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Alsatian Choucroute

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Category: Europe
Forum Name: France
Forum Discription: Whether it is provincial peasant cooking or classic haute cuisine, this is the place to discuss the flavors of France.
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Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 20:33

Topic: Alsatian Choucroute

Posted By: Margi Cintrano
Subject: Alsatian Choucroute
Date Posted: 07 October 2012 at 03:23

Guten Morgan, Buenas Días e Buon Giorno,

ANYBODY CELEBRATING OKTOBERFEST AT HOME OR IN GERMANY ? FOR A SPECIAL CELEBRATION, THE RECIPE BELOW IS PREPARED WITH FRESH TROUT OR PORK TENDERLOIN ...

What is on the itinerary and the carte ?

Would love to hear from those celebrating and preparing some of the traditional Oktoberfest specialties.

ALSATIAN TROUT CHOUCROUTE ...

Traditional Choucroute garni, is smoked pork paired with Sauerkrat that is simmered in Alsace Riesling wine with Bay leaves and Juniper berries. To lighten up the dish, this bacon with trout and sauerkrat Alsatian starter sensation is divine. Here is the recipe:

Photo Courtesy: Oktoberfest Tourism Office.

*** This recipe can be prepared with Pork Tenderlion or Trout historically.

Ingredients for 4 ...

4 Bacon Slices

1 large onion halved lengthwise and thingly sliced

3 tblsps. of unsalted butter

1 pound of sauerkrat drained & rinsed and squeezed very dry

2 juniper berries ( can be purchased in Dry Version too )

1 Turkish bay leaf or 1/2 Californian bay leaf

1 1/2 tsps. sugar

2/3 cup Alsatian Riesling white wine or similar

3/4 cup water or stock ( fish or chicken )

4 trout with skin however, skeleton & bones removed

1) cook bacon in a 10 inch skillet over medium low heat, turning occasionally until lightly browned yet flexible ( not crisp ) & drain thoroughly on paper towelling

2) pour off all but 2 tblsps. bacon fat from skillet, and sauté onion with butter in the skillet over medium low heat, stirring until onion is golden about 8 to 10 mins.

3) Stir in the remaining ingredients except for the fish and 1/8 tsp. salt and freshly ground black pepper and simmer Covered, stirring with wooden spoon occasionally until the liquid is absorbed and mixture is tender and lightly golden brown 20 to 23 mins.

4) While the sauerkrat mixture cooks, place trouts or filet of trout sides down on a work surface. Pat filets dry and lightly season with salt & freshly ground black pepper, and then, place a strip of bacon on each and roll up the filets ( or place around the trouts if using whole ) and secure the bacon with toothpicks

5) arrange the trouts or trout filets on the sauerkrat mixture and cover with a round of buttered parchment paper and then with a skillet Lid. Cook over medium heat for only 10 to 12 mins. until fish is cooked through.

6) discard bay leaf and juniper berries and the toothpicks

7) serve the trouts or trout filets on top of the sauerkrat

*** NOTE: THE SAUERKRAT CAN BE PREPARED 1 DAY AHEAD AND CHILLED SEPARATELY

COVERED.

*** SERVE WITH ALSATIAN RIESLING WHITE WINE OR SIMILAR GERMAN OR GERMAN STYLE WHITE WINE ... AND CRUSTY OVEN HOT BREAD ... A GERMAN BEER SHALL PAIR LOVELY TOO.

ENJOY,

Margi.

Kind Regards,

Ciao, Margi.

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Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.

Replies:

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 13 May 2013 at 15:50

I made a version of this, using the limited ingredients that I had on hand; it was excellent!

Here are the photos, with a brief write-up:

http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/my-first-attempt-at-srkrt-elssser_topic2784.html

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Posted By: Margi Cintrano
Date Posted: 15 May 2013 at 07:19

Tas,

I am so pleased that you have enjoyed the Choucroute ... Thanks for link.

Margi.

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Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 12 May 2017 at 08:54

Bringing this to the top, for discussion.

I found a similar recipe for the trout version of Choucroute, but it uses cream; further, there are a couple of ingredients that I just can't imagine being "traditional" to Alsatian cuisine. I could be wrong, though.

I will post it here, for comparison and discussion:

Choucroute au Poisson
Sauerkraut with Fish in Cream Sauce

From Saveur Online:

Traditionally, choucroute au poisson was a dish made in Alsatian riverside villages, but today restaurants throughout Alsace serve a version in which filets of flaky, white-fleshed fish such as pike perch are pan-fried or poached and served on a bed of choucroute and topped with a creamy riesling sauce. We found that trout works beautifully, too.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Sauerkraut-with-Fish-in-Cream-Sauce

Choucroute au Poisson
Sauerkraut with Fish in Cream Sauce

To serve 2:

Ingredients

3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 pound piece or slab of smoked bacon, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 shallots, finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 pods of star anise
1 bay leaf
1/2 pound raw sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
1.25 cups white wine, preferably dry Riesling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 (6- to 8-ounce) boneless skin-on trout filets
1/4 cup flour, sifted
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
Chervil leaves, for garnish (optional)

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp, about 8 minutes. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat. Reduce heat to medium and add half the shallots along with the thyme, cumin, star anise, and bay leaf and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are soft, about 4 minutes.

Stir in the sauerkraut, 1/2 cup wine, and 1/3 cup water and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover skillet, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauerkraut softens and the flavors meld, about 25 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and set aside; discard bay leaf and star anise. Keep warm.

Season trout filets with salt and pepper. Put flour on a plate and dredge trout in flour, shaking off excess. Heat remaining oil in a 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add trout skin-side-down and cook, flipping once, until golden brown and cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer trout to a plate and loosely cover with foil.

Return skillet to medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter and remaining shallots. Cook until shallots are soft, about 4 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, pour in remaining wine, and cook until wine is almost evaporated, about 4 minutes. Add heavy cream and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat, and stir in remaining butter.

To serve, divide sauerkraut between 2 plates and top each with trout. Spoon sauce around fish and garnish with chervil.

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Posted By: Margi Cintrano
Date Posted: 12 May 2017 at 12:41

The combination of German heartiness and French sublimeness that characterises Alsatian cuisine, also happens to be quite a sensation as a late spring mingles towards the early summer.

Here are the ingredients for Trout Choucroute which I had on my last trip to the Alsace region.

This serves 4:

1 POUND SAUERKRAUT ( drained, rinsed and squeezed dry from Green or White Cabbage )

5 Ounces of Fresh Trout Fillets ( with skin and pin bones eliminated )

2 Juniper Berries

1 large onion ( or leek, shallots and a small onion )

4 SLICES OF BACON

1 Bay Leaf ( Turkish are used in the E.U. or Californian )

2/3 CUPS OF REISLING WHITE WINE - FROM ALSACE ( OR GERMANY )

1 teaspoon of sugar

Salt to taste

1/2 Cup FISH STOCK / FISH BROTH

1/2 Cup Water

3 TABLESPOONS OF FRENCH STYLE BUTTER

These 2 recipes have their nuances, however, it also depends on which city or town or village in ALSACE, one is visiting or in ..

Surely both are wonderful however, they are a bit different ..

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Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 12 May 2017 at 12:58

It looks very good - thank you, Margi!

Do you have any opinions on the addition of cream?

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Posted By: Margi Cintrano
Date Posted: 12 May 2017 at 16:05

Tas,

Re: Cream ...

This is very subjective, as well as, during my trip to Strasbourg, Alsace, France, I had never had a dish with cream or cream sauces ..

My dish does not require cream as it is prepared with Reisling White Wine, fresh fish, Sauerkraut, and that could throw this dish off balance and perhaps stomach too ..

YOUR DISH: It has alot of nuances in comparison to my dish. And it sounds very lovely. However, I have never had it ..

Maybe ask Brook if he has a good French Alsace recipe ..

Also, you can check Culinaria France ..

Have a great weekend ..

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Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.

Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 15 May 2017 at 23:00

Maybe ask Brook if he has a good French Alsace recipe ..

Sorry, Margi. Alsatian food has not been an interest of mine, so I know very little about it. And none of my references treat it as a unique cuisine.

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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 22 August 2018 at 16:01

Here are two recipes for a pork-based version of Choucroute. Like the recipe I posted above, they are from Saveur's online magazine; this means that they are automatically suspect in my mind as far as "authenticity" is concerned, as Saveur tends to modify and/or "chef things up" purely on whim. Having said that, they should be good as an introduction to the concept and for the purpose of providing ideas. My own advice is that if any ingredient seems too "fancy" or out-of-place, it probably is, and a more down-home or rustic ingredient would probably work just as well or better, especially if it is one that would be familiar to the region in question.

