Danish Liver Pâté: Leverpostej

"Leverpostej" is pronounced like: "layver-post-eye."

You don't have to chop the liver, pork fat and onion into some exact size, just into somewhat smaller pieces, as these will all be put into the grinder or food processor. And please don't cringe if you don't like anchovies. This is not a pizza. The anchovies are blended into the mixture and you will not get the strong taste, at all.

Often served on Danish whole rye bread (rugbrød),* with all or some combination of pickled beets, fried mushrooms and bacon. Finding Danish whole rye bread outside of Denmark will likely be a problem, although "perhaps" some specialty bakeshops may have it, or similar. Of course you should be able to get it online, but German "Vollkornbrot" ** is "essentially" the same thing (if I were running for dog catcher in Copenhagen, I just lost), and it is available in some stores in parts of the U.S. and Canada, including here in Cleveland. Some Vollkornbrot is imported from Germany (typically it comes sliced), while others are made in Canada or the United States (usually sliced, but in larger loaves). Both Danish "rugbrød" and German "Vollkornbrot" are types of dark rye bread with various cracked grains and seeds in them. 

Ingredients:

2 pounds pork liver, cut into somewhat smaller pieces
1/3 pound pork fat, cut into smaller pieces
2 1/2 cups roughly chopped onion
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons flour
6 anchovies
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper

Grind the liver, pork fat and onions to a fine consistency. The ground mixture will be runny and will look yucky. Add the other ingredients and mix in well. Put mixture into a loaf pan or loaf pans. Put the pan (or pans, if preparing all together) into a shallow pan and add some warm water to make a water bath for the loaf pan, also known as a "bain-marie" (see Word History, below) Bake in a 350 F degree oven. The baking time will solely depend upon the size loaf pan or pans you use, so it might take 45 minutes for a small pan, but 60 to 90 minutes, or even 2 hours, for a larger pan. The juices from the leverpostej should be fairly clear to signal that the dish is done. During baking, if the top of the leverpostej begins to become too dark, just lay a piece of foil over it. Danes at times use small disposable aluminum baking pans for their leverpostej and they fill some such pans and then freeze them. They need only remove a pan from the freezer and bake it, when desired. 

* The words of the Danish compound "rugbrød" are closely related to English "rye bread," as both words are Germanic in derivation, and English is from the West Germanic branch of Germanic and Danish is from the North Germanic branch. "Rye" was once spelled with a "g" in English, but the sound morphed into "ay/eye" sound, as happened similarly (somewhat different sound of simply 'ay') in a number of other English words like, "may," the verb, once spelled "mæg," and "day," which was once spelled "dæg."

** "Vollkornbrot" is literally "full corn bread" in English, but in English we say "whole grain bread." In North American English the word "corn" has come to mean the usually yellow kernels from a cob (synonym: maize) during the last couple of hundred years or so, but this word is from Germanic and it has long been the general word for grain throughout the Germanic languages, and it still retains that meaning in the UK, where "corn" and "grain" are essentially synonyms. The word "grain" is not an original English word, but it is rather a Latin-derived word, that was borrowed into English.
    
Slice of whole rye bread (I used Vollkornbrot) with "leverpostej," topped with bacon, with pickled beets and fried mushrooms on the side ...

WORD HISTORY: 
Bain-marie-This term is used for "a water bath of a large, shallow pan of water with one or more smaller containers of food placed inside the pan, then put into an oven to cook gently and with less threat of the food sticking to the pan(s)." English borrowed the term from the same expression in French in the first half of the 1800s. This was the French rendering of Latin "balneum Mariae" ("bath of Maria"). French "bain" was derived from the verb "baigner" (to bathe, to have/take a bath), from Latin "balneare," with the same meaning, derived from the Latin noun "bal(i)neum" (a bath), which had been borrowed from Greek "balaneion," which meant, "warm water bath;" thus also, "a place for bathing, a bathroom." Where Greek got the word is unknown. The use of "Marie" seemingly goes to "Maria the Jewess," who was an alchemist in Egypt some time in the early centuries of the Christian Era. Such water baths were used in science, and she seems to have been mistakenly credited with the invention of these baths, at the time, so her name was applied to the process. "Marie" is simply the French rendering of "Maria."  

