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Veal Liver Pie or Pate
(Germany.) Parboil and mince finely 1 pound of calf's liver; add 10 ounces of bacon. Mix well, adding salt, pepper, and nutmeg, 1 tablespoonful of parsley, 1 onion, chopped and fried; then add the beaten yolks and the stiffly beaten whites of 2 eggs. Line a mould with butter and bread-crumbs, fill it with this mixture, arrange on top a layer of boiled and sliced potatoes, dusted with salt, pepper, and butter. Bake for 3/4 hour, and serve hot or cold, turned out on a dish or in the dish.
A German liver loaf of the Leberpastete type, baked in a crumbed mould rather than a pastry crust. The original assumes a cook who knows her oven; the gaps worth filling are temperature, the treatment of the liver, and the fat.
- Do not overcook the liver twiceParboiling means a brief blanch — two or three minutes in simmering water, just until the surface firms and the liver can be minced cleanly. Liver cooked through at this stage will be dry and granular after three-quarters of an hour in the oven.
- Oven temperatureNone is given. A moderate oven, around 350F, suits a loaf of this size for the three-quarters of an hour the recipe specifies; the mixture is set when the centre is firm and no longer weeping.
- The baconA German cook would likely have used Speck, fatty back or belly pork, which may be cured but is closer to salt pork than to modern streaky bacon. Ten ounces of heavily smoked, water-added supermarket bacon will make the pie salty and assertively smoky; fresh pork belly or pancetta is nearer the intent. The recipe simply adds the bacon to the minced liver, so mince it in rather than frying it.
- SaltJudge it against whatever pork you use. With salt pork or bacon, very little added salt is needed; with fresh belly, season as you would a meatloaf.
- Lining the mouldButter generously and coat with dry fine breadcrumbs, not fresh ones, which go pasty and stick. A 1-quart loaf tin or charlotte mould is about right for this quantity.
- Beaten whitesThe whites are folded in for lightness, so mix the yolks and seasonings thoroughly first, then fold the whites in last and get the loaf into the oven promptly.
- The potato toppingBecause it sits on the surface it will brown and dry. Slice the boiled potatoes about a quarter-inch thick, overlap them, and dot with butter; if they colour too fast, lay a sheet of foil over for the last fifteen minutes.
- Yield and servingServes six as a main course, more sliced cold. Let it rest ten minutes before turning out or it will crack; served cold, chill it fully in the mould and unmould straight from the refrigerator.
Liver loaves and pates of this kind are domestic cousins of the charcuterie counter — a way of stretching a pound of calf's liver with a good deal of cheaper pork fat and eggs. The nutmeg fits the German setting: it is a common warming spice in German forcemeats, dumplings and liver preparations. Crowning the loaf with sliced boiled potatoes rather than pastry is a thrifty, everyday touch, and it turns what would otherwise be a pate into a supper dish that can go to the table hot. The '(Germany.)' heading indicates the recipe belongs to a collection arranged by country, a common way of presenting foreign dishes to home cooks.