flipGeselchtes de voyage — Smoked Pork, Rye Bread, and Apple-Horseradish
Geselchtes de voyage — Smoked Pork, Rye Bread, and Apple-Horseradish
Why this dish? Mozart spent a huge part of his life in a carriage, crisscrossing Europe from Salzburg to Paris, Milan, and Prague. Smoked meats that kept without refrigeration, dense rye bread, and pungent horseradish were the companions of long stages.
Salted and smoked pork loin, poached then sliced, served on sourdough rye bread with a lively horseradish-apple sauce. A robust snack that travels well and fears neither bumps nor long hours.
Good heavens, the roads! I have spent more days jostled in a carriage than at my harpsichord, I swear to you. To keep from collapsing between two relay stations, nothing beats a good slice of smoked meat on dark rye bread, with that horseradish that stings your nose and wakes you better than a timpani stroke! It keeps without complaint, it fills a traveler's stomach, and one sets off again valiantly toward the next city where I am expected to play.
- •Salted and smoked pork loin (Selchfleisch) — one piece (preserved meat)
- •Sourdough rye bread — one loaf (keeping base)
- •Fresh horseradish — one root (pungent condiment)
- •Apple — one (softens horseradish)
Geselchtes de voyage — Smoked Pork, Rye Bread, and Apple-Horseradish
Salted and smoked pork loin, poached then sliced, served on sourdough rye bread with a lively horseradish-apple sauce. A robust snack that travels well and fears neither bumps nor long hours.
Why this dish? Mozart spent a huge part of his life in a carriage, crisscrossing Europe from Salzburg to Paris, Milan, and Prague. Smoked meats that kept without refrigeration, dense rye bread, and pungent horseradish were the companions of long stages.
Good heavens, the roads! I have spent more days jostled in a carriage than at my harpsichord, I swear to you. To keep from collapsing between two relay stations, nothing beats a good slice of smoked meat on dark rye bread, with that horseradish that stings your nose and wakes you better than a timpani stroke! It keeps without complaint, it fills a traveler's stomach, and one sets off again valiantly toward the next city where I am expected to play.
Ingredients (period version)
- Salted and smoked pork loin (Selchfleisch) — one piece (preserved meat)
- Sourdough rye bread — one loaf (keeping base)
- Fresh horseradish — one root (pungent condiment)
- Apple — one (softens horseradish)
Ingredients
- Smoked pork loin or shoulder — 500 g (preserved meat)
- Sourdough rye bread — 1 loaf (base)
- Fresh horseradish — 1 piece (≈ 5 cm) (pungent condiment)
- Tart apple — 1 (softens horseradish)
- Vinegar, salt, sugar — to taste (sauce seasoning)
- Bay leaf, peppercorns — a few (poaching aromatics)
Method
- Poach smoked meat in simmering water with bay leaf and pepper for about 1 h, until tender; let cool in its liquid.
- Finely grate horseradish and peeled apple.
- Mix horseradish and apple with a dash of vinegar, a pinch of salt and sugar: this yields Apfelkren.
- Slice cold smoked meat.
- Arrange on slices of rye bread, top with a spoonful of horseradish-apple sauce.
- For the road: wrap meat and bread separately in a clean cloth, assemble at eating time.
How it was made : Before refrigeration, meat was preserved by salting then cold-smoking for a long time: it could then travel for weeks. Sourdough rye bread, dense and sour, kept much longer than white bread, making it the ideal travel food.
The contemporary twist : Picnic version 'open-faced sandwich' (Austrian smørrebrød): rye bread, smoked meat fanned out, a quenelle of horseradish-apple, and a sprig of dill.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart · Charactorium
