flipSelchfleisch mit Kraut (smoked pork and sauerkraut)
Selchfleisch mit Kraut (smoked pork and sauerkraut)
Why this dish? In Menger's Austria-Hungary, salted then smoked pork (Selchfleisch) was the great household preservation method, ensuring meat all winter. Served with sauerkraut, it fueled the simple meals of ordinary days.
A piece of pork long salted then smoked over wood, poached in water and served on a bed of melting sauerkraut. The robust, aromatic reserve cuisine of Central Europe.
One cannot, in our climes, get through winter without a good store of smoked meat hanging from the beam. The pork is rubbed with salt, left a few days, then hung over the wood fire until it takes on that beautiful amber color. When the time comes, it is gently poached and laid on the sour sauerkraut — a peasant dish, some will say, but it has fed more than one scholar on frosty evenings.
- •Pork shoulder or blade — one piece (meat)
- •Coarse salt — abundant (salting)
- •Juniper berries, pepper, garlic — to taste (salting aromatics)
- •Beech wood (smoking) — — (smoking)
- •Sauerkraut — a good amount (fermented accompaniment)
- •Lard and onion — a little (cooking sauerkraut)
Selchfleisch mit Kraut (smoked pork and sauerkraut)
A piece of pork long salted then smoked over wood, poached in water and served on a bed of melting sauerkraut. The robust, aromatic reserve cuisine of Central Europe.
Why this dish? In Menger's Austria-Hungary, salted then smoked pork (Selchfleisch) was the great household preservation method, ensuring meat all winter. Served with sauerkraut, it fueled the simple meals of ordinary days.
One cannot, in our climes, get through winter without a good store of smoked meat hanging from the beam. The pork is rubbed with salt, left a few days, then hung over the wood fire until it takes on that beautiful amber color. When the time comes, it is gently poached and laid on the sour sauerkraut — a peasant dish, some will say, but it has fed more than one scholar on frosty evenings.
Ingredients (period version)
- Pork shoulder or blade — one piece (meat)
- Coarse salt — abundant (salting)
- Juniper berries, pepper, garlic — to taste (salting aromatics)
- Beech wood (smoking) — — (smoking)
- Sauerkraut — a good amount (fermented accompaniment)
- Lard and onion — a little (cooking sauerkraut)
Ingredients
- Smoked pork shoulder (pre-brined and smoked) — 800 g (meat)
- Raw sauerkraut — 800 g (accompaniment)
- Onion — 1 (base)
- Lard — 1 tbsp (cooking)
- Juniper berries — 5-6 (aromatic)
- Bay leaf — 1 (aromatic)
- Dry white wine or broth — 200 ml (liquid)
Method
- Poach the smoked shoulder in a large pot of simmering water for 1.5 hours over low heat (do not boil).
- Meanwhile, sweat the sliced onion in lard.
- Add the rinsed sauerkraut, juniper berries, bay leaf, and wine; simmer covered for 45 minutes.
- Drain the meat, slice thickly.
- Arrange the melting sauerkraut as a bed and place the smoked pork slices on top, moistened with a little cooking juice.
How it was made : Before refrigeration, salting and smoking were the pillars of preservation. Sauerkraut, cabbage fermented in salt, played the same role for vegetables and provided vitamin C through long winters. Together, smoked meat and sour cabbage formed the living larder of Central Europe.
The contemporary twist : Add a grated apple and a pinch of caraway to the sauerkraut to lighten it, and serve with a mild Viennese mustard.
Carl Menger · Charactorium
