Livermush is a pork liver, cornmeal, and spice mixture that originated in North Carolina during the Depression. It is traditionally served for breakfast or lunch and can be found in some supermarkets or ordered online.
Livermush is a ground mixture of pork liver, cornmeal and spices. Sometimes it contains other pieces of the pig’s head to provide flavor and texture. It is traditionally packed in a pan, chilled and sliced before serving. According to US law, it must contain at least 30% pork liver. In some areas, it is known as poor man’s or poor boy’s pate.
Created in the southern United States, livermush is said to have its roots in North Carolina. Much like the scrap, a similar blend that uses more parts of the pig and a smaller percentage of the liver, livermush presumably became a staple during the Depression, as it was cheap to make. It could also be prepared in different ways for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
For breakfast, it is usually cut into slices and fried in bacon fat, oil or butter. The cornmeal makes it nicely brown in the pan. It is traditionally served alongside eggs, grits and toast. Grape jelly is a common accompaniment. For lunch, it is often cut into slices and served cold on white bread with mustard or mayonnaise as a dressing. In recent years, it has been used as a pizza topping and omelet filling.
A related product called liver pudding has the same ingredients as livermush except for the cornmeal. It has a smoother texture and cannot be sliced. North Carolina locals claim that liver pudding is made by people who live east of the Yadkin River, and people on the western side of the river make livush.
While it’s unclear why North Carolina is considered the birthplace of the poor boy’s pate, several factors may have been influential. Pigs were popular livestock in North Carolina, as they thrived in the hot, humid atmosphere that cattle could not stand. Feral hogs typically roamed the land in North Carolina and were plentiful and popular food sources.
When farmers slaughtered pigs, they used every part of the animal. When it came to serving pork liver, many people found the taste of the liver objectionable. To make it more palatable, it was ground with other pork parts and mixed with cornmeal and spices to make livermush.
Livermush is available today, although only a few companies still make it. It can be ordered online or found in the sausage or frozen food departments of some supermarkets around the world. It is sold fresh throughout northern Virginia, North Carolina and southern South Carolina. An annual Livermush Festival has been held in Shelby, North Carolina since 1987.
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