Marion, North Carolina — Hunter’s Livermush has operated on the same street in Marion, North Carolina since Roy and Gurthie Hunter began selling it in 1955. The current production facility sits next door to the original house the Hunter family grew up in. For years, they cooked and packaged blocks of pig liver and cornmeal, similar to scrapple, with the help of their four children.
There was never any question whether the Hunter children would take over the family business. Roy Hunter wouldn’t entertain the thought of them taking any job other than making livermush, so 69 years later, the three remaining children produce about 20,000 pounds of Hunter’s Livermush per week.
On a morning in September, sisters Louise Rumfelt and Carolyn Johnson sat side by side in the office, their voices steadily rising with excitement as they talked about how life used to be when they were growing up. A family portrait sat perched on the desk, the entire Hunter family smiling back. Beneath the hum of machinery, the whole building smelled of sage.
Phyllis Brackett, the youngest of the three and the only sister who still works long, hot hours in the production facility, popped in from time to time, her wispy light blonde hair pulled back into a blue hair net.
“(Livermush) was your whole existence,” she said. “That and going to church. That’s all you got to do.”
Gurthie’s obituary from 2021 neatly summed up the Hunter matriarch’s character and the lessons she passed on to her kids: “Her whole life was her four children, Hunter’s Livermush, and God.”
Credit: Olivia Wakim
Credit: Olivia Wakim
If you talk about livermush outside of one of the few counties where it’s made and sold, you’ll be met with blank stares. But mention the cubed block of pig liver and cornmeal to anyone from the area who grew up attending one of the livermush festivals in Marion or Shelby, North Carolina, and they’ll light up with recognition. For most people living within a 100-mile radius of Marion, Hunter’s Livermush is what they’ll swear by.
“(Making livermush is) an art to learn,” Johnson said. “It’s got to pop grease on the top of it. If it ain’t popping grease, you keep cooking it.”
The sisters use the same recipe as their mother — a cooked mixture of pork liver, pork jowls, cornmeal, salt, pepper and sage.
In a recent telephone interview, Tom Hanchett, a community historian in Charlotte, North Carolina, said the dish likely came from early German settlers who would have eaten something like pon haus (one of many spellings), which is made with pork scraps, cornmeal and buckwheat. As the settlers migrated through the U.S. along the Great Wagon Road, Hanchett said some moved into Pennsylvania and brought scrapple with them while others continued down to the Carolina Piedmont, livermush on their coattails. While the two items could easily be confused, livermush always contains pork liver and cornmeal, whereas scrapple may use other pork trimmings and different grains.
“So many of our characteristic foods are what the ordinary people ate and then made the best of it,” Hanchett said.
Despite its many siblings like liver pudding, goetta and scrapple, Hanchett said livermush never made its way much farther than Tryon, North Carolina, perhaps because of its less-than-appetizing name.
But about 3 miles down the road from Hunter’s Livermush in downtown Marion, between Big Foot paraphernalia and an impressive view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, visitors will find that quite a few restaurants offer it on the menu.
Aaron Mathews is a Charleston, South Carolina native, but he spent several years working at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. He often met farmers from McDowell County who were disappointed that most of the produce they grew locally was going to Charlotte and the surrounding areas instead of into the community.
Mathews decided to open a restaurant in McDowell County that could take advantage of the thriving agrarian presence. And so McDowell Local was born, a spacious restaurant located in scenic downtown Marion decorated with thrifted dishware, knickknacks and cross-stitched art.
Credit: Olivia Wakim
Credit: Olivia Wakim
Hunter’s Livermush has been a staple in the community since 1955, so Mathews knew he needed to include it on the menu. Livermush has appeared in a variety of ways as specials on the menu, such as a Scotch egg, a banh mi and even as livermush pate.
McDowell Local always offers a livermush sandwich that is a spin on the traditional way of eating it — with bread, mustard and grape jelly. First the livermush is fried until it’s crispy. The toasted sourdough bread gets a layer of house-made brown mustard and jalapeno onion jam on both sides, with the livermush sandwiched in between. The dish is finished with a generous helping of french fries on the side.
“Livermush is the way it is because at some point somebody decided this is what they needed, this is what they wanted, so I don’t want to kick the feet out underneath that,” Mathews said. “I don’t think that’s respectful of the history of the food. But I don’t mind working with it and tweaking a little bit, and adding things that maybe people weren’t expecting.”
While it isn’t a bestseller, he has a reliable crowd that orders the sandwich, and plenty of new customers are surprised by how good it is.
“A lot of this stuff is not lowbrow, a lot of this stuff is actually pretty well thought out,” he said.
Although livermush’s popularity never spread outside of Western North Carolina, it’s gathered a smattering of passionate followers. There are a number of stories and celebrations dedicated to the mush, including a poetry book, a cookbook and two festivals, one in Marion and one in Shelby.
Livermush will likely never achieve the heights of bacon, or even scrapple, but it’s a staple for generations of people in Western North Carolina, and as long as Hunter’s Livermush is still making it four days a week, and restaurants like McDowell Local keep it on the menu, the dish should stick around, at least in five counties.
