 This summer, CNN's Defining America project will be traveling the country with the CNN Express bus to explore the stories behind the data and demographics that show how places are changing. This week, CNN brings you coverage from North Carolina. There was a time when every North Carolina family loved – or at least knew – liver mush. It's the cuisine of grandma's house, snow days and simpler times, a local delicacy some natives defend with the same loyalty they have to Carolina barbecue and Cheerwine. Back then, it was the economical way to get some meat in your diet when times were tough, a high-iron addition to a kid's lunch, or a fried-till-crispy comfort breakfast beside fat slices of tomato and muskmelon. But North Carolina is a different place now. In the last decade, it was one of the fastest-growing states, one suddenly populated by retirees who headed south for mild weather and pretty beaches, students gunning for tech jobs and bankers in search of good schools and big yards. This crowd is more likely to know liver mush from the Travel Channel than their local Harris Teeter market. But still, you'll find it on grocery store shelves in North Carolina, parts of South Carolina and Virginia. When CNN's Defining America project stopped in North Carolina, we checked in with the Neese family, makers and purveyors of country sausage and liver mush since 1917. Oh, there have been shifts and additions over the years. Early on, chief executive Tom Neese explained, the family sold its product as liver pudding, but buyers west of the Yadkin River called it liver mush. It was all the same thing, but with different names on local menus. Now it's two products, liver pudding the smoother cold cut, while liver mush is a little drier. And then there's scrapple. It's similar, but even coarser than liver mush, and less likely to be sliced, fried and served on a piece of toast like its brick-meat brethren. It's a relative newcomer to their lineup, added just a couple decades ago. The family scrapped recipe after recipe before landing on one that seemed to get it right. See, scrapple isn't their specialty. It isn't a North Carolina staple; it's more like a business decision best enjoyed with scrambled eggs. "We had so many northerners coming down here, we decided to produce scrapple," Andrea Neese said. But getting liver pudding or mush into the mouths of a new generation is a struggle, the Neeses admit. "The problem," Tom Neese said, "is the word 'liver.'" No kid wants to eat liver. The word "mush" probably isn't doing them any favors either, they admitted. Toss the word "pudding" around, and you're just going to leave a bunch of kids disappointed. They've talked about an advertising campaign to ask people what dolled up name they'd give it, but they're skeptical of change, whether it's the name or the packaging. The recipes are untouchable. "You make one change, and it's a bad change, and they'll know it," Tom Neese said. But there's hope for this old fashioned North Carolina dish. If you hit a Greensboro Grasshoppers duke it out with the Hagerstown Suns or any other South Atlantic League baseball team this summer, you'll see packages of Neese's sausage racing around the bases between innings. It still draws a crowd at the North Carolina State Fair, where people will show up with slices of bread and a request for a plus-sized sample. Mail-order sales have gone to homesick liver mush fans all over the country. Sales spike every holiday season, and when there's snow in the weather forecast, a sign that comfort food reigns when people are coming home, or stuck at home. Retailers like that the Neeses themselves answer the phones and that Neese company trucks still make deliveries. "If a store calls and is out of product, within six to eight hours, we have the ability to get that product to them," co-president Tommy Neese said. "We still want to have that personal touch." The Neeses said they know all their employees names. Andrea and Tommy are the fourth generation in the business. Tom Neese is 77 and insists he's on the way out – but he keeps showing up to work. I talked with outside their red brick building in Greensboro, in a trailer they said they're making into Tom's office, if they can ever pry him away from the phones. At least one in the next generation is a vegetarian – her family members call it "a phase" – but some are already working summers with them in Greensboro, or in the harvesting plant. "Our father has 11 grandchildren," Andrea Neese said. "Somebody will make the decision to come." Liver mush, after all, has always been a family affair. Editor's note: As it happens, our Managing Editor has Neese's liver mush, liver pudding, souse and C-loaf in her fridge at this very moment. She mentions this at every possible opportunity she has. |
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I HAVE LIVED IN N.C. ALL MY LIFE AND LOVE LIVERMUSH HAVE EVEN MADE LIVER MUSH IT GOES GOOD WITH MUSTARD OR DUKES MAYO
Dave's not here...
I grew up in southern PA eating hominy and pudding as we called it. I've been stationed in Virginia for about a year now and I just recently found a local butcher that has "pudding"... my wife looks at me like I'm eating dog feces whenever I make it, but it's awesome :D
a ritz cracker,livermush & valveeta. make your tounge slap your eye teeth out of your mouth. as soon as neeses has there online site ready, neeses will be coming to panama city,fl.
Can Liver Pudding (Mush) be ordered online from any particular stores or meat market?
i want neeses liver pudding i live in phila. PA how can i find it.
I lived in High Point for a few years and can say I never heard of this, but if I promise you all the liver mush you can eat, can you fed ex me some Zaxby's or Carter Brothers or Chick Fil-A? Thanks!
Toneys ice cream in Gastonia NC ( All America City) = The best liver-mush sandwich ever and wash that puppy down with a grape milk shake OR a sundrop best thing ever!
I was born and reared in Kannapolis, NC, and grew up eating liver pudding (mostly against my will until I "matured" and saw the error of my ways.) Then I gave up all pork about 25 years ago. Several years later I had a "hankering" for some liver pudding so I went to the grocery store (by now I was living in SC) read the list of ingredients on the liver pudding package, and went home and made an EXCELLENT substitute using fresh chicken livers, onions, rice and lots of spice (LOVE BLACK PEPPER) I don't remember corn meal in the recipe, but I'll check it out. Maybe I did use some corn meal to help bind it, but I'm positive I used cooked rice too. Love corn bread so I'd probably love that too. (Cook the Liver (any kind really) and some onions until thoroughly done, season to taste (salt and lots of black pepper, and I think, sage) process in food processor until very finely ground (mushy!) Press into loaf pan. CHILL THOROUGHLY. SLICE AS THIN OR THICK AS "your mama did," then fry on both sides until nice and crisp. Make a sandwich just the way you like it. I like mustard on whole wheat bread. (MY mama was a health nut! A lovely health nut, but a health nut!
Missed Cheerwine for a long time, but they aren't as good to me as they once were–I think it's the difference in the water. Salisbury was the only bottling plant when we were kids. As for Sundrop; had one about 20 years ago and it was not even close to being as good as I remembered. Sad...
Can I get some livermush shipped to Atlanta, GA
I was born in Morganton N.C. and we grew up eating liver mush.. I am partial to Jenkins brand, never had Neeses. We moved to Cleveland,OH when I was a young child but made summer trips back home every year. The relatives knew to stock up when we were coming to visit. Now whenever a relative comes here they bring a cooler full for us, and likewise if we go down to visit we bring a cooler full back for everyone. Just like it fried crispy on plain white bread. No mustard or anything. I do like it with country gravy and biscuits. My friends have made fun of us for 40 years talking about our love of livermush. Some people just do not get it.
I grew up in NC and was raised on liver mush and still love it today~and yes,I hate liver! It's definitely a "southern thing", something most people love once they try it. You know you've traveled too far away from home when you can't get it,along with country ham w/red-eye gravy,grits,
sweet potatoes,(no,they aren't yams),Sundrop,Moonpies,and Dewey's Moravian cookies and cakes and real southern bbq. We still ship liver mush,country ham, and cases of Sundrop soda to relatives out of state over 30yrs now.They tried it and that's all it took.Check it out.