Tyrolean Style Liver (Tiroler Leber)

There are many variations to recipes of this name, "Leber nach Tiroler Art;" that is, "Liver, Tirol Style" (literally, "Liver after (or, according to) Tirol Type"), or sometimes it is called, "Tiroler Leber." It is made in Austria and Bavaria.* This is really a stew, and a very good one, at that. Some fix it with cream instead of sour cream, but others use no cream or sour cream at all, while some add lemon juice, but no wine, and there are other variations too. Some serve it with polenta, which Austro-German culture got from the Italians.** To me, the great sauce of this dish requires mashed potatoes, but I'm a lover of mashed potatoes; so to me, chocolate ice cream requires mashed potatoes. Well, that's not true... actually, strawberry ice cream. 

Ingredients (for 4 to 6 servings):

1 1/2 pounds liver (calves, beef or pork) cut into bite sized pieces
flour for coating the liver
3 tablespoons butter + 3 tablespoons olive oil
5 thick cut slices smoked bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef stock
2/3 cup white wine
1 heaping teaspoon dried marjoram leaves (or you can use oregano)
3 tablespoons (drained) capers, whole or chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt (or you can omit this, if the beef stock is salty)
1 teaspoon black pepper
flour and water for thickener, if desired
1/2 cup sour cream (reduced fat type is fine)

Coat the cut liver pieces with flour, set aside. In a skillet over medium heat, add the oil and butter. Add the bacon and the onion, cook, stirring the mixture around fairly often, until the onion is softened. Add the liver and cook for a few minutes before adding the beef stock, the wine and the marjoram. Stir well to mix. Reduce heat to simmer the stew. When the liver is cooked through, add the capers, the pepper and the salt (if using), stir well. (If you want the sauce to be thickened, as I like, mix some flour and water and gradually stir it into the stew. Let the stew simmer for a minute or two.) Remove the stew from the heat and stir in the sour cream until it is fully mixed in.

* Tyrol/Tirol is a region in the Alps divided between Austria and Italy since the end of World War One. Long a part of the Old German Empire, then of the Austrian Empire, and then of Austria-Hungary, the southern part of the region, the South Tirol (German: Südtirol, Italian: Alto Adige) was given to Italy after World War One, which caused bitter feelings by the majority German population for decades (it should be noted, parts of the region had substantial Italian minorities or even local majorities).  

** Of course, the Italians live just south of the German speaking areas. "Polenta," known to most Americans as simply, "cornmeal," is ground corn/maize, a food taken to Europe from the New World, along with some other new food products for those times, like potatoes and tomatoes, for instance. In German the word "Polenta" is used as the standard word, but there is also "Plentn" in dialect, as well as "Sterz" in some southern dialect (more for the cooked type, either as a kind of solidly cooked "bread/cake," or as a kind of porridge). German also uses "Maismehl" (maize meal) for the uncooked ground meal.   

Tyrolean Style Liver with mashed potatoes and salad....