Anyway, here they are, with source links for futher reference:

Choucroute Garnie

Our version of this Alsatian specialty, a rustic dish of sauerkraut, bacon, sausage, and potatoes, is adapted from a recipe by Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

3 tbsp. rendered duck or goose fat or unsalted butter
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 lb. sauerkraut, rinsed, drained, and squeezed dry
2 tsp. dried juniper berries
2 bay leaves, preferably fresh
Kosher salt, to taste
1 raw pigs knuckles
1 (1 lb.) piece uncured slab bacon (a piece about 4” wide)
1 (1 lb.) piece double-smoked slab bacon (a piece about 4” wide)
1 rack (about 1 lb.) baby back pork ribs, halved
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 (750-ml.) bottle dry Riesling
6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 Alsatian knacks or German frankfurters
Horseradish sauce, for serving
Whole-grain mustard, for serving

Melt fat and butter in a 6-qt. Dutch oven over medium-low. Cook onion until slightly golden, about 15 minutes. Stir in sauerkraut, juniper berries, and bay leaves; season with salt. Arrange knuckles, both bacon, and ribs over top. Sprinkle with garlic and add wine; boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Uncover and add potatoes; cook, covered, until meat and potatoes are tender, 1 hour and 15 minutes more.

About 20 minutes before serving, bring knacks to a simmer in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium; cook until heated through, about 15 minutes.

To serve, transfer meat and potatoes, including knacks to a bowl. Transfer sauerkraut to a large serving platter; top with meat and potatoes. Serve with horseradish sauce and mustard on the side.

https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/jean-georges-vongerichtens-choucroute-garnie

Sauerkraut with Pork and Sausages
(Choucroute Garnie)

This hearty dish of wine-braised sauerkraut, cured pork, and sausages comes from Alsace, in northeastern France.

Serves 8-10

6 juniper berries
3 whole cloves
3 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt, to taste
2 fresh ham hocks (about 2 1⁄2 lbs.)
1⁄2 cup rendered duck fat
2 onions, chopped
2 cups white wine, preferably dry riesling
2 1⁄2 lb. Kasseler rippchen (sliced bone-in smoked pork loin chops)
1 (12-oz.) piece smoked slab bacon, sliced lengthwise into 3⁄4"-thick strips
1 (12-oz.) skinless piece salted pork belly, sliced lengthwise into 3⁄4" strips
4 1⁄2 lb. raw Sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 knackwurst
3 bauernwurst
3 bockwurst
10 small-medium waxy potatoes, such as Red Bliss, peeled and left whole
Dijon mustard, for serving

Heat oven to 350˚. Put juniper berries, cloves, garlic, and bay leaf into a piece of cheesecloth and tie ends to form a spice bundle; set aside. Bring a 4-qt. saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ham hocks, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Transfer hocks to a plate, reserving cooking liquid. Meanwhile, heat duck fat in a 6-qt. Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 15 minutes. Add wine and 1 cup water; boil. Add spice bundle and ham hocks along with pork chops, bacon, and pork belly. Put sauerkraut on top of meat, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cover. Transfer to oven and bake until meat is tender and sauerkraut has softened slightly, about 1 1⁄2 hours.

Meanwhile, return reserved cooking liquid to high heat; boil. Working in batches, boil sausages until tender, about 4 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil. Add potatoes and boil until tender, about 15 minutes; transfer to a plate. To serve, pile sauerkraut in the center of a large platter. Arrange meat on top of sauerkraut and arrange potatoes along the outside. Serve with Dijon mustard.

https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Sauerkraut-with-Pork-and-Sausages

As noted above, I've soured a bit on Saveur's recipes, but their articles remain fairly interesting. Here is one that is relevant to the subject at hand, and might provide some good reading:

The Choucroute Route

A trip spent crisscrossing Alsace, reading literature to French coal miners and searching for an elusive plate of sauerkraut and sausage.

By Andrew Sean Greer
April 15, 2015

We were called les belles étrangers: the beautiful foreigners. Twelve American writers brought to France as part of a cultural exchange delivering foreign literature to rural communities. After we arrived in Paris, we were paired off and given our assignments: One set was sent to Corsica, another to Nice, another to Marseille. I was informed, however, that my partner had hurt his back. I would be traveling alone to…the director looked at his clipboard. “Mulhouse,” he said. Pronounced “mool-OOZE.” Somewhere in Alsace. I was introduced to my chaperone—a pretty English-free Algerian girl named Sylvie—and off we went to the German border, to Mulhouse, a wind-harried industrial town once known as the “Manchester of France.” There I was introduced to the Provincial Librarian, a weary, bald, monkish man. I say monkish because, though fluent in English, he seemed to have taken a vow of silence, and in this silence I was taken to dinner. Here, at last, I felt hope. One of my earliest childhood memories is of an Alsatian restaurant that served choucroute garnie, a rustic dish of sauerkraut, bacon, sausage, and potatoes. I ordered it in my halting French, but the Librarian, finally speaking, intervened. “No no,” he explained, “this is not the place for choucroute.” Obediently, I sat back. But I vowed I would have my choucroute.

Early the next morning, Sylvie appeared in my hotel lobby and led me to where the Librarian waited, in his car, a Twingo, to bring me to Pulversheim. The road was bumpy, the sky gray; we passed through small towns of half-timbered buildings and brick church towers. Then to the library, where a number of local coal miners had gathered to hear me read from my novel. Dinner was in the town's sole restaurant. I looked at Sylvie and the Librarian and asked: “Choucroute?” They shook their heads: not the place for choucroute. The next day, I was taken via a winding road to a mountaintop in the Vosges where a blanket of fog erased a famous view. We stood beside the Twingo in silence as the wind whipped around us. Then down the mountain to Murbach, where we ate in the library itself, crammed into a kids-section table while a librarian unwrapped the cellophane from my slice of pâté. No choucroute. The next day, through roads so narrow the Provincial Librarian had to fold in the side mirrors, we arrived in medieval-looking Ensisheim. In a church shop I discovered an embroidered recipe for choucroute, with impossible ingredients like “lard du Strasbourg,” but alas, it was not for sale. After I had read to the coal miners there, the Provincial Librarian drove through the twilit forest to a crumbling monastery, where he stared longingly as though he belonged there; Sylvie had me take pictures of her in a new hat.

Guebwiller was next, in the pouring rain, and the Provincial Librarian drove so slowly that one motorcyclist after another passed us on the road. The librarians there were proud to show me “American desserts” they had made from online recipes; these turned out to be cupcakes. The next day, we reached Aspach-le-Bas through dark early-morning roads where the only lights in the towns we passed through were from bakers. I arrived in time to have a lunch of aspic and red wine with the high school principal. No choucroute. I read to miners in Ottmarsheim, Ungersheim, Houssen, Carspach, and Munchhouse. But it seemed that no place—not even hopeful-sounding Munchhouse—was the place for choucroute. When my time was finally over, and we drove south through the Pfaffenheim Forest back to Mulhouse, to a quaint little restaurant, I was once again defeated. I asked at last: “All right, so where is the place for choucroute?” The Librarian exchanged a baffled glance with Sylvie before telling me, as if it were too obvious to be uttered: “But of course, you have it at home!” I could have hit him with a sausage.

Except that he was right; it is best at home, I later learned. There is nothing quite like having guests arrive to a house perfumed with Riesling-simmered pork or sitting down to enjoy the tang of good mustard with pork-soaked sauerkraut, smoky bacon, and wursts at your own table. And you may, as I do, make a wall of sausages between the meats and potatoes, re-creating on a plate that German border, that map of Alsace, where I read to coal miners on one choucrouteless trip to rural France.

https://www.saveur.com/choucroute-trip-alsace-france

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Posted By: Margi Cintrano
Date Posted: 23 August 2018 at 01:00

Ron,

Thank you for posting ..

Please do note: The área renowned for French Evoo is Provençe and it is impossible to grow olives trees in Alsace due to the extremities of climate .. I believe porc or duck fat are used or Alsace butter ..

I do prefer the récipe of the French Cuisinier Jean Georges, as I believe he is from Alsace ..

Thank you and good luck in the search ..

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Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 23 August 2018 at 08:19

Hi, Margi -

I agree about the pork fat, duck fat or Alsace butter - If/when I try this, I'll be sure to get some!

