Leberkäsesemmel

Every Austrian city has a Fleischhauerei with a queue out the door at lunchtime. The reason is always the same: Leberkäsesemmel. A thick slab of hot Leberkäse, just pulled from the oven with its golden crust crackling, sliced right in front of you and laid into a fresh Kaisersemmel. A stripe of süßer Senf, sweet mustard, across the top. That's it. That's the whole sandwich. And it is perfect.

I used to eat these standing up at the Grunmarkt in Salzburg, paper napkin in one hand, Semmel in the other, trying not to drip mustard on my coat. Gretel always said the best food in Austria isn't served on a white tablecloth. It's the food you eat standing at a counter or walking through a market with your hands full. Leberkäsesemmel is proof of that. It costs almost nothing, it takes thirty seconds to assemble, and it makes you feel like the luckiest person in the city.

Making Leberkäse at home is not something most Austrians bother with, because the Fleischhauer does it so well. But if you don't live near an Austrian butcher, and most of you don't, this recipe gives you the real thing. The meat is ground very fine with ice water until it becomes a smooth, pale emulsion, almost like a forcemeat. You pack it into a loaf pan and bake it until the top domes up and turns deep gold. The texture inside should be fine-grained and juicy, not crumbly, not dense. When you slice it thick and tuck it into a good roll, you'll understand why Austrians consider this their national fast food and defend it with the same passion the Viennese bring to their coffee.