Obatzda – Bavarian snack
We make this using Velocity, which gives it an interesting ‘bite’ - for a milder version you could use Ropetackle Golden Ale. Most Bavarians don’t use a recipe to make this, so you’ll find lots of slight variations. Compare the next recipe – you may wish to combine elements from both
Preparation Time: 15-20 minutes Refrigeration Time: 4 hours
Ingredients:
* 100g cream cheese
* 1 tablespoon softened butter (or any soft spread suitable for cooking)
* 1 medium onion, finely diced (you could use chives instead, or as well, and even add a small clove of minced garlic if you wish)
1 bottle of Velocity/Ropetackle (you only need a couple of tablespoons, so enjoy the rest!)
Pepper to taste
*1 teaspoon paprika
*1 teaspoon caraway seeds (this gives an authentic taste but omit if you don’t like caraway)
Rye bread to serve it on (German black Roggenbrot is authentic and if you
like it you’ll find it in most supermarkets – otherwise see
Sussex Suppliers section), chopped
chives or onion rings to decorate, extra paprika, caraway and/or parsley to
sprinkle over.
* To make enough for four servings just double the quantities where the symbol * appears next to them.
Method:
Put the Camembert in a mixing bowl, and use a knife to chop it into small pieces – this makes the next step easier. Add the butter, cream cheese and onion and mash them all together with a fork. (The mixture ought to stay slightly lumpy, you’re not trying to produce a fine paste). Season with pepper – a pinch should suffice – and caraway if liked. Now gradually mix in one or two tablespoons of beer. You only need enough to make a spreadable consistency, so add the beer very slowly until you think it looks right. Now cover the bowl with cling film and put it in the fridge for 4 hours.
You can either put the spread on to small squares of rye bread, or let your guests do a DIY job by putting a scoop of the spread on each plate and letting them help themselves to rye bread. In either case the Obatzda should be attractively presented by decorating it with your choice of the ingredients mentioned above.