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 23 August 2018 at 12:32

Here is a recipe from The New York Times; it looks to be pretty good, and is adapted from a recipe by Alsatian chef André Soltner:

Kraut's the Meal, Meat's the Garnish

By MARK BITTMAN
24 February 1999

CHOUCROUTE GARNIE is the Alsatian equivalent of that quintessential New York combination of franks and sauerkraut. But while the French treat this hearty dish as common fare, it has been elevated to a restaurant specialty here. And it's easy to see why it appeals on both levels.

Choucroute is just French for sauerkraut, or fermented cabbage, but what makes it so irresistible is the garnish: a variety of unabashedly heavy meats -- some smoked or salted, some not, all usually pork. The seasonings are simple, traditionally little more than juniper berries and onion with a little goose or duck fat or lard. Served with strong mustard, it is the ultimate cold weather dish.

"Rustic" is the adjective usually applied to choucroute (after "heavy"), but the dish is easily dressed up.... Equally fascinating are the ever-increasing fish-based variations, usually called something like choucroute de poissons....

But the fish idea is apparently not new. "Everyone was a little suspicious of choucroute de poissons when we first saw it in Paris," said André Soltner, the former chef of Lutece and a native of Alsace, "but then we were reminded that people made choucroute with fish in Alsace 200 years ago...."

Choucroute is tradition on a platter. Mr. Soltner spoke of it lovingly for nearly an hour. On the proper technique for washing the sauerkraut: "You must use both cold and hot water." On the cooking wine: "Any dry white wine will work, but the right wine is Alsatian riesling." On the perfect combination of meats: "Don't forget the salted ham hock." And on the final touches: "Take all the meat out and stir a little kirsch into the choucroute."

Nevertheless, he acknowledged that choucroute is essentially a home dish.

Mr. Soltner said he never put it on his menu, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, probably the city's best-known Alsatian, said, "It's not a dish to serve at restaurants, because you must eat it the moment it's done so the sauerkraut remains crunchy and you get the best balance of flavors and textures." Yet, he conceded that many believe it's best after several reheatings.

Choucroute can be grand or simple, and it encourages experiments. Nearly everything is up for grabs, especially if you imagine yourself in the position of its peasant inventors - in midwinter, with plenty of sauerkraut, some wine and a hearty appetite.

CLASSIC CHOUCROUTE

Adapted from ''The Lutece Cookbook'' by André Soltner, with Seymour Britchky (Alfred A. Knopf, 1995)

Time: about 2 hours
Yield: 6 servings.

2 salted (not smoked) ham hocks
3 pounds sauerkraut
3 1/2 tablespoons goose fat, duck fat, or lard
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
2 cups dry white wine, preferably Alsatian riesling
1 pound slab bacon, in one piece
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lightly smashed garlic cloves
8 juniper berries
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 bay leaf
1 pound smoked pork loin
12 small potatoes, peeled
2 smoked bratwursts
6 frankfurters
2 blood sausages
2 tablespoons kirsch.

Boil ham hocks in unsalted water until tender, at least 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, wash sauerkraut in cold water; drain. Wash again, in hot water; drain and squeeze dry.

In a heavy, ovenproof pot, melt 3 tablespoons of the fat over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook it until soft and tender; do not brown. Add wine and 1 cup water, then bacon. Cover, and cook 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Season sauerkraut with pepper and a tiny bit of salt; add to pot, covering bacon. Combine garlic, juniper berries, caraway and bay leaf in cheesecloth and tie into a sachet. Bury this in the sauerkraut. Lay a circle of parchment paper directly over sauerkraut, cover, bring to a boil, transfer to oven and bake 1 hour.

Add pork loin, top with potatoes, and return to oven for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

About 15 minutes before potatoes are done, add bratwursts and frankfurters to the pot with hocks. Reduce heat to simmer, and heat through. Heat remaining fat in a skillet, and carefully brown blood sausages (they burst if overcooked).

Add kirsch to sauerkraut; taste and add salt if necessary. Discard herb sachet.

To serve, slice bacon and pork loin. Cut sausages and hocks into pieces. Put sauerkraut on large platter with meats and potatoes on top and around it. Serve with hot mustard and beer or white Alsatian wine.

NOTE - For Ingredients Worthy of Alsace:

SAUERKRAUT is truly the soul of choucroute, but there's no reason to start from scratch. Few American chefs make their own for their restaurant creations.

You can buy fresh sauerkraut in delis on the Lower East Side, at butcher shops that sell it in plastic bags or where many chefs do, at Schaller & Weber, 1654 Second Avenue (near 84th Street), (212) 879-3047. André Soltner, a longtime customer, flatly declares that the shop's sauerkraut (above) makes a choucroute that's ''just as good as any made in Alsace.'' Steer clear of cans, and of any sauerkraut that contains anything other than cabbage, salt, and possibly sugar. It will keep for at least a month in a tight container in the refrigerator.

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/24/dining/kraut-s-the-meal-meat-s-the-garnish.html

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 23 August 2018 at 13:11

Here are Jacques Pépin's recipe and notes for Choucroute, published by Food and Wine's online magazine:

Pépin’s Perfect Choucroute

By Jacques Pépin
December 01, 2006

When I worked nights at the Plaza Athénée in Paris in the 1950s, my friends and I would often go to the central market of the city, Les Halles—sometimes called the "big belly" of Paris — around 2 a.m. Our destination was a well-known brasserie called L’Alsace à Paris, which served four or five different versions of choucroute garnie — the Alsatian specialty of braised sauerkraut garnished with all kinds of pork, goose and sausages. The fanciest choucroute arrived with a split of Champagne embedded in the center of the dish. When the cork was popped, the heat of the sauerkraut would make the wine erupt from the bottle, like a volcano. It was a very showy presentation but a waste of Champagne, in my opinion.

I still love choucroute and often prepare it at home for winter dinner parties. While cooks in Alsace might make their own sauerkraut by soaking shredded cabbage in a brine for about six weeks, I use the kind sold in plastic bags at the supermarket. I follow the traditional recipe, however, and cook the sauerkraut in stock and wine with a variety of seasonings, including juniper berries. As for garnishes, I use kielbasa (the thick, heavy Polish sausage), skinless frankfurters and boiled ham that I cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Many Alsace cooks include bacon slabs and smoked pork hocks, but I don’t like my choucroute too smoky, so I don’t use either of these.

I also like to add what is called in French petit salé. Here I use pork back ribs; when they cook, they become beautifully pink, like ham. I cure the ribs in salt for 24 hours, then cook them in the sauerkraut. These back ribs (or baby backs, if you prefer) can be cured with kosher salt and a little brown sugar; but if you want your ribs to have the bright pink color of professionally cured meat, use Tender Quick home meat cure, a Morton Salt product that is available on the Internet (mortonsalt.com). It is more than 90 percent salt, with 1 percent sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite.

Choucroute Garnie

Families in Alsace generally eat choucroute garnie during the wintertime, because it's such a hearty, filling dish; Jacques Pépin has adapted the recipe to make it quicker and easier — calling for store-bought sauerkraut instead of the homemade kind, for instance, and suggesting peanut oil as a substitute for duck or goose fat, which may be less accessible. He always serves two or three types of mustard with the choucroute—a hot Dijon, a grainy Pommery and often a tarragon-flavored mustard as well.

Total Time: 2 HR 40 MIN
Serves : 10

Ingredients

1/3 cup kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 pounds pork back ribs or baby back ribs, cut into 3 sections

6 pounds sauerkraut (in plastic bags), drained
1/4 cup duck or goose fat or peanut oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
20 juniper berries
3 large bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups Riesling or Pinot Gris
2 pounds Polish kielbasa, skinned and cut into 2-inch pieces
10 skinless hot dogs
One 2-pound piece of boneless boiled ham (3 to 4 inches wide), sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 pounds medium potatoes (about 10), peeled
Assorted mustards, for serving

Step 1

In a large, sturdy, resealable plastic bag, combine the 1/3 cup of kosher salt with the sugar. Add the pork ribs; shake well to thoroughly coat the ribs with the seasonings. Seal the bag and refrigerate the ribs overnight or for up to 24 hours.

Step 2

The next day, preheat the oven to 300°. Rinse the sauerkraut in cold water and squeeze dry. Set a large roasting pan over 2 burners on high heat and melt the duck fat. Add the onion and garlic and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the sauerkraut, juniper berries, bay leaves, caraway seeds, black pepper, stock and wine and bring to a rolling boil over high heat.

