Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1756) of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, a prolific and major composer of the Classical era. He began to call himself Wolfgango Amadeo about 1770 and Wolfgang Amadè in 1777 (and sometimes jokingly “Wolfgangus Amadeus”),

Mozart composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence on subsequent Western art music is profound; Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote that “posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years.”

Mozart enjoyed a variety of foods, and his many travels allowed him to sample the delights of Europe.  But he is also on record as being particularly fond of two dishes from the Austro-Hungarian Empire – paprikash with spätzle, and leberknödel with sauerkraut. Leberknödel are liver dumplings that normally are boiled in broth and served either as a first course as a soup, or as a main course with potatoes and sauerkraut.  The specialty of Saltzburg, which is almost certainly what Mozart enjoyed, was deep fried rather than boiled leberknödel.  Here is a serviceable recipe. Even today in Salzburg these are deep fried in clarified butter, but vegetable oil will work.

Ingredients:

9 ozs beef liver
3 stale rolls
½ pint milk
3 ½ ozs butter
1 small onion
1 egg
salt, pepper
1 tbsp marjoram, chopped fine
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped fine

Instructions:

Dice the rolls and pour the milk over them. Work the mixture together with your fingers and then let it rest for at least an hour.

Chop the onion very fine and sauté it in butter until translucent.

Mix the rolls, finely chopped (or ground) liver, beaten egg, and herbs together very thoroughly with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  You can check your seasonings by taking a teaspoon of the mixture and quickly frying it in a skillet.

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 350°F/175°C.

Form the dumplings into balls about 2 in/5 cm across.

Deep fry them in batches, turning frequently to be sure of even cooking.  Drain on wire racks.

Serve with sauerkraut (and boiled new potatoes if you wish).