Obatzda

Ingredients

Spread

• 250 gvery ripe camembert or Brie, at room temperature
• 80 gcream cheese or quark
• 80 gunsalted butter, soft
• 1small onion, chopped very fine
• 2 tspsweet paprika
• ½ tspcaraway seed, crushed
• 2 tbspwheat beer
• salt and black pepper

To serve

• a soft pretzel or dark rye
• radishes and spring onions
• more raw onion rings

Directions

1. Use camembert that is genuinely ripe — soft to the point of running, and smelling strongly. This is the whole origin of the dish: it was invented to use up cheese that had gone too far to sell, and a firm young camembert makes a bland, lumpy spread.
2. Cut the cheese into rough pieces, rind and all, and put it in a bowl with the soft butter and cream cheese.
3. Mash with a fork rather than a machine. Obatzda should be uneven, with recognisable pieces of rind through it — blitzed smooth it becomes an anonymous dip.
4. Work in the paprika, crushed caraway, chopped onion and beer, and season with salt and pepper.
5. Cover and chill for at least two hours so the flavours settle and the onion loses its raw edge.
6. Take it out 20 minutes before serving — straight from the fridge it is too firm to spread.
7. Serve heaped in a bowl with onion rings scattered over, a pretzel, radishes and a wheat beer.

Technique

• Ripe cheese, mashed by hand. Those two things are the dish.
• The beer is a Bavarian touch and it loosens the mixture without thinning the flavour; milk or cream does the same job less interestingly.
• It keeps three days chilled and the flavour improves overnight.

Substitutions

• Romadur or Limburger for a much stronger version, which is traditional.
• Milk or cream in place of the beer.
• Chives or a little garlic, though neither is orthodox.

Variations

• Some beer gardens add a spoonful of mustard.
• A milder version uses half camembert and half quark, which suits people put off by the smell.

History

Created in the 1920s by Katharina Eisenreich at the Bräustüberl in Freising, who mixed overripe cheese into a spread to sell with beer.

Frequently asked questions

What is Obatzda?

Obatzda is a cheese & dairy from Germany: beer garden spread of ripe camembert mashed with butter, paprika and onion. Created in the 1920s by Katharina Eisenreich at the Bräustüberl in Freising, who mixed overripe cheese into a spread to sell with beer.

How long does Obatzda take to make?

Obatzda takes 15 min plus 2 hours chilling of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Obatzda?

Yes, within limits. Romadur or Limburger for a much stronger version, which is traditional. Milk or cream in place of the beer. Chives or a little garlic, though neither is orthodox.

What is the most important thing to get right in Obatzda?

Use camembert that is genuinely ripe — soft to the point of running, and smelling strongly. This is the whole origin of the dish: it was invented to use up cheese that had gone too far to sell, and a firm young camembert makes a bland, lumpy spread.