aninra

Simply good - leverpostej and pickled red beets

Meat Grinder - Not by Georg Jensen

Leverpostej is not particularly hard to make, but it does require a bit of special equipment, namely a meat grinder, and ideally a food processor (or a blender). Therefore, the Danish Degree of Difficulty for leverpostej is Georg Jensen Medium.  Georg Jensen was a Danish silversmith born in 1866 in Rådvad, Denmark. A proponent of the Art Nouveau style, Georg Jensen's works were defined by simple organic beauty, and while, to my knowledge, he never made leverpostej, if he had, it would have undoubtedly been very beautiful. Check out Georg Jensen here.

The Royal Café and Georg Jensen on Amagertorv in central Copenhagen

In fact, if you are in Copenhagen, you can visit the main Georg Jensen flagship store and see the beautiful works of art, silverware and jewellery in person. Located right in the centre of the city, in the heart of the pedestrian walking street called Strøget, Georg Jensen is located right next door to an excellent locale for sampling gourmet Danish smørrebørd - The Royal Café. Check out their website here.

Nestled in between TWO of the most iconic shops in the city (Georg Jensen and the Royal Copenhagen ceramic company), the Royal Café aims to blend Danish smørrebørd flavours with Japanese aesthetics and refers to their small, expensive, but lovely sandwiches as Smushis. It's a bit of a stupid name - I am not surprised that it hasn't taken off internationally with a name like that - but it is a lot easier to pronounce than smørrebørd. And they do taste super good.

Smushis at the Royal Café

See? It is gross.

In order to make leverpostej (and most any other paté), you need to thoroughly combine meat, fat, and flavouring spices into a thick paste which you bake gently in a bain marie. You can use either pork or veal liver, but I prefer the taste when using veal. Veal liver is generally a bit more expensive, but to me it's worth the difference in price. To be honest, making leverpostej is not for the squeamish. Liver itself looks like something out of a horror movie, and putting it through a meat grinder is downright nasty. But, if you live outside of Denmark and want the real thing, there is no other option but to tough it out (even if you live in Denmark, home-made leverpostej is far nicer than the store bought varieties).

There are a number of pålæg combinations that compliment leverpostej nicely, but perhaps the most typical combo is leverpostej with bacon and fried mushrooms. In order to make this smørrebørd, first you fry up a few strips of bacon, then fry sliced mushrooms quickly in the bacon fat. Organize these ingredients on neatly on top of buttered Danish rye bread, and you are ready to enjoy a delicious Danish treat. Sinfully good, the combination of toothsome bread, crispy bacon, earthy mushrooms, and light Danish paté turns any lunch into a luxurious meal that should be savoured with a clean, cold lager.

Leverpostej with bacon and fried mushrooms

If you are looking for a more casual smørrebørd, say a quick lunch and you don't have time for cooking, leverpostej with pickled red beets (syltede rødbeder) on Danish rye bread is simple, quick, and delightful. If you want to pickle your own beets, you can find an easy recipe here. Here's what to do in order to make Danish leverpostej:

Ingredients

Like I said - not pretty

• 400g pork or veal liver, sliced into pieces
• 200g pork fat, chopped
• 2 chicken livers
• 1 tbsp (heaping) wheat flour 
• 1 tsp (heaping) butter
• 200 ml beef broth
• 100 ml milk
• 1 egg
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• 4-5 anchovy filets
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 6 springs thyme
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice

Instructions
1) Using a meat grinder at the finest setting, pass the liver through the meat grinder twice.