You’ll need a mortar and pestle, blender, food processor, or sharp knife and cutting board to make chicken liver mousse. Use the utmost care when handling raw poultry livers, washing all surfaces with hot soapy water. I also fill a spray bottle with white vinegar for cleaning, as it is food safe and cuts grease.

You’ll also need a loaf pan or some small vessels to store the mousse; I used ramekins.

Place the chicken livers in a colander. Place the colander in the sink and run cool water over the livers, rinsing them of any visible blood. Using your clean hands, a small knife, or scissors, carefully remove any green bile sacs, taking care not to rupture them, as the bile is extremely bitter.

There is little fat on chicken livers, but removing any you see is your choice.

Pat the livers dry with paper towels and leave them a moment.

In a small food processor, mortar and pestle, or using a sharp knife, mince the garlic, shallot, capers, and parsley to a paste. Do not clean the processor.

Melt about two tablespoons butter and a tablespoon of olive oil in a sturdy frying pan. I used my Netherton foundry pan, which measures 12 inches/30 cm across.

Once the butter is melted, tip the minced vegetable mixture into your pan and cook it over low heat. You want it to, as Elizabeth David used to say, melt. Meaning, lowish heat, and don’t allow it to brown.

Add the livers to the pan, and cook very gently. Salt and pepper. A little. You can always add a bit more later.

Blood will begin pooling on the surface of the livers. This is your cue to turn them over. It’s also time to add the liquors, Worcestshire sauce, and tomato paste. Stir everything so the flavors can blend. The livers should take 5-8 minutes to cook through. You want them pink. Not red, not gray.

Take the livers off the heat and tip them into a bowl, allowing them to cool a bit before their final puree. If you leave them in the pan, they might continue cooking, and we don’t want that.

Okay. Spoon your livers into the dirty food processor, or chop finely, whatever, but you want a puree here.

Taste for salt, as you’ll be eating this cool or at room temperature.

Chicken liver mousse is the sort of food that benefits from hanging around a few days, but like our medical professionals, it needs PPE. Spoon your lovely mousse into immaculate ramekins, or a loaf pan, or even coffee cups. Whatever you use, make sure your vessel of choice is both heat and cold tolerant. Then, melt the fat of your choosing over the mousse. I used Kerrygold butter.

Allow the mousse to cool, then cover the butter or fat with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate. Provided the seals are airtight, the chicken liver mousse will keep, refrigerated, up to ten days. Once you break the seal, either consume the mousse within three days or seal it anew with more melted fat.

When it’s time to eat your chicken liver mousse, remove it from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before eating. Eat your chicken liver mousse on crackers, spread in a sandwhich, as a dip, an appetizer, or if you fortunate enough to get truly good rye bread, as deli sandwhich with mustard and dill pickles. Or spring for one of those miniature loaves of black bread and eat it on that.

Do not freeze.