Читать книгу Strudel, Noodles and Dumplings: The New Taste of German Cooking - Anja Dunk - Страница 21

Buttermilk is the liquid left over after beating cream to make butter. It is slightly sour in flavour and is most refreshing to drink in a way that pure milk, which has a natural sweetness to it, isn’t. I am incredibly fond of buttermilk and especially like to drink it with a small pinch of salt.

The buttermilk we buy in cartons, however, is not a by-product of butter-making; it is what’s called cultured buttermilk – essentially, milk fermented through the addition of cultures, which makes it slightly thicker in consistency than original buttermilk – and this is what I use most regularly in the kitchen, as I am sure is the case for most of us.

Just like milk, cream or yogurt, buttermilk is an ingredient that lends itself well to both sweet and savoury dishes. It has a clean flavour with a tang of citrus, and I find myself using it more and more these days. When baked into quick breads and cakes it not only serves to moisten the crumb but also adds lightness. As well as baking with it we add it to soups – indeed even use it as the soup – marinate meat in it, whisk it into pancake and waffle batters, shake it into dressings, churn it into ice creams and turn it into wobbly desserts.

The most important thing we make with it, though, is quark – a fresh, spreadable cheese – which in turn also gets used in many delicious ways.

Quark, one of the most hard-working ingredients in the German kitchen, is basically a soft cheese that is made out of cultured milk (buttermilk), where the curds (solids) have separated from the whey (liquid). It is very easy to make at home (the only downside being that it needs to hang for a day), but is so cheap and widely available that rarely does anyone bother these days. I adore the stuff: creamy in colour, dense in texture and tangy in flavour, it’s an ingredient so versatile that I couldn’t do without it. Quark is not only delicious but healthy too, as it is high in protein and low in fat, one of those magic foods that leaves you feeling fuller for longer – it works well in place of Greek yogurt. We bake with it, embellish it with herbs, whisk it into batters, whip it into desserts or simply enjoy it spread on bread – it certainly gives cream cheese a run for its money.

SHORTCUT QUARK

If you do have 5 minutes of spare time and don’t need to use the quark immediately, it is well worth making at home. While you won’t be saving any money in doing so, the quark you end up with will be far superior in quality to that which you will find on the supermarket shelves. This is a shortcut way of making quark, which results in a slightly less sour and fresher flavour than traditional quark, where the buttermilk is heated at a low temperature for several hours so that the curds separate from the whey.

MAKES ABOUT 320G

You will need a muslin or a cheesecloth

1 litre buttermilk

Place a colander over a large bowl, then lay a clean muslin in the colander and pour the buttermilk into it. Bring all four corners of the cloth up and tie them in a knot – now hang this muslin bundle on the kitchen tap or on a hook with the bowl underneath to catch the drips. Hang undisturbed for 18–24 hours, after which time you will be left with a firm-to-the-touch ball of fresh cheese. The longer you leave it the firmer it becomes; after 18 hours the quark is much softer and more the consistency of the shop-bought variety.

Peel the cheesecloth off the cheese and store it in a lidded container in the fridge until needed. It will keep well for up to 5 days.

BLUEBERRY BUTTERMILK

BLUEBERRY BUTTERMILK

I laugh each time we make this because it feels so hip, so now – yet ironically, many of these recipes have been around for decades, not shouting, just knowing quietly that they are good. The blueberries in this drink as made by my great-grandmother were passed through a mincer (the one you attach to a table-top to make sausages with); I use a blender.

This has the consistency of a thick American milkshake, all the taste, yet none of the fat and a mere fraction of the sugar. We often enjoy a glass with breakfast.

SERVES 2

300ml buttermilk

125g blueberries

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar (or 2 tablespoons, depending on how sweet the fruit is)

30ml cold water

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth.

ALSO TRY:

Strawberries work well in place of the blueberries, with a pinch of ground cinnamon – this makes a slightly thinner drink, so leave out the water.

