Type | Spread |
---|---|
Main ingredients | Ground pork liver, lard |
Variations | Ground chicken liver |
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.
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.