Leberkäseⓘ (German, literally 'liver-cheese'; sometimes also Leberkäs or Leberka(a)s) in Austria and the
Swabian,
Bavarian and
Franconian parts of Germany, 'leverkaas' in
the Netherlands and Fleischkäse ("meat-cheese") in
Saarland,
Baden, Switzerland and
Tyrol) is a speciality food found in the south of Germany, in Austria and parts of Switzerland. It consists of beef, pork and bacon and is made by grinding the ingredients very finely and then baking it as a loaf in a bread pan until it has a crunchy brown crust. Variations may be made using other kinds of meat such as horse meat or turkey, or may contain additional ingredients such as cheese or minced chili peppers.
Leberkäse is also called Fleischlaib, which literally means "meat-loaf" in German, but it is not a
meatloaf, which in German is called Hackbraten (literally "ground roast", from Hackfleisch, "ground meat", and ein Braten, "a
roast"), faschierter Braten (literally "minced
roast", from faschieren, "to mince", and ein Braten, "a
roast"), Wiegebraten, falscher Hase ("false hare" or "faux hare") and Heuchelhase ("mock-hare").
Leberkäse is traditionally enjoyed in a variety of ways, including:
Most of the time, it is served hot on a
Semmel (hard wheat flour bread-roll) and traditionally seasoned with
mustard or pickles. The result, generally called Leberkäsesemmel (in
Swabia and the
Franconian parts of Bavaria, Leberkäsweckle, Leberkäsweggla or LKW in short, an allusion to the abbreviation for Lastkraftwagen,
heavy goods vehicle), is a staple of South-German and Austrian fast food stalls, butcher shops and supermarkets.
Pan-fried (abgebräunt or gebraten, "browned"), in which case it is commonly accompanied by a
fried egg and German
potato salad, or Bratkartoffeln (
home fries) and sometimes
spinach. This is a very common Biergarten dish.
Cold, cut into very thin slices and used on a variety of
sandwiches, usually seasoned with
pickled cucumbers.
Two slices of Leberkäse with a slice of ham and cheese in the middle are dipped into eggs and coated with breadcrumbs and then fried in the pan. This variant is called falsches Cordon Bleu ("mock Cordon Bleu").
Variants
Pizzaleberkäse ("Pizza-Leberkäse")
Known variants include:
Käseleberkäse, which adds small pieces of evenly distributed cheese to the mix.
Paprika-Leberkäse (German Paprika = bell pepper), which adds small pieces of pickles and
bell peppers.
Pizzaleberkäse, which adds cheese, cut bell peppers, pickles and small cubes of salami, named for its similarity to
pizza.
Pferdeleberkäse (German Pferd = horse), which is indeed made of
horse-meat (German Pferdefleisch), otherwise not widely consumed in the German language area. Popular in Vienna, Austria.
Zwiebelleberkäse (German Zwiebel = onion), which is made with onions. Common in the
Swabian and
Franconian regions of Germany.
Pikanter Leberkäse, which adds spices and is very popular in Austria.