HUNG BUTTERMILK (QUARK) WITH BROWN SUGAR AND SPICE

HUNG BUTTERMILK (QUARK)

WITH BROWN SUGAR AND SPICE

Like strained yogurt, this has a wonderful dense texture to it. A bulging, dripping muslin full of buttermilk was a permanent fixture hanging off our kitchen tap when we were growing up. It needs to hang undisturbed for around 24 hours, and sometimes the urge to poke it was all too strong for me. I cannot count the number of times I was reprimanded for doing so and now, almost like an unspoken payback, my children do the same, pushing their little fingers into the milky bulge.

Hung buttermilk (quark) is delicious mixed with herbs or with garlic and freshly cracked black pepper – perfect for spreading and spooning onto things – but as a treat we like to eat it as a sweet.

SERVES 4

You will need a muslin or a cheesecloth

800ml buttermilk *

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

tip of a teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

25g light brown sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)

zest of ½ an orange

FOR THE TOASTED NUTS

40g walnut pieces

2 tablespoons runny honey, plus extra for drizzling

Place a colander over a large bowl, then lay a clean muslin in the colander and pour the buttermilk into it. Bring all four corners of the cloth up and tie them in a knot – now hang this muslin bundle on the kitchen tap or on a hook with the bowl underneath to catch the drips. Hang undisturbed for at least 24 hours.

Turn the hung buttermilk out into a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and beat with a wooden spoon until evenly mixed.

Put the walnuts and honey into a small frying pan and cook over a medium heat for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

Serve with the toasted walnuts and honey.

ALSO TRY:

The zest of ½ a lemon, ½ tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, 25g light brown sugar.

¾ tablespoon cocoa powder, 40g dark brown sugar, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Hung buttermilk (quark) mixed with fruit is always a quick dessert option, and a dish from the German Schnellküche, meaning from the speedy kitchen – if you choose to use ready-made quark this really does fit the Schnellküche bill. Oranges and strawberries are the best fruits to use, with a little golden caster sugar added to bring out the sweetness.

* Instead of hanging the buttermilk for 24 hours you can hang 500g of shop-bought quark for just a couple of hours to strain off some of the liquid.

QUARK FRITTERS

WITH HONEY AND THYME SALT

These fritters are like light, savoury doughnuts – a real treat. As with all things fried, they should be served hot, just cool enough to handle, pretty much straight from the stove. Mostly, as the cook, I eat them standing.

This recipe makes enough for about 2 people, but is easily multiplied should you be catering for a crowd – although if this is the case make sure you have a glass of wine to hand, because you won’t be leaving the cooker for some time.

MAKES 15–20 (SERVES 2)

sunflower oil, for frying

runny honey, to serve

FOR THE BATTER

100g quark

25ml buttermilk

1 egg, beaten

40g plain flour

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

FOR THE THYME SALT *

1 teaspoon Himalayan salt, crushed (or any flaky sea salt)

½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped

Heat about 2cm of oil over a medium-high heat in a large, heavy-based saucepan until it is hot enough to fry in. It should take about 5 minutes to come up to temperature. I test whether it is hot enough by putting a cube of bread in – if it sizzles on contact and starts to turn golden brown, the oil is ready.

While the oil is heating, put all the ingredients for the batter into a bowl and mix together until a smooth batter is formed. Let the batter stand for 2 minutes undisturbed, to allow the bicarbonate of soda to work its magic – the volume of batter should visibly expand and become much more aerated.

Drop the batter a teaspoonful at a time into the oil (this sounds a small amount but they puff up when fried), taking care not to splash or over-crowd the pan; I find 6 at a time is just right. Turn the fritters occasionally to prevent them burning. They should be ready after 3 or 4 minutes.

Take the fritters out of the oil with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.

Mix the salt and thyme together in a little dish and drizzle some honey on to a plate. To eat the fritters, dip them first into the honey, then into the salt.

* If you aren’t going to dip the fritters into the thyme salt, you’ll need to add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the batter.

