Steirische Brettljause

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large wooden serving board (Brettl), the bigger the better
• •Heavy chef's knife or mezzaluna for chopping the Speck
• •Fine grater for horseradish
• •Small earthenware crock for the Verhackertes
• •Mixing bowl for the Käferbohnen salad

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the Verhackertes

   Cut the Speck into small cubes, about a centimeter across. Using a heavy chef's knife or a mezzaluna, chop the cubes on a wooden board with a steady, rhythmic motion. Keep gathering the pieces back to the center and chopping again. You're working the fat and lean together until they break down into a rough, spreadable paste. This takes ten to fifteen minutes by hand. You want texture here, not baby food. Some pieces should still be the size of lentils, others will have melted into rich fat. That contrast is the whole character of a proper Verhackertes. Mix the chopped Speck with the finely diced onion, the garlic if using, a tablespoon of vinegar, and several grinds of black pepper. The vinegar is important: it cuts through the richness and wakes everything up. Taste it. Adjust. Spoon it into an earthenware crock or small bowl, press it down gently, and let it sit at room temperature while you prepare everything else.

   Verhackertes means 'the chopped-up one,' and the name tells you the method. A food processor works in a pinch, but pulse it carefully: three to four short bursts, checking the texture between each one. Go too far and you'll have greasy puree instead of a spread with character. The irregular hand-chopped pieces give you a better mouthfeel on bread.
2. 2

   Dress the Käferbohnen salad

   Drain and rinse the Käferbohnen gently under cool water. Place them in a mixing bowl. Add the sliced red onion rings, the vinegar, and a generous pinch of salt. Toss gently with your hands or a large spoon. Käferbohnen are tender and their beautiful speckled skins tear easily, so don't stir with any force. Let the salad sit for at least fifteen minutes. The beans need time to absorb the vinegar and salt before you add the oil. This matters. If you pour the Kernöl on first, it coats the beans and seals them off so the acid can't do its work. Season first, oil last. Just before serving, drizzle three tablespoons of Kürbiskernöl over the beans, toss once more, and scatter the chopped parsley on top. The oil should pool in dark green rivulets between the beans.

   Käferbohnen are scarlet runner beans with a distinctive purple-and-cream speckled pattern and a creamy, almost chestnut-like flavor. If you can't find them outside Austria, large butter beans or corona beans are the closest substitute. In Austria, jarred Käferbohnen are the standard for salads. Look for them in Austrian or German specialty shops online. Dried beans work too, but they need overnight soaking and a good hour of simmering before they're ready.
3. 3

   Prepare the accompaniments

   Slice the Bergkäse into pieces about half a centimeter thick. The cheese should be at room temperature, not cold from the fridge. Cold cheese tastes like nothing. Cut the Selchwürste on the diagonal into thick medallions, each about a finger's width. If your horseradish is fresh, grate it finely just before serving and keep a tissue nearby because your eyes will water. That sting is the volatile oils releasing, and it's exactly what you want. Fresh Kren has a clean, searing heat that prepared horseradish can only approximate. Slice the Bauernbrot thickly. If the bread is a day old, toast the slices in a dry pan or under the grill for a minute until the edges crisp and the kitchen smells like a bakery. Fresh bread needs nothing.

4. 4

   Assemble the Brettl

   Choose your largest wooden board. This is not a minimalist cheese plate. A proper Brettljause should look abundant, generous, like there's more food than anyone could possibly finish. There isn't. It will all disappear. Place the crock of Verhackertes toward one end of the board. Mound the dressed Käferbohnen salad on the other. Arrange the sliced sausages and cheese in overlapping rows between them, letting the components crowd together comfortably. Tuck the cornichons into gaps. Set the grated Kren in its own small pile or a tiny dish. Fan the bread slices along the edge of the board, or stack them in a cloth-lined basket alongside.

   The board should look like someone just came back from a Styrian market and put everything down. Don't arrange it too carefully. This food comes from farm kitchens and Buschenschank terraces, not fine dining restaurants. A little chaos is honest and inviting.
5. 5

   Dress with Kernöl and serve

   Bring the bottle of Kürbiskernöl to the table. Give the Käferbohnen salad one final generous drizzle and let your guests dress their own bread and cheese as they please. The proper drink alongside a Brettljause is a glass of Styrian white: Welschriesling or Morillon (the local name for Chardonnay), poured in an Achterl, the small quarter-liter glass that every Buschenschank uses. Set the board in the center of the table where everyone can reach it, and don't rush. A Brettljause is not a course. It's a way of spending an evening. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •The Kernöl makes or breaks this board. Steirisches Kürbiskernöl g.g.A. is pressed from roasted hull-less pumpkin seeds grown in southern Styria. It's almost black in the bottle but turns a luminous dark green when you drizzle it thin. If the oil you're looking at is pale yellow-green, it's not the real thing. Look for the green-and-white g.g.A. seal on the bottle. It's worth the cost. Never heat Kernöl. It's a finishing oil only, and cooking destroys its flavor.
• •Seek out properly smoked Speck for the Verhackertes. Austrian Speck is cold-smoked over weeks, not liquid-smoked in a factory. The depth of flavor is night and day. A good Italian pancetta or German Bauchspeck from a proper butcher will work outside Austria. Supermarket bacon will not.
• •Gretel always said the best parties happen around a board. Put this in the middle of your table with enough wine and let the evening take care of itself. A Brettljause is not a recipe to get right so much as an invitation to sit down.
• •Fresh Kren (horseradish) is the traditional condiment, and in Austria it's grated at the table or just before serving. If you can only find prepared horseradish, drain it well and mound it on the board. But if you spot a fresh root at the market, grab it. The difference is worth the tears.

Advance Preparation

• •Verhackertes can be made two to three days ahead and refrigerated in its crock, covered. Bring it to room temperature an hour before serving so the fat softens and it spreads easily on bread.
• •The Käferbohnen salad base (beans, onion, vinegar, salt) can be prepared a day ahead and refrigerated. Add the Kürbiskernöl and parsley only just before serving. The oil dulls if it sits overnight.
• •Slice the cheese and sausages an hour ahead, cover loosely, and let them come to room temperature. Cold charcuterie and cheese taste flat. Room temperature is where the flavors open up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 465g)