Liverwurst
Liverwurst, leberwurst, or liver sausage is a kind of sausage made from liver. It is eaten throughout Europe, particularly Northern Germany, as well as North and South America, notably amongst the large German diaspora in Argentina and Chile.
Some liverwurst varieties are spreadable. Liverwurst usually contains pigs' or calves' liver. Other ingredients are meat (notably veal), fat, and spices including ground black pepper, marjoram, allspice, thyme, ground mustard seed, and nutmeg. Many regions in Germany have distinct recipes for liverwurst. Adding ingredients like pieces of onion or bacon to the recipe make each variety of liverwurst very important to cultural identity. For example, the Thüringer Leberwurst (Thuringian liverwurst) has a Protected Geographical Status throughout the EU. Recently, more exotic additions such as cowberries and mushrooms have gained popularity.
Etymology
The word liverwurst is a partial calque of German Script error: No such module "Lang". (Script error: No such module "IPA".) 'liver sausage', and 'liver sausage', a full calque.[1]
A fourteenth century mention in Latin however uses the term "liverworsted":[2] "Hec fercula dari solent magna sulta, porrum, pulli, farti seu repleti, ferina apri, carnes piperis, XII tybie gesenghet, XII pulli in suffene seu sorbicio, liverworsted gherostet, assaturam, magnas carnes, oblatas et crumbrod."
Variants
In some parts of Germany, liverwurst is served sliced on a plate, often with mustard or pickled cucumber. It is most commonly eaten spread on bread, as it is very soft.
In the Netherlands, liverwurst (Dutch: Script error: No such module "Lang".) is customarily served in slices, often with mustard. Groningen and The Hague are known for their own types of liverwurst: Script error: No such module "Lang". in Groningen and Script error: No such module "Lang". from The Hague.
In Hungary, liverwurst is customarily served on open sandwiches, or with cheese as a filling for pancakes which are baked in the oven.
In Romania, liverwurst is called Script error: No such module "Lang"., Script error: No such module "Lang"., or Script error: No such module "Lang"..[3] Unlike the German sausage Script error: No such module "Lang". that uses beef, the Script error: No such module "Lang". uses only pork.
Script error: No such module "Lang". is eaten mainly for the winter holidays. It tastes fragrant and sweet with liver pâté. It is generally used as Christmas Eve dinner, sliced on bread with mustard and murături.[4]
Liverwurst is typically eaten as is, and often served as traditional or as open-faced sandwiches. It is popular in North America with red onion and mustard on rye or whole grain bread. In the Southern and Midwestern US, liverwurst is served with slices of sweet pickles (gherkins pickled with vinegar, sugar, and mustard seeds). In the Northeast US, liverwurst is served with dill pickles (gherkins pickled with vinegar, salt, and dill).
In the Midwestern US, liverwurst is also known as liver sausage. If smoked, it is known as braunschweiger. Liverwurst is typically served on crackers or in sandwiches. It is often sold pre-sliced.
The Polish Script error: No such module "Lang". is made using calf's liver. It is often served on rye bread with horseradish-style mustard. Script error: No such module "Lang". is popular throughout the year, but is most frequently served at Christmas and Easter.
See also
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Notes and references
External links
Template:Sausage Template:Sandwiches
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