APPLE ‘DOUGHNUT’ FRITTERS

APPLE ‘DOUGHNUT’ FRITTERS

You will need an apple corer to make these. I often find these tools at car boots or in thrift stores – usually at the bottom of the 10p basket. It seems no one wants them any more; well, I do – in fact, we have two. They make the perfect apple rings – not only useful in this recipe but also handy for a savoury baked apple, or if you wish to dry apple slices out on strings.

The apple hole in the centre of these fritters makes them look like perfect ring doughnuts.

MAKES 15–20

sunflower oil, for frying

2 apples (I find Bramleys work best)

1 quantity of batter (see here)

icing sugar, for dusting

Follow the batter recipe, opposite.

Peel and core the apples, then slice them into 5mm thick rings. Place the rings in the batter, ensuring that they all have a thick coating. Lower the battered apple rings carefully into the hot oil and fry as in the previous recipe.

Drain on kitchen paper, dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.

CHILLED BUTTERMILK SOUP WITH LEMON AND BAY

CHILLED BUTTERMILK SOUP

WITH LEMON AND BAY

Hardly a recipe – no cooking, just some infusing time and a good whisk. This is exactly the kind of dish that is perfect for a weekday. It takes just a few minutes to prepare in the morning and a few more to assemble at night.

Leftover rice is often added to buttermilk soup to bulk it out, and it works well in both chilled and hot soup, as below and here. If you decide to add pre-cooked rice to this, add it to the soup before the final hour of chilling.

SERVES 4

1 litre buttermilk

12 bay leaves, bruised

zest of 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated

1–2 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on how sour you like it)

2 egg yolks

50g vanilla sugars

FOR THE BREAD

80g fresh rye bread (any bread will do, but rye is best)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons vanilla sugar

First, the buttermilk needs to be infused with the bay leaves for a couple of hours. I usually do this in the morning so that it is bright and fragrant by the afternoon. Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl, add the bruised bay leaves, stir them around, then cover the bowl and refrigerate for a good 5 hours at least (obviously the longer you leave it the stronger it becomes).

Once the buttermilk is sufficiently infused, take the bay leaves out and whisk in the lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolks and sugar. Cover and chill in the fridge for 1 more hour.

To make the caramel bread, break the rye bread into little 5mm chunks. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the bread and the sugar, then fry over a medium-low heat for around 5 minutes, tossing (or stirring) frequently to avoid burning, until the breadcrumbs turn a darker brown and the scent of caramel starts rising from the pan. Tip the bread out on to a tray to cool.

When ready to serve, divide the soup between four bowls and sprinkle the caramel bread on top. Sometimes, I like to add a new bay leaf to each bowl at this stage too, just for good looks.

WARM BUTTERMILK SOUP

WITH CORIANDER MUSHROOMS

SERVES 4

1 litre buttermilk

12 bay leaves, bruised

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 white onion, finely diced

2 egg yolks

zest of 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated

1–2 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on how sour you like it)

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

FOR THE MUSHROOMS

50g unsalted butter

300g small mushrooms (such as chestnut), cut in half

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Infuse the buttermilk with the bay leaves as in the previous recipe. Once the buttermilk is sufficiently infused, remove it from the fridge and take the bay leaves out.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan. Once bubbling, add the onion and fry for around 6 minutes over a medium heat until just starting to turn golden, stirring from time to time to avoid burning.

While the onions are frying, whisk the egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt into the buttermilk. Add the buttermilk mixture to the pan of onions and heat gently, stirring frequently, until hot – but make sure it does not boil.

While the buttermilk is heating, fry the mushrooms. Heat the butter in a large saucepan, then add the mushrooms and coriander seeds and fry over a high heat for 6–8 minutes, shaking the pan from time to time, until the mushrooms are a deep nutty brown. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide the soup between four bowls, top with the mushrooms, and sprinkle with parsley. Finish with a final grind of black pepper.

Note: If using pre-cooked rice to bulk out the soup, add it to the pan at the same time as the buttermilk to give it enough time to heat through thoroughly.