Step 3

Meanwhile, rinse the pork ribs under cold water and pat dry. Nestle the pork ribs in the sauerkraut and bring back to a boil over moderately high heat. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Step 4

Remove the pork ribs from the sauerkraut. Cut down in between the ribs. Return the ribs to the sauerkraut and nestle in the kielbasa, hot dogs and ham. Cover and bake until the meats are hot, about 25 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.

Step 5

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water, add salt and bring to a boil over high heat; cook the potatoes until tender when pierced. Drain the potatoes and cover to keep warm.

Step 6

To serve, mound the hot sauerkraut in the center of very hot dinner plates and partially tuck in the pork ribs and the kielbasa. Arrange the hot dogs and ham around the sauerkraut. Alternatively, pile the sauerkraut on a large heated platter and garnish with the meats. Serve the choucroute with the boiled potatoes and assorted mustards.

Make Ahead

The choucroute can be prepared through Step 3 and refrigerated for 3 days. Reheat before proceeding.

Suggested Pairing

In Alsace, choucroute's traditional wine partner is either a rich, spicy Gewürztraminer or a bone-dry, crisp Riesling. However, an Alsace Gewürztraminer can actually overpower choucroute's spicy, herby flavors and make the dish taste sweet. A better match is an Alsace Riesling, which is delicately floral with an acidity that matches the sauerkraut and balances the richness of the pork.

https://www.foodandwine.com/articles/pepins-perfect-choucroute

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/choucroute-garnie

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 23 August 2018 at 13:42

Here is another recipe, with some great notes on the history of sauerkraut and choucroute; shared by Michael Benayoun of the 196 Flavors blog (https://www.196flavors.com/), with full credit to the blog and the author.

The link to this blog post is at the bottom the the recipe; I recommend taking a look and subscribing to this very interesting blog!

Germany: Sauerkraut

by Vera Abitbol

Today, I am sharing the dish which is undoubtedly the most famous and most traditional dish of German and Alsatian cuisines: sauerkraut.

The term “sauerkraut” is often associated with the whole dish. It’s a mistake! Sauerkraut is precisely just the thinly cut cabbage that is fermented in brine. The whole dish is called "choucroute garnie” or “dressed sauerkraut” in Alsace, where it served with an assortment of cold cuts and sausages.

The word sauerkraut comes from German words sauer (sour) and kraut (cabbage). In Alsatian, it is called surkrut. In French, it was called surcrute then sorrots, before it was changed to choucroute.

And if I told you that sauerkraut was made in China, would you believe me?

Indeed, it is in China that everything started during the construction of the Great Wall. Yes, more than 2000 years ago, workers were fed on fermented cabbage and kept in its brine. Along the wall, preserved in wooden barrels, these sour cabbages helped to build it. People believed this fermented cabbage had many virtues including fighting diseases such as scurvy for example.

We have to thank the Huns invaders for the introduction of the recipe to Europe. After fighting battles at the Great Wall, they set out to conquer Europe with this cabbage in their luggage.

After Austria and Bavaria, they arrived in Alsace and it is in 451 AD that the cabbage and its fermentation process was introduced in Alsace.

It was not until the fifteenth century, and with texts from the sixteenth century that the presence of sauerkraut at the table of monasteries was confirmed. In the seventeenth century, sauerkraut also appears as kompostkrut (cabbage compost).

Accompanied by meats, sausages and potatoes, “choucroute garnie” was born in the nineteenth century.

Sauerkraut is made from finely chopped white cabbage and lactic acid bacteria obtained by fermentation in the absence of oxygen. Lactic acid bacteria grow from the cellular sap of cabbage and are cleaved by the addition of saline solution. During the fermentation of lactic acid, the bacteria are killed and, therefore, the cabbage is well preserved.

If sauerkraut is a preparation that is traditionally consumed in Germany, you can also find it in Russia, Bulgaria, Poland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Slovakia, Chile, the United States, China and southern Brazil.

In Chile, sauerkraut is one of the ingredients that make up the traditional chileno completo sandwich.

In Italy, in the region of Trentino-Alto Adige, sauerkraut, called crauti, has benefited since 1999 from the “Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale” (PAT) certification, a particular Italian recognition for regional products that is not recognized at the European level.

In Eastern Europe, this is how sauerkraut is called:

Bulgaria: kiselo zele
Croatia and Serbia: kiseli kupus
Czech Republic: kysané zelí
Latvia: skābi kāposti
Lithuania: rauginti kopūstai
Poland: kiszona kapusta
Romania: varza murata
Russia: kvashenaya kapusta
Slovakia: kyslá kapusta
Slovenia: kislo zelje
Ukraine and Hungary: savanyú káposzta

Although I must confess that there is nothing like homemade, I did not prepare the sauerkraut from scratch. I will also admit that I have a very nice butcher who did it for me!

No, I unfortunately can not follow our devil Mike [Benayoun] just yet. He who did not hesitate to ferment a whole cabbage in a jar for his sarma, or to make his cheese for the excellent Polish sernik, or to stick a can in a chicken’s ass to smoke it for a Gabonese nyembwe chicken. I will make sauerkraut from scratch, I promise!

People say that sauerkraut is a real winter dish? Sounds good to me! We enjoyed it on the day of the first snowfall in Paris and it was just excellent, as much as the pints of beer that accompanied it!

Sauerkraut (Choucroute Garnie)

Prep Time: 35 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins
Servings: 6 people

Sauerkraut is a traditional German and Alsatian recipe of brined cabbage, that is often served with sausages, deli meats and potatoes.

2 lb sauerkraut (in brine), rinsed and drained
10 juniper berries
3 whole cloves
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
4 oz. goose fat
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups white wine (e.g. Riesling)
2 onions , diced
1 lb smoked pork , sliced
5 oz. smoked bacon
20 small firm-fleshed potatoes , peeled
6 Strasbourg sausages
6 Landjäger sausages
6 thin slices smoked garlic dry sausage
3 bay leaves
Salt
Pepper
An assortment of deli meats

1. Fry the onions in the butter for 2 minutes over medium heat.

2. Then, add the smoked pork and stir for 5 minutes.

3. Then add the cabbage while adding goose fat one spoon at a time. Season with salt, cloves, caraway and juniper berries. Stir well for a few minutes until the goose fat melts.

4. Add the white wine then cover with boiling water. Bring everything to a boil.

5. Add the potatoes, salt and pepper, as well as the slices of smoked garlic dry sausage, the Landjäger sausages and push them into the cabbage so that they are immersed as much as possible.

6. Cook covered for 20 minutes over medium to high heat, then on low heat for another 30 minutes. Stir gently from time to time.

7. Then uncover to allow the liquid to evaporate and cook for another 30 minutes.

8. Finally, add the Strasbourg sausages and bacon without pushing them into the cabbage so as not to spoil them by mixing, and cook for another 15 minutes.

9. Serve with an assortment of cold meats.

https://www.196flavors.com/germany-sauerkraut/

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 23 August 2018 at 15:10

Here is Julia Child's recipe for what she calls "Choucroute Royale." This recipe uses carrots - which is evidently frowned upon in Alsace - and also emplys "sparkling wine" (Champagne?) rather than Riesling; therefore, I would consider these to optional ingredients that could be omited (carrots) and/or substituted (Riesling for Champagne) if you choose to try it.

Choucroute Royale

For 12 servings:

2 pounds sauerkraut
1/2 pound chunk of bacon
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots (see note above)
1.5 cups sliced onions
4 tablespoon pork fat or butter
1 cup sparkling wine (see note above)
3 cups chicken stock

3 to 4 pounds various kinds of browned meat such as:

Roast pork
Pork chops
Smoked pork loin
Ham
Sausages
Duck

The following tied in washed cheesecloth:

4 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns
10 juniper berries (or add 1/4 cup gin to casserole)

Drain the sauerkraut and soak in cold water for 15 to 20 minutes. Taking it by small handfuls, squeeze out as much water as you can. Pick it apart to separate the strands.

Remove the rind and slice the bacon into 1/2-inch cubes about 2 inches long. Simmer it in 1 quart of water for 10 minutes and drain.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cook bacon, carrots, and onions in butter slowly in the covered casserole for 10 minutes without browning. Stir in the sauerkraut and when it is well covered with the fat and vegetables, cover and cook slowly for 10 minutes more.

Bury the herbs and spices in the saurkraut. Pour in the wine, and enough stock to just cover the sauerkraut. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Lay a buttered round of wax paper on top of sauerkraut. Cover and set in the middle of preheated oven. Simmer slowly for 3.5 hours.

Brown assorted meats in skillet. Bury them in the casserole while the sauerkraut is still braising.

