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Crisp, savory spleen toasts floating in clear golden Rindssuppe, the kind of old Viennese Einlage that separates a real Austrian kitchen from everyone else's soup course.
Milzschnitten are one of those dishes that tell you immediately whether a kitchen takes its soup seriously. You won't find them at tourist restaurants. You won't find them in most cookbooks written in English. But sit down at a proper Gasthaus in Vienna or Salzburg, the kind of place where the Wirt knows every regular by name, and there they are on the Tageskarte: spleen toasts in clear broth.
Gretel always said the Viennese soup course is a world unto itself. Dozens of Einlagen, soup garnishes, each one a small act of craftsmanship. Leberknodel, Griesnockerl, Frittaten, Backerbsen. And then the ones that require a little more nerve from the cook: Milzschnitten. Beef spleen, scraped from its membrane, mixed with a soaked Semmel and marjoram, spread onto bread, and fried until the outside is golden and crisp. You float them in a bowl of real Rindssuppe and eat them with a spoon, the bread softening on the bottom while the top stays crunchy. It's offal cooking at its most honest and its most Viennese.
I know the word spleen makes some people hesitate. I'd like to explain why it shouldn't. Milz has a delicate, almost liver-like flavor but gentler, less mineral, more subtle. Mixed with the soaked bread, egg, and marjoram it becomes something close to a savory mousse. The frying gives it a crust. The broth gives it a home. If you've ever enjoyed a good liver dumpling in soup, you're already ninety percent of the way to understanding why this dish has survived in Austrian kitchens for centuries.
In my grandmother Eva's kitchen, Gretel would sometimes make these on a winter afternoon, scraping the spleen with the back of a knife while she told us stories about the Naschmarkt vendors who used to save the best offal for cooks who knew what to do with it. That generation wasted nothing. They made beautiful food from every part of the animal, and Milzschnitten might be the most elegant proof of that principle I know.
Milzschnitten belong to the vast Viennese tradition of Suppeneinlagen, the garnishes that transform a simple clear broth into a composed first course. The tradition of offal-based soup garnishes stretches back to at least the 18th century, when Bürgerlich (bourgeois) Viennese households expected their cooks to make use of every part of the animal. Gretel Beer documented Milzschnitten in her cookbooks as part of Austria's disappearing offal tradition, noting that dishes like these were once served daily in homes and Gasthäuser across Vienna but were already becoming rare by the late 20th century. Today they survive mainly in traditional Beisl and Gasthäuser that still cook from the old repertoire.
Quantity
250g
Quantity
1
soaked in milk and squeezed dry
Quantity
1 large
Quantity
1 small clove
finely grated
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
to taste
Quantity
pinch
freshly grated
Quantity
6 slices
crusts removed, cut into rectangles about 8cm by 4cm
Quantity
2 tablespoons
for frying
Quantity
1.5 kg
Quantity
500g
Quantity
3 liters
Quantity
2 medium
peeled
Quantity
1
peeled
Quantity
1/4
peeled
Quantity
1 medium
halved and charred
Quantity
1
cleaned and halved
Quantity
6
Quantity
2
Quantity
3 sprigs
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
for garnish
finely cut
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh beef spleen | 250g |
| stale Semmel (Austrian bread roll)soaked in milk and squeezed dry | 1 |
| egg | 1 large |
| garlicfinely grated | 1 small clove |
| dried marjoram | 1 teaspoon |
| salt and black pepper | to taste |
| nutmegfreshly grated | pinch |
| firm white breadcrusts removed, cut into rectangles about 8cm by 4cm | 6 slices |
| clarified butter or lardfor frying | 2 tablespoons |
| beef bones with marrow | 1.5 kg |
| beef shin | 500g |
| cold water | 3 liters |
| carrotspeeled | 2 medium |
| parsnippeeled | 1 |
| celeriacpeeled | 1/4 |
| onionhalved and charred | 1 medium |
| leekcleaned and halved | 1 |
| whole black peppercorns | 6 |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| fresh parsley | 3 sprigs |
| salt (for broth) | 1 tablespoon |
| fresh chivesfinely cut | for garnish |
Place the beef bones and shin in your largest pot. Cover with three liters of cold water. Cold, always cold. Hot water seals the surface of the bones and traps the flavor inside. Cold water coaxes it out gently, giving you a broth that is clear, golden, and honest. Bring it to a slow simmer over medium heat. Gray foam will rise to the surface. Skim it off patiently with a ladle until only white foam remains. This takes about twenty minutes and you cannot skip it if you want a clean Rindssuppe.
Add the carrots, parsnip, celeriac, charred onion, leek, peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley, and salt. The charred onion is what gives the broth its deep golden color. To char it, press the cut halves flat on a dry, screaming-hot pan until the surface is nearly black. It smells like it's burning. It's not. Reduce heat until the broth barely trembles. Lazy bubbles, every few seconds. Simmer uncovered for two hours. Leave it alone.
While the broth simmers, prepare the spleen. Rinse it under cold water. Using a sharp knife, slit the thin outer membrane lengthwise and peel it away. It comes off in strips. Underneath you'll find the soft, dark-red interior. Scrape the soft pulp away from any remaining connective tissue using the back of a knife or a spoon, pressing firmly along the length. You want the smooth paste, not the fibrous bits. This takes some patience, but once you get the rhythm it moves quickly.
In a bowl, combine the scraped spleen pulp with the soaked and squeezed Semmel, the egg, grated garlic, marjoram, nutmeg, and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly with a fork, mashing the Semmel into the spleen until you have a smooth, spreadable paste. It should be the consistency of a thick pâté. If it feels too loose, add a tablespoon of fine breadcrumbs. If too stiff, a splash of milk. The marjoram is the signature flavor here. It belongs to this dish the way chives belong to Schnittlauchsauce.
Spread the spleen paste generously onto the bread rectangles, about half a centimeter thick, covering the surface right to the edges. Press it on firmly so it bonds with the bread. Melt the clarified butter or lard in a wide pan over medium heat. Place the Schnitten spleen-side down first. This is important. The spleen paste needs direct contact with the hot fat to form a proper crust, sealing in the moisture and developing a savory, almost nutty flavor. Fry for about two minutes until the underside turns deep golden brown and holds together. Flip carefully and toast the bread side for another minute until it's crisp and golden too.
Strain the finished broth through a fine-mesh sieve lined with muslin or a clean tea towel. The liquid should run clear and deeply golden. If it's cloudy, you either boiled it too hard or didn't skim enough. Taste it. It should be beefy, clean, and just salty enough that you want another spoonful. Adjust the seasoning now.
Place two Milzschnitten in each warm soup bowl, spleen side up. Ladle the hot broth gently around them, not over them. You want the toasted tops to stay crisp above the surface for the first few spoonfuls. The bottoms will soften and drink up the broth while the tops hold their crunch. Scatter fresh chives over the surface. Serve immediately. The contrast between the crisp, savory toast and the clear, golden broth is the whole point of the dish. Mahlzeit!
1 serving (about 450g)
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