Chef Elsa
Almjause (Alpine Hut Snack Board)
A wooden board loaded with mountain cheese, juniper-smoked Speck, air-dried Hauswürstel, handmade Liptauer, fresh Kren, and thick-cut Bauernbrot, the way Austrian Almhütten have fed hikers for generations.
Culinary Explorer
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Kräutertopfen
Created by
Cool, herb-flecked Topfen spread on a thick slice of dark Bauernbrot, the way they serve it at every alpine hut and Heuriger garden in Austria when the walking is done and the wine is cold.
Appetizers & Snacks
Austrian
Quick Meal
Picnic
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•15 min total
Yield4 servings
The first time I tasted Kräutertopfen properly was at an Almhütte above the Salzkammergut. I was nine or ten, halfway through a summer walk with Gretel and my grandmother Eva. We'd been going since morning and I was complaining about my boots. The woman at the hut set down a crock of white spread flecked with green, a board of bread so dark it was nearly black, and said nothing. I ate three slices before I remembered to be tired.
Kräutertopfen is the simplest thing in Austrian cooking and one of the hardest to get right for exactly that reason. It's fresh Topfen, Austria's beloved quark, mixed with whatever herbs are growing that morning. Chives, parsley, dill, a few leaves of lemon balm if you have it. A whisper of garlic. Good salt. That's it. There's nowhere to hide in this recipe. If your Topfen is bland, your spread is bland. If your herbs are old and tired, you'll taste it in every bite. This is the kind of cooking where the shopping matters more than the technique.
At my restaurant in Salzburg, I serve Kräutertopfen as part of the Brettljause, the cold board of spreads and cured meats that Austrians eat at a Heuriger or Buschenschank with a glass of Grüner Veltliner. It's the first thing people reach for, and it's always the first thing gone. There's something about cool, tangy Topfen against a dense slice of rye that makes you stop talking and start eating. Good Austrian home cooking at its most honest.
Topfen has been a staple of Austrian farmhouse cooking for centuries, produced by acidifying fresh milk and draining the curds. Kräutertopfen belongs to the tradition of Aufstriche, the cold spreads served at Heuriger wine taverns and alpine Almhütten across Austria. The Heuriger tradition itself dates to a 1784 decree by Emperor Joseph II permitting vintners to sell their own wine and food directly to the public, creating the tavern culture where dishes like this became essential. The herbs used varied by altitude and season, from wild garlic in spring lowlands to alpine chives and Bergkräuter higher up.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Topfen (quark)
Quantity
250g
full-fat, well-drained
sour cream (Sauerrahm)
Quantity
3 tablespoons
Austrian pumpkin seed oil or mild olive oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
fresh chives
Quantity
2 tablespoons
finely cut
fresh flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
finely chopped
fresh dill
Quantity
1 tablespoon
finely chopped
fresh lemon balm leaves
Quantity
6-8 leaves
finely shredded
garlic
Quantity
1 small clove
crushed to a paste with salt
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste
black pepper
Quantity
freshly ground, to taste
lemon juice
Quantity
a squeeze
dark rye bread or Bauernbrot
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Topfen (quark)full-fat, well-drained | 250g |
| sour cream (Sauerrahm) | 3 tablespoons |
| Austrian pumpkin seed oil or mild olive oil | 1 tablespoon |
| fresh chivesfinely cut | 2 tablespoons |
| fresh flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 2 tablespoons |
| fresh dillfinely chopped | 1 tablespoon |
| fresh lemon balm leavesfinely shredded | 6-8 leaves |
| garliccrushed to a paste with salt | 1 small clove |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| black pepper | freshly ground, to taste |
| lemon juice | a squeeze |
| dark rye bread or Bauernbrot | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Fine-mesh sieve for draining
- •Mixing bowl
- •Sharp knife for herbs
- •Earthenware crock or wooden board for serving
Instructions
- 1
Drain the Topfen
If your Topfen is at all wet, spoon it into a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and let it drain for fifteen minutes. You want it thick and slightly crumbly, not watery. A loose Topfen will make a spread that slides off the bread and pools on the plate. Full-fat quark from a good dairy is what you're after. If you can only find low-fat, stir in an extra tablespoon of sour cream to compensate for the lost richness.
If you can't find Topfen or quark, combine equal parts full-fat cream cheese and Greek yogurt. It's not the same, but it gets you in the right neighborhood. What you don't want to use is ricotta. Too grainy, too sweet. - 2
Prepare the herbs
Wash and dry your herbs thoroughly. Wet herbs will bleed into the Topfen and turn it gray instead of letting you see those bright green flecks. Cut the chives with a sharp knife, don't chop them or they'll bruise and go dull. Chop the parsley and dill finely but not to a paste. Shred the lemon balm leaves with your fingers at the last moment. Lemon balm darkens quickly once it's cut, so it goes in last.
If you can't find lemon balm, use a few leaves of fresh mint plus a little extra lemon juice. The flavor is different but the bright, grassy lift it gives the spread is similar. What matters is that the herbs are alive and green, not dried. - 3
Mix the spread
Put the drained Topfen in a bowl. Stir in the sour cream and oil until the texture is smooth and creamy but still has some body to it. You're not making a dip. You want this thick enough to hold its shape on bread. Mix in the garlic paste, salt, and pepper. Now fold in the chives, parsley, and dill. Stir gently, just enough to distribute them evenly. The spread should be white with green running through it, not uniformly green.
- 4
Season and rest
Add a squeeze of lemon juice, just enough to brighten everything without making it taste like lemon. Fold in the shredded lemon balm leaves. Taste it. The salt level should be assertive because you're eating this on bread and bread dulls seasoning. Adjust the salt now, not at the table. Cover and rest in the fridge for at least thirty minutes. The flavors need time to come together and the Topfen needs to firm back up after mixing.
Gretel always said you should taste a spread on the bread you're going to serve it with, not just from the spoon. A spread that tastes perfectly seasoned on its own will taste bland on a slab of dark rye. - 5
Serve on good bread
Spoon the Kräutertopfen into an earthenware crock or onto a wooden board. Scatter a few extra chive tips and a small drizzle of pumpkin seed oil across the top. Serve with thick slices of dark rye bread or Bauernbrot and let people spread their own. This is not careful restaurant food. It's a crock of something good set in the middle of the table, a bread knife, and a conversation. Mahlzeit!
Chef Tips
- •The quality of the Topfen is the whole recipe. If you can find a good European-style quark with 40% fat content, buy it. Austrian Topfen has a clean, tangy flavor and a slightly dry, crumbly texture that holds herbs beautifully. The supermarket varieties that come in squeeze tubes won't give you the same result.
- •Use Styrian pumpkin seed oil if you can find it. That dark green, nutty oil drizzled over the finished spread is a proper Austrian touch. It turns a simple spread into something that makes people ask what you did differently.
- •Don't be tempted to add too many herbs or turn this into a pesto. The Topfen should taste like Topfen. The herbs are there to brighten and lift, not to take over. Three or four varieties is plenty.
- •This spread keeps well in the fridge for two days, but the herbs will lose their punch. Make it the morning you plan to serve it if you can.
Advance Preparation
- •Kräutertopfen improves after thirty minutes in the fridge and is at its best within six hours. The herbs stay bright and the flavors deepen without losing their freshness.
- •You can drain the Topfen and wash and dry the herbs several hours ahead. Keep them wrapped separately in damp kitchen towels in the fridge. Mix everything just before you want to serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 85g)
Calories
155 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
40 mg
Sodium
310 mg
Total Carbohydrates
2 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
7 g
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