“America is a place more than we realize that has regional foods still,” Hanchett said. “As a nation, we have come to treasure those kind of differences as the juggernaut of corporate food kind of bulldozes its way across everything. So hanging on to something like livermush, it gives a little more space for the next person who has an unusual idea to put that on our plate.”
McDowell Local, 23 N. Main St., Marion, North Carolina, 828-559-0654. mcdowelllocal.com.
Read about other Southern classic dishes and the chefs who are reimagining them at ajc.com/food-and-recipes/southern-classics-reimagined.
Where to find livermush in Georgia
Most metro Atlanta Ingles Markets carry Jenkins Livermush. Call first to check availability.
At publication time, livermush was available at the Ingles Market in Fayetteville (135 Highway 92, Fayetteville), Stone Mountain (4815 Rockbridge Road SW, Stone Mountain), Lilburn (650 Rockbridge Road SW, Lilburn), Stockbridge (3701 Walt Stephens Road, Stockbridge), Peachtree Corners (5075 Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree Corners), Conyers (2455 Salem Road SE, Conyers) and Cumming (6055 Bethelview Road, Cumming). shop.ingles-markets.com
Credit: Courtesy of Emma Mathews
Credit: Courtesy of Emma Mathews
McDowell Local Livermush Sandwich
Hunter’s Livermush is only available around McDowell County, so unless you take a road trip to Marion, you’ll have to settle for a different brand. Any brand will do, the most common of which is Jenkins Livermush found at several Ingles Markets in metro Atlanta. The traditional livermush sandwich is made with yellow mustard and grape jelly, but McDowell Local gives it a refresh with stone ground mustard and a jalapeno onion grape jam.
- 1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil, such as canola oil
- 2 (1/4-inch) slices Hunter’s livermush
- 2 (5/8-inch) slices sourdough bread
- 2 teaspoons stone ground mustard
- 1 tablespoon Jalapeno Onion Grape Jam (see recipe)
- Heat oil in a skillet until shimmering over medium heat. Fry the livermush until crispy, about 3 minutes per side.
- While the livermush is cooking, toast the sourdough. Spread the mustard on one toasted slice and the jam on the other.
- Slide the crisp livermush onto one slice of sourdough toast and top with the second piece. Serve immediately.
Makes 1 sandwich.
Per sandwich: 667 calories (percent of calories from fat, 33), 21 grams protein, 91 grams carbohydrates, 17 grams total sugars, 5 grams fiber, 24 grams total fat (4 grams saturated), 75 milligrams cholesterol, 1,324 milligrams sodium.
Jalapeno Onion Grape Jam
McDowell Local uses this recipe for house-made jalapeno onion grape jam. At the restaurant, they pickle their own jalapenos for about 12 days before preparing the jam, but home cooks can get a similar result by using jarred pickled jalapenos from their local grocery store.
- 4 ounces pickled jalapenos
- 4 ounces white onion
- 4 ounces white sugar
- 8 ounces grape jelly
- Place the jalapenos and onion in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal S-blade. Pulse until the jalapenos and onion are finely chopped but not pureed.
- Add the jalapeno-onion mixture and sugar to a 2-quart pot over medium heat. Cook until thick, about 30 minutes, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon.
- Add the grape jelly and cook, stirring regularly, for an additional 5 minutes or until it reaches a jammy consistency. Cool and pour into a canning jar. It will thicken as it cools, and keeps, covered, for at least a month in the refrigerator.
Makes about 8 ounces.
Per 1-tablespoon serving: 74 calories (percent of calories from fat, 1), trace protein, 18 grams carbohydrates, 15 grams total sugars, trace fiber, trace total fat (trace saturated fat), no cholesterol, 123 milligrams sodium.
Livermush Pate
Mathews found that livermush could seem reminiscent of a “stiffer French country-style pate,” he said, so he made just that at a recent livermush festival and served it with freshly popped pork rinds and sage. Since livermush is made with varying salt levels, he suggests home cooks taste the pate throughout the cooking process so as not to over-season.
- 1 pound Hunter’s livermush
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, plus more if needed
- 1 tablespoon ground sage
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- Salt, to taste (optional)
- Crudite, pork rinds, crackers, potato chips or toast for serving
- In a food processor fitted with the S-blade, process the livermush and cream until a smooth consistency is reached, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. If needed, add more cream, a splash at a time, to reach your desired consistency. The mixture should be smooth without any visual lumps.
- Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl. Fold in the sage, pepper and paprika. Taste and add salt if desired; adjust other seasonings.
- Cover in plastic wrap and chill overnight. Serve at room temperature with crudite, pork rinds, crackers, potato chips or toast. For the best flavor, serve the pate the day after it is made. It will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Makes about 24 ounces, about 12 servings.
Per 1 (2-ounce) serving of pate: 114 calories (percent of calories from fat, 63), 4 grams protein, 6 grams carbohydrates, trace total sugars, 1 gram fiber, 8 grams total fat (4 grams saturated), 51 milligrams cholesterol, 236 milligrams sodium.
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