Hot Lunch: Nostalgic Chicken Livers

Out of all of the random facts I know, there has always been one that's stuck with me: the invention of the fork allowed people to not touch their food. By dressing up meat and arranging it neatly on a plate, and by consuming it with cutlery, its true nature is hidden. We forget that it was an animal, or a plant in the ground, because we've made it look appealing. Cooking chicken livers reminded me strongly of that, as I went from this:

To this:

This element is touched upon in "Rising an Arab Father in America," when the father and his brothers attempt to kill a lamb, and their botched attempt results in no lamb shish kabobs for dinner. 

In the short story "Hot Lunch," the author recalls a time when she attended a Catholic school. A nun, upon learning that Diana's father is Jordanian, becomes attached to Diana because her family is from "the Holy Land." The nun is invited to the Abu-Jaber house and has a meal with them, excited all the while that she would be eating the same kind of food that Jesus would have eaten.

In addition to reminding me that how we prepare, cook and dress our food hides the fact that our food comes from an animal, this story reminds me of how people, upon learning that I am half-filipino, always ask, "well, then, you must know how to cook great food!"

Food associates closely with identity. Say lumpia, and you think Filipino. Look at pita bread, and we think Middle East. When we eat from other countries it's mostly for enjoyment. But sometimes, the food becomes a way for us to understand other people. Recreating these recipes brings Abu-Jaber's stories to another dimension. But how else can I understand her stories without eating the foods from her childhood, the food that Jesus could have possibly eaten? Without knowing what chicken livers taste like, how could I possibly understand why she describes them as "nostalgic"?

Most of us won't have to kill our own meat (however, I have done this with Rainbow Trout, which I shall write about later), but when you look down into that bloody bowl of  chicken livers and wonder how anyone could have possibly thought that this was a good idea, cooking reminds us that it is a process that takes time and energy.

So now I'm reminded that several chickens gave their lives for this hot lunch. How can I look at my chickens straight in the eyes again?

Be careful, Siopao, or else I'll turn you into a hot lunch!


Recipe:

• 1/4 cup of butter 
• 4 medium onions, thinly sliced 
• 1 pound of chicken livers 
• 1/3 cup of lemon juice 
• Salt and pepper to taste

Abu-Jaber recommends singing softly to the chicken livers as they simmer, but in case you don't want to sing out loud you could listen to Egyptian singer Dina El Wedidi.