Pimento cheese and mello yellow have to wait all year till mom goes for her weekly visit
I'm from Philly and was raised eating Scrapple. Basically the same, I guess. We always sliced it fairly thin, dusted with flour and pan fried until crispy on both sides. Usually ate it for breakfast with eggs or just buttered toast. I no longer can stand the taste of liver, so I'm going to find a liver-free recipe and try my hand at making my own. My dad and grandfather also used to eat fried cornmeal mush for breakfast (served with maple syrup). Cornmeal mush – now known as polenta.
I grew up in a military family so only had an opportunity to eat my Gastonia NC granny's breakfast when we visited. A table set with eggs,home made biscuits,grits,bacon,sausage and liver mush is a meal I've never forgotten.I could almost duplicate the breakfast when I grew up but could never get the livermush. It's delicious and a real southern breakfast isn't complete without it. Southern cooking is the best in the world when done right.
my boyfriend and i used to live in south carolina but we had to move so i was wondering if i could find out how much it would cost for you to ship some liver mush up to wis ?i loved it i'm writting you from the library my phone is 920 3764781 please call me thank you kathy amundson
I live in south Ga. but my Mom was born and raised in Winston Salem. She came to Fla to live with her husband. I grew up eating Liver pudding. Every time some one in our family goes to N.C. they come home with an cooler full of your liver pudding. We all love it even my children. Please keep making it.
I grew up in Charlotte, and my family has lived there for many generations (back when it was rural...they were poor farmers). I wouldn't say I love liver mush, but I ate it as a child when my grandmother would fry it up for lunch. We'd eat fried slices of it with mustard on top...maybe between two pieces of toast for a sandwich. I haven't eaten it in ages, but the thought of it brings back all kinds of nostalgic feelings of childhood and my grandparents :)
In north GA it is called liver sausage. My dad used to eat it. yuk. scrapple is from Delaware.
I love it!! I am actually going to leave the office right now and go get me a liver mush biscuit!!
I now live in Texas but I am from NC. I live in the San Antonio area and I have not found livermush here in the six years I have lived here. I miss and crave livermush. Not having livermush and sweet salad cubes are the bad part of living here otherwise I love living in San Antonio.
Neese's is the one & only!
Grew up with Neese's liver pudding in our frig. My Mama was a more cultured southerner and refused to eat it. My Dad grew up on a hog farm and loved it...usually served cold in a sammich.... a thick slice with homemade mayo and sliced pineapple.
We ate it when i was growing up in Rock Hill, SC. Yum. Don't eat it very often now, but it's a nice treat when I eat it. Still love some brains and eggs for breakfast, too!
MMMM.... dreaming of scrapple with an egg, sunny side up. Nothing better.
I grew up in Cleveland county and there is a livermush festival in Shelby every year. I love it fried crisp and everyone in our family eats it. My husband will only eat Neese liver pudding, so every time we go back to Kings Mountain I buy 4 blocks to bring home to Brunswick, Ga. My twins would never eat liver but both loved livermush. I also have grandkids here in Georgia and they love it also. I did not realize that all of the South did not have it until I tried to find it in the grocery store. Glad to hear I can order it!
We 4 Generations from Charlotte, Born & Bred. AMEN! Livermush from Neeses has ALWAYS been around! I use to have an annual Livermush Bash! We'd eat it anyway shape or form. Hot or cold. On Pizza or with Texas Pete. My personal favorite was making the Liversicles to lick on Myrtle Beach when it's hot out. Some Good Eatin' I also make a mean Livershake with my own special ingredients added, it's just awesome, fun eatin'. All my kids eat it and their kids will probably eat it too. It has always been on the menu at home and always will be in the future.
Livermush is truly delicious! I love the stuff <3
Try livermush on pizza. Get your crust put mustard for the base then fried livermush and cheese on top. Delicious!!
BASS FARM SAUSAGE IS A MILLION TIMES BETTER!!!!!
from near durham live in obx for 25 hear at home evn tho it said liver pudding we called it scrapple down on coast i think liver puddling ! all scarpple to me i forget about it But Ny kids may like it thanks for article!
Livermush is best when eaten as a breakfast meat! Eat it with a fried egg, buttered grits, and toast, and you'll be begging for more!
I wish I had some in my mouth right now!
Charlotte NC Born and raised, and I too have had the mush all my life. My great uncle used to make the stuff in a big oil drum over a fire in the backyard of his Oak Island home, and stirred it with an old canoe paddle. When it was finished we scoop it up and serve it hot on saltines. That's definitely the best way to eat it, but since that's a rare occurrence these days, I settle for thickly sliced fried Neese's on toasted bread with some cheese. Best served with a cold soda (Cheerwine, RC Cola, Sun Drop, or Mountain Dew.) If you're ever passing through downtown Gastonia, stop by Tony's for a fried Liver Mush sandwich and a milkshake...
I've never tried the liver mush, but they make the best pork brakfast sausage in country. I've been eating it my whole life.
John, you are wrong. BASS FARM SAUSAGE IS A MILLION TIMES BETTER!!!!!
My two brother and I always joked that we were going to run away from home but first had to get a loaf of bread and a pound of liver pudding. We are in our 40's and 50's and still eat the stuff. I can't get my children to try it.
You have not lived until you have had a huge "cathead biscuit" with fried livermush, egg & cheese. A little mayo or "Miracle Whip" for good measure. "Oh Honey Hush!"
My god that sounds sooo good.
My wife is from Roberson County, NC. I tried the pudding with eggs and toast and its simply good stuff and I'd never eaten any liver product before. I always get her aunt to have some when we're visiting. Should get my next taste in about 3 weeks.
I'm a native of the Charlotte area, and though I will eat liver all day, I will not touch liver mush. To me, liver mush is like canned peaches – straight up nasty. Give me the real deal when it comes to liver, or don't give me.
Oh man It is just 9:33 am here I just read this article and I am shaking all over wanting a breakfast of Homemade biscuits and gravy some Neese's, fried crispy, and about a half dozen eggs. My cousin works for a bottling plant in North Carolina and he delivers Cheerwine to the area stores, markets and gas stations. I grew up eating liver and onions , yes even as a child I loved it, along with all the fresh vegetables that came from the gardens of huge family, aunts uncles cousins all had gardens. Now I am very homesick lol
I haven't seen "liver mush" sold here in West Virginia, but scrapple is sold in our local Kroger stores, and it's similar. I tried it a few years ago and found that I liked it. Just cut a couple of half-inch slices, then pan-fry it until it's a dark crusty brown. Serve it on bread with mustard or mayo, or serve it up with eggs the same way you would serve bacon. It's really quite good, though not necessarily HEALTHY.
Dangitt!! now I'm craving it. I passed on it at the store yesterday and now reading this...I have to have it. Fried a little crispy with some sharp cheddar cheese on white bread wit a little mayo...mmmmm
Gotta be DUKES Mayo
Yep!
I don't eat pork any more... but when I make trips to NC, I have to pick of Neeses Liver pudding for my wife and daughter who I introduced to this product the first time I took them to NC.
I was born and raised WNC, I currently live in Nashville now. I reguarly have at least one meal of liver mush when I go to NC to visit my family. For those who dont understand this, Don't knock it until you have tried it!. It taste much like sausage but better. There is nothing like a fried liver mush sandwich on white bread with Duke's mayo. It's heavenly. Many folks like myself from WNC can recall times at their Grandparents or Parents eating Liver Mush on cold Bread or in the morning with eggs! Now I want some- I sure wish I could find it here in Middle Tenn. :-(
I grew up in Mocksville. Neeses Liver Pudding was a staple in our house – unless we got some homemade when cousins slaughtered a hog. I "make do" with scrapple now that I live in northern Virginia, but my husband won't eat it (silly Hoosier).
