Schweinsbraten mit Semmelknödel (Roast Pork with Bread Dumplings)
A slow-roasted pork shoulder, skin scored and crispy, bathed in a dark beer and caraway gravy, served with soft bread dumplings that soak up the jus.
A slow-roasted pork shoulder, skin scored and crispy, bathed in a dark beer and caraway gravy, served with soft bread dumplings that soak up the jus.
Here is the dish of happy days, the one reserved for Sunday when the week had been good. I long waited to have a chair and a secure salary to set it without embarrassment on my table in Munich. Make a nice crispy crackling by scoring the rind, baste with dark beer until you get a dark sauce, and don't forget the caraway — it makes the pork sing. And cut generous Knödel: they drink the sauce like blotting paper.
- •Pork shoulder with rind — a fine piece (centerpiece)
- •Dark beer — a mug (sauce, signature)
- •Caraway — a good pinch (signature spice)
- •Onion, carrot — a few (sauce base)
- •Stale bread — several old loaves (dumplings)
- •Milk, eggs, parsley — as needed for the dough (binder for dumplings)
Schweinsbraten mit Semmelknödel (Roast Pork with Bread Dumplings)
A slow-roasted pork shoulder, skin scored and crispy, bathed in a dark beer and caraway gravy, served with soft bread dumplings that soak up the jus.
Why this dish? Crispy-crusted roast pork with dark beer gravy is THE dish for Bavarian Sundays and great occasions — the reward for a week's labor, which one could finally afford once Ohm was recognized and a professor in Munich.
Here is the dish of happy days, the one reserved for Sunday when the week had been good. I long waited to have a chair and a secure salary to set it without embarrassment on my table in Munich. Make a nice crispy crackling by scoring the rind, baste with dark beer until you get a dark sauce, and don't forget the caraway — it makes the pork sing. And cut generous Knödel: they drink the sauce like blotting paper.
Ingredients (period version)
- Pork shoulder with rind — a fine piece (centerpiece)
- Dark beer — a mug (sauce, signature)
- Caraway — a good pinch (signature spice)
- Onion, carrot — a few (sauce base)
- Stale bread — several old loaves (dumplings)
- Milk, eggs, parsley — as needed for the dough (binder for dumplings)
Ingredients
- Pork shoulder with rind — 1.2 kg (centerpiece)
- Dark beer (Dunkel type) — 33 cl (sauce, signature)
- Caraway seeds — 2 tsp (signature spice)
- Onions — 2 (sauce base)
- Carrot — 1 (sauce base)
- Stale white bread (e.g., rolls) — 250 g (dumplings)
- Milk — 250 ml (soften bread)
- Eggs — 2 (binder)
- Parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Score the rind in diamonds, rub with salt and caraway. Place the roast on the onions and carrots in a roasting pan.
- Roast at 160°C for about 2 hours, basting regularly with dark beer and juices, rind side up.
- For the Knödel: cut bread into cubes, pour hot milk over, let soak 15 min, then mix with eggs, parsley, salt, and nutmeg.
- Form dumplings and poach 15-20 min in simmering salted water (they float when done).
- Increase oven heat at the end to make the rind crackle. Strain the juices, reduce to a sauce.
- Slice the roast, spoon sauce over, serve with the dumplings.
How it was made : The communal bread oven or the house stove cooked the roast slowly; the crispy rind was a sign of celebration. Nothing was wasted: the week's stale bread became Knödel, and the cooking juices extended with beer served as sauce.
The contemporary twist : Plate a slice of roast on a halved golden pan-fried Knödel, a veil of beer sauce, and a dab of sweet Bavarian mustard (süßer Senf).
Sources : Henriette Davidis, Praktisches Kochbuch für die gewöhnliche und feinere Küche (1845)
Georg Ohm · Charactorium