WORD HISTORY: 
Brook-There is more than one word of this spelling in English (the noun is unrelated and is from a totally different source), and this is the verb "brook," with the modern meaning of "to tolerate, bear something unpleasant." It is distantly related to "fruit," a word of Latin derivation borrowed by English, which originally meant "an enjoyment," which then progressed to the modern meaning, "produce of trees or bushes" (from the notion, "a food that is enjoyed"). It goes back to Indo European "bhrug," with the notion of, "to enjoy, to make use of for enjoyment." This gave Old Germanic "brukanan," with the same meanings. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "brucan," meaning, "to enjoy, to use, to eat and to enjoy food;" which led to the meanings, "to digest," and for the food, "to be digestible;" thus, "to tolerate (stomach wise);" thus, to the later more general sense of "tolerate, bear something," the meaning that survived into modern English. In more modern times, at least in the U.S., it is often used in the negative sense, "I can't brook his drinking and gambling." Other Germanic relatives: German has "gebrauchen" (to use) and "brauchen," (to have need of, to have the need to use something), Low German Saxon has "bruken" (to need for use, to use), West Frisian "brûke" (to use), Dutch "bruiken" (to use, to make use of). Apparently a form did not survive in North Germanic, but the word was not just in West Germanic, as Gothic, which was East Germanic, had "brukjan" (to enjoy). Danish "bruge" (to use), Norwegian "bruke" (to use) and Swedish "bruka" (to become accustomed to, to till land; that is, make land ready for use, but the word's former general meaning was, "make use of"), all came by borrowing from Low German.    

Berlin Style Liver (Leber Nach Berliner Art)

This is a pretty well known dish from Berlin, although it is certainly served outside of Berlin, just as Wiener Schnitzel is served outside of Vienna (Wien in German). It is usually made with calves liver, but you can use beef or pork liver and Bismarck's ghost won't get you with his spiked helmet.

"Yeeeooow! What the hell? Medic! I'll have to finish typing this while I'm standing up."

Anyway, it is not uncommon to find Berlin style liver in German-American restaurants. In Berlin it is commonly served with mashed potatoes, but you can serve whatever you like and Bismarck's ghost ... well, never mind about Bismarck's ghost. I'm not going through that again.

Ingredients (about 4 servings):

1 1/2 pounds liver, sliced, but not too thickly
2 baseball size onions, peeled and sliced into 1/3 inch rounds (you can use white, yellow or red onions)
2 apples (like red delicious or golden delicious), typically peeled, but I leave the skin on, cored then cut into round slices 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick
4 or 5 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon ground white or black pepper
butter/canola oil mix (about 3 or 4 tablespoons butter and the same amount of oil)

Heat 2 tablespoons each of butter and oil in a skillet over low heat. Dust the liver slices with flour and set aside. Add the onion slices to the pan and saute until lightly browned (the slices will naturally come apart). Remove the onions to a dish and keep them warm. Add the apple slices to the pan and cook until they too are somewhat browned, remove and keep warm. Add more butter and oil to the skillet, then add the liver slices. Brown on both sides and cook until they are just cooked through. Season the cooked liver with salt and pepper after removing it from the heat. Serve with mashed potatoes and with some onion and apple rings next to the liver.

WORD HISTORY:
Stroll-The history of this word is a bit uncertain, although it looks pretty logical to me. It was borrowed by English in the very early 1600s from German, which had "Strolch," a word from Alemannic German dialect^ which meant, "a vagabond, a rogue, a mischievous boy." This seems to have developed from Alemannic dialect "strollen," which meant, "to wander around aimlessly" (Alemannic also had the noun "Stroll," meaning "vagabond"). While not a complete certainty, these German forms seem to have developed as an abbreviated form of Italian "astrologo," which meant "astrologer, stargazer;" thus also, "interpreter of the stars and their relationship to events, a prophet," and which passed into Lombardic, the language of the Germanic Lombards who settled in northern Italy (the region of Lombardia is named for them), as "strolegh," which then became "strolago," and meant, "vagabond, traveling entertainer who uses tricks to deceive his audience." This seems to have passed into Alemannic in the 1400s from Swiss (German) and Swabian mercenary soldiers serving in northern Italy.

^  Alemannic is a group of German dialects tracing back to the Germanic tribe the Alemanni. Alemannic is pretty much concentrated in the southwestern area of the German-speaking area and includes Switzerland, extreme western Austria, Liechtenstein, Alsace in eastern France and southwestern Germany, including a part of Bavaria. Alemannic is the general name for the dialect, but it breaks down further into numerous regional and local dialects. Not all Alemannic speakers can necessarily understand one another.

