Following the publication of my crumble in the Guardian, I was delighted to hear that another recipe of mine was selected by Guardian's Felicity Cloake & Co for the Reader's recipe swap section of the COOK magazin.The theme was DIP and I suggested Obatzda. This cheesy dip is a traditional Bavarian recipe served with pretzels
and radishes in beer gardens, and at the Oktoberfest of course. It is
made out of squashed camembert – hence the name obatzda, which means something like "squashed" or "crushed" in colloquial Bavarian. Serves 6
250g ripe camembert, at room temperature
50g unsalted butter, softened
80g quark or fromage frais
2-3 tbsp wheat beer or lager
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped chives, plus extra to decorate
½ tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp sweet paprika or to taste
Squash the camembert with a fork, then beat it into the butter and quark until well combined.Mix in the beer until you have a creamy, smooth paste.Add the onions, chives and caraway seeds and season with lots of paprika, salt and pepper to taste.Chill for one hour and decorate with a few sprigs of chives. I think it tastes best on rustic sourdough bread and with raw vegetable sticks dipped into it. Give it a go!