WHOLEWHEAT BUTTERMILK WAFFLES

There is nothing worse than a limp, soggy waffle, and these are anything but. The wholemeal flour adds to the crisp texture as well as providing a nutty flavour, while the buttermilk gives the waffles a slightly chewy interior.

This mix can be beaten together in a matter of minutes and the waffles take no time at all to cook, making this an almost instant breakfast – and the best thing about it is that it makes even better waffles the next day, so you can keep the batter in the fridge and create the quickest of breakfasts with minimum effort the following morning.

I use an electric waffle maker at home for ease, but I also have a traditional one made of cast iron, which I use over an open fire when we go camping.

MAKES 10 WAFFLES

2 eggs

450ml buttermilk *

100ml sunflower oil or melted coconut oil, or 100g melted unsalted butter

250g wholemeal flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 level teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Heat the waffle maker.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then pour in the buttermilk and the oil or melted butter. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat with a wooden spoon until a smooth batter has formed. (Note that if making these with batter stored overnight you will have to add 2 table­spoons of milk in the morning to loosen the batter.)

Spoon a heaped tablespoon of the batter into the centre of the hot waffle iron and close the lid. These should take 2–3 minutes to cook – they are ready when they stop ‘steaming’ and are golden brown in colour.

We eat these in many ways, but a popular topping in our house is brown sugar butter. To make this, beat together equal amounts of light brown sugar and soft butter (for example, I normally do 50g of sugar and 50g of butter). It can be spooned on to the waffles just as it is, or flavoured with fruit zest, herbs and spices. Play around and see what works best for you. It also works well with honey in place of the brown sugar, which turns it into more of a buttery syrup.

* If you don’t have any buttermilk to hand, whisk 2 tablespoons of thick yogurt or quark into 420ml of milk as a substitute.

SUNDAY WAFFLES

SUNDAY WAFFLES

These waffles are rich, perfect for an indulgent Sunday breakfast. There is no egg in the mix, which means they are very crisp, and despite all the cream they somehow feel light.

MAKES 8–10 WAFFLES

200ml soured cream

200ml water

100ml double cream

100g unsalted butter, melted

200g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

a pinch of fine sea salt

sunflower oil, for greasing the waffle maker

Mix the soured cream, water, double cream and melted butter together in a jug. Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and slowly pour in the liquid, beating constantly until a smooth batter is formed.

Brush the waffle iron with a little oil to prevent sticking, then pour in about a tablespoon of batter and cook until golden and crisp (around 2 minutes). Repeat until all the batter is used up, or store leftover batter in the fridge (for up to 2 days) and use as needed.

Serve with compotes, jams, syrups, yogurt, fruit, cream, butters, etc.

GROSSMUTTER’S OMELETTE

Grossmutter (my maternal great-grandmother, Opa’s mother) was old when I knew her, ancient I thought, being only a very young girl myself, and I remember her kitchen well for two things. One was the tin of Quality Street that used to sit on the top shelf. She would hook her walking stick around it to pull it down when we visited, letting us choose one, just one, before snapping the lid tightly back on. The other thing I remember her kitchen for is this omelette. She always served it on wooden boards with buttered rye bread on the side. Nostalgic as it may be, I serve it in exactly the same way.

This can easily be made as scrambled egg instead, which we often do – just agitate the eggs a little more when cooking.

SERVES 2

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

4 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork, seasoned with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

4 slices of Schwarzwälder Schinken (Black Forest ham), finely diced

Whisk the chives into the eggs. Heat the butter in a large, heavy-based frying pan. Once it’s bubbling, add the ham and sauté for a minute, then add the egg mixture to the pan. Cook over a high heat for about 20 seconds, then, using a fork, lift the edges of the omelette and bring them towards the centre, allowing the uncooked egg from the middle to pour out. Once the egg is set, fold the omelette to the side of the pan, cut in half and tip out gently on to plates or boards.

Serve immediately.

VARIATIONS:

You can use any ham or cooked sausage you fancy here, and spring onions are also good. If you have some boiled green vegetables left over, chop them finely and add them to the pan at the start of cooking.

