Vepřo-knedlo-zelo — Roast Pork, Bread Dumplings, Fermented Cabbage
The holy trinity of Czech cuisine: a pork shoulder slowly roasted with garlic and caraway, slices of bread knedlík that soak up the juices, and melted fermented cabbage, barely sweetened. Hearty, comforting, Sunday-best.
The holy trinity of Czech cuisine: a pork shoulder slowly roasted with garlic and caraway, slices of bread knedlík that soak up the juices, and melted fermented cabbage, barely sweetened. Hearty, comforting, Sunday-best.
On Sunday, after mass and the organ, here's what awaited me: a fine piece of pork studded with garlic, rubbed with salt and kmín, roasting slowly while we sang. The secret of knedlíky, my friends, is to poach them in simmering water and then cut them with thread, not a knife — otherwise the crumb gets crushed! I arranged them around the meat so they'd soak up the juices, and the cabbage, it had to melt gently. When I conducted in London or New York, it was this plate I dreamed of.
- •Pork shoulder — a good piece (roast meat)
- •Garlic — a few cloves (aromatic studded into meat)
- •Caraway (kmín) — a good pinch (signature spice)
- •Stale bread and flour — as needed (knedlíky dough)
- •Sourdough or brewer's yeast — a little (leavening)
- •Eggs and milk — according to dough (binder for dumplings)
- •Fermented cabbage (zelí) — a bowlful (sour accompaniment)
- •Lard, salt — to taste (cooking and seasoning)
Vepřo-knedlo-zelo — Roast Pork, Bread Dumplings, Fermented Cabbage
The holy trinity of Czech cuisine: a pork shoulder slowly roasted with garlic and caraway, slices of bread knedlík that soak up the juices, and melted fermented cabbage, barely sweetened. Hearty, comforting, Sunday-best.
Why this dish? This is THE Czech national dish, the one for big Sunday tables and village festivals. For Dvořák, who remained all his life faithful to the "roast meats and knedlíky" of Bohemia, it was the meal of homecoming, the one he missed so much during his American years.
On Sunday, after mass and the organ, here's what awaited me: a fine piece of pork studded with garlic, rubbed with salt and kmín, roasting slowly while we sang. The secret of knedlíky, my friends, is to poach them in simmering water and then cut them with thread, not a knife — otherwise the crumb gets crushed! I arranged them around the meat so they'd soak up the juices, and the cabbage, it had to melt gently. When I conducted in London or New York, it was this plate I dreamed of.
Ingredients (period version)
- Pork shoulder — a good piece (roast meat)
- Garlic — a few cloves (aromatic studded into meat)
- Caraway (kmín) — a good pinch (signature spice)
- Stale bread and flour — as needed (knedlíky dough)
- Sourdough or brewer's yeast — a little (leavening)
- Eggs and milk — according to dough (binder for dumplings)
- Fermented cabbage (zelí) — a bowlful (sour accompaniment)
- Lard, salt — to taste (cooking and seasoning)
Ingredients
- Pork neck or shoulder — 1 kg (roast meat)
- Garlic — 4 cloves (aromatic)
- Caraway seeds — 2 tsp (signature spice)
- Flour — 350 g (base for knedlíky)
- Baker's yeast — 1 packet (leavening)
- Warm milk — 200 ml (hydrate dough)
- Egg — 1 (binder)
- Stale white bread, diced — 2 slices (filling for dumplings)
- Sauerkraut — 400 g (fermented accompaniment)
- Onion, sugar, lard, salt — to taste (cabbage cooking)
Method
- Stud the pork with garlic, rub with salt and caraway, roast at 160°C for 1.5 hours with a little water, basting.
- For knedlíky: mix flour, yeast, warm milk, egg, and salt; fold in bread cubes; let rise 1 hour.
- Shape into two thick rolls, poach in simmering water for 20 minutes (turn halfway).
- Slice the cooked dumplings with a cutting thread (never a knife) into thick rounds.
- Cook sauerkraut with onion, a pinch of sugar, caraway, and a little meat juice, 30 minutes over low heat.
- Plate: pork slices, juices, knedlíky around to absorb sauce, cabbage on the side.
How it was made : The knedlík leavened with brewer's yeast is typical of Bohemia; it was poached in large rolls and sliced with thread to avoid crushing the crumb. Pork, the family barnyard animal slaughtered in autumn, and fermented cabbage formed the backbone of festive village meals. Caraway accompanies all three elements.
The contemporary twist : For a concert-style plating, arrange the knedlíky in a fan like piano keys, with the pork glazed in reduced jus on top.
Antonín Dvořák · Charactorium