I am orginally from Maryland and there I used to get this liver mush as they call it in the same type of container as you see a lot of sausage. In an enclosed ring. It was just called "puddin" but I loved it. Since I now live in the midwest they don't know what it is, but they have an alternative which I can't bring my self to try. It is called potato pudding and comes in the same kind of packageing the pudding and the polish sausages. I am also a fan of scrapple. Good with those old eggs and potatoes for breakfast. And throw in some fried green tomatoes, my stomach is grumbling.
Livermush, egg and cheese on toast is the best thing since sliced bread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How to cook it is the next big debate. I'm a fan of pan-fried. Others deep-fry it. I've actually seen it baked (I still shudder at that).
I was first served livermush at day care and loved it, but my mother refused to make it at home because of a deep loathing of anything with flavor. Because of that, it became even more of a tempting forbidden fruit! When my grandfather slyly offered me a piece (I grew to be suspicious of anything my grandfather gave me, as he had a wicked sense of humor and apparently found seeing me gagging hysterical), I surprised him when my eyes lit up and I devoured it with great gusto!! For the rest of my childhood, my grandfather would keep livermush on hand and we'd have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even as a snack. It's a universal dish! Eat it with eggs and fried bologna and it's breakfast! Throw it on a hamburger bun and you've got lunch or dinner! So there you have it! The forbidden fruit that became a bonding point between a grandson and his granddad: LIVERMUSH!!!
My fridge is never without livermush. I cook it for breakfast 5 days out of 7...Love with mixed with grits or fried crispy on white bread with mustard.
Gowing up in North Carolina, I've eaten liver pudding often, and my wife (also a native tarheel) gets it whenever she can. Every trip home requires a cooler so we can bring back three or four packages. The only problem with it, is that it doesn't ship well, so when living outside of NC it's very hard to get, and it doesn't freeze, so you can't keep a quanity on hand. If you haven't tried it, don't bother. That way there will be more for those of us who like it.
Scrapple is one of the finest foods god saw fit to place on this earth. Growing up in North West New Jersey( Warren and Sussex County) in the 1960's ( Mountians Of New Jersey) we ate this with as much joy as other children ate cake or candy. Dad would put a huge cast iron frying pan on to get screaming hot( No oil or grease) and then he would slice into a 5 lb block he had just bought that morning at a little country store on his way home from milking the cows. Once it hit the pan you were not allowed to touch it for a full 5 min then flip and cook on the other side for a full 3 min and out of the pan and we ate it with eggs over easy.. it was so crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.. the egg yolk running down the sides.. best meal a little girl could have.. and when I go back to NJ I stop in Midway Pa on Rt 22 and get a wondeful plate of it at the Midway Diner. Hot and crispy.. Eggs over easy and toast.. the best ever.. My hubby hates it but the 5 kids loved it and now the grand kids..
I know the Neese's family personally and they are the nicest people around! I grew up with this food and eat it on the regular. The Extra Hot Sausage is my favorite. I would suggest using it in Sausage Balls and also Sausage Dip. Best. Food. Ever.
Liver is disgusting. The "filter" for toxins from the body.
whoops ... south and west! and my wife has a BA in Geography ... :-)
My wife is from SC. I tried Liver pudding at her Grandmother's house. Thanks, but no thanks.
My dughter brought me some Liver Mush from Asheville ... a lot like scrapple but with a smoother texture and a stronger liver flavor. Good stuff but scrapple is more for me.
Now if you want pig liver and yummy go farther south and east and get some boudin!
Not a real fan of liver mush but I love Neese's scrapple. My mother was from Philly we had scrapple at least once a week for breakfast..... Hard to find here in Florida, but I love the stuff
I grew up in Shelby. Have eaten Neese's liver pudding and sausage all my life. For me, other brands of liver pudding, liver mush and sausage can never measure us to Neese's. Neese's is simply the best. Liver pudding is great sliced right out of the pack or fried with eggs & grits for breakfast. Yum! It just doesn't get any better... except maybe fried and made into a sandwich with Duke's mayo on Bunny bread! If you haven't tried it, you're sure missing out. Charlotte, NC. (I lived in Virginia for 4 years and couldn't get Neese's liver pudding there – 'bout went crazy.)
So true. you can't beat neese's
Yes, I have eaten it and no I am not from North Carolina.
I went to visit my son for mothers day (he lives in Georgia) and we went to North Carolina to visit in-laws, and we decide to do sandwiches that night as we had had a big lunch. So what came out but the Liver Pudding and I love it, I must have had three or four sandwiches of that stuff. I love it and recommend it to anyone and you may or may not like it.
I also live blood wurst, head cheese and even snails and chitlins. Go Figure!!
Four Stars to Liver Pudding,
from a happy consume
I'm an expat NC native living in Paris right now, where hell would freeze over before I could find liver mush here...
Oh this article is making me crave it big time! Growing up my grandmother would fry it thinly and make sandwiches out of it.
Yesterday Greensboro was in the headlines as still being racist 50 years after the Woolworth sit-ins and today we're here for the liver pudding. Do we have a CNN reporter passing through the area? If so, move along. Check out SC or VA for the rest of the week. We're trying to attract business here and you're making us into the biggest hillbillys since the Hatfields and McCoys.
PS- I love liver mush too.
"bankers in search of good schools and big yards." Good schools? The schools in North Carolina are so bad it's almost as though it's a third world country. I know two couples who moved to New York from Charlotte to raise their kids because of the schools. One of them is a pediatric nurse practioner and said that you cannot believe how dumb the kids are there.
NC ranks 25th in the nation in the percentage of high school graduation. Big improvement in the last 10 years.
Thats just CMS.
Ewww...., Eating liver is like eating your car's oil filter. Liver filters out all the stuff your body doesn't want.
Sounds like liver sausage, Behrman's meat packing in Albers IL makes the most delicious liver sausage I've ever had. The liver sausage is so delicious!!! Shaped like a summer sausage and nare a wisp of liver flavor. I took several sticks to my family gathering last year and everyone shuddered. My sister nibbled on it and said yum and within 15 minutes it was all gone and everyone was clamoring over getting it delivered locally(they live in wisconsin)
Have never tried it, but people– their pork sausage is out. of. this. world. good!!!
sounds a lot like black and white pudding, both which are eaten sliced and fried with breakfast in Ireland. Have lived there for 10 years with my Irish husband I was initially repulsed by something made with blood and offal, but damn it is good once you give it a chance. I would totally try this, even though it does have a gross sounding name.
I grew up in Charlotte, where my grandmother used to make livermush after the pigs were slaughtered. She filled a large basin with the stuff, which solidified into a mass about like Neese's. We also ate Neese's, which tasted the same. When I lived in Florida, I brought some back from N.C. and a friend fell in love with it. The truth is, livermush does not taste like liver. For best flavor, fry it in slices.
I live in Hickory N.C. and have spent most of my life in N.C. I really enjoy liver mush for breakfast. Deep fired (nice & crispy!) or pan fried (again, nice & crispy). Nothing beats a livermush, egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast!!Goes great with N.C. favorites Cheerwine or SunDrop
(SUNDROP) liquid gold
I was eating liver mush and then all the sudden I cut an enormous fart. Somebody came in the room and said, "hey, that smells good!"
At first I thought the music was coming from another source on my computer – had to stop the video to verify it as the source of Donovan singing Hurdy-Gurdy Man from the 60's. Only possible connection to liver mush that I can make out is reference to "roly-poly man" near the end. Still, not enough to justify marrying this song to the video. More likely, prolonged consumption of liver mush by the video creator has caused some sort of build-up in the brain leading to impaired judgement.
Maybe he simply had his radio on.
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Wrong thread.
