The dish originally had a long name, but thanks to popular rule, it's been shortened and claimed by Berlin.
ADVERTISEMENTMartin Temlitz from Speisewirtschaft, a restaurant established by the locally-renowned Kumpel & Keule butchers in Kreuzberg, shares with The Kitchen a modern classic from the German capital: Berlin-style liver. It is a delicious dish with strength and personality, which became new favourite for those with a sweet and salty tooth.
In Berlin, newcomers often wonder "How do I become a real Berliner?" Well, the Berlin-style liver is a success story.
The dish originally had a long name: 'Calf's liver with apple, onion and mashed potatoes'. But thanks to popular rule, its name has been shortened and claimed by Berlin.
Eating liver is common throughout Germany, but the combination of these side dishes -- apple, onion and mashed potatoes -- make it special. All flavours put together are more than the sum of their parts, and reminiscent of all the different facets of Berlin.
Berlin-style liver
Serves: 2 people
Cooking time: About 40 min
Ingredients:
- 240 g veal liver
- 300 g Linda potatoes, peeled
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced
- 100 g butter + more for cooking
- 100 ml red wine
- 1 Elstar apple, peeled and cut into thin slices
- Salt, Pepper & Sugar, to taste
Method
- Set a large pot with boiling water, salt it and cook the potatoes for 20 min. Once time has elapsed, drain the water, keep the potatoes.
- Now grab a big container, here combine your cooked potatoes, minced garlic and butter, mash it gently until you get a nice looking purée.
- Preheat the oven to 70 degrees Celcius.
- Heat a large oven-proof skillet on high heat, add 2 tablespoons of butter and brown the liver slices on each side until they have a nice crust and colour. Now bake uncovered in the oven for 15 min.
- While your liver cooks in the oven, grab another pan and heat it to medium heat. Add your sliced apple and onions, a bit of sugar and red wine, cook until the wine reduces by half.
- Serve it. First the mash, then the liver in slices on top and garnish with the apple-onion sauce.
- Enjoy Berlin Liver.
Serve with: A light organic red wine like Cochon Provence 2019, Domain de Sulauze.
About the restaurant
Kumpel & Keule is an artisanal butcher shop in Berlin that “honours the butcher’s craft and the life of the animals.”
In 2017, thanks to popular demand, the Kumpel & Keule butcher shop opened a restaurant called Speisewirtschaft, whose recipe has been featured above. The restaurant, headed by chef Martin Temlitz since 2007, focuses on the great German food, serving both traditional recipes and modern takes on old classics. The restaurant and the butcher shop have built a high reputation for their clean, ethical, and nicely looking dry-aged steaks, charcuterie and handmade sausages, as well as for its down to earth, honest approach to meat.
