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La Belle Cuisine
The Liptauer
Controversy
In
the course of reviewing our Appetizer Archives recently in preparation for the
Holiday Season, I was appalled to realize that I had not included a very simple,
utterly delicious, long-standing favorite: Liptauer. How could that be??? As I
plowed through a ridiculous number of recipe cards, it came back to me. I have
way too many Liptauer recipes, and I always have trouble deciding which one to
use. Some recipes called for butter. Some for sour cream, mustard, caraway seed.
What to do? I wound up just winging it. I can tell you though, that I prefer
to leave the capers, cornichons, anchovies and such in the accompaniment
category. I use
a combination of cream cheese and sieved cottage cheese with
minced onion, salt, pepper and LOTS of imported Hungarian paprika.
Liptauer
should be served with the closest thing to European dark rye bread you
can get
your hands on. I surround the cheese with small dishes of sliced scallions,
drained capers, chopped red radishes, finely chopped cucumber, chopped anchovy
fillets, chopped smoked oysters, caviar or crumbled crisp bacon. Or whatever
else suits my fancy. And I always drag out Gigi’s sterling demitasse spoons just
for the occasion. Why not?
If you want to get a heated conversation going, just mention the origin of
Liptauer (assuming, of course, you are dealing with people who have actually
heard of it). I have always considered Liptauer a Hungarian concoction. Perhaps
it is. I have known Hungarians who consider it theirs and theirs alone. (And
they, by the way, insist that it be made very simply. No funny stuff.) Good
enough for me. However, there have been some quite adamant folks out there in
cyberspace proclaiming Liptauer to be German. Or: No way! It is NOT German, it
is NOT Hungarian, it
is Slovakian! What I can tell you for sure as of this
writing (27 December 2002),
is that Liptov is located in Slovakia. Well, what if
we traced the history of Liptov? Would that take us back to the Austro-Hungarian
Empire? See what I mean? I did not want to bring it up at all, but it is such
great party food, that I gave in. With or without cottage cheese, with or
without capers, anchovies or caraway seed, I do
hope you enjoy it. Wave whatever
flag suits your fancy.
So.
Here is how Nigella does it:
Liptauer
 
Nigella Bites:
From Family Meals
to Elegant Dinners --
Easy, Delectable Recipes
for Any Occasion
by Nigella Lawson, 2002, Hyperion
“What did I get myself into, deciding to put this here? It sounds, or will once
I explain it, so unlikely, so culinarily yesteryear. But if we’re talking family
favorites I couldn’t leave it out. Liptauer was
the
deli-counter delicacy of my childhood, and another eating-item I’d all but
forgotten about. But something
made me remember it, and from taste-memory and
some note from the kitchen
book inherited by my friend Olivia from her mother, I
tried my hand at making
it myself, and I can confidently and categorically state
that it’s not some senti-mental yearning that makes me now want to see its
comeback. You don’t need
to go in for the retro-molding here, just mix the
ingredients and plonk them
in a bowl if you like: but whatever this glorious
cream cheese, caper, caraway
seed and paprika combination, spread over black
sour bread – or if you don’t
have the genetic taste for it – over slices of any
dark or brown bread, which
you can get from the supermarket, is rhapsodically
unbeatable.”
18 ounces cream cheese
2 1/4 cups cottage cheese
4-5 tablespoons capers
8 cornichons, chopped
3 teaspoons paprika
Pinch of salt
Good grating of black pepper
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 teaspoons French mustard
1-quart mold or bowl
For drizzling over:
1-2 tablespoons flavorless vegetable oil
Fat pinch of paprika
Beat the two cheeses together until they are smooth, and then add
all the other ingredients. Mix everything together well, and then turn into a
small bowl with a capacity for approximately 1 quart, lined with plastic wrap
for easier unmolding later. Smooth the top with a spatula and cover with the
overhanging plastic wrap. Place it in the refrigerator to set. I put a couple of
cans on top to press it down, but I don’t feel it’s crucial. I think it’s
because my mother was always putting pâtés and suchlike in the refrigerator with
weights on. [We have never weighted it down, and quite agree that it is not
crucial. We find it, in fact, unnecessary.]
When it has become cold enough to turn out – a few hours should do it – unwrap
the folded-over plastic wrap on top, place a plate over the now uncovered bowl,
turn it the other way our and unmold. Pull the plastic wrap off and drizzle over
a rust-red ooze, made by mixing the oil with the paprika.
Serve this with bread or poppy-seed-sprinkled bagels, gherkins, and, if you
like, some chopped red onions.
Featured Archive Recipes:
Cheesy Retro Stuff
Crocked Shrimp and Cheese
Gigi's Smoked Oyster Mousse
Charlie Trotter's Smoked
Salmon Canapés
Pepper Biscuits with Cheddar-
Pecan Spread
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