HAZELNUT OMELETTE

HAZELNUT OMELETTE

Both pancakes and omelettes are popular interchangeable snacks in Germany, often whipped up for children and eaten spread with jam, rolled up and dusted with icing sugar.

The nutty flavour of this savoury omelette (or pancake, depending on your point of view) lends itself well to earthy greens and sharp cheeses. I favour goat’s cheese and wilted spinach enveloped in the warm fold, but it can be filled with anything – a fresh tomato and herb salad, for example, or some watercress and sliced pear with grated Cheddar.

SERVES 1 (MULTIPLY AS NEEDED)

1 egg, separated

80ml milk

25g (2 level tablespoons) plain flour

a knife tip of baking powder

50g ground hazelnuts

a pinch of fine sea salt

½ tablespoon unsalted butter

½ tablespoon sunflower oil

Whisk the egg white to soft peaks. Beat the milk, flour, baking powder, ground nuts, egg yolk and salt together until a smooth batter has formed. Carefully fold in the egg white, being careful not to knock out too much air.

Heat the butter and sunflower oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan. Once it’s bubbling, gently pour in the mixture and cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown.

Slide the omelette on to a plate and place your chosen filling on one half. Fold the other half carefully over the top and eat immediately.

VARIATIONS:

Sweet version – Add ½ tablespoon vanilla sugar to the mix at the same time as the flour.

Almond version – Swap the hazelnuts for ground almonds.

Nut-free version – Omit the nuts and use 50g plain flour in total, and be a bit more generous with the baking powder. If you want to make this sweet, add 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar at the same time as the flour.

BAKED PANCAKE WITH RAISINS AND LEMON ZEST

BAKED PANCAKE

WITH RAISINS AND LEMON ZEST

Schmarren is one of my favourite suppers. In Germany this passes as a main meal, not dessert, because it is very filling and not particularly sweet in flavour (most of the sweetness comes from the addition of icing sugar at the end), but there is nothing to stop you making it for pudding. It takes 10 minutes to make from start to finish, and quite frankly, as a mother, I find this recipe a godsend.

It is peasant food at its best: filling, simple and comforting. Austro-Hungarian in origin and eaten widely throughout Bavaria and the whole of Germany, there are many variations. My preferred method is this one, where the cooking is finished off in the oven.

SERVES 2

2 tablespoons icing sugar

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 eggs, separated

180ml whole milk

90g plain flour

½ tablespoon vanilla sugar

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

zest of ½ an unwaxed lemon

50g raisins

25g unsalted butter

1 tablespoon flaked almonds, toasted

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.

Mix the icing sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and set aside.

With a wooden spoon, beat the egg yolks, milk and flour together in a bowl until a smooth batter is formed. Add the vanilla sugar, salt, lemon zest and raisins and give a good stir.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then fold these gently into the batter mixture.

Melt the butter in an ovenproof pan or dish – I like to use a cast-iron pan or similar – then pour in the batter and fry for a few minutes until the bottom is golden brown. Flip the Schmarren over – it doesn’t matter if it breaks apart at this stage. Place the dish in the centre of the oven and bake for 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven, tear apart with two forks, dust with the cinnamon sugar, scatter with the flaked almonds and serve immediately.

VARIATIONS:

Schmarren can be made and eaten in many different ways. For a Kaiserschmarrn (Emperor’s pancake), usually the raisins are soaked in a few tablespoons of rum half an hour before cooking.

Apples are delicious in a Schmarren – grate an apple of your choosing into the batter at the same time as adding the raisins.

Any bottled or stewed fruit is great alongside a Schmarren – my favourites include cherries, apricots and apple compote.

ALL-DAY BREAKFAST

ALL-DAY BREAKFAST

Bauernfrühstück translated means ‘the farmer’s breakfast’. Despite its name, though, we have only ever eaten this in the evening, as I suspect most people do. It is essentially a frittata, a dish of leftovers bound together with a couple of eggs then baked in the oven until golden. Good on days when dinner needs to be fast, cheap and easy, and even better eaten cold the following day as a packed lunch.

