Zurich-style sour calves' liver: thin slices of calves' liver flash-fried in butter, deglazed with white-wine vinegar and finished with browned butter and shallots, plated with rosti or mashed potato.

Suuri Lebere (literally sour liver) is a Zurich-German speciality, a 19th-century bourgeois adaptation of older liver-and-onions cooking that added the vinegar and white-wine finish characteristic of Zurich cooking (the same flavour family as Zuercher Geschnetzeltes). Calves' liver was the Zurich market's everyday meat through the 1900s and Kronenhalle codified the dish in its 1930s menu under Hulda Zumsteg, served thin-sliced with rosti and a wedge of lemon. Today it appears on traditional zunfthaus menus including Zunfthaus zur Waag and Wirtschaft Neumarkt. The dish is finished tableside in some rooms; the vinegar must hit a hot pan to flash off the harshness and leave only the aroma.

Where to eat Suuri Lebere in Zurich

3 editor picks for Suuri Lebere in Zurich, ranked by editorial score. All Zurich signature dishes · Suuri Lebere across every city.

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Make it at home

Serves 430 minIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 600g very fresh calves' liver, ask the butcher to slice it 5mm thin, then trim away all silverskin and large vessels
  • 60g plain flour, well seasoned with salt and white pepper
  • 60g unsalted butter, in two batches of 30g each
  • 2 large shallots, very finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 100ml dry white wine
  • 3 tbsp aged white wine vinegar
  • 200ml veal or chicken stock
  • 1 tbsp grainy mustard
  • 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • Sea salt, freshly ground white pepper
  • To serve: butter rosti (see rosti recipe in this guide) or buttery mashed potato

Method

  1. Pat the liver slices very dry on paper towel. Dredge in seasoned flour just before cooking and shake off the excess.
  2. Heat a wide heavy frying pan over high heat until smoking. Melt 30g butter in the pan; let it foam.
  3. Lay in half the liver in a single layer (no crowding) and sear for 40 seconds per side. The interior must still be pink; overcooked liver turns dry and bitter. Lift onto a warm plate, cover loosely.
  4. Repeat with the remaining liver and the remaining 30g butter. The two batches keep the pan hot.
  5. Lower the heat to medium-high. Add the diced shallots to the pan with any butter remaining, cook 60 seconds, then the garlic for 30 seconds.
  6. Deglaze fast with the white wine, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom; reduce 60 seconds.
  7. Pour in the vinegar (stand back; the fumes are sharp) and let it bubble down for 30 seconds. Add the stock and the mustard, reduce to a glossy sauce that coats a spoon, about 90 seconds.
  8. Off the heat, whisk in any remaining butter for shine. Taste; adjust salt and pepper.
  9. Return the liver and any resting juices to the pan, toss gently to coat. Do not let it sit in the hot sauce for more than 30 seconds.
  10. Plate the liver over butter rosti or mashed potato, spoon the sauce generously over and around, finish with chopped parsley.

Editor tip. Calves' liver overcooks in seconds; pull it from the pan while the centre is still pink. The vinegar must be added directly to a hot pan so it bubbles off harshness; a cool pan leaves the dish sharp.

Common allergens: Milk, Sulphites.