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1
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the cabbage strips and blanch until just tender, 4–6 minutes. Drain and set aside. The cabbage should be soft but not collapsed — a leaf pressed between finger and thumb gives without resistance.
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2
Bring the beef broth to a gentle simmer. Poach the pork slices in the broth until just cooked through, 5–8 minutes depending on thickness. Remove and set aside. Keep the broth hot. The pork is done when it has lost all pink colour at the centre and yields to light pressure.
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3
Butter a deep clay pot generously. Begin the first layer: cover the base with slices of stale rye bread in a single, close-fitting layer, then spread over a portion of the blanched cabbage, then lay slices of poached pork across the cabbage, then cover with slices of Fontina. Repeat for at least two further complete layers, finishing with a layer of Fontina on top. The pot must be deep enough to hold at least three full repetitions.
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4
This is where the dish lives or dies: ladle the hot, well-seasoned broth slowly and steadily over the assembled layers until the bread is completely saturated — each slice visibly swollen and darkened with broth, and broth pooling at the base of the pot. An assembly that is merely damp will bake dry. Do not economise; the bread must be thoroughly soaked.
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5
Distribute the cold butter pieces evenly across the top layer of Fontina. Transfer the pot to an oven preheated to 200 °C and bake for 35–40 minutes. The seupa is ready when the top layer of Fontina is golden and lightly charred at the edges, and the interior has unified into a single mass — a skewer inserted to the centre meets no resistance.
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6
Bring the clay pot directly to the table. Each portion is served by cutting through all layers so that every spoonful contains bread, cabbage, pork, and Fontina in cross-section. The interior should smell of sweet cabbage, melted cheese, and rich broth.