Country Pâté (Pâté de Campagne)

"Pâté" is simply the modern French word for "paste," and the old form of the French word was also spelled "paste." The word provided the basis for a dish of chopped or ground seasoned meat. Some pâté is spreadable, and other pâté is firmer and better suited for slicing, as in this recipe here, but whatever the texture, pâté is not a fat free food. When you get right down to it, this is actually a kind of meatloaf. It is "typically" served with some Dijon mustard, bread (sometimes toasted) and cornichons (small pickles). 

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 pounds ground pork
1/2 pound slab bacon, chopped
1/2 pound pork liver, coarsely chopped (or chicken livers)
1/2 pound smoked ham, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup Cognac
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound sliced bacon
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground mace
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream 
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)

Melt the butter in a skillet over low heat. Add the onion and cook until softened; let cool. Mix together the ground pork, the chopped slab bacon, the chopped pork liver, the chopped ham, garlic, softened onion, white pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, cloves, mace, thyme, Cognac, eggs, cream and bread crumbs. Mix very well. Cover and refrigerate for about 12 hours.

Line a loaf pan or terrine with parchment paper or foil, then line the dish with bacon strips, leaving any length of bacon slices to be folded over the top, once the meat is smoothed out in the pan/dish. Leave up to an inch of space between the top of the meat and the top of the pan.* Cover and top the meat with the folded over bacon and finish covering the top with lengthwise slices of bacon. Cover the pan/dish with a lid (if using a terrine) or foil. Put the loaf pan or terrine into a somewhat larger pan and add warm or hot water about 2/3 of the way up the loaf pan. If you are using a metal or heavy crock ware loaf pan or terrine, you can use hot tap water, but I used a glass loaf type dish, so I used just "warm" tap water, as hot water could crack the dish filled with the cold mixture. Put this all into a 350 F oven and let bake for 2 hours. Let the pâté cool, then place the loaf pan/terrine into the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.** Because I had the glass dish, I put a couple inches of warm water into the sink and I let the dish sit in the barely warm water for about 3 minutes, just to loosen it. You want the pâté to remain cold, not only for serving, but if it warms up, you will have fat running everywhere. You should be able to grasp the parchment paper or foil to make sure the pâté is loosened. Turn it out onto a plate/platter, cover with plastic wrap or foil and put it back into the refrigerator for about 20 to 30 minutes. Slice and enjoy. 

* I had just a little of the mixture left over and I just fixed it separately. 

** Some put a piece of foil or plastic wrapped cardboard over the top of the pâté and then they put canned food or other such things on the cardboard to act as a weight to compress the pâté while it is refrigerated. This step does help to firm the pâté even more, but it's up to you, as it isn't totally necessary.          


After the wrapping was removed, I returned the meat to the loaf dish for this photo. Say "Cheese!"

Served with some Dijon mustard, slices of baguette and some cornichons (small pickles)

WORD HISTORY:
Grind-This word has a somewhat difficult history, but it is distantly related to Latin "frendere," which meant, "to rub, to gnash the teeth." It is related to "ground," the noun meaning, "the Earth's surface, the soil making up the Earth's surface." It goes back to Indo European "ghrendh," which had the notion, "to rub, to rub together to break a substance down," with the extended meaning, "to crush." This gave Old Germanic "grindanan," with the same meaning. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "grindan" (as well as a couple of compounds) meaning "to crush, to mill." This then became "grinden," before the modern form. The noun form was derived from the verb (circa 1000?), originally with the meaning, "a grinding or gnashing with the teeth." Until more recent times, if water power was not available, grinding grain required animal or human power to move the stones to crush the grain. This likely gave rise to the expression "the grind;" that is, "hard and boring work." Many of the modern Germanic languages use forms of "mill" and "to mill" for their words related to "grinding grain," but Dutch has the noun "grind" for "grit;" thus also, "gravel." I found a form in West Frisian, but whether this is a borrowing from Dutch or English, or an original form, is unclear. Swedish has "grand," meaning, "particle, dust particle, atom." German once had "grint," a noun meaning "skin ailment of flaky skin," which later progressed to mean, "crusty sore or wound," and also, "skin ailment of the scalp, ringworm (Kopfgrind)." Low German once had "grint," meaning "sand, grit," and Old Norse had "grand," meaning, "particles, grains, grit, pebbles," which also might have been borrowed by Low German as "Grand," but meaning "wheat bran." As can be seen, all forms tie in with "small items, particles of something."    

