Backcountry Cuisine: Livermush
Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 07:21PM 
Odd and unusual foods in the Southern Backcountry cover a broad range of delicacies (and indelicacies) -- fried pickles, deep-fried Oreos, fried green tomatoes, frogs' legs, fried grits, chicken-fried squirrel, and others, mostly with the word "fried" expressed or implied. Outstanding among these is livermush, including liver pudding, a Backcountry phenomenon with its epicentre in central North Carolina.
One of our local groceries recently began carrying a variety of liver pudding, Jenkins, which serves the purpose well when the need for livermush arises. Before I go further, let me hasten to acknowledge that livermush purists -- yes, you read that right, livermush purists -- will insist that liver pudding is not really livermush. Nonetheless, when we were kids, liver pudding was called "livermush," and that's how we think of it.
Specifically, what we called "livermush" was and is Neese's Liver Pudding, made in the North Carolina Piedmont and distributed throughout much of North Carolina and into parts of the Virginia and South Carolina Piedmonts. Neese's also makes Neese's Liver Mush, distributed in Western North Carolina, a hotbed of livermush purism. Both products are made with hog's liver; the spices are somewhat different and liver pudding contains more corn meal.
The story of Neese's Sausage has a classic Backcountry beginning:
The Neese history begins with family members immigrating to America in the early 1700s. In 1769, George Neese (born 1744) moved to what is now Guilford County, North Carolina, traveling the great wagon road through the Shenandoah Valley from Berks County Pennsylvania.
Neese's Company History. The company remains a family-run business and still makes its product line with pure ingredients, delivered fresh to its customers. Which explains why we unfortunately can't get the real thing where I live and have to make do with a substitute.
There are four other North Carolina producers -- Mack's Livermush and Meats and Jenkins Foods, both in Shelby, Hunter's in Marion, and Frank Corriher Beef and Sausage in China Grove, all of which have avid followings. And if you think I'm overstating the case by the use of such terms as "purist" and "avid," consider that North Carolina boasts three (3) annual livermush gatherings -- the Livermush Festival in June in Marion, North Carolina, the Fall Festival and Liver Mush Expo in Shelby, N.C., and another Livermush Festival in Drexel, N.C. As far as I can determine, these are the only such events in the known universe. Purists. Avid.
How does one cook livermush? Fry it, of course. Traditionally, in bacon drippings or lard, but I recommend a vegetable oil such as Crisco or peanut oil, and on the sparse side. There are, inevitably, two schools of thought on the matter of cut -- thick and thin. "Thick" means you cut off slices of one-half inch or so, and brown both sides in oil until heated through. "Thin" livermushers prefer slices of one-fourth inch or less, fried in oil until the slab is crispy. Serve with a side of grits (boiled, not fried) and eggs over-easy, or scrambled if you must.
There are variations, such as the livermush sandwich for lunch and -- you had to know this would be so -- Livermush-on-a-Stick, Mack's specialty at the Shelby Liver Mush Expo: slices of livermush which have been battered and deep-fried.
So where do I stand on this vitally important point of Backcountry cuisine? Non-purist Neese's Liver Pudding, sliced thick, with yellow grits and eggs over easy. Those thin-slice, white-grits, scrambled-eggs types just don't know what they're missing.
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Reader Comments (11)
I LOVE LIVERMUSH!!!! pardon my enthusiasm, but it is the most delicious breakfast entree ever devised. Up here we get a somewhat inferior product that does not seem to have that tangy flavor that comes from the piedmont brand.
Good gravy! at last I understand how my Yankee husband developed a love for liver mush. It must have been the influence of your ma and pa's (ma's &Pa's?) cooking. In this house, doing my "wifely duty" meant cooking livermush. What a revolting chore. He hasn't mentioned it in years (he's 80 now) and I'm not going to remind him. He might go out and hunt some down and make me do my wifely duty. Everyone to his own taste..or lack of.
Jay, laddie, it sounds as if you are having a real nasty ride there. Hope things get easier after the last turn of "the rack". Say hi to Chris aka Joel for me. I remember you as cute little boys.
Pray tell......a cousin to Philadelphia scrapple? Habbersettes was the best ever! Neese is close but not the real McCoy. I'll bring some of the "good stuff" back a few days after Turkey Day to share, if you behave one more time on the rack! We're keeping you close in thoughts and prayers. One more time, Boss!
"Pray tell......a cousin to Philadelphia scrapple?"
Cousin, yes. Same essential idea. Both coming from the thrifty and industrious German farm folk. Livermush originated among the North Carolina "Dutch," I believe, while scrapple came from Pennsylvania Dutch culture. The two products are different enough that each is worthy in its own right, but partly it depends on what you grew up with -- if you are a livermusher from the NC Piedmont, the very best scrapple will not displace Neese's. But I'll be glad to do a taste test and report on the results!
PS -- if you are in Shelby, NC, do NOT suggest that scrapple is in any way related to livermush unless you are prepared to duke it out. Those folks are serious about their livermush.
Yikes! I just got used to the idea of Scrapple, Spam, or Liver and Onions, and now this. Although I have not had the honor of the Haggis or the Sweetbread my curiosity and proximity may allow me to try such a previously unknown culinary breakfast delicacy such as you speak. However, I must warn you it may take me several days, a week, or perhaps even a lifetime to actually invest in such an undertaking. May it be warming enough to know that I have consumed such vittle knowledge.
I like liver mush-but never had the pudding. Interesting post. Hope you are having a good day-sorry about the side effects.
I have never liked ANYthing involving liver. With one exception.
If you've ever been in the military, you may remember that the grub was mostly pretty plain and mostly not what one would call delicious.
At Langley AFB the running joke was that you could have as many biscuits as you could carry.
One day at dinner I was scouring the available possibilities for something that looked appetizing enough to try, and I found a meat with cooked onions.
Not realizing what it was, i piled some on my plate and headed for the table. It was quite good, comparatively speaking.
Yep. Liver and onions.
But as I said, with only one exception.
Yay! Fried Livermush & grits (yellow, of course)
Fried Brains & eggs scrambled!
Fried shad roe & eggs & early green tomatoes!
Yum!
No liver mush made in the Piedmont can compare to Hunter's made in the Marion North Carolina area. I grew up in Hickory NC and have not lived there since 1959. We now live in SC and while visiting Hickory we discovered Hunter's. It is the most like my grandfather made in the '30's-'50's. If you get a chance to try some I think you will agree it is real liver mush. They must just sell it in a very small radius of Marion. We have not seen it in any other place.
I have been transplanted to Texas from North Carolina. Does anyone know where I can order Livermush?
thanks
I don't know of anyplace, but Neese's has been promising for a while to open an on-line store which will take mail orders -- see: http://www.neesesausage.com/products/store.htm