Obazda

Appearance & taste

Obazda is a homogeneous, spreadable mass of light orange colour in which pieces of cheese can be seen. Its smell and taste are spicy and aromatic. According to the specification, the ripe Camembert or Brie gives a slightly piquant taste, butter, cream cheese and, where used, cream or milk make the seasoning mild, and paprika rounds off the taste. Obazda is traditionally eaten cold, usually as a spread on bread.

Production

Camembert and/or Brie are compulsory, optionally supplemented by Romadur, Limburger or cream cheese, together with butter, paprika powder or paprika extract and salt. Optional ingredients are onion, caraway, other spices and herbs, cream, milk or milk protein, and beer. Camembert and Brie make up at least 40 %, cheese as a whole at least 50 %.

Camembert and Brie must be creamy and soft; a fat content in dry matter is prescribed for each cheese, for example 30 to 85 % for Camembert and 45 to 85 % for Brie. The butter has at least 80 and less than 90 % milk fat, and the paprika must be red. The cheese is broken up to the desired chunkiness and mixed with the other ingredients. The raw materials may come from outside; processing takes place in Bavaria.

Origin & history

According to the specification, the history of Obazda is closely linked to the more than 150-year history of Bavarian beer gardens. The first production of Camembert and Brie in Bavaria also fell in this period. Because without refrigeration the cheeses continued to ripen quickly, especially in summer, Bavarian innkeepers invented Obazda so that very ripe soft cheese could still be eaten. According to the specification, it was probably made known beyond Bavaria by Katharina Eisenreich, landlady of the Bräustüberl in Weihenstephan from 1920 to 1958, who put a portion on the table for her guests while they played Schafkopf and Tarock.

The name comes from the Bavarian “obatzn”, the mashing and mixing of the ingredients into a spreadable mass; “Obazda” and “Obatzter” are used interchangeably. The Bavarian State Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry lists it in its database of traditional Bavarian specialities.