Search for:
  • Home/
  • /
  • Liverworst, Isn’t Worst.

Liverworst, Isn’t Worst.

I am a teacher.  I believe in introducing my students to new concepts, ideas and things.  Today they each received a little slice of liverworst. 

A few approached the morsel boldly, popping it into their mouths.  The others waited and watched.  Izzy gagged, spit in his hand, then grabbed a Kleexex and started scrubbing his tongue.  That caused those waiting some concern.  Brad and Jimmy ate theirs and asked for more.

Cindy took a bite, chewed twice and froze.  We all started at her for several seconds.  “You can spit it out,” I said.  She ran for the sink and did so.  Rico popped his into his mouth, chewed it up, shrugged his shoulders and said, “Remind me not to try that again.”

Jake examined his liverworst.  Jake sniffed his liverworst.  Jake took a teeny tiny nibble of his liverworst.  “Oh!” He exclaimed brightly.  “It tastes just like catfood!”  Then he popped the remainder in his mouth and asked for more.

Quilly is the pseudonym of Charlene L. Amsden, who lives on The Big Island in Hawaii. When she is not hanging out with Amoeba, she is likely teaching or sewing. Or she could be cooking, taking photographs, or even writing. But if she's not doing any of that, she's probably on Facebook or tinkering with her blog.

18 Comments

  1. Good grief, Quilly. Poor Jake! What do they eat at his house? Should Children’s Services be called or the Humane Society? Is Jake being starved or the cat? LOL

  2. I’m not sure how to react to that Quilly… I’m PRAYING he was saying that very tongue in cheek! But I’m really scared he wasn’t!

  3. Judy — I wondered that myself.

    Melli — Jake isn’t sophisticated to think of a joke like that. Sorry.

    Dr. John — now I’m worried about you, too!

    Judy — I know you read OC’s blog — you leave him comments. (I read it, too!)

  4. Ah, how pampered we are these days, even in our lower-income domains. Back in the day, on those little German farms we think so quaint now (those that don’t have autobahns running through them), if you killed the cow you ate the cow. From head to tail. No waste allowed, not even the blood (blutwurst). No taste allowed either. You will be hungry enough as it is without turning food down because “you don’t like it”. And trust me, before Marco Polo showed up from China with little dainties like pepper, there was a whole lot not to like.

    Not too long ago, I recall, lots of low-income people were subsisting on pet foods, because they were cheaper and (because they were often the sole diet for the animals) more nutritious than the human equivalents. Now, the shoe is on the other foot, with Moggy’s tin of tuna far pricier than Chicken of the Sea. And, no FDA regulation of the pet foods. Ah, the sweet song of profit. ka-CHIoops.

  5. OC — that “oops!” was precisely my first worry. This kids mother sends him out to play in the wash (and, no I don’t mean “laundry”).

  6. I wondered if Jake was the one who said his dad beat him, but I checked back and that was Jet, did he get to try the liverworst? and after not turning up the next day, has he turned up since? Oh, and don’t forget that some people feed cats on tuna or salmon, not that they taste like liverworst, do they?

  7. Bazza — I know it’s a bit confusing to keep track of all the players in the drama that is my classroom. I have 6 different classes. I eat lunch with my homeroom, and Jet isn’t in my homeroom, so he didn’t get any liverworst. And, when you looked up Jet’s story, you should have read the comments. Jet returned to school the next day, none the worse for wear. He took every single second of the time alloted to get any work in. Seconds after the final bell rang on the final day, he handed me just enough finished work to raise his F to a D.

    Al — Jimmy agreed, and requested tomato as well. The other kids were horrified. Yasmine said – complete with dramatic shudder — “It tasted nasty enough without adding any onions!”

  8. Poor Jake! I used to eat liverworst when I was a kid, until I found out what it was made of. Actually, there are a lot worse things you could have given them. Once, our Spanish teacher, who was from Colombia, brought fried ants to class (it seems these are a delicacy in Colombia). A couple of brave souls decided to try (I was not one of them) and they went running to the bathroom to spit them out. Over here, people eat congealed blood and fried pig’s ear; needless to say, I haven’t tried any of that. I do try to have my kids eat different kinds of food (within a certain limit) but it’s an uphill battle.

  9. Theresa — I have eaten chocolate covered ants and fried grasshopper. The ants tasted like chocolate, but they crunched — kind of like a Nestle’s Crisp candy bar. The fried grasshoppers tasted like straw. They had the same taste and texture as pulling a length of hay from the bale and chewing on it. I didn’t spit either out — nor did I ask for more.

  10. Even the sound of liverworst makes me want to gag. I don’t think Australians eat this. I’ve never heard of it before.

    There is, however, a group of people who eat cat food by choice in Australia: usually the elderly. I guess they figure it’s cheaper than human food. Somehow I think Jake’s family may be in the same boat.

  11. Mumma — you may call it liver pate. And we have the same category of people here — at least we used to. Now pet food costs more then people food.

Comments are closed.