You can have the liver mush... just give me country ham.... yummmmm
This is an inaccurate article. Liver Mush / Scrapple / Pannhas did NOT come from Carolina. It came from the Pennsylvania Dutch. God, CNN, at least GOOGLE for the truth before you print inaccuracies.
SOURCE:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pannhas?db=luna
http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/sleuth/0998/scrapple.html#axzz1OhZIguXZ
The Nesses were part of the PA Dutch until they and a dozen or so other families moved south to NC in the mid 1700's.
I enjoyed Neese's scrapple, as a kid my grandparents often had scrapple and fried green tomatoes or johnny cakes (white corn meal cakes)for breakfast, not bad when served with pure maple syrup.
does liver mush taste like braunshweiger?
Never heard of it , however I have enjoyed liverwurst!
I'll try anything once, but I must admit, livermush doesn't seem that appealing to me. Nor does SPAM or most other mashed meat-like products. But I reserve all judgement until I actually try it.
. the great girl gave her soldiers many cuffs and cages and boobs and paddles free . and paychecks money too . her twin sister made all the lunch toddler lunch wagon catalogs catalogues extreme and grand . wise soldiers did not beg the great girl for more guns when or and when the war was thick . they used their cash and other capital to buy more lunch toddler lunch wagons to decorate their sleeves and tails and furnitures and foliages and gardens and patios cordless and other .
edible music flutes? is that like spammed vegetables with a fruit cocktail sweet pinch twist splash plus ethyl chaser?
I lived in North Carolina for 6 years during graduate school, and I have never heard of 75% of the "foods" named in this article.
I have had liver pudding when I was growing up. My Dad killed hogs and Mom would make the liver pudding. She would slice it batter it in flour and fry it. It was delicious. Also she made Press meat from scraps and the hogs head. She cooked this the same way. She is 96 now and all that grease did not hurt her or my family one bit. We are from Georgia and proud of it.
Proud to say, even after the 8 yrs. I lived in NC, that my lips are and forever will be livermush FREE ! Southern born, I love calve's liver and chicken livers, but there are just some things I WILL NOT DO !
It is interesting reading the comments of the people who are disgusted by the thought of liver pudding. Obviously they have no sense of adventure. While TDY to Hawaii in 1970, I was invited to a luau and was introduced to Poi which is much loved by the local residents. To me it looked like, smelled like and tasted like wall paper paste.... but the locals highly recommended it which was fine with me and I did try it. To those of you who turn up your nose at regional based comfort food, maybe you need to understand how parochial you sound.
Amen to that! I get so tired of people that pooh-pooh things that they're not familiar. At least try it one time.
I always liked the old joke: "What is scapple make of?" "It's what's left on the floor after you make sausage"
Don't get me started on Souse.
My late, great Granddad used to be the superintendant for a pork porcessing plant in Baltimore (long gone now). He used to tell me, "in the hog business, we've got a saying: We use everything except the squeal!"
Liver Pudding is the first thing that I eat when I go home to NC. I even carry a cooler in my car so that I can take it back to Georgia with me. It is great on bread, crackers or just by itself. My daughter loves it as well as the dog. He gets excited when he sees you take it out of the refrigerator. It is a staple just like Duke's mayo. I would be satisfied if I had nothing to eat but some good ole Neese's Liver Pudding! Thank you for the best treat in the South!
Love this stuff, and grew up on it!!
Deep frie it until golden brown. Put it with egg and cheese on toast..with side of bacon/sausage and grits...
It's lunch time here but I have a feeling I may be going to cracker barrell for brunch..
My folks were from the Carolinas, and I still visit the Asheville area regularly, and LOVE livermush. Slice it into slabs about 3/16 thick, cook in skillet, serve with breadfast (usually omelet in my case).
I've never had liver mush but I've grown up on scrapple (and I'm 29 AND from NJ) I don't know how my NJ relatives got their hands on scrapple but I absolutely love it. I just had to ignore the ingredient list :-S
**edit** Just read Bill's post that scrapple is Pennsylvania Dutch food. That's how I know it b/c my grandmother is Penn Dutch! :-)
I am 49 and born and raised in NJ and I can tell you Scrapple is a German dish and was made all over NJ and Pa.
Now you will find the best in Amish Country out in Pa on Rt 22 in Crumsville. Easy to get to and it is fresh made.. buy a lot or a little. ( I buy it in 5 lb blocks and freeze it). They shipp too. check it out .
the best breakfast food ever. Fry it up thicker than the guy does in the video and I fry and egg with it with cheese on toasted bread and have a great sandwich with coffee. Another name is the neeses pudding, neeses liver mush but the scrapple is just as good. Also good with homemade biscuit sandwich with egg and cheese. I can't find this in virginia because people don't know about it. We ate it because we were poor but it's for anything. It's made from liver and whatever from a pig but loaded with iron and a great breakfast you'll enjoy with a great down to earth country smell. And don't forget the grits with butter that people haven't heard of either....hmmm, hmmm they just don't know or care what they are missing. When I was you we used to cook with lard but of course we used spray olive oil or butter. Lard is the fat of the pig and the grease used to help you cook food with. Alright enough of my ranting but if you're laid off and got nothing to eat and loosing your house find out where you can get some and enjoy....thanks
Saw it today in the grocery store here in Halifax County Va. Fool Lion carries it. Check it out.
Sorry to spoil your North Carolina sentiment over "liver mush," "scrapple," "corn meal liver" or whatever of the many names its known by, but this food originated with the Dutch and German immigrants in the Pennsylvania and Ohio region. The only time that it's uniquely southern is when grits, actually ground hominy, is used as the primary filler. True affcianados claim they can taste the difference, which is largely texture. Southern-style "liver mush" is very smooth; almost silky. Pennsylvania/Ohio-style "scrapple" is coarse, with a noticeable grainy texture.
The Neese family was one of many families that migrated from the central PA region to the area that is now Greensboro, NC in the mid 1700's, so very possible these recipes originated there and that is why they are so close to scrapple and other PA foods.
There were many of the Pennsylvania Dutch and Germans that migrated to North Carolina, I know because I am related to many of them in the NC mountains and also have relatives in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, so North Carolinians come by their sentiment quite honestly.
The Neese liver mush is more similar to the scrapple sold in the Pennsylvania Dutch country. My dad always had that for breakfast when traveling in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The more traditional NC liver pudding is packed like sausage in a casing. My grandmother, from her childhood until the 1960's made liver pudding during our very traditional fall season pig harvest . It was stuffed into natural hog gut casing and fried in it standing upright. As everyone in my family that knew the recipe is gone and the traditional rural "hog killin'" is no more I imagine that I will never taste this wonder again. Scrapple is a tasty breakfast meat but no comparison to the liver pudding that the farmers made. Another lost art from those country traditions is 'cracklings', which were the remains of tissue left after the fat was completely pressed out for other purposes. Yummy with red and black pepper and vinegar.
Nees's is opening a web store soon so we will be able to satisfy our longings for Liver Mush. They always had the best Liver Mush when I was a youth in NC. It is a mush consisting mainly of corn meal with a relatively small amount of liver plus some flavorings. Cheaper brands don't put in enough liver and use mystery ingredients. That is really disgusting stuff. But done right not skimping on the good stuff, it is very good. I liked if fried for breakfast or in a sandwich anytime.
I was born in North Carolina, but spent the first 11 years of my life in Wilmington, Del., where my dad worked for DuPont. I think my very first food memory is my mom serving crispy scrapple for breakfast - she had grown up on liver mush, like my dad, but these NC expats couldn't get liver mush in Delaware so settle for the very similar scrapple, which is a Pennsylvania Dutch staple. Anyway, we moved back to NC (Weaverville) and my mom often had a block of Neese's in the fridge. I've lived out West for nearly 30 years now, and you really can't get the stuff. But a few years ago my wife and I were passing through Mooresville, NC, on a visit and stopped at a diner for breakfast. Lo and behold, there was a liver mush omelet on the menu. I think you know what this Tarheel ordered - and yes, it was delish.
