A Chopped Liver That Binds the Generations
Photos by Armando Rafael
Shared by Rob Clement
Recipe Roots: Galicia (present-day western Ukraine and southern Poland) > New York > Wilkes Barre, PA > New York City > Washington D.C. > Miami > Charlotte, NC
Rob and Ma in 1987.
“For the past 25-30 years I thought my grandmother was a bread grifter,” explains Rob Clement, the chef and owner of Meshugganah, a Jewish deli and bakery pop-up in Charlotte. Dorothy, who went by Ma in the family, would open her purse at the now-shuttered Miami deli Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House and stuff into it “every last [rye-onion] roll...in what, to a young kid, seemed like a very sketchy manner,” Rob adds.
The next day, Rob would watch from his perch in Ma’s 1970s yellow bucket chair as she made chopped liver, cooking onions in schmaltz from a small tub she kept in the freezer, broiling livers, and then grinding them by hand with hard boiled eggs, fresh herbs, and celery. She would also make tuna fish salad packed with grated onion and a chopped pickle — sometimes as a tuna melt. On the table, there were always the rolls from The Rascal House. “We’d sit... and we’d eat and do what grandmothers and their grandsons do and talk,” says Rob. The lunches were their private tradition, never shared with siblings or Rob’s parents.
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When Ma passed away about 10 years ago, the chopped liver recipe, which she learned from her mother Rebecca, was lost. Ma never wrote it down or taught anyone else to make it, but her technique left an impression.
While working in a restaurant early in his career, Rob was tasked with making chicken liver mousse. Like his grandmother, who was raised in a kosher home, he broiled the livers until there was no blood remaining — an approach essential for kashrut, but quite different from French technique where livers are left pink in the center. His chef was less than impressed.
This spring, he organized a take-home Passover pop-up and set out to make chopped liver as he had many times before — always comparing it to Ma’s and coming up short. This time was different though, he purchased a meat grinder. “As soon as I put livers in the meat grinder I had the most vivid case of deja vu. I could see my grandmother’s kitchen,” he recalls. “And then I tasted this and I was like “Oh my God, this is what it was supposed to be.’”
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When Rob opens Meshugganah as a brick and mortar deli and bakery next year, Ma’s chopped liver will be on the menu as will her tuna fish salad. As for those rye-onion rolls, his family is working to help him track down the recipe. And he recently learned that Ma wasn’t a bread thief afterall. At an event where he shared his love of The Rascal Hose, an elderly gentleman came up to him and said that the best part of eating there was the chance to take the bread home.
Ma's Chopped Liver
“If you can find local, free range chickens, this will yield a much tastier product,” says Rob. We agree.
Yield: 3 cups
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes, plus chilling
Ingredients
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons chicken schmaltz, at room temperature, divided
2 Vidalia onions, 1 julienned and 1 grated with juice reserved
1 pound fresh chicken liver
2 ½ tablespoons kosher salt, divided
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 large eggs, hard boiled and cooled
¼ cup celery, diced (about ½ stalk)
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon sorghum syrup or honey (optional)
Preparation
Heat 2 tablespoons of schmaltz in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the julienned onions, grated onion and juice to the pan. Season with 1 tablespoon salt and cook until the onion mixture is golden brown and caramelized, about 45-50 minutes.
While the onions cook, rinse and clean the livers of all sinew and connective tissue (that’s the white fatty looking parts of the livers).
Preheat the oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Toss the cleaned livers with oil and 1 tablespoon salt. Arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheet. Broil for 10 minutes or until the outside of the livers begin to crisp/caramelize. Remove the livers from the oven and add them into the onion mixture. Cook for 10 minutes to meld the flavors. Remove the pan from heat and transfer the mixture to a plate and let cool completely in the refrigerator, about 20 minutes.
Set up a meat grinder or the grinder attachment to a stand mixer.
With the widest blade available, grind the livers and onions together into a bowl. Repeat the grinding process with the hard boiled eggs. Heat the remaining ½ cup of schmaltz in the microwave for about 10 seconds, to make it easier to evenly incorporate and add to the liver and onion mixture.
Add the celery, parsley, dill, ½ tablespoon salt, black pepper, and sorghum syrup or honey if using. Fold together gently with a rubber spatula.
Transfer to a bowl or airtight container and cover tightly with parchment paper to prevent discoloration. Serve cold or at room temperature. The chopped liver will hold in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Tuna Fish Salad
This recipe and Ma’s chopped liver can be made on their own or together. If you plan to make both of them on the same day, start with the tuna salad and use the leftover grated onion and its juices in the chopped liver recipe.
Serves: 4
Time: 15 minutes plus chilling
Ingredients
Two 5-ounce cans of tuna (preferably a sustainable brand packed in water)
1 small Vidalia onion
¼ cup red onion, diced
¼ cup celery, diced (about ½ stalk)
1 half-sour pickle, diced
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh dill, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon white pepper
For serving:
Sliced bread or onion rolls
Preparation
Peel the Vidalia onion and grate over a bowl or pulse in a food processor. Transfer the onion into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl to drain. Reserve the liquid from the onion.
Drain the tuna and place in a large mixing bowl. Add ⅓ cup of the grated onion, reserving the rest plus the juice to make chopped liver. Add in the red onion, celery, and pickle. Incorporate with tuna using a fork. Add mayonnaise, one spoonful at a time, folding into the tuna mixture, until you reach your desired consistency. Ma’s tuna was never dry. It’s the kind of tuna salad that doesn't require any additional mayo on the bread.
Add the dill, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, vinegar and white pepper. Mix well to combine. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before serving.
Serve on sliced bread or onion rolls with sliced tomato, onions, pickles, and lettuce if you like.