Continue to simmer in oven for another 1.5 hours. (5 hours total).

Posted By: Margi Cintrano
Date Posted: 24 August 2018 at 05:33

Wow, lots to read here .. These Choucroute récipes are wonderful .. What a fascinating history !!!!!

I am Reading these .. They share some nuances regarding the sausages and porc cuts but yes, there are also quite a number of similarities ..

I agree about omitting the carrots and the Champagne .. And only using French Riesling from Alsace or German Alsace .. I believe it was a possibility that Riesling was not a grape grown in California during Julia Child´s time, so she substituted .. The carrots ? Probably adjusted to the "local" palate !!!

I shall go to The Farmer´s Market for my cabbage tomorrow !!! ( Saturday ) and get working on making sauerkraut !!!!!

Glad the 29th of September is a Saturday !!! Worked out perfectly ..

Have a nice wkend ..

-------------
Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 24 August 2018 at 09:30

I agree that Julia's "Choucroute Royale" recipe definitely takes the concept away from Alsace, as is evidenced by the carrots etc.; having said that, this goes to show that the basic idea is quite versatile, and can in theory be bent this way or that to push a local terroir or point of view. I am sure that the results are still good, in any case; but for me, I'd personally like to stick to tradition.

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Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 24 August 2018 at 10:35

Here is a recipe and photo from Time/Life’s Foods of the World - The Cooking of Provincial France, 1968.

This recipe also uses carrots, which in my opinion would be omitted if one wants to keep the dish in Alsace. The recipe also adds a tart apple, which is something I have tried before with delicious results, although I am not sure how "Alsatian" the concept would be. I have marked both the apple and the carrots as "optional."

Choucroute Garnie
Braised Sauerkraut With Meat

In a village on the outskirts of Strasbourg, an old wooden cart filled with plump white cabbages is a familiar harvest-time sight, its load of cannonball-sized choux destined to be shredded into sauerkraut for choucroute garnie.

To serve 6:

4 pounds fresh sauerkraut
1.5 pounds lean salt pork in 1 piece
2 quarts water
6 tablespoons lard
2.5 cups finely chopped onions
1 cup 2-inch carrot chunks [optional]
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 large tart apple, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped [optional]
3 cups chicken stock, fresh or canned
2 cups dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 slices smoked baked ham cut 1/4-inch thick
1.5 pounds uncooked plain or garlic pork sausage, fresh or smoked (French, [German] or Polish)

Bouquet garni made of 4 parsley sprigs, 1 bay leaf and 10 juniper berries, tied together in washed cheesecloth (or add 1/4 cup gin to the casserole to substitute for the juniper berries)

6 whole, peeled potatoes, boiled just before serving time

Wash the sauerkraut in several changes of water to get rid of excess saltiness, then squeeze it vigorously to dry it. Blanch the salt pork by simmering it in 2 quarts of water for 15 minutes; drain and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a heavy 4-quart flameproof casserole that has a cover, melt the lard over moderate heat. Add the onions, carrots and garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, or until they are soft but not brown. Stir in the chopped apple and cook for 2 or 3 minutes; then stir in the sauerkraut.

Cover the casserole, reduce the heat as low as possible and braise the vegetables for 15 minutes. Then add the chicken stock, wine, and gin if it is being substituted for juniper berries. The stock should almost cover the sauerkraut; if it doesn't, add more stock. Season with salt and 4 or 5 grindings of pepper, and bury the bouquet garni in the sauerkraut. Bring the casserole to a boil on top of the stove; lay the salt pork on top. Cover the casserole tightly and place it on the middle shelf of the oven.

After the sauerkraut has cooked for 3 hours, prick the sausage in 4 or 5 places and add it to the casserole. Cover and braise for another 30 minutes. Then spread the ham slices over the sauerkraut. Cover and braise for about 20 minutes longer, or until the ham is heated through.

To serve, discard the bouquet garni, transfer the sauerkraut to a deep, heated platter and mound the ham slices over it. Peel the sausage and cut it into 1-inch chunks; carve the salt pork into 1/8-inch slices. Arrange the sausage, salt pork and potatoes attractively around the sauerkraut.

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 04 September 2018 at 14:25

Here is another Julia Child recipe for Choucroute; this recipe comes from her book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 1971. For the sake of clarity, I re-arranged the ingredients list a bit, as compared with the published recipe, so that the bouquet garni and needed equipment were at the end of the list.

Note that the base recipe (braised sauerkraut) is given first, with the garnie variation appended afterward; this, in my opinion, goes to show the versatility of this dish. Julia does not mention trout in her description or recipe, but there is no reason that I can see why the same base Choucroute recipe couldn't be used.

Choucroute Braisée à l'Alsacienne
Braised Sauerkraut

In France before sauerkraut is braised with wine, stock, aromatic vegetables, and spices, it is always drained and soaked in cold water for 15 to 20 minutes to remove all but a suggestion of its preserving brine. If you have never cared for the sour flavor of most sauerkraut dishes, this recipe may well change you into an enthusiast. sauerkraut makes a savory accompaniment to duck, goose, pheasant, pork, ham, or sausages any of which may even cook along with the sauerkraut and give it that much more flavor.

For 6 people:

2 pounds (about 5 cups) fresh sauerkraut (canned raw sauerkraut may be used, but it is never as good as the fresh)

A 1/2-pound chunk of bacon
1/2 cup thinly-slices carrots cup sliced onions
4 tablespoons rendered fresh goose or pork fat, or butter
1 cup dry white wine or 2/3 cup dry white vermouth
2 to 3 cups white stock, brown stock, or canned beef or chicken bouillon
Salt

The following tied in washed cheesecloth:

4 sprigs of parsley
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns
10 juniper berries (or add 1/4 cup gin to the casserole)

A 2.5- to 3-quart, covered, fireproof casserole
A round of buttered paper

Drain the sauerkraut (either fresh or canned) and soak it in a large basin of cold water for 15 to 20 minutes or more, changing water three times. Taste the sauerkraut, and when as much of the briny flavor as you wish has been removed, drain it. Taking it by small handfuls, squeeze out as much water as you can. Pick it apart to separate the strands.

Remove the rind and slice the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces about 2 inches long. Simmer it in 2 quarts of warm water for 10 minutes. Drain.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cook the bacon, carrots, and onions, in fat or butter slowly in the covered casserole for 10 minutes without browning. Stir in the sauerkraut and when it is well covered with the fat and vegetables, cover and cook slowly for 10 minutes more.

Bury the herb and spice packet in the sauerkraut. Pour in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon just to cover the sauerkraut. Season lightly with salt. Bring to the simmer on top of the stove. Lay on the round of buttered paper. Cover and set in middle level of preheated oven. Regulate heat so sauerkraut bubbles slowly for 4.5 to 5 hours, and until all the liquid has been absorbed by the sauerkraut. Taste carefully for seasoning.

If not served immediately, set aside uncovered. Reheat slowly before serving.

To Serve Choucroute Garnie (Sauerkraut Garnished with Meat):

Braised sauerkraut may be sued as a bed for sliced roast pork, pork chops, ham, or browned sausages, or with roast goose, duck, or pheasant. The dish is usually accompanied with boiled potatoes and either a chilled Alsatian wine such as Riesling or Traminer, a white domestic wine of the same type, or beer.

If you wish to cook your meats in the sauerkraut, brown them first in a skillet in hot fat; then bury them in the casserole while the sauerkraut is braising, timing the meats so they and the sauerkraut will be done together.

Posted By: Margi Cintrano
Date Posted: 04 September 2018 at 15:43

Ron,

The Sepia Antique photograph is simply amazing ..

There are so many variations from a grand variety of Chefs ..

I like the classic traditional récipes the best ..

I shall stick to my Wild Trout one since this is the one we made a few years ago -- and posted it here at Fotw ..

We had looked at all the récipes and each has a different take on something -- but the key is the Kraut !! and then the bacon or pancetta used .. and the spices .. Then the wine -- Riesling and the proteins ( porc meats or feathered game or trout ) ..

i am excited .. We shall do some fotos !!

Have a lovely evening ..

-------------
Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 06 September 2018 at 12:12

Here are two recipes and a nice write-up, from Culinaria: France (2004):

Every village in Alsace is said to have its own recipe for choucroute...a delicious meal made with fermented white cabbage which is served under an impressive mountain of mixed sausages, bacon, salted shoulder, smoked ham and potatoes. Enjoyed with a jug of beer, a glass of Riesling or Sylvaner wine, choucroute is synonymous with Alsace.