You Yanks ought to fry some up and put it on your Johnny cakes and you'd yell for more:)
Having grown up in Charlotte it was always in the refrigerator. I moved to Tennessee years ago and they didn't have it here so, I'd have to make a trip back to Carolina now and then and buy some, put it in my ice chest and could enjooy it later. No city should be without it!!
Why don't y'all just eat dog food? Fry that up too. Bet it tastes like your Grandma's best home cooking.
That Mark! Sharp as a bowling ball....bless his heart!
Haha, I bet it does taste the same. I dare ya.
In the South we been recycling for a long time.... Table scraps have always been used for Dog food.
So while you may feed your Dog some un-known processed stuff from a can, we feed them some of the best eats in the world.
I put my Grand Mothers cooking up against anything your Northerners call good home cooking.
Liver Mush is not sold in can's and we keep it all to ourselves, it never is any left for the Dogs to eat.
Yummy! Chopped up animal corpses!
I live in Asheville NC and I grew up eating liver mush. When I was a kid my parents called it "breakfast crisp" because my brothers and I turned our noses up immediately to the word liver. We would slice it about 1/8 " thick, dredge it in flour,salt and pepper and fry it in the frying pan with a little bit of oil in the pan. You dont deep fry this, you just want to make it crisp and golden brown. I dont buy it or eat it regularly these days. I cant imagine that its that good for you but I have to say that it's quite tasty and a reminder of my youth.
"Give me a Mush, Egg and Cheese and make it hot." Gotta have a splash of Texas Pete(made in NC). to top it off.
Homer's Grill also known as Windy City Grill in Hickory NC made them fast and sooo soo good.
Been eating it for 40 years. cold or hot it rocks.
now that's smack yer mamaw kinda eats! Props down in Hickory bro.
I grew up in Greenville SC and loved livermush. I live just outside of Nashville now and cannot find any here. I wish I could.
I don't eat regular liver...can't deal with it. But I have often eaten different kinds of pate. I have tried a variety called country pate, which is coarse grained. I loved all of those, and once in a while get a hankering for a liverwurst sandwich. Does scapple or liver mush taste anyting like that? If so, I would love to try it. Can I get some in Asheville? I'll be there on vacation later this year.
yep, you can buy it at all the Ingles grocery stores in Asheville,NC. Get the "Neeses", its the best.
Hey thanks. Can I assume that I can get it for breakfast in area restaurants? Now I can't wait to try it.
Heck, I've seen it in the fridge section of some convenience stores. But, he's right, can't miss at Ingles.
I'm from Asheville, NC and love me some liver mush. My Dad used to call it "potted dog". Great to read about the great folks in the WNC area. Now I wanna make me a sammich.
Wow...my late old great uncle, from the lower east side of Manhattan, used to use the word "sammich". I have never heard anybody else use it...very cool/
Enough with the typos and/or incorrect grammar. This is supposed to be journalism:
"If you hit a Greensboro Grasshoppers duke it out with the Hagerstown Suns or any other South Atlantic League baseball team this summer, you'll see packages of Neese's sausage racing around the bases between innings"
Uhhh. Here's another one . . .
"I talked with outside their red brick building in Greensboro, in a trailer they said they're making into Tom's office, if they can ever pry him away from the phones"
I'm so tired of this.
It's not the 30% (liver) that has me worried, but the remaining 70% (???).
I was born and raised in Greensboro......and I LOVE Neese's Sausage and Liver Pudding!! The story says it all. I admit though, as a kid...I didn't mind it. While most kids may have been grossed out by it.....I craved it. It has such a great taste. My grandmother would cook it up for me every now and then.....I loved it. I live in Virginia Beach, Va now, and I miss it.....I could go for some right now!!! There is nothing like NC cookin'!!
I saw Andrew Zimmern make it on Bizarre Foods, and I would try scrapple, liver mush, or any other traditional southern food in an instant. People are too out of touch with their food, and too wussy to try anything new.
I can honestly say that, while as a child I consumed HUGE amounts of fried meat byproducts, I've never had livermush. I do know that you can't enter a grocery store anywhere around here without seeing at least three different brands. I have noticed that the "artesianal sausages" among other things are kind of edging out things like the mush and pimento salad.
Gross! I don't care if it tasted like pizza I would not eat the liver of an animal where all the toxins are collected. & how barbaric! Why don't you just pull the poor squealing pig apart and eat it raw? I am feeling sick to my stomach just reading this.
Honey.....the toilet is down the hallway,second door to your left. While youre gone we will eat all the liver mush left on your plate.
We will eat her vomit if she been eating LIVERMUSH!!!!
Thank you for your opinion. Given the opportunity, we'd eat your offal. Nom, nom...
As a born and bred Tarheel now living in Oklahoma, I spend a lot of money (especially for holidays) to have Neese's Liver Pudding shipped to me overnight. It is a taste of Heaven to my wife, children, and grandchildren. It is best served with breakfast (grits, eggs, salt cured ham slices, bacon, and biscuits), but can be eaten cold right out of the package.
All is right with the world when you have a supply of Neese's liver pudding in the refrigerator.
This sounds a lot like a Lunenburg, Nova Scotia favorite called "Lunenburg puddin'". It's origin is not too promising, but the product is super.
Scrapple(Liver Mush) is more of a Delaware tradition than anywhere else. In fact we have a scrapple festival every year in Bridgeville. We just don't get a CNN article because half the country thinks our state is a city in New Jersey.
Scrapple and liver much are not the same! Scrapple is a gel style dish with pig parts. Something common in Europe. Liver mush is made from liver and cornmeal and made into a loaf something common to Wester NC. Nothing better for breakfast or a sandwich with mustard and onions.
Scrapple has no gel.. It is pork, Pork liver, spices and buck wheat flour. All cooked to a paste and poured into molds and let cool. Once cooled some fat is poured over it to keep it fresh . No chunks or Gel in any scraple I have ever seen or eaten and I have eaten alot..
Grew up eating Neese's sausage and liver pudding. Mom would slice bananas and put a piece of cold liver pudding on top. Sounds gross, but tastes great! My children and grandchildren love it.
Growin up in PeeYah!! We always had Scrapple for breakfast.....Liver and Onions etc...Pigs feet,,,Pickled Deer Heart...nothing got wasted....Never heard of Liver Mush but I'll try it the next time I'm in NC....By the way...Tom Wildoner from Jim Thorpe, Pa. makes the best pickled deer Heart you ever ate!!!!
I do not care for liver, but I love scrapple and liver mush. I grew up eating scrapple in Ohio and was pleasantly surprised to find liver mush when i moved to NC. They taste very similar. I like it with eggs over easy and toast. I do think people are scared off by the name. By the time I found out what was in scrapple, i'd been eating it long enough that I didn't care.
I've been eating livermush since I was a kid and it is awesome. If you've never try it then do yourself a favor and do so. Fry it up, put it between two pieces of bread with a little mayo and you are ready for something awesome.
Also the story failed to connect Liver mush and Scrapple. A large portion of Central NC was populated in the late 1700's by settlers who moved down from Central Pennslyvania and who shared their German or "dutch" roots. Thus, liver mush is very similar to Penn's beloved scrapple.
Liver pudding is not indigenous to North Carolina. We used to eat it all the time in Pennsylvania for breakfast. I always liked it even as a kid. But liver pudding and scrapple seem to be alot popular up North.
