Ingredients
The cheese
- 250 gTopfen
- or quark, or well-drained curd cheese
- 100 gbutter, softened
- or 100 g cream cheese
- for a softer spread
The seasoning
- 2 tablespoonssweet paprika
- a good Hungarian one
- 1 teaspoonhot paprika
- or to taste
- 1small onion, grated finely
- and squeezed dry
- 1 teaspooncaraway seeds
- lightly crushed
- 2 teaspoonsmustard
- 2anchovy fillets, mashed
- or 1 teaspoon capers, chopped
- 1 teaspoonsalt
- black pepper
Sometimes added
- 2 tablespoonssoured cream
- 1 tablespoonchopped chives
- a splash of beer
- a pinch of ground cumin
To serve
- dark rye bread
- or a bread roll
- sliced radish
- sliced onion
- pickled gherkins
- a glass of Grüner Veltliner
Directions
- Set it in a muslin-lined sieve. Let it drain an hour or more. Press it gently. Use a good Hungarian paprika. Sweet as the base, hot for the edge. Keep it in the dark. Liptauer should be genuinely orange-pink.
- Grate it rather than chopping. Squeeze the grated onion dry. Crush the seeds lightly. Do not grind them to powder.
- Beat the butter until soft and pale. Added to cold curd it stays in lumps. Take them out an hour ahead. Add the drained curd to the beaten butter.
- Beat them together until smooth. Add the paprika, onion, caraway and mustard. Add the mashed anchovy. Add the salt and pepper. Beat it all through. It should be thick and spreadable.
- Add soured cream if it is too stiff. Add more drained curd if it is loose. Cover it and refrigerate it. Give it at least four hours.
- Taste it after chilling, not before. It will need more salt than you expect. Serve it at room temperature.
- Take it out of the refrigerator half an hour ahead. Cold Liptauer is stiff and muted. Keep it covered.
Technique
- Chill it at least four hours and preferably overnight. The paprika needs time to bloom into the fat, the onion and caraway mellow, and the streaky colour evens out — a freshly made Liptauer tastes raw and looks wrong.
- Drain the curd well. Wet curd gives a loose sloppy spread and dulls the paprika; an hour in a muslin-lined sieve is enough.
- Beat the butter alone until soft and pale before the cheese goes in, and have both at room temperature. Cold butter added to cold curd stays in lumps.
- Grate the onion and squeeze it dry. Chopped onion sits in the spread as lumps, and grated onion carries a great deal of water that loosens it.
- Two tablespoons of paprika is not a mistake. Liptauer should be genuinely orange-pink, and the colour is half of what it is.
- Buy paprika in small quantities and keep it dark. It loses colour and aroma fast, and old paprika tastes dusty and looks brown.
- Crush the caraway lightly rather than grinding it. Some texture is wanted, and caraway is not cumin — the two are confused in several languages and taste entirely different.
- Mashed anchovy gives savoury depth rather than fishiness and disappears entirely into the spread. Capers substitute for the salty edge, and some versions use neither — say plainly which you have made, since the anchovy version contains fish.
- Taste it after chilling, not before. It will need more salt than you expect.
- Serve it at room temperature, out of the refrigerator half an hour ahead. Cold Liptauer is stiff and muted.
- The original spread used Liptovská bryndza, a protected Slovak sheep’s milk cheese, and the name refers to Liptov in what is now Slovakia. Austrian versions generally use Topfen, and Slovakia and Hungary have their own versions.
- Serve it on a strong dark rye. White bread is simply overwhelmed.
Substitutions
- Quark or well-drained curd cheese replaces Topfen.
- Cream cheese in place of some butter gives a softer, milder spread.
- Slovak bryndza gives the original sheep’s milk character where you can get it.
- Capers replace anchovy for the salty edge, or both can be left out.
- Soured cream loosens a spread that has come out too stiff.
- Chives, a splash of beer or a pinch of cumin are all added in some versions.
Variations
- Slovak version made with bryndza is the original and is sharper.
- Hungarian körözött is the close relative, usually with more paprika.
- Obatzda in Bavaria is the Camembert-based cousin.
- A version with more soured cream is served as a dip rather than a spread.
- Brettljause, the Austrian cold board, is where it usually appears.
- Verhackert is the cured pork spread served alongside it.
History
Spiced cheese spread named after Liptov in what is now Slovakia; it spread across the empire and stayed on Austrian tavern menus.
Frequently asked questions
What is Liptauer?
Liptauer is a cheese & dairy from Austria: paprika-curd cheese spread for bread at Heurigen taverns. Spiced cheese spread named after Liptov in what is now Slovakia; it spread across the empire and stayed on Austrian tavern menus.
How long does Liptauer take to make?
Liptauer takes 20 minutes plus chilling of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6 as a spread. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Liptauer?
Yes, within limits. Quark or well-drained curd cheese replaces Topfen. Cream cheese in place of some butter gives a softer, milder spread. Slovak bryndza gives the original sheep’s milk character where you can get it. Capers replace anchovy for the salty edge, or both can be left out. Soured cream loosens a spread that has come out too stiff. Chives, a splash of beer or a pinch of cumin are all added in some versions.
What is the most important thing to get right in Liptauer?
Grate it rather than chopping. Squeeze the grated onion dry. Crush the seeds lightly. Do not grind them to powder.
