Topfenaufstrich mit Schnittlauch

Every spring, the Heurigen open their doors. You find a table in the garden under the grape arbor, order an Achterl of Grüner Veltliner, and before you've taken your first sip, a wooden Brettl arrives with bread and three or four Aufstriche. The chive spread is always there. It's the one you reach for first.

Topfenaufstrich mit Schnittlauch is about as simple as cooking gets, and I use the word cooking loosely because you're not cooking at all. You're mixing. Topfen, which is Austria's fresh curd cheese (similar to quark, though Austrians will tell you it's not the same thing), gets whipped with sour cream until it's light and smooth. Then you fold in as many chives as your conscience allows. Salt, white pepper, done. The whole thing takes five minutes.

But those five minutes depend on what you put in the bowl. Gretel always said that simple food is the most honest, and honest food has nowhere to hide. If your Topfen is bland, your spread will be bland. If your chives came from a sad plastic packet three weeks ago, you'll taste the difference. This is a recipe that rewards you for buying well, not for working hard. Find the best fresh curd cheese you can, cut your chives from the garden or the market that morning, and let the ingredients do what they already know how to do.

I keep a crock of this in my restaurant kitchen at all times from April through October. It goes on bread, obviously, but it also finds its way onto boiled potatoes, next to smoked trout, into a hollowed-out cucumber for a quick snack when we're between services. It belongs to the warm months.