Tuscan Liver Pâté

I've had this recipe for years, but I'm not sure where I got it, because I wrote it down on a small index card. For those unaware, Tuscany is a region of Italy; more specifically, a region of northwestern Italy, with the its capital being the city of Florence (Italian: Firenze). The famous wine "Chianti" is from this region.

Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken livers
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons tomato paste (mixed with a little warm water to thin slightly)
2 anchovy fillets, rinsed and finely chopped
2 tablespoons capers, chopped
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
salt and pepper (very little salt, as the capers and anchovies will add salt)

Melt the butter and add the olive oil to a skillet. Add the chopped onion and sauté lightly on low heat. After about a minute or so, add the garlic. Sauté until both just begin to soften, but do not brown, especially the garlic, as it can get very bitter tasting. Add the anchovy and stir, as it will begin to dissolve into the mixture. Add the chicken livers and stir well. Continue to stir occasionally to make sure the mixture does not stick and to be certain the livers are all cooking through. Add the rosemary and the tomato paste, which should be just barely thinned with a little warm water. Stir well to mix. Add the capers, salt and pepper and mix once more. You can let the mixture cool, before putting it into a food processor and pulsing until smooth. It can be served warm or refrigerated. Great with some toasted or grilled Italian breads.

WORD HISTORY:
Caper-English has other forms of this word, but in this case, this is the noun and name of the plant and its edible flower bud, of dull green color, which is typically pickled in a salt brine. The ultimate origins of this word are unknown, but Greek had "kapparis," which was borrowed by Latin as "capparis." This gave French "câpres," and this, plus apparent reinforcement by the Latin word, was borrowed by English in the late 1300s as "capers." The ending "s" was later dropped for the singular, as is was mistaken as being the plural form.

Chicken Liver Pâté

This is really French cuisine, although telling the difference between the many forms of liverwurst by national cuisine can be difficult. Again, this is really more of my own recipe, but many are similar. Some use cognac, or sherry, and somewhere, I'm almost positive, I have a recipe that uses port wine. Some add ground cayenne pepper for some heat, and I've even seen recipes that use hot sauce instead. Often served with toast or crackers.

Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken livers
salt
pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 tablespoons of brandy
1/2  medium onion, chopped, plus 1/4 fresh onion, finely chopped
1 large clove of garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons butter

In a skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of butter and add the 1/2 of chopped medium onion, the garlic, the thyme and pepper, and a little salt (most people use salted butter, so limit the amount of salt you add). Cook on low heat until livers are cooked through and the onion and garlic are softened, stirring to prevent sticking or overcooking of any of the livers, but stir in the brandy just before the livers are cooked through. Let the mixture cool a bit and then put into a food processor, adding the last tablespoon of butter and the fresh finely chopped onion. Pulse until the mixture is smooth. You will likely have to scrape down the sides of the processor at times. Put the mixture into a bowl and cover, then place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving, with several hours in the frig being even better.

WORD HISTORY:
Cuisine-This word, closely related to "cook," seems" to go back to Indo European "kwekwo," "perhaps" a variant form of "pekwo," which seems to have meant "to ripen;" the notion being to prepare inedible raw food until it is 'ripe;' that is, ready to eat. This gave Old Italic "kekewo," and this gave Latin "coquere," a verb meaning "to cook." This then gave Latin "coquina," and the later "cocina," both meaning "kitchen." This gave French "cuisine," also meaning "kitchen," but gradually broadened to mean "foods and dishes prepared in the kitchen, cooked items." English borrowed the word from French in the late 1700s.