The pale green white cabbage heads are decidedly larger than normal ones available in the shops. Magnificent examples can reach up to 15 pounds (7 kg) and are known as quintals d'Alsace, Alsatian hundredweights. They are mainly grown in the north of the region in and around Krautergersheim and are harvested between July and November. The outer leaves and the heart are removed. The cabbage is shredded as finely as possible. Today this is generally carried out automatically in a choucrouterie.

Years ago there were people who made a living going from door to door offering their services to shred the cabbage, because every family laid down their own supplies for the winter. When the season is in full flow there are still cabbage cutters who demonstrate their skill in the markets and the characteristic smell of freshly-cut cabbage fills the air.

To make sauerkraut, alternate layers of cabbage and salt are laid out in tall earthen pots or wooden barrels. If large quantities are to be produced, concrete or plastic tanks are used. Juniper berries often add extra flavor. The layers are pressed together - in domestic use with a wooden lid, with a stone placed on top - and the pots or barrels are sealed and made airtight. The salt draws moisture from the cabbage and forms brine, which protects it. Depending on the temperature, fermentation takes three to eight weeks to transform the cabbage. It loses half of its weight, but the process makes it easy to keep for a longer time. It has also become a healthy and easily-digested food, thanks to various trace elements and vitamins.

Before the age of sterilization, deep-freezing and vacuum-packing, sauerkraut guaranteed the population of the country adequate supplies of Vitamin C in winter. Consequently it provided ideal nourishment for seafarers and protected them from scurvy. It must be crunchy, light-colored and have a pleasant smell. The local saying is absolutely right: "Sauerkraut is only good when it has been re-heated seven times."

Cabbage comes from China. The workers that built the Great Wall were kept in good health by eating fermented cabbage. Mongols and Tatars later introduced it to Europe, and in the Balkans fermented vegetables have a long tradition. Alsatians have liked sauerkraut since the Middle Ages and one suspects that they are able to enjoy it so much because there is always so much pork appetizingly served with it: smoked and green bacon, smoked pork shoulder...kasseler or schiffala (pickled and smoked pork shoulder)...boiled pork, knuckle of pork and liver dumplings, bratwurst (frying sausage), blutwurst (blood sausage), smoked sausage, knackwurst (little Strasbourg sausages), and fleischwurst (made with finely minced pork); it is just coincidental that new sauerkraut finishes its fermenting process at the same time as local meat production.

Choucroute à l'ancienne
Traditional Sauerkraut

To serve 8:

4 pounds, 6 ounces (2 kg) fresh raw sauerkraut
2 bacon rinds
2 carrots
2 onions
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 garlic cloves
4 cloves
12 juniper berries
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of thyme
1 knuckle of pork
2 finger-thick slices of streaky ham*
1/2 bottle of dry Riesling wine
4 smoked Montbéliard sausages
21 ounces (600 g) Schiffala smoked pork shoulder
4 pairs knackwurst (little Strasbourg sausages)
1 boiled Morteau sausage

*(Ron's note: I think they meant to say "streaky bacon" here, see procedure below.)

Wash the sauerkraut in a sieve under flowing water, pull it apart and press out the water.

Arrange bacon rinds on the bottom of a large cast iron pot. Add half the sauerkraut. Clean the carrots and peel the onions, cut into pieces and spread on the sauerkraut. Sprinkle the peppercorns evenly over it. Tie the remaining spices with thyme in a muslin bag and add to the vegetables. Add the pork knuckle and bacon and cover with the remaining sauerkraut. Pour on the wine and 1 cup (250 ml) of water.

Cover the pot well, place in the oven and cook for about 2.5 hours at 355 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Place the smoked sausage and smoked pork shoulder in the pot under the sauerkraut. Cook for another 30 minutes. Place the Strasbourg knackwurst and boiled sausage on the sauerkraut and cook again for 20 minutes. Remove the muslin bag. Serve the sauerkraut with meat and sausages. A well-cooled Sylvaner or Riesling wine goes well with this dish.

Choucroute Maison
Homemade Sauerkraut

To serve 6 to 8:

1 pickled pork knuckle (demi sel)
2 finger-thick slices of streaky bacon
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 Cervelat sausage
3 to 4 pairs of Strasbourg knackwurst sausages
3 pounds 5 ounces (1.5 kg) fresh raw sauerkraut
3 tablespoons goose drippings
3 onions
2 bay leaves
10 juniper berries
3 cloves
1/2 bottle dry Alsace Riesling

Rinse the knuckle and the bacon, place in cold water with peppercorns and simmer at a low temperature for 75 minutes. Add the boiled sausages and knackwurst and simmer for another 20 minutes.

Wash the sauerkraut in a sieve under flowing water, take it apart and press out the water. Heat the drippings in a cast iron pot. Peel the onions, finely chop them and lightly braise. Add the sauerkraut, bay leaves, juniper berries and cloves. Pour on the Riesling and add water until the sauerkraut is completely covered. Cover and cook at a low temperature for 40 minutes.

Pile up the sauerkraut on a large plate. Cut the knuckle and bacon into pieces and the Cervelat sausage into pieces and surround these with the small sausages. Serve with boiled potatoes. In Alsace, they drink beer with this.

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 06 September 2018 at 13:18

Here is an historical perspective on the making of sauerkraut, from none other than Alexandre Dumas:

Akexandre Dumas wrote:

The sauerkraut is kept in barrels, containing vinegar, wine or another fermenting liquid.... The cabbage is sliced, by grating it with a sort of plane.... The bottom of the barrel is covered with a bed of sea salt and then on this a layer of cabbage cut into strips is placed. Then a handful of juniper berries or caraway seeds is sprinkled on it to give flavor. This is repeated, layer after layer, until the barrel is full.... The last salt layer is covered with large, green cabbage leaves, on top of which a large damp sheet and a rather heavy barrel lid are laid.... The cabbage compressed together in this way exudes a foul smelling, sour, dirty liquid, which can be...drawn off through a tap and replaced by a fresh salt solution...until the strong smell disappears.

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 01 October 2018 at 12:52

My attempt of this dish for FotW's first annual Choucroute Day - 29 September 2018 - went pretty well; I was able to get it made, and in my opinion it tasted very good. The family seemed to enjoy it as well, so that is always a bonus.

I will try to give a detailed account here; it may ramble a bit and run over itself somewhat, but I figure that's better than missing any details. If anyone has any questions or needs any clarification, please do ask so that I can provide answers and clarify this post.

Notes on some of the ingredients:

I started with the sauerkraut that I had made exactly five weeks before from 1.5 average-sized heads of white cabbage; it spent 2 weeks fermenting in my closet, then three weeks "maturing" in the refrigerator. On the morning that I finally was ready to use it, it looked and smelled great! I tested a small bit, and found that it had a great crunch and it wasn't too salty at all, with a nice, rich sourness. It was so good as it was that I almost didn't want to rinse it out for my Choucroute, but I did anyway, trusting the recipes that I was using.

Another key ingredient in my Choucroute was a small rack of loin back pork ribs that I had purchased a day or two before; following http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=2658&PID=39694&title=alsatian-choucroute#39694 - Jacques Pépin's instructions in one of the posts above this one, I made a petit salé of the ribs the night before preparing the Choucroute. Using this technique added a nice touch to the meal, in my opinion.

I had planned on using some of my http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/black-forest-maple-bacon_topic4371.html - home-cured-and-smoked Black Forest Bacon for this project; unfortunately, it "mysteriously disappeared," as so many of my specialty products or ingredients seem to do in a house full of kids. No matter; I went instead with the thickest-sliced, best-quality bacon that I could find in in our small-town grocery.

The "recipe" and method that I used to make this was a sort of an amalgam of the reading that I had done on this thread; it's probably not a true, authentic way to do it, but results were really nice. I prepared my Choucroute in an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven smeared with duck fat, based on my home-made sauerkraut, onions and garlic; spiced with a https://www.walmart.com/ip/Maille-mustard/45791869 - rustic "Old-Style" mustard from Maille , black pepper, cloves, juniper berries and a bouquet garni consisting of bay leaves, thyme and parsley. The sauerkraut was "garnished" with bratwurst, smoked sausage, smoked frankfurters, thick-sliced smoked bacon, sliced smoked ham, home-cured pork back ribs and baby Dutch potatoes (3 per person). I braised the dish in a combination of roasted chicken stock and a http://www.missionmountainwinery.com/ - Montana-vinted Riesling from Mission Mountain Wineries .

