like steak and kidney pie as well?
Yes, you know and I loved tongue. Can’t find it in England though.
These days you don’t get it here any more either. Wish you a nice day!!