Liver pate is a

pâté Pâté ( , , ) is a forcemeat. Originally, the dish was cooked in a pastry case; in more recent times it is more usually cooked without pastry in a terrine. Various ingredients are used, which may include meat from pork, poultry, fish or bee ...

and meat spread popular in Northern and Eastern Europe. Made from finely or coarsely ground

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

and

lard Lard is a Quasi-solid, semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering (animal products), rendering the adipose tissue, fatty tissue of a domestic pig, pig.

Scandinavia

Liver pâté is a popular food item in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, where it is known as (Denmark), (Norway) and (Sweden). It is made from a mixture of pork liver, lard, onion, flour, egg, salt, pepper and spices, poured into a loaf pan and then baked in the oven. The liver is usually finely ground, but coarsely ground variations are also made. Typical spices include

allspice Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or pimento, is the dried unripe berry of ''Pimenta dioica'', a midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm par ...

and some recipes also include a small amount of cured anchovy. In

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, is made with a bit of pork meat. is served with bread in a variety of ways. It is served both hot and cold and can be bought premade in supermarkets, butcher shops and delicatessens. A popular everyday version is to spread cold on a slice of ''

rugbrød (, ) is a very common form of rye bread from Denmark. usually resembles a long brown extruded rectangle, no more than high, and long, depending on the bread pan in which it is baked. The basic ingredient is rye flour which will produce a p ...

'' (Danish dark wholemeal rye bread) and eat it as a simple open-faced sandwich. More extravagant variations include the ''

smørrebrød (; originally , "butter and bread"), smørbrød "butter bread" (Norwegian language, Norwegian), or smörgås " butter goose" (Swedish language, Swedish), is a traditional Open sandwich, open-faced sandwich in the cuisine of Denmark, cuisines of ...

'' known as '' Dyrlægens natmad''. Swedes often use it on crispbread. It may be topped with a variety of accompaniments, such as pickled beets or cucumbers, raw onions, fried onions, fried bacon or slices of fresh cucumber. Warm servings of are eaten with either or

white bread White bread typically refers to breads made from wheat flour from which the bran and the germ layers have been removed from the whole wheatberry as part of the flour grinding or milling process, producing a light-colored flour. Nutrition Wh ...

and traditionally accompanied by pickled beets or gherkins and either fried

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

or sautéed

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

s. In Denmark, was introduced in 1847 by the Frenchman François Louis Beauvais in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. At that time it was considered a luxury dish, and was expensive. Today, it is a common and affordable food item. In two 1992 surveys, Danes ranked as their favorite sandwich topping. Stryhn's is one of the main producers in Denmark with 85,000 units produced daily. The company was established in 1945 on the isle of

Amager Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...

, east of Copenhagen. For the past few decades, their ''Stryhns'' brand has been the most popular in Denmark.hoerup.dk: "Leverpostej"
/ref> In Denmark, is almost always sold in aluminium trays; this way it can go right in the oven to be served hot if preferred by the consumer.

References

{{reflist, 2 Danish cuisine Liver (food) Spreads (food) Swedish cuisine Norwegian cuisine

Scandinavia

See also

References