After smearing the sides and bottom of the Dutch oven with duck fat, the sauerkraut, sliced onions and crushed garlic cloves (I used 4) were mixed together on the bottom, with the bouquet garni buried therein and the mustard, black pepper, juniper berries and cloves (I used 4) spread around on top. I then placed the baby potatoes (3 for each person) on top of the sauerkraut in the centre of the casserole, with the bratwursts, frankfurters and sausages arranged around the potatoes. Next, I topped everything with the bacon, some ham slices and the petit salé ribs, which had been rinsed and patted dry. Finally, I added about 2.5 cups of Riesling with a tablespoon of roasted chicken base mixed in, then covered the Dutch oven and put it into a cold oven. Purely on a guess and a whim, I set the oven for 340 degrees and 2.5 hours, then left everything alone.

This guess on time and temperature turned out to be spot-on, from what I can tell. After 2.5 hours, I removed the Dutch oven from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes or so; when I took the cover off, this is what I saw (please forgive the bad lighting):

The aroma coming up from the Dutch oven was wonderful! I have made bastardized versions of this before, but this was the first time I've consciously set out to emulate a true Alsatian Choucroute. Seeing and smelling the results, I was very pleased; all that remained was to taste it.

The butler was polishing the china and the silver that day, so we had to make do with plastic:

Note: this photo is only to show the different meats involved; once I got it all on the plate, I realized it was simply too much, and cut all of the meats in half. I also added more sauerkraut to each plate, because it was really smelling nice; even my youngest son, who is no fan of store-bought sauerkraut, wanted more than I had originally plated, based solely on the aroma that was wafting up from my home-made sauerkraut in the casserole.

Where the meats were concerned, my idea was to go with a "per person" guess on portions (there were 4 of us eating): 1 bratwurst, 2 slices of bacon, 1 ham slice, 1 section of ribs, 1 frankfurter etc. It was a good idea, but for the sheer volume of food involved, I should have halved my expectations. Ironically, the amount of meat that I did use seemed to be just about right for the amount of sauerkraut that I had; in the final analysis, I simply should have invited 4 or six more people to dinner, and everything would have been perfect, I think. No worries - now we have plenty of leftovers for the coming week!

I truly liked this, and so did the family. Everything went together very well with seasonings, the Riesling and the smoke flavor from the meats. It was a huge meal, but very good. The sauerkraut itself - for me - was probably the best part - full of a whole array of flavours from the entire list of ingredients; however, the home-cured ribs, using Pépin's method, were very good, too, and a personal victory for me, as I had never attempted a true petit salé before. The rest of the meats and potatoes were all done very well; the bacon, which I had placed above the sausages, was not soggy, and the ribs were tender and juicy. The only thing that I might do differently next time would be to layer the ham slices below the bacon, rather than above, so that the renderings from the bacon can keep the ham a bit more moist.

I know that at least two other forum members - possibly more - were going to give this project a try; I eagerly await their results, and hope that this experience inspires more people to consider it for the future. You don't have to wait until next year's Choucroute Day - this is a perfect dish to prepare as we head into fall!

Ron

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Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 03 October 2018 at 15:38

In the course of my research on Choucoute, I've encountered three major variations of this dish: there is the version that I have made, with a selection of fresh and smoked pork products; there is another version featuring freshwater fish, which is also quite traditional; finally, a little off the beaten path, there is a version using seafood, called Choucroute de la Mer.

While perusing some recipes of this third, delicious-looking incarnation, I learned that Choucroute de la Mer is normally served with a Beurre Blanc sauce, based on shallots, butter, white wine and cream. You can find a recipe for buerre blanc here:

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/beurre-blanc-233266

Having said this, there is always room for a creative mind with a good idea; I came across a recipe on one blog, titled Cahir Gourmand (Gourmet Book) that really struck my interest. The blogger - who is not fond of buerre blanc - improvises a beer sauce with elements of a Provincial sauce rouille, resulting in something that really looks nice, in my opinion.

Photo Credit: http://cahiergourmand.canalblog.com/archives/2007/11/26/7023234.html

Here is the recipe, in the original French:

Choucroute de la mer, sauce à la bière et rouille safranée

INGREDIENTS POUR 4 :

1,5 kg de chou cru
1 oignon
Baies de genièvre
1 feuille de laurier
1 belle queue de lotte (800 g environ)
4 dorades grises
500 g de haddock
1 filet de saumon
4 belles langoustines
200 g de crevettes roses
300 g de moules de bouchot
Riesling ou autre vin blanc sec

Sauce à la bière :

3 échalotes grises
10 cl bière ambrée
15 cl de fumet poisson maison
3 pistils de safran
20 cl crème fleurette
45 g de [sauce] rouille

PREPARATION :

Cuisson du chou :

Passer le chou sous l'eau et l'égoutter entre les mains. La blanchir quelques instants dans de l'eau bouillante.

Mettre une noix de beurre (ou saindoux) dans une cocotte et faire revenir l'oignon. Ajouter le chou, les baies de genièvre, une feuille de laurier, et mouiller avec le vin blanc (compléter avec de l'eau si necessaire). Laisser cuire doucement pendant 1h30.

Cuisson des fruits de mer :

Ouvir les moules dans un verre de vin blanc, décoquiller et réserver (garder le jus de cuisson).

Cuire les langoustines dans un bouillon parfumé pendant 3 min.

Dessaler le haddock et le mettre à cuire à petits frémissements dans du lait, un peu de poivre pendant 10 min.

Couper le filet de saumon en 4 et le cuire en papillottes au four pendant quelques min.

Lever ou faire lever les filets de dorade (les parures serviront à réaliser le fumet) et les cuire côté peau à la poêle 3 min.

Parer la queue de lotte, enlever l'arête centrale et lever les 2 filets.

Couper les filets en tronçons et les cuire au court-bouillon pendant 5 min.

Terminer la cuisson en les passant au beurre quelques min.

Préparer la sauce :

Mettre les échalotes ciselées et la bière dans une casserole et faire réduire de moitié.

Ajouter le fumet de poisson et faire encore réduire de moitié.

Ajouter la crème, le safran et faire réduire jusqu'à onctuoisité.

Au moment de servir, ajouter la rouille, chauffer sans ébullition. Réserver (elle se réchauffe sans problème).

http://cahiergourmand.canalblog.com/archives/2007/11/26/7023234.html

Here is an excellent translation for this Choucroute de la Mer that I received from a friend in Europe, along with some notes, clarifications and two recipes for the sauce rouille

Choucroute of the sea, sauce with beer, saffron and rouille

INGREDIENTS FOR 4:

1.5 kg of raw choucroute (fermented white cabbage)
1 onion
Juniper berries
1 bay leaf
1 big monkfish tail (about 800 g)
4 sea breams
500 g of salted haddock
1 salmon fillet
4 big langoustines
200 g of prawns
300 g of mussels
Riesling or other dry white wine

Sauce with beer :

3 shallots
10 cl amber beer
15 cl of homemade fish stock
3 saffron threads
20 cl whipping cream
45 g of sauce rouille

Notes:

Let's assume that fermented white cabbage is called choucroute cru in French or (raw) choucroute in English.

"Beautiful” monkfish and ditto langoustines are too literally translated. It should be translated as nice "big" ones.

By bream, the recipe means to use sea bream, not the fresh water type!

The haddock used is salted haddock. It can simply be replaced by salted cod, also known as bacalao.

Bouchot mussels are quite small mussels but entirely packed with mussel flesh, from the northern part of France. These mussels are probably not found anywhere in the US, except in top restaurants. Simply use other fresh mussels.

Grey shallots; in France you will find different variations of shallots. Simply use what is available.

Cooking the choucroute:

Rinse the choucroute in water and drain between your hands. Blanche shortly in boiling water.

Put a knob of butter (or lard) in a cooking pot and fry the onion. Add choucroute, juniper berries, bay leaf and white wine (add water if necessary). Cook gently for 1 h 30 min.

Cooking the seafood :

Cook the mussels until just opened in a glass of white wine. Take them out of the shells and set aside (keep the cooking juices).

Cook the langoustines in a fragrant broth for 3 min.

Desalt the haddock and cook it in simmering milk with a little pepper added for 10 minutes.

Cut the salmon fillet into 4 and bake loosely wrapped in aluminium foil or baking paper (en papillotte) for a few minutes.

Take the fillets off from the sea bream fillets or let it do (the remaining parts will be used to make the fish stock). Cook the fillets skin side down in the frying pan for 3 min.

Trim the monkfish tail, remove the central bone and take the 2 fillets off.

