Käse-Igel: Cheese Hedgehog for the Party Buffet
The Käse-Igel, a cheese hedgehog, stood in the middle of the cold buffet at birthdays, Brigadefeiern (parties of a work team) and New Year's Eve in East Germany. Half a cabbage wrapped in aluminum foil becomes the hedgehog's back, and the spines are skewers of cheese, grapes, pickled gherkin and canned mandarin oranges. No cooking is needed.
- skewers
- 40
- Prep
- 45 min
- Chill
- 30 min
Ingredients makes 40 skewers
Hedgehog body
Skewers
Face
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Method
You'll needlarge serving platter or wooden board, aluminum foil, about 40 wooden skewers (10–12 cm) or sturdy toothpicks, 1 kebab skewer for piercing holes, cutting board, large knife, sieve, paper towels, plastic wrap
Prepare the cabbage
Pull the wilted outer leaves off the white cabbage and cut the head in half lengthwise through the core with the large knife. Set one half cut side down on a large piece of aluminum foil and pull the foil tight over the dome. Tuck the foil well under the base and set the hedgehog body on the platter. It should sit firmly and not wobble when you tap it.
Cube the cheese
Cut the rind off the cheese. Cut the block first into 2 cm thick slices, then into 2 cm wide strips and finally into cubes; that gives you about 55 pieces. Cover the cubes and put them in the fridge so they do not soften while you assemble the skewers.
Prepare fruit and gherkins
Meanwhile, wash the grapes, pull them off the stems one by one and pat them dry on paper towels. Drain the mandarin oranges and cherries in the sieve for at least 5 min, otherwise they stain the cheese. Cut the gherkins into 1 cm thick slices and halve the large ones.
Fill the skewers
Thread three to four pieces onto each wooden skewer, for example a grape, a cheese cube, a gherkin slice and another cheese cube. Put mandarin segments and cherries right at the top, because they slip off most easily. Leave 3–4 cm free at the bottom end so the skewer holds firmly in the cabbage later.
Spike the hedgehog
Decide where the face goes and leave a hand's width free there. Pierce holes with the kebab skewer and push in the finished cheese skewers row by row, tilted slightly backward like real spines. Mix the colors as you go so the hedgehog looks colorful all over.
Add the face and chill
Push the radish onto a broken-off skewer end and press it into the free spot at the front as the nose. Above it, stick the two cloves straight into the cabbage as eyes. Wash the parsley, shake it dry and lay it in small sprigs around the hedgehog. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 min.
Serve
Take the Käse-Igel out of the fridge just before serving, remove the plastic wrap and set it in the middle of the buffet. The guests pull out the skewers themselves.