This recipe is excerpted from "Classic German Cooking" the December 2024 Book of the Month in the Food52 Cookbook Club.
Obatzda, or Obatzter, is Bavarian dialect and roughly means “something mixed.” Obatzda is a creamy, rust-colored spread made of mashed-up Brie or Camembert and given pungency from onions and caraway, typically served alongside astoundingly delicious fresh pretzels or dark rye bread, always with a freshly tapped mug of beer. Obatzda was originally developed to use up odd ends of cheese and has, over the years, become an essential part ofthe Bavarian Biergarten experience. ere are about as many variations of the recipe as there are Bavarians, so you can fiddle with the flavorings as you like. Officially, one is only supposed to use Bavarian Weißbier as the liquid to loosen the mashed Camembert. Personally, I’ve had better luck with heavy cream. I like serving Obatzda with fresh soft pretzels or crusty bread and a big pile of crisp red radishes at the start of a meal, but it is also a very nice addition to the a weekend breakfast spread or if you’re having Abendbrot for dinner. Ideally, serve Obatzda the day it is made, but any leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3days (note that it will deteriorate visually, however, and should be kept for family consumption only after the first day). The recipe is easily doubled. — Luisa Weiss —Food52
From Classic German Cooking by Luisa Weiss. “Classic German Cooking” Copyright © 2024 by Luisa Weiss. Photographs © 2024 by Elena Heatherwick. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group.” —The Editors
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