Ingredients
Bread
- 500 gdark rye bread
- a day or two old
- rupjmaize, Latvian black bread
To fry
- 150 mloil
- or 100 g butter with oil
- 8garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 teaspoonsalt
- black pepper
Cheese sauce
- 150 ghard cheese, grated
- 150 gmayonnaise
- or 100 g soured cream
- 3garlic cloves, crushed
- a little black pepper
To serve
- cold beer
- in Latvian bars
- as a shared plate
Directions
- Cut the bread into thick slices. Aim for about one centimetre square. Spread the strips out on a tray. Leave them out for an hour if you can. Pour the oil into a wide heavy pan. It should be about a centimetre deep. Heat it over a medium heat slowly.
- Add the crushed garlic to the cold oil. Garlic put into cold oil infuses as it heats. Let the garlic sizzle gently as the oil warms. Give it about three minutes to infuse.
- Lift the garlic out before it browns. Set the garlic aside for later use. Add a single layer of bread strips. Do not crowd the pan at any point. Work in batches with plenty of space. Cooking them takes real attention. Fry them for about two minutes. Turn them with tongs or a spoon.
- Fry all the other sides as well. Give each batch about five minutes total. Lift them onto kitchen paper briefly. Salt them generously while still hot. Crush the remaining garlic with salt.
- Rub it well over all the hot strips. Hot bread takes up the garlic far better. Grate the hard cheese very finely. Mix it into the mayonnaise well. Add the crushed garlic to the bowl.
- Add black pepper and stir it well. It should be thick enough to cling. Let it stand for the garlic to come through. Serving it is done hot and immediately.
- Pile the hot strips onto a plate. Put the sauce in a bowl beside them. Serve cold beer alongside them both. They keep a day in a sealed tin. Make them fresh where you can.
Technique
- Latvian rupjmaize is a dense dark sourdough rye, moist and slightly sweet with a strong sour note, and the whole snack depends on it; ordinary white bread will not work. Day-old bread is wanted, since fresh bread cuts badly and soaks up far too much oil.
- The garlic goes on in three places: infused into the cold oil as it heats, rubbed onto the strips while they are still hot, and in the dipping sauce. Garlic put into hot oil burns at once and turns the whole pan bitter, so it goes in cold and comes out before it browns.
- Dark rye is hard to judge by colour because it looks browned before it is crisp; test one by breaking it in half, and it should snap rather than bend.
Substitutions
- Soured cream in place of some mayonnaise loosens the sauce.
- Butter with oil gives a richer fry than oil alone.
Variations
- Some cooks trim the crust off and others leave it on for more chew.
- The sauce is made with mayonnaise, soured cream or a mixture of both.
- Caraway is present in some rupjmaize and absent in others.
History
Made from stale black bread and sold in every Latvian bar as the standard partner to beer.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ķiploku grauzdiņi?
Ķiploku grauzdiņi is a snack from Latvia: fried strips of dark rye bread rubbed with garlic, served with cheese sauce. Made from stale black bread and sold in every Latvian bar as the standard partner to beer.
How long does Ķiploku grauzdiņi take to make?
Ķiploku grauzdiņi takes 15 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Ķiploku grauzdiņi?
Yes, within limits. Soured cream in place of some mayonnaise loosens the sauce. Butter with oil gives a richer fry than oil alone.
What is the most important thing to get right in Ķiploku grauzdiņi?
Lift the garlic out before it browns. Set the garlic aside for later use. Add a single layer of bread strips. Do not crowd the pan at any point. Work in batches with plenty of space. Cooking them takes real attention. Fry them for about two minutes. Turn them with tongs or a spoon.
