Folks we’ve come to the end of our trip down memory lane. Welcome to Vienna. And these Austrian Liptauer Pork Burgers.
To recap: we ate our oats in Scotland, got a little messy in London, let go with some lesco in Budapest, got a little drunk in Barcelona, stuffed our crepes in Paris, had a fancy picnic in Geneva, ate puffy pancakes in Amsterdam, went nuts in Munich, and ate allthechocolate in Zurich.
As my quartet arrived in Vienna to finish our last two weeks together, and our last two weeks of summer school, we were tired and stuffed and HOT. Vienna was experiencing one of the hottest summers on record and staying in digs that did not have any air conditioning led to more than one outburst in the middle of the night lamenting the sweats. Ask Yam, she’ll confirm.
Otherwise, Vienna was a lovely town. We stuffed ourselves every day at the film festival that set up just down the street from our dorms, and um…enjoyed ourselves with local wine every night.
Let’s just say Vienna started my love of karaoke, and I haven’t looked back since.
We spent quite a bit of time in these quaint Austrian wine cellars eating a lot of meat and it’s to them that we return today with my spin on traditional Austro-Hungarian flavors. And, since it’s #CookoutWeek – a burger was the appropriate way to tie it all together. Introducing my Austrian Liptauer Pork Burgers.
For the base, it’s pork. My people love pork. Anytime, anyplace, and I thought that it would compliment nicely the salty, creamy Liptauer cheese spread that would dress it.
Let’s talk about the Liptauer. This is a Hungarian cheese spread that is very popular in Austria’s wine taverns (and we did spend a lot of time in those), and actually is served lovingly at one of my favorite German haunts here in Chicago. The base is a cheese; research suggests you can go with any variety: farmer’s, cream, cottage and therefore I went with goat cheese. Obviously.
I found a bunch of recipes and combined the bits I liked from all to make my own, so in went some shallot, capers, pickles, garlic, pepper and paprika. I know this sounds weird (so says Mom), but trust me that it’s perfect- especially atop a juicy pork patty. If you’re looking for a more familiar comparison, think of it as an Austro-Hungarian pimento cheese.
Not a bad thing at all.
So there ends the travels through my memory, and my throwback to 2005. Since the internet was barely a thing back then (I exaggerate), I was happy to get some of these flashbacks and stories down on digital paper, and to get to share them with you.
From Vienna, and my 24-year old self, with love.
Written after some ice cream churning
Austrian Pork Liptauer Burgers
Austrian Liptauer Pork Burgers are traditional pork patties topped with Liptauer, a creamy, salty cheese spread prevalent in Austria and Hungary.
Ingredients
- For the burgers:
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 TB grated or minced shallots
- 2 tsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- For the cheese spread:
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- 2 TB 2% Greek yogurt
- 2 TB grated or minced shallots
- 1/2 TB capers, minced
- 1-2 TB finely chopped gherkin pickles
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp Hungarian paprika
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- For the rest:
- red onion, sliced
- lettuce
- 4 hamburger buns
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
- Step 2 Make the burgers: In a medium bowl, combine the pork, shallot, garlic, salt and pepper. With your hands, combine well and form into 4 uniform patties.
- Step 3 Grill about 4 minutes per side, until cooked through and the inside reaches 160F. Once they are cooked, set aside to rest about 5 minutes.
- Step 4 While the burgers cook, make the cheese by combined all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well until creamy. A hand mixer makes this easier.
- Step 5 Assemble the burgers, topping each with 1/4 of the cheese spread.
I am intrigued with this cheese spread. It sounds awesome.
It is! And a surprise, no doubt.
Oh my goodness … I have never heard of Liptauer cheese … but now I cannot wait to try it! This burger sound delicious … thanks so much for sharing your recipe and your trip!
I was in the dark as well, but I’ll surely be making it again!
Did I ever hear of ground pork? I’ll have to tell Dear Husband about this burger, he’ll probably love it.
I hope he does! It’s definitely not your average burger.