LIVERWURST SANDWICH
I had it
pretty good growing up. My family lived
in comfortable homes, we never went hungry, we took regular vacations and in general we led a
well- heeled solid middle class life.
My pop
worked hard to give us that life. He
traveled a lot, worked late hours, and often cut his own vacations short for
work. My dad made sure to come to our
events when possible. He taught me to
sail, to bowl and to play golf. Dad went
to all my football games in high school and captured them on 8mm film.
You would
think that a son would be happy to reward a dad like this by doing small chores
or favors without complaint.
Well I did.
There was one chore that I detested and I guess I was pretty good about not complaining, but it was horrible.
Well I did.
There was one chore that I detested and I guess I was pretty good about not complaining, but it was horrible.
Sometimes
when we were watching TV and a commercial came on, my dad would ask for a
sandwich.
“Joe, would you get up and make me a
sandwich?”
“Sure pop, what do you want?”
Actually I
knew what he would want and I shuddered to think of it.
“Just slap some liverwurst on a slice
of bread.”
LIVERWURST! Oh the humanity!
I still
don’t really know what liverwurst is, I think it is some kind of pig liver
sausage. It stinks. It has a pasty consistency. It looks gross, it smells gross, and pops
loved it. It was all I could do to slap
that crap on bread and not lose my dinner.
Just the thought of that smell brings back horrible memories. The smell lingered, and just by preparing it
the smell clung to your person. There
was no escape.
I grew up in
a WASP family. We were not
demonstrative. I don’t think I ever told
my father that I loved him.
I did make
him liverwurst sandwiches.
I gained thirty pounds in college on liverwurst sandwiches. On white with mayo. I've learned moderation in liverwurst.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your dad knew.
i grew up eating them and continued eating it into my adulthood - always on toast. a few years back, i got grossed out and haven't touched it since. poor man's pate...
ReplyDeleteOh man... now, at 7:30am< I'm Jonesing for a liverwurst and onion sandwich on crusty San Francisco sourdough French bread with Dijon mustard.
ReplyDeleteThat is true love...and respect. A good dad like yours is priceless. Liverwurst--not so much.
ReplyDeleteHave never and will never eat that. Gross
ReplyDeleteLove comes in many forms and you making disgusting sandwiches for your dad qualifies as an act of love. I used to make cold bean sandwiches for my mother until I could no longer control my gag reflex.
ReplyDeleteThe word liverwurst, also known as Kentucky pate, is an anglicization of German Leberwurst, meaning "liver sausage". It is a sausage eaten in large parts of Europe, including Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Romania (especially in Transylvania). Source: Wikipedia
ReplyDeleteI don't eat stuff like this either, but I know people that just love Liverwurst.
Have a fabulous day. :)
Leberwurschtbrot! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh jaaaaaa! On mayo! Yes! Even better on butter! Yes! On fresh bread! Oh dear, what decadence!
ReplyDeleteBut when you are over middle age, you better leave it alone! :-)
1
There is NOTHING wrong with liverwurst... (says the German).
ReplyDeleteYes there is, says the other German.
DeleteA childhood staple. Perhaps your dad should have called it what my mom called it: spread meat. It came with a heavy pig intestine (I suppose) caseing that we peeled off and nonchalantly spread thickly on good white bread (Wonder bread, no doubt). A lot of mustard on the other slice, slap 'em together and there's your portable lunch. Oh, yum. Have you gagged yet?
ReplyDeleteEvil stuff. A bouquet like a mixture of fox shit and malt vinegar. Classy.
ReplyDeleteAround here, it's braunschweiger, and I'm eating a sandwich of it at this very moment. What a coincidence! I have not had if for at least six months, yet yesterday I decided I wanted it. Walmart was out. So today I had to buy the lesser braunschweiger from Save A Lot. Mmmm. Delicious on a Hawaiian Roll with an ocean of mustard and a slab of onion.
ReplyDeleteYou don't know what you're missing.
Yummay liverwurst! Not sure what all the complaints are about it. I am German/Bohemian. We also love mom's recipe for liver and onions, baked. She spreads her liverwurst on cinnamon rolls. To each their own, I guess. 😄
DeleteOy vey, a cup of chicken noodle soup and a half a liverwurst with red onion slice.....from Cantor's in LA, nothing better for lunch.
ReplyDeleteI gag just thinking about it. It looks like it's already been eaten once, if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteI think I might like liverwurst; it's hard to remember because it was so long ago that I had it, but I seem to remember being surprised that it wasn't as terrible as it sounds.
ReplyDeleteYou were a good son to make the sandwiches for your dad. Don't you know that there's no sandwich that tastes as good as the one that someone else makes for you? That's what I find anyway.
Liverwurst=the poor man's pate.
ReplyDeleteLiverwurst was a staple in our home when I was growing up. My dad and sister loved the stuff, mum too I think. I'm sure I must have eaten some at some point, on sandwiches of course, but I don't remember it. It came in a sausage type skin and once cut open the liverwurst was scooped out with a knife for spreading, or in the case of my sister, a spoon for eating. Urk! Being made of liver it's probably very good for you, but they can keep it.
They might as well call it 'Loverwurst' Joe. If you made him liverwurst sandwiches, he knew.
ReplyDelete