ARTICLES by the Kitchen Madonna :: Let this be a place where those who hunger can be fed.

The Kitchen Madonna Asks,"What Am I, Chopped Liver?"
July 13th, 2006

The best way to gently manipulate my man-child is to ask him, "What am I, chopped liver?" His eyes drop down, his voice gets soft, and he says, "No, mom." And then he hurries over to hug me.

Does this make me a Jewish mother? My son certainly knows that I have loved him through food from the very beginning. He knows how and where I gained 45 pounds when I was pregnant with him. He knows it involved goose liverwurst sandwiches at our town's second-best delicatessen because I believed all that iron would be good for him. No doubt my sense that I was the queen bee while I was pregnant had something to do with that indulgence as well. But my son adores that same place himself and used to amaze the other diners, when, as a 3-year old he methodically worked his way through a plate of broccoli turkey salad (drizzled in lemon and olive oil) where blanched turkey dominates the plate.

My friends say I am like a Jewish mother because I am always pushing food. Friends and family love any excuse to get into my refrigerator. Sometimes the pretext is getting some cold iced tea. Sometimes the pretext is a snack that becomes an excuse for a meal made up of delicious leftovers. Last weekend it was pasta salad with goat cheese, shallots, broccolini and red pepper flakes. There was leftover Chicken Perlot and the remnants of a Southern soul food diner: freshly shelled speckled butter peas, squash casserole, and macaroni and cheese. Today there are remnants of two quiches made from my brother's eggs!

What is it about chopped liver that makes it such an object of disgust and ridicule? Next to it's more refined cousin, liver pate, chopped liver is the lumpy and frankly less refined country cousin. Chopped liver hasn't gained any of the mild acceptance level of that quintessential German comfort food, liverwurst.

Chopped liver, no matter what you think of it's taste, reminds most Jewish people of their mothers, or grandmothers, or whoever made this delicious dish for family feasts. But I'm here to say that stay-at-home moms and housewives (there is a difference and the KM will write about it in the future), are often treated like chopped liver in our society.

The Blessed Mother is a Jewish Mother. What are you? Chopped Liver? You should be so lucky.