Leverpastei (Dutch Liver Pâté)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Frying pan
• •Food processor or strong blender
• •Two small jars or ramekins

Instructions

1. 1

   Trim the livers

   Trim the livers of sinew and any greenish marks, then pat them dry. Be fussy here. Liver is generous, but it remembers bad handling, and one bitter spot can announce itself through the whole jar.

2. 2

   Cook the bacon

   Warm the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the diced bacon until its fat runs and the edges begin to colour. Add the onion and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until soft and golden at the edges. Add the garlic for the last minute only, because burnt garlic is a small tragedy with a loud voice.

3. 3

   Cook the liver

   Add the trimmed livers to the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning them once, until browned outside and still faintly pink in the centre. They should feel springy, not firm. Overcook them and the pastei becomes grainy, which no amount of butter can fully apologize for.

   Use fresh livers the day you buy them, or within 24 hours. They should smell clean and faintly sweet, never sour or metallic in a way that makes you step back.
4. 4

   Deglaze the pan

   Pour in the jenever or brandy and scrape the bottom of the pan while it bubbles down for about 30 seconds. Take the pan off the heat. Those browned bits are the deep savoury note, and the spirit lifts them into the paste instead of leaving them stuck to the pan.

5. 5

   Blend it smooth

   Tip the warm liver mixture into a food processor. Add 100g of the softened butter, the salt, white pepper, mace, nutmeg, mustard, and cornichon brine. Blend until very smooth, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice. Taste carefully; it should be rich, gently spiced, and just bright enough at the edge.

6. 6

   Pot and chill

   Spoon the pastei into two clean small jars or ramekins and smooth the tops. Melt the remaining 25g butter and pour a thin layer over each surface. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, until set. The rest is not decoration; it lets the spice settle and the texture become spreadable.

7. 7

   Serve simply

   Serve cold but not icy, with dark rye bread or toast and cornichons. Let the jar stand for 10 minutes before spreading. At the table, use a small knife and don't fuss with it. Leverpastei was made for the borrel, the Dutch drink-and-small-bite hour, where food should be good enough to notice and simple enough to pass.

Chef Tips

• •Chicken livers give the smoothest home version, but calf liver makes a deeper, more old-fashioned pastei. If you use calf liver, slice it thin and cook it gently; toughness arrives quickly.
• •Mace matters here. Nutmeg is familiar, but mace gives Dutch meat cookery its warmer, quieter edge. Use both lightly, as my grandmother did, not as perfume.
• •Keep the butter seal intact until serving. Once opened, eat the pastei within three days and keep it covered in the refrigerator.
• •Serve with cornichons or Amsterdamse uitjes, small pickled onions. Liver wants sharp company; without it the richness sits too heavily on the tongue.

Advance Preparation

• •Best made one day ahead; the texture firms and the mace, nutmeg, bacon, and liver settle into each other overnight.
• •Keeps covered in the refrigerator for up to three days after opening, or five days if the butter seal remains unbroken.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 105g)