Type Spread | Variations Ground chicken liver | |
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Main ingredients Ground pork liver, lard | ||
Liver pâté – also known, variously, as Leberpastete (German), Leverpostej (Danish), leverpastei (Dutch), leverpastej (Swedish), leverpostei (Norwegian), lifrarkæfa (Icelandic), maksapasteet (Estonian), maksapasteija (Finnish), Pastēte (Latvian) , paštetas (Lithuanian), Pasztet (Polish) – is a meat spread popular in northern and eastern Europe. Made from coarsely ground pork liver and lard, it is similar to certain types of French and Belgian pâté.
Danish leverpostej
In Denmark, liver and a bit of pork is formed into a pâté to which herbs, salt, pepper and other desired seasonings are added. It is then put into a loaf pan and baked in an oven.
Leverpostej is sliced or spread on Danish dark rye bread (rugbrød) and is eaten as an open faced sandwich. It may also be topped with a variety of pickled accompaniments, such as beets or cucumbers, or onions, fried onions or bacon, or with fresh slices of cucumber. The Leverpostej is served both hot and cold and can be bought premade in Danish supermarkets and butchers.
A more extravagant variation is the prepared Danish open faced sandwich (smørrebrød) called Dyrlægens natmad ("veterinarian's midnight snack") — on a piece of dark rye bread, a layer of leverpostej is topped with a slice of salt beef (saltkød) and a slice of meat aspic (sky). This is topped with raw onion rings and cress.
Leverpostej is also served warm on rye bread, or sometimes on white bread. Traditional toppings for warm leverpostej include bacon slices and sautéed mushrooms.
Leverpostej was introduced to Denmark in 1847 by the French François Louis Beauvais in Copenhagen. At that time it was considered a luxury dish, and was expensive. Today it is a common and reasonably priced food. In two 1992 surveys, Danes ranked leverpostej as their favorite sandwich topping.
Stryhn's, established 1945 on the isle of Amager, south of Copenhagen, is one of Denmark's main leverpostej producers. For the past few decades, their Grovhakket (lit. "coarse minced") brand has been the most popular leverpostej in Denmark. A typical recipe can be found online.