Cut the fillets into sections and cook them in court-bouillon for 5 min.

Finish cooking by lightly frying them in butter for a few minutes.

Preparing the sauce :

Put finely chopped shallots and beer in a saucepan and reduce by half.

Add the fish stock and again reduce by half.

Add the cream and saffron and reduce until slightly thickened.

When serving, add the rouille, warmed without boiling (boiling will split the sauce!). Set sauce aside (it warms up without any problem).

As noted above, one of the components of the beer sauce is 45 grams of sauce rouille, known colloquially as "rust." My friend also offered some notes and two recipes for making sauce rouille at home; here they are:

Rouille is an addition to fish soups etc. Served in a small ramequin is the way it is presented. You usually smear it on a round of toasted baguette, eat it like that with the soup or dunk it in the soup. There are a few variations, using potatoes or bread as a base, and so on.

If you look at a recipe, you can see that a sauce rouille is in fact none other than a mayo: egg yolk, mustard and oil, with some additions.

The simplest way to make it is to torch a red bell pepper until it is blackened, then put it in a plastic bag to cool. It will then be easier to peel. Mix the pepper finely, add some good mayo, some garlic, 2 or 3 threads of saffron and some harissa or chile powder. Rouille is served cold but it has to be very hot (spicy) from the chile powder or harissa; if you do not have harissa, you can substitute with siracha.

Here is another recipe, with a photo:

Sauce Rouille

Ingrédients

1 jaune d'oeuf
20 cl d'huile
2 gousses d'ail
1 cuill. à café de moutarde
1 cuill. à café de paprika en poudre
1 pincée de safran
1 pincée de piment d’Espelette en poudre
sel

Recette:

Presser les gousses d’ail.

Mélanger le jaune d’œuf avec le paprika en poudre, le safran, piment, le sel, la moutarde et l’ail écrasé.

Quand le mélange est homogène, ajouter l’huile d’olive en filet tout en remuant vivement avec un fouet, comme pour monter une mayonnaise.

Une fois que la rouille est complètement montée, gouter et rectifier l’assaisonnement.

http://www.ptitecuisinedepauline.com/article-rouille-115442389.html

Here is an English translation:

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk
20 cl olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
1 tsp of sweet paprika powder
1 pinch of saffron
1 pinch of piment d'Espelette can be replaced by chili powder
salt

Recipe:

Squeeze the garlic through a garlic press.

Mix the egg yolk with paprika powder, saffron, chili, salt, mustard and crushed garlic.

When the mixture is smooth, add the oil in very tiny amounts at a time and whisk as for making a mayonnaise.

Once the rouille is ready, taste and adjust seasoning.

To add to the "collective wisdom," Here is one more recipe, from Epicurious:

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/rouille-238412

If I were to make this sauce, I would try to get my hands on some piment d'Espelette; here are a couple of options:

http://a.co/d/0Zjn6YA

http://a.co/d/c2rDcZS

If for some reason making the sauce rouille is not an option, the blogger who invented this choucroute recipe explains that she purchased hers already prepared; if you go choose to that route, here is one source:

http://a.co/d/7CgeaHi

This recipe - and the beer sauce in particular - really interest me. As I was telling Mike, I could easily see it featured on the menu of a restaurant along the 101 in the Pacific Northwest. I would like to try a simplified version of this someday, using maybe one or two proteins....we'll see!

Ron

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Posted By: Margi Cintrano
Date Posted: 04 October 2018 at 04:02

Ron,

Your Classic Choucroute looks wonderful .. And an exemplary report on the how´s and products etcetra ..

We prepared the Wild Fresh Trout which travelled in an ice chest in the jeep ( Land Rover ) ..

The only difference was that I do not care for bacon so we used Italian Pancetta, which was sliced into very fine strips and sautéed in its own fat ..

The fat was drained and of course wiped with paper towelling thoroughly .. The dish to the contrary was not heavy or greasy .. The kraut was the star !!!

The fish were sliced into wide strips and the pancetta strips were placed in the centre of the trout slices and we rolled the fish up .. We closed the Fish Rolls with tiny metal skewers and placed on the exemplary perfect Kraut and a piece of parchment was placed inside the cover of the Earthenware casserole type Dutch Oven, made of mud & clay ( a cazuela with a cover ) and a few shot glasses of Riesling from Alsace and it was cooked on a low slow flame ..

Quite outstanding with with the evolutionary touch of Rolling the pancetta inside the fish and placing on the Kraut ..

I did buy The Kraut Kit which is same more or less as the Video posted here .. I was able to purchase from a distributor friend from Italy who travels alot to Alsace and Germany and Switzerland ..

Went extraordinarily well and 4 hands are always better than two

when preparing yearly celebration dishes !!!

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Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 04 October 2018 at 08:21

It sounds like your Choucroute turned out very well!

Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 04 October 2018 at 09:26

Have to laugh a bit about the seafood version, Ron. I mean, that's a long way from what started life as a peasant dish. Monkfish, salmon, langostines, for cripes sake.

Maybe when the second mortgage gets approved I'll take a stab at it. Thumbs Up

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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 04 October 2018 at 09:42

Joking aside, you made a good point, Brook - I could see it being a "catch of the day" thing, which would bring it back down to earth a bit.

But that sauce - I need to try it ~

Posted By: pitrow
Date Posted: 04 October 2018 at 10:03

HistoricFoodie wrote:

Have to laugh a bit about the seafood version, Ron. I mean, that's a long way from what started life as a peasant dish. Monkfish, salmon, langostines, for cripes sake.

Isn't that the trend in everything these days though? Although you do make a good point. I'm not even sure I could get langostines here, no matter what the cost. But I would definitely give it a shot if I could.

-------------
Mike
http://lifeinpitrow.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow - Life in PitRow - My often neglected, somewhat eccentric, occasionally outstanding blog

Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 04 October 2018 at 22:27

On the other hand, crayfish might work as a substitute.

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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket

Posted By: Margi Cintrano
Date Posted: 07 October 2018 at 16:10

Brook,

Thank you anyway ..

Hope you are having a lovely autumn ..

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Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 09 October 2018 at 11:26

A friend in Europe saw our posts on Choucroute, and was especially intrigued by the notion of a Choucroute de la Mer. He decided to try his own interpretation, and it seems to me that his efforts resulted in a very nice result.

I was kind of surprised and intrigued that I didn’t know about choucroute de la mer, so I had to make it. I simplified that elaborate dish into something more modest and modern. Being not a sour choucroute adept, all harsh acidity from the fermenting had to go.

A nice beurre blanc is one of my all-time favourites, so I went for that; but, I made it with blond Leffe beer instead of white wine. This sauce was quite strong tasting, so next time I’m going back to the classic beurre blanc which I prefer, made with wine.

For the choucroute, I used a store-bought tinned raw choucroute. Rinsed it in cold water and squeezed all water out. Then blanched it a minute in boiling salted water, rinsed again in cold water and squeezed the water out.

Next, I proceeded with sweating a shallot, added streaky bacon (cut in thin strips), 2 juniper berries, a bay leaf, a clove and a few whole Szechuan pepper corns. The Szechuan is a lemony pepper and I had this idea that it would work great in choucroute, which it did!

I then added half a small glass of white wine (I didn’t use acidic Riesling but an always-fresh-tasting sauvignon blanc); then, I added the same amount of water and let the choucroute cook for some 45 minutes or longer. Check often and add some water if necessary.

When the choucroute is on, you have plenty of time for everything else, like making thebeurre blanc.

Add a finely chopped shallot to half a small glass of white wine or blond beer (I prefer wine!). Let it cook on low fire until you have a tablespoon left. Add the same amount of cream as the amount of wine you used and let it reduce until it starts to bind. Cut some cold butter into small cubes and add a few at a time to the sauce while whisking on a very low fire. Add salt and pepper, as well as a few drops of lemon juice.

Meanwhile, to the seafood! I used frozen salmon, individually packed portions. I let them defrost in the fridge in their package. Get them out the package, rinse in cold water and put on a few layers of paper kitchen towel to dry.

Panfry in a very hot pan with quite a lot of oil. Season while frying. Let the fish rest.

In the same pan, most oil removed, I quickly warmed a small pack of store-bought mixed sea food containing mussels, vongole, squid etc.

And, finally, a choucroute isn’t complete in my opinion without a few humble boiled potatoes.

This was delicious, and all harsh acidity from the choucroute was gone, I even added a little lemon juice to the choucroute!

Simplicity always works!

It looks great, to me - a wonderful celebration of the sea!

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