As a NC native, I grew up around Liver mush, I didn't particularly like it, but my dad did. Interestingly, my teenage son and daughter love it!
SOLD! I'm pickin' up a pack of Neese's on my way home from work tonight!
that sounds like a line from a commercial. better get two packs after stories like this, products run short due to first timers wanting to see what all the fuss is about.
Don't forget the mustard and fry it nice and crispy. You wil be hooked. Makes the best breakfast sandwich with egg and cheese!
I always actually liked liver, so when we moved to NC and they served something called liver mush one day at school, I figured it might be good. WRONG! It may contain liver, but it tastes nothing like it. It was some of the most foul and nauseous glop lurking under the label of "food" I ever had the misfortune to get in my mouth. Bleh! Decades later, I still have flashbacks.
Had to try it a few years back, served it as my yearly mystery meat at Thanksgiving. I like liver but that stuff, well, you gotta try once. Scratch that off my bucket list
I wonder if it's anything like Braunschweiger, a.k.a. Liverwurst, a very soft German sausage sold in rolls. It's a personal favorite of my family, best eaten with extra sharp cheddar cheese, Miracle Whip/Mayonnaise, and wheat or pumpernickel bread.
Love Liver Pudding, fried w/ cheese melted on it, mayo on soft white bread. YUM!!
I've lived in NC for 35 years and never heard of if referred to as liver mush, just liver pudding.
You must not have ever traveled anywhere west of Charlotte, because livermush is on all the grocery shelves. There are at least 2 different livermush festivals each year–one in Shelby and one in Marion.
Folks from the mountains call it Livermush, folks from the Piedmont call it Liver Pudding. Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe.
This is right up there with the deep fried blood-engorged leaches I was offered in China. No thanks!
just another pete, with a southren twist.
Wow. This article brings up the fondest memories I have of my grandmother Mimi. She was born/raised in the south, and I remember many days of my adulthood spent making "liver pudding" with Mimi and playing cards while it cooked. I love the stuff – the name gives you the wrong idea – it's actually like sausage. All that's in it is liver, pork chops, cornmeal, salt, pepper and cayenne. That's it. She passed away in 2002, but I still have her meat grinder, and from time to time I make the mush with my children and think of my wonderful grandmother.
Very nice, thanks for sharing.
I'll bet I have tried it. Who knows what they put in stuff like hotdogs and sausages and . . .
Hey, Neeses. Look at what happened when they started marketing cornmeal mush as "polenta." I suggest you try marketing a slightly frenchified version of your product as "Artisanal Country Pate," but keep the original for those of us who aren't pretentious ignoramuses.
HA! "Artisanal Country Pate" I love it!
Liver Pudding is so yummy with grits and eggs. Just try it one time and you will love it. I am born and raised on Long Island, NY but my grandparents were born and raised in NC, where I now live. Liver pudding is like a spicy sausage. Don't let the liver in the title fool you. If it weren't called Liver Pudding or Liver Mush, you would never know it was made from liver. Good eats!!
I grew up with Hunter's Livermush. You haven't tasted Livermush until you try this brand.
I, too, grew up with Hunter's liver mush. Oh, the good old days!!
Neeses sausage is the only brand I buy. I am a native Kansan but have lived in NC most of my life. Liver mush and eggs with a couple of biscuits is my idea of a awsome breakfast!
My local supermarket in Mississippi sells a product called liver cheese. It is a liver product made in a square shape, sliced, and the slices are edged with a bit of pig fat. Its a cholesterol treat.
I believe you're referring to liverwurst, or braunschweiger. DELISH on white bread w/mayo. I love liver in any form , be if calf liver, chicken liver, foie gras, you name it and would definitely try liver mush or pudding or whatever.
Snow days? When does it ever snow in North Carolina?
We get some snow, and when we do the entire state shuts down. Even for an inch. Unless you are in Boone or other NC Mountain towns.
Sure did when I was there in High Point at Christmas. And whooooo, are drivers not comfy with that.
we had 34 inches of snow total this winter up near Weaverville NC. We got 18 inches just for Christmas. The kids are in school for another week because of all the snow days,. Yes, it snows in North carolina!
You idiot, where are you from? Evidently you know nothing about the state of North Carolina, have you never heard the motto, "from the mountains from the sea"? It is one of the most diverse climates in the United States, it is clear you must be a Yankee, who talks like they need to caugh up a bag of snot in your throat from sucking in too much pollution and cigarettes! Why do yankees talk like they have a throat full of snot? Very, very annoying!
@SHEILA, now I know your mama taught you to be nicer than that to people, especially those who don't know no better. ;-)
Read about tit in the Mitford series books and wondered what it was. I allways wanted to try it
Grew up on liver mush. It is the best stuff on the planet...fry it up real crisp with a slab of onion, put between a couple of slces of Sunbeam bread and you got yourself a genuine mouth watering treat. True comfort food of the higest order. It is no wonder people want to come south!
I had Neese's liver pudding this morning! I love to eat it with my scrambled eggs with a side of grits.
Now yer talkin'!
I hate liver. I mean I REALLY, REALLY HATE LIVER. But I love liver mush. The two best ways to eat liver mush are both fried. Liver mush fried crispy around the edges with fried eggs and buttered toast – some egg, with runny yolk, sitting on top of the liver mush, all resting on the toast. And hot liver mush fried crispy around the edges made into a sandwich with crisp lettuce and mayonaise on toasted white bread. It doesn't get any better than that. I can feel my arteries hardening right now. But it is worth it!
i do not eat liver. I tried it and i did not like it. I don't eat any organs. Foie gras was good when i tried it but i will never eat again. Not natural or wholesome to me.
So, what do you think about that, stupid?
If you have or had a Memaw in North Carolina, you've probably had liver pudding. It's the only way that I will eat liver.
what the heck is an mimam
Here in North Carolina, a Memaw is a grandmother.
I have had "Scrapple" in PA and it was ok. My mother was French-Canadian and some old recipes such as "blood-pudding" was sometimes on the menu. I know that to make pure blood-pudding the warm blood from a pig was used....it took constant stirring as the spices were added and it thickened. Then cut and wrapped in a gause then steamed. Served cold, it really is a treat! (well ya need to like that sort of thing I suppose.)
Have not tried Neese's liver mush, but I get homesick for Neese's sausage. I was raised in Greensboro, NC. My husband is from upstate NY. After his first taste of Neese's sausage, he was hooked. He gets homesick for it now too. :) My parents always have it for the holidays for all their children that live out of state... they know we are expecting it!
We had liver mush every year when we went to the beach (North Myrtle) with my Aunt Helen & Uncle John. That was the only time I ever ate it unless I went to their house in Charlotte. It was always for breakfast and it was sliced fried and eaten on toast or bread with mustard. I have looked for it since then, just to try it again because it did bring back comforting memories on sun baked days with my cousins at the beach. Until I read this article I had no idea that liver mush and liver pudding were so similar. I have seen liver pudding at my local store & the package looked very familiar, but I did not want to get somethign that tasted too much like liver and not like what I remembered. I gues I will now give it another go... although I may have waited too long to win it a place of good memories with my own children as they are now 18 & 22. Well past the age of trying anything with the name liver in it, there is hope that maybe one day I will have grandchildren adn teach them to like it.
Gross!
Don't know about the NC origins, but I grew up in PA, and my family would fix liver pudding over 40 years ago as a breakfast meat (like scrapple) served with eggs. I still occasionally buy it (but only from a butcher who knows what he's doing!). I think scrapple is more of a northern tradition.
Liver Mush is a staple here in NC, I don't care for it, but I hope it does not die out. Kind of a tradition.
