That’s when I revisited the Obatzter recipe I posted almost four years ago. At the time I had never seen nor tasted this Bavarian cheese spread and I certainly wasn’t in the metric mode yet. To my surprise the old recipe calls for a tummy roll of butter. I needed the butter for another use so I looked into using the cream cheese I no longer needed. This is what I came up with and the group at the Biergarten was pleasantly gaga over the results.

Ingredients:

* 200 g young camembert
* 30 g very ripe camembert
* 300 g cream cheese
* 2 Tbs sweet paprika powder
 
optional:
* 1/2 tsp caraway seed powder
* 1 small red onion finely chopped
 
This is very simple to make with lots of wiggle room to be creative.

Scope out the cream cheese also known as frischer Käse into a medium sized bowl. I used two different kinds of cream cheese: about 250 g of plain, reduced calorie Philadelphia and 50 g of an Aldi brand with herbs.

Remove the rind from the Camembert (if you aren’t squeamish about the rind, do like me and chop it up finely and spoon it in after the soft cheeses are mixed). We had some very, very ripe Camembert Le Rustique and a small wedge added a lot of flavor to the Obatzda. Although the cheese stench can be overwhelming upon opening the fridge door, it really is worth waiting to use the Camembert until the date on the package.

So add the rind-less Camembert with the paprika to the cream cheese and combine throughly. You can stop there. I didn’t have any caraway seeds (called Kümmel) but it tasted fine without any. Once you’re ready to eat, sprinkle some chopped red onions over the Obatzda and serve it with a basket of soft pretzels (Brezel) and a Maß of Helles.

With so many Biergarten visits in the summer you can easily treat yourself to an extra liter of beer by bringing this appetite pleaser with you.

results of my 1 liter fresh cheese fiasco

I’m totally fascinated with making cheese and eating it as Paneer. I won’t go into much detail about how to make it. But I will tell you that with my small German kitchen (about 6 sq meters), I can only work with about 1 liter of milk in my 4 liter Ikea +365 stainless pot at a time -beyond this point, cheese making becomes a major fiasco.

Some great links for making fresh cheese:

• Do you make your own paneer? – beautifully photo documented but I think the next one explains it better.
• Cooking with Kurma – I got an ‘ah ha’ after reading this
• Ricotta Making Illustrated – what to do with the whey

Yes do save the whey! Use it for the following:

• add to curry, like chicken masala,
• soak the paneer before use or after the paneer is fried in oil,
• soak (not cook) beans for at least 24-hours,
• substitute water with it when making slow-rise bread,
• in pickles or Sauerkraut making

Tasty cheese with a health quality

The story of Harzer cheese is a simple one. It originated in the Harz mountain region south of Braunschweig. Once upon a time, some little Swiss Alpine mountain man decided to move to Germany. But before he did, he stuffed a sour milk cheese recipe in his Rucksack and tada!

Harzer cheese has several names actually. The most common name in our area is “Hand Cheese”, because in the past the little cheese rolls were formed by hand. So when it’s small and round, it’s then called Handkäse or Taler, or cylindrical, in which case it’s called Stangenkäse. Frequently, the small and round variety is sold in a cylindrical package, which is then called a Harzer Roller. To add to the confusion, this cheese could be called Mainzer Käse, Quargel, or Korbkäse depending on what part of Germany you are standing in.

The middle is still ripening.Harzer cheese is typically flavored with caraway. Some varieties are white mold cheeses (milder), others red mold cheeses (heartier). Both types develop a strong aroma after maturing for a few days or weeks. Harzer has a distinctive strong smell and flavor, which could be considered repulsive by some. The smell factor of Handkäse compares to other cheese assortments from France and Italy (for example, a pungent French Époisses de Bourgogne or an old Italian Taleggio). However, Handkäse also compares to German Silberberg Tilsiter, which is seemingly a milder and not so smelly a cheese. But don’t worry, in case it happened to be shoved against the back of the fridge somewhat forgotten, you’ll get an olfactory message soon enough.

Even though Harzer cheese may get overshadowed by the lively spirit of fresh French cheeses, the grand Italian Mozzarella, or a tasty Spanish Manchego, I’m pretty sure this cheese will still hold a place on my palette and health-o-meter. Reputations can change especially if we emphasize the better qualities, if anything this cheese should add years to one’s life. As for the stink, as long as it hasn’t turned to funk, I’m alright with this cheese.

I’m not sure if I’ll ever be a bonafide cheese snob compared to European standards because I still like Wisconsin (squeaky) cheese curds. But beer is another matter.

1. Break up the camembert with a fork and mix into the butter.
2. Carefully incorporate the onions, pickels, paprika and caraway seeds into the cheese mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Pile into a dish and serve with crackers.

Please contact me if you have any questions.