This recipe is versatile – the aim is that it should be dictated by whichever ingredients you have to hand.

SERVES 4–6

You will need an ovenproof frying pan

25g unsalted butter

500g cooked potatoes, sliced

6 spring onions, sliced (or 1 small leek)

6 slices of Schwarzwälder Schinken (Black Forest ham), cut into bite-size pieces (or plain ham, salami, chorizo)

100g green beans, blanched (or peas, asparagus, broccoli, chard stalks, courgette, kale)

5 eggs, whisked

100ml soured cream (or cream)

80g medium/hard cheese, grated (Cheddar, Edam)

40g Parmesan, grated

1 teaspoon fresh savory, finely chopped (if you don’t have savory, then parsley, thyme, marjoram or basil will do)

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/gas 5.

Melt the butter in the frying pan and add the potatoes. Fry for 5 minutes, turning them from time to time, until the edges start to brown. Add the spring onions, ham and green beans and fry for a further 2 minutes. Mix together the eggs, cream, cheeses and savory, season with salt and pepper, then pour into the frying pan, poking the egg mixture around to ensure it is evenly spread. Fry for a further 2 minutes, then transfer to the oven for 15–20 minutes, until golden brown on top and the egg is cooked through.

This goes well with a simple green salad.

I ALSO LOVE:

Spring onions, potatoes, cumin seeds, smoked paprika, chard stalks.

Spring onions, potatoes, mushrooms, thyme.

Spring onions, potatoes, peas, mint.

Spring onions, potatoes, spinach, cumin seeds, sumac.

Any leftover cooked vegetables would work – quite often we have roasted root vegetables left over or baked butternut squash, for example.

BAKED QUARK

BAKED QUARK

This little warm dip or spread, depending on how you view it, takes all of 3 minutes to put together before it is baked. We enjoy it as part of a salad meal or simply with crackers as a snack, which we quite often share straight after school, taking the edge off the boys’ hunger as we wait for dinner.

SERVES 4

1 teaspoon olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

250g quark

1 egg, beaten

80g Parmesan, grated

½ tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, plus a few extra for the top

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a pinch of sweet paprika (or chilli flakes or sumac)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.

Use the olive oil to grease an ovenproof shallow dish. Mix the quark, egg, Parmesan, thyme, salt and pepper together until evenly combined. Pour into the prepared dish, sprinkle with paprika and a few extra thyme leaves, drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven for 15–20 minutes, until golden and set.

Serve with fresh bread or crackers.

STRAMMER MAX

STRAMMER MAX

Strammer Max is the name we give to an open sandwich topped with a fried egg. A variation of this dish is eaten all across Germany, and I suppose in terms of snack popularity it ranks equal to a toastie in the UK, or a croque monsieur in France. When offered something to eat in a German household, Strammer Max is my snack of choice and over the years I have enjoyed it made in several ways. The surprise of what I actually end up with on the plate is what draws me to it.

Like a lot of recipes, this one depends on personal preference. Should you use white or brown bread? Fry the bread in butter or just butter the bread? Should it be made with cured ham or cooked? Cheese? And if so, does it go under the ham or on top? What constitutes the perfect Strammer Max has been the hot topic of conversation over many a table – here is my version.

SERVES 1 (MULTIPLY AS NEEDED)

½ tablespoon unsalted butter

½ tablespoon sunflower oil

1 slice of rye bread

3 fresh sage leaves

2 slices of cheese of your choosing (a medium Cheddar or Gouda, for example)

2 slices of Schwarzwälder Schinken (Black Forest ham)

1 egg

flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 gherkins, to serve

Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan. When it starts to bubble, add the bread and sage leaves and fry for about 1 minute on each side, until the bread is crisp. Put the bread on a plate and lay the cheese directly on top, followed by the crispy sage leaves and the ham. Fry the egg in the same pan, slide it on to the sandwich, and season with a lot of black pepper and a pinch of salt.

Serve immediately, with 2 gherkins on the side.