Exit cook Alsatian Choucroute Garnie: The Franco-Germanic Feast
Screen on

Alsatian Choucroute Garnie: The Franco-Germanic Feast

Step 1 of 6 ·
Serves 4
· 3 hours 30 minutes total

Ingredients

· · ·

Method

  1. 1
    Rinse the sauerkraut thoroughly under cold running water. Work it with both hands to expel brine, then squeeze in fistfuls until as dry as possible. A kraut that retains its raw brine will overwhelm every other element on the platter.
  2. 2
    Set a heavy pot — a Dutch oven or large cocotte — over low heat. Melt the goose fat in the base. Add the juniper berries, bay leaves, and peppercorns and let them warm in the fat for one minute until their fragrance opens. Lay the sauerkraut over them in an even layer. Pour the Riesling over the kraut: it should come roughly halfway up the mass. The smell should be of wine and rendered fat, clean and sharp rather than harsh.
  3. 3
    This is where the dish lives or dies. Cover the pot and cook at the gentlest possible simmer — the surface should barely shiver — for 2 to 3 hours. The sauerkraut is ready when it has collapsed to a pale, silky tangle, yielding completely to the touch, with all sharpness mellowed and the wine absorbed into the fat.
  4. 4
    While the sauerkraut cooks, place the pork knuckle and smoked pork belly in a separate pot of cold water. Bring slowly to a bare simmer and cook until the knuckle is tender throughout and the flesh gives easily when pressed — allow up to 2 hours. Keep warm in the cooking liquor.
  5. 5
    Shortly before serving, warm the Strasbourg sausages in hot but not boiling water for 5 to 8 minutes until plump and the skins tighten and glisten without splitting. Cook the blood sausages separately in a covered pan over very low heat, turning once, until firm to the touch and heated through.
  6. 6
    Mound the sauerkraut on a large warmed serving platter. Slice the pork belly and arrange it with the knuckle, Strasbourg sausages, and blood sausages over and around the kraut. The platter should be generous and heaped, the sauerkraut pale gold and glistening beneath the meats.
Profession plan
See plans →
Cost this recipe
Loading…
HACCP Brief — Codex Alimentarius CXC 1-1969 Alsatian Choucroute Garnie: The Franco-Germanic Feast
Loading…