Liver pâté

Rugbrød, Baguette, and Leverpostej

Liver pâté in Danish is known as leverpostej (pronounced leo-po-sty) and печеночный паштет in Russian. This is a "pâté" made of liver, usually pork. The liver is formed into a sort of paste to which herbs, salt, pepper and any other desired seasoning is added. In the Danish variant, it is then put into a loaf pan and baked in an oven. In Russia and Ukraine the liver is boiled and made into a paste with butter.

The liver paté is sliced or spread on an open faced sandwich made on Danish dark rye bread (rugbrød). It is then topped with any of a variety of pickled items, such as beets, onions, or cucumbers. It is also traditional to place a slice of the cold cut (pålæg)— saltkød (corned beef)— on top of the liver paté.

A more extravagant variation is the prepared Danish open face sandwich (smørrebrød) called Dyrlægens natmad (lit, "Veterinarian's midnight snack")— on a piece of dark rye bread, a layer of liver paté is topped with a slice of corned beef (salt kød) and a slice of meat aspic (sky). This is all decorated with raw onion rings and cress.

Leverpostej is also served warm on rye bread. Traditional toppings include bacon slices and sautéed mushrooms.

Leverpostej was introduced to Denmark in 1847 by a Frenchman in Copenhagen. At that time it was considered a luxury item, and was expensive. Today it is a common and reasonably priced food item. Two surveys in 1992 showed that Danes rank leverpostej as their favorite sandwich cold cut.

Stryhn's, started in 1945 on Amager island, south of Copenhagen, is one of Denmark's major marketers of leverpostej. Their Grovhakket (lit. "Rough cut") brand has been the most purchased leverpostej in Denmark during the past few decades.

In the Russian version the pâté is served on top of bread, often served with a small dill leaf on top.

See also

• Foie gras