Being from the Philly area, we were weaned on scrapple. First had liver mush with breakfast, at Knight's Inn, in Blowing Rock, NC, around Eastertime in '97. Didn't know what to expect, but I love liver anyway, so thought I'd try some. First thing outta my mouth when the waitress brought out may plate was... "It's scrapple!". Not quite the same, but very close. I ordered two more helpings. :-)
I grew up in SE Ohio and had liver sausage and liver mush all the time. Don't know that any of my ancestors are from the NC area but you never know sometimes. As a kid, liver sausage and liver mush was a side dish for scrambled eggs. Stick-to-your-ribs breakfast on a cold morning. Love it. Live in KS now and folks out here give you some weird looks if you mention these types of foods. Same thing when you mention blood sausage but that's a whole other topic for discussion.
Just returned from a trip home to NC and brought 15 lbs. home with me on the plane. The Harris Teeter store in Morganton froze it for me and packed it in a styrofoam box to check as luggage. We ration ourselves to one breakfast a month. Glad to know the Neese's will ship!
Not familiar with liver mush, but I love scrapple. Just don't ask what's in it. They'll tell you everything but the squeal, including hoofs, snouts, basically the whole head, liver, heart, all boiled down and then mixed with cornmeal and seasonings. It really is good tasting stuff.
been in charlotte, nc for about 8 years. would drive by a neese plant all the time. finally this weekend i bought their sausage to go w/my french style crape pancakes and fresh local strawberries... it was a PERFECT combo. my wife and 3 boys ate that for 3 days straight until the sausage was gone. i got rid of most of the grease and it shrunk quite a bit, but you didn't need a lot, because it was so falvorfull. my father (rest in peace) loveed liver mush... i just never tried it because i hate liver. but i would recommend their sausage. its better than jimmy deans and its local and its a small company...
Their hot sausage is the best in the market - fried, a little burnt around the edges...mmmmmmmmmmm
I hate liver too. And yet, I cannot get enough liver mush. I can't explain why. The stuff is just crazy awesome, especially with a little bit of mustard, on toasted bread. Holy cow...
Anything made out of liver or other organs is delicious. Humans actually crave organ meat (that's why hotdogs and other processed meat must be so popular) but for some reason people who have never eaten the stuff think they don't like it when in fact I know many people who have unknowingly eaten organ meat and said it was delicious. But then again, people thought that eating sushi was crazy until they tried it.
Living in NYC for 12 years now, when I go back home to NC I always ask my Mom if Dad has some liver pudding in the fridge. Chances are it is already in the crisper drawer next to the the cold cuts. Nice, smooth and spicy and perfect cold or fried between 2 pieces of white bread.... Yummmm....
Growing up in the NC foothills, I have eaten livermush all of my life. It's hard to convince people who aren't from here to try it, but many of those who do seem to enjoy it. My personal favorite is Hunter's out of Marion, NC.
Oh, I'm with you. I've eaten it my whole life (3 pieces, sliced thin and fried crisp, on bread with spicy mustard) and I too have been a campaigner of its goodness. Few will take me up on it, though, even when they smell it.
I moved to Atlanta a few years ago and I was shocked they had not even heard of liver mush. I thought it was a staple all over the South, but I guess it is a delicacy native to my home state. My favorite breakfast, which still brings great memories of my childhood in Burgaw, NC, liver mush, grits, overeasy eggs all mixed together with toast and strawberry preserves. I'm glad I still remember my home state the way it used to because it is quickly disappearing.
Shut yo' mouth!!! That's also my favorite way to eat it!
I thought Liver mush was a condition you got from drinking too much moonshine?
Very Good!!! both answer and food.
Hah! Good one! :D
Naw, that's kidney beans.
nice!
Hahahahaha. Gawjus.
I would so try their country scrapple in a heart beat.
Scrapple sounds too much like "scraps" .... who wants to eat scraps of anything?
Fuking snob.
If you eat potted meat, SPAM, TREET, Vienna sausage, etc....trust me, you're eating scraps of something.
If you like hot dogs, bologna or any kind of deli meat, you are eating scraps of something, it is just processed, molded and packaged nicely for you, then slice it up "fresh" for you at the deli counter. Trust me, 99% of deli products are scraps of something.
@ Mark – why the hateful words?
If you like hot dogs, bologna or any kind of deli meat, you are eating scraps of something, it is just processed, molded and packaged nicely for you, then slice it up "fresh" for you at the deli counter.
@ Mark – why the hateful words?
It sounds like scraps because that was sort of how it started. Just like in the article here, scapple was a way to stretch some meat so you could afford to have some each day. In fact, it is a lot like the liver mush, in that it is meat mixed with some spices and cornmeal. Now, don't get me wrong, some scrapple is just horrible, the good stuff isn't made with scraps. There is a butcher a little south of me that has been making the stuff since the early 1800's and I really wouldn't introduce someone new to it on anything else. And yes, I will admit I am from the Philadelphia area so I use ketchup on my scrapple (maple syrup is just aweful on it!!!!).
You mean to tell me that snippy coment didn't pluck your nerves? Definitely did mine.
They say in NC, "We eat everything on a pig but the oink." ;-)
*hands mark a paper bag to breath into*
that's okay, leetle feller. deep breaths now, deep breaths. :p
I treid Scrapple I got in Amish country in PA. I never heard of it before, but I try everything at least once. I loved it. My kids wouldn't touch it. My wife wanted me to throw it out because it smelled (like liver !). I would try the liver mush and pudding. i love liver. I don't know why kids (or adults) don't like liver.
Way back when our family used to raise hogs. In the spring my parents and my uncle would slaughter them and we would take the different parts to use all the rest of the year. What was left over would be put in a big old iron kettle. My uncle was best at this. We kids couldn't wait to get the results of that mush that was cooked all day long. It was one of the best tasting mixtures you ever ate. Back then we didn't know that cooking like this might be unsanitary but we didn't care cause we knew our supper that night would be wonderful.
It's interesting, I might try it, but I'm not going to make any rush to try it.
You must try it with mustard. They go together hand and hand.
Ran across liver mush in N.C. back in the late 70's at a diner. I ask what it was, little grandma type lady replied "boy where you from?" Tried it, wasn't to bad, more like thin overly saged sausage.
Interesting,but no Thank You.
how to cook it.
Jan Karon, the author of the Mitford series, mentions liver mush in several of her books about Mitford, North Carolina. One of her characters thrives on it.
Dangit. now I got that song stuck in my head.
I'm trying to figure out what livermush has to do with a song about a hurdy gurdy.
I use Neeses only, and cook mine in butter (margarine), and lightly salt both sides. On toast with a little mayo and a glass of iced tea in the mornings when I'm on night shift. And yes, I'm from north Carolina!
I was raised on Neese's Liver Pudding...it was always a staple in our house. I've always loved it and still do! In fact, I want some now!!! I eat it fried on a sandwich with mustard, for breakfast and sliced cold on saltine crackers! ~ My NC-Floridian-transplant relatives specifically place their order for liver pudding before they visit us...it's a tradition! ~ Love Our Neese's Sausage and Liver Pudding in NC! ~ Diana – Mebane, located in the Piedmont, NC.
Actually sounds pretty good.. would think it might be more of a pate type thing? I always love trying new and different things..I love to cook and experiment.. and when my wife got me a hilarious cookbook for Xmas.. I just can't seem to get myself out of the dang kitchen anymore. I won't tell you the name of the book here cause some of you will freak out on me.. it's a bit politically incorrect, but if you have a good sense of humor.. or if you get offended easily, google "whipped and beaten culinary works" to find it.. but seriously.. don't go if you can't take a good joke.
