The Wurst Is Over

 Following a deadly listeria outbreak traced to one of their factories, Boar's Head deli meats has announced the discontinuation of their Liverwurst. It has been slowly falling out of popularity in the US, but you'd never know that if you lived in the Midwest. The liverwurst wasn't the cause of the listeria-conditions in the factory were, but given the financial hit they're taking, discontinuing the least popular product made sense. 

Liverwurst, or Liver Sausage is made from calf or pork liver and can be soft and spreadable like potted meat, or firmer and sliced. It can be fresh, or smoked, and if you were my parents, served on a slice of rye bread with pickled onions. When my mother wasn't around to say no, it was slapped between a couple slices of (cheap) squidgy, white bread with mayonnaise (not the real stuff, it was Miracle Whip) and Brick cheese. Shhh, don't tell mother. I've been a vegetarian since 1983, but it wasn't my beloved Usingers Fresh Liver Sausage that drove me into the arms of tofu. Anyway, if you live in the US and are desperate for liverwurst, you won't be disappointed with Usingers-and they ship refrigerated! 

Liver, generally is a less popular food than it was when I was young. My husband will politely have a bit of pate on a cracker, but eating something like liver and fried onions is asking too much. Dan enjoyed it the one time I prepared it, but I never bothered making it again. I want to prepare food my family will enjoy, and liver isn't it. My current bout of severe anemia unfortunately can't be resolved with a serving of liver so no fear of being tempted by Usinger's offerings.  

When people moan about having been forced to eat liver as children, it does make me wonder how it was being prepared. If overcooked, you can be looking at a chewy, paste-like texture with tough tissue thrown in as a bonus. The recipes that suggest broiling it as a healthier option? Unless you are skilled enough to remove it from the burner at the precise optimal moment, it is the easiest way to ruin liver. Pan frying really is the easiest way to go, and you can do the onions in the same pan.

I'm not sorry a filthy facility was shut down, but I am interested to see how much consumer tastes have changed in a generation. I guess if someone figures out a way to make liverwurst instagramable there might be a revival, but for the moment, it does appear the wurst is behind us.