I too enjoy eating liver pudding, and I too live in NC. But, BASS FARM SAUSAGE IS A MILLION TIMES BETTER!!!!!
Having grown up just outside the city limits of Greensboro NC, just a couple of miles away from the Neese's Sausage business. Needless to say, I grew up eating Neese's liver pudding. For those who have not had the pleasure, it tastes similar to liver pate'. Today it's a comfort food that takes me back to my childhood and simpler times. Thanks for featuring this on your show.
I grew up on liver pudding in DC. We always had grits, eggs liver pudding and fried apples. It's mid day and I'm hungry for breakfast.
There is nothing in the world better for breakfast than liver pudding, grits, butter and toast or hot biscuits. I always mix it in the grits with lots of pepper. I grew up in Teachey, North Carolina (Duplin County) and to this day I eat liver pudding. My favorite is Pender's. Need some now!
Brings back memories of me and my Dad at the beach in the early 70's ..., we would eat it right out
of the package, cold, with a little mayo on Bunny Bread... We could put away a entire pack
in one sitting... A Great product from a great family run business.
I grew up on Rapa Brand Scrapple in Maryland (Rapa is made in Delaware). I have been looking for something similar for a long time and Neese's Scapple is the closest I can find. Very good and great with eggs.
Why don't you use a spatula instead of messing up good liver mush!
Dearfolk,
Livermush ROCKS!!! My first taste of it was at a little diner in Kannapolis at 4:30 A. M. (I was driving all night back when I could see to), and it sure did taste good. I've been partial to it ever since. My favorite is Frank Corriher's Hot from Landis or China Grove, but anybody's will do. Ditto for liver pudding in S. C. with rice as the adjunct instead of cornmeal.
Keep mushing, y'all!
Wholeheartedly, Ort. Carlton in Athens, Georgia.
P. S. I can buy Jenkins Livermush here.
Bad joke time. Q. What's the difference between a tornado and a livermush sandwich? A. Have you ever seen a tornado with mayonnaise on it?
I grew up in Charlotte. My wife is from Mass. and she hates liver. But after trying Neese's Liver pudding she eats it regularly. I know that sounds like a commercial but it is the truth. It does not have what I call the metallic taste that most liver products have. It does sound kind of gross I know and I know each person has their own taste. It's not for everyone. I eat it sliced on bread with a little mayo. Man I want to go get some now! haha.
Neese's makes THE BEST ground sausage. You have to buy the hot, mold it into patties, fry it and make gravy with the drippings, pour it thick over cat-head biscuits..... oh man... I gotta go home and get some
*************** BASS FARM SAUSAGE IS A MILLION TIMES BETTER!!!!! ******************
My ex used to gush over this stuff when we lived in a Western state. When I bought liverwurst for him, he said it was "close." When he ate it he took his dentures out and and gummed it to death. Made me nauseated to watch it so I can't bring myself to eat it. Real liver yes, liver mush or pudding, no.
Your description of a toothless man eating liverwurst makes me feel a little sick.
*Urks*
Your story made me hungry for some liver pudding!!!!!
I wish your ex lived with me so I could watch him gum that liver pudding! I would feed it too him morning, noon and night!!!!!!
Love scrapple; love liver & onions; would probably like liver pudding (if I could get some in NJ). Souse, btw, is pork and its juices along with spices in gelatin; like a "pig aspic," if you will. Can't get beyond the mouth feel of that one (it's not that great to look at either).
Being from California, I had never heard of or tasted livermush or scrapple until I met and married my husband, who is from the Charlotte area. My first thought of livermush was "Yuck!" as I hate the taste and consistency of liver. Oddly, I associate the smell of liver with pork chops as that is what my folks cooked for me when they had liver & onions, so I love the smell of it. When he got me to try it, I fell in love with the stuff. And, of course, Neese's was the best. SC has something similar, but it doesn't compare with Neese's. And Scrapple was like having ground up Spam in a brick. We like it too from time to time, but not nearly as much as Livermush. As we were in the military for many years, mostly stationed in the west, we would have his mother buy "mass quantities" and ship them to us "on ice" to wherever we happened to be. After she passed, we started calling Neese's and having them ship it to us. Then, they suggested we ask our local grocery store to buy it for us and have it shipped to them. This worked beautifully and soon we were getting Livermush, Cheerwine and Sundrop and grape and orange Nehi at our local grocery store, just for us. Then we found out there were other transplanted North Carolinians living in our area because the store started carrying all of these along with other "foreign" foods. Love it!
It's funny you mentioned Sun Drop. I had never heard of this until my brother moved to North Carolina. Some of our other relatives visited and all they could talk about was how much they loved this soda. My brother also loves liver mush but the rest of our relatives passed on that!!
I LOVE SUNDROP !!!!!!! BEEN DRINKING IT FOR 40 YEARS.
I've missed livermush, Sun Drop, Cheerwine and Texas Pete (which you just HAVE to have to put on your fried livermush) ever since we moved to San Antonio. We finally got Texas Pete, which meant I no longer had to go to Golden Corral just to get a fix, and Sun Drop recently went national, but you still can't find anything even similar to livermush here. In fact, I haven't even found any place where I can buy a pork liver to try to make my own. Looks like I'm going to have to resort to hunting feral hogs, at least until Neese's expands their distribution.
I love scrapple. I like slice it thick, fry and put on toast with a little butter and grape jelly.... Yum Yum
Sooo gooood!!!!
Terry,
I'm all in favor of "to each his (or her) own", but WHY would you ruin perfectly good scrapple with grape jelly? I've been eating scrapple for more than 50 years, and never saw the need to adulterate it with jelly...now a side of apple butter, that's a different story ;)
There is absolutely nothing appetizing about the word "Liver" and the word "Mush" then putting the 2 together describing a food called "Livermush" is just sick!
That's cause you AIN'T tried it dear.
No, She sure'n AIN'T hadn't any of them thar livermush. Iff'n only she'd tra.
You would reconsider if you just slide that sweet meat in your mouth. It's goooood eatin'!!!!
Carl, you've gotta be talking about "White Trash Cooking!" You're right, it is politically incorrect, but it has a lot of recipes I remembered from my white trash roots. I really liked it, but a Yankee stole my copy when she moved away!
We are North Carolinians and like liver mush, but we live in Florida now, and you can't buy it here. We have often
brought it back with us from a North Carolina visit.
Once you go Liver Pudding you NEVER go back! Thanks Neese's! Although, it is a shame one cannot get it anywhere...Tsk, tsk, tsk.....
Hey, the REASON you can't get Neese's just anywhere around the country is because their product is fresh, fresh, fresh and they don't load it up with a bunch of preservatives. They'll do mail order for you though, I hear...
If you've never tried it you should give it a chance. I grew up with it. I recommend the sandwich at Tony's City Ice Cream Co., in Gastonia, NC. It's like stepping back into the 50's. Finish with a shake made with their ice cream made in the store.
TONEYS in Gastonia NC ( All America city) = Liver mush between two pieces of bread and mustard and diced onions with either a grape milk shake or a sundrop .......holey Heck its so good!
Every Labor Day my mother prepares the Hunter's Breakfast at her and her brother's Farm in Bowmore NC for the opening of Dove Season. There is always "Larry's Liver Pudding" that is in the casing. Some of my friends won't even let me describe it. It is spicy and good with grits, sliced tomato and eggs and biscuits. Neese's is good on saltines and sandwiches is easier to find and can be eaten out of the package.
My step-grandmother made liver pudding and I loved it, along with Spam. Southerners love their pig. I remember coming face to face with pig's feet in my grandmothers fridge. Now that was a little off putting.