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Himmel un Ääd

Himmel un Ääd is Cologne dialect for "heaven and earth": apples from the trees above and potatoes from the ground below, mashed together and topped with slices of fried Flönz, the soft Rhineland black pudding, and crisp onions. It is a classic in Cologne's brewery taverns, especially around Carnival and in autumn when the apples are new. For a vegetarian plate, skip the blood sausage and add extra fried onions and a fried egg. Chef's tip: use a sharp apple like Boskop or Bramley, which balances the rich sausage much better than a sweet one.

45 minGermanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Döppekuchen

Döppekuchen (also Dippekuchen or Knüles) is the Rhineland and Westerwald answer to a cold November evening, traditionally baked on St Martin's Day and at village fairs. Raw grated potatoes, onion, egg and smoked bacon are baked slowly in a cast-iron pot, the Döppe, until the outside is a thick dark-brown crust and the inside is soft and steamy. It is eaten with apple sauce and a green salad. For a meat-free pot, bake it with extra onions and two sliced leeks instead of the bacon. Chef's tip: squeeze the grated potato really dry; the less water, the crisper the crust.

180 minGermanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Thüringer Rostbratwurst

In Thuringia the long, thin Rostbratwurst is grilled over charcoal at every market, football ground and village fête, and has been since at least the 15th century. It is a raw, finely seasoned pork sausage with marjoram, caraway and garlic, bought from a Thuringian butcher, and the local rules are strict: grilled slowly over glowing coals, served in a roll that is too short for it, with a sharp, coarse mustard and never with ketchup. Here you grill good fresh bratwurst and make a medium-hot mustard to go with it. Vegetarians can grill vegetarian bratwurst the same way. Chef's tip: grill over glowing coals with no flames, rubbing the sausages with a bacon rind or a little oil so they colour evenly and the skin crackles.

35 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Frankfurter Würstchen

Real Frankfurter Würstchen are slim, delicately smoked pure-pork sausages from the Frankfurt region, sold in pairs and eaten at Christmas markets, family suppers and Christmas Eve, when many Hessian families have them with potato salad. They come ready-cooked, so the only skill is warming them gently until they are hot without bursting. Here they go with a warm Hessian potato salad dressed with stock, vinegar, onion and chives, plus mustard and rye bread. Vegetarians can warm vegetarian sausages the same way and keep the salad. Chef's tip: dress the potatoes while they are still warm; they drink up the dressing and turn silky instead of sitting in it.

45 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Panhas

Panhas comes from the slaughter days of Westphalia and the Lower Rhine, when the pork broth left in the kettle was thickened with buckwheat flour and the scraps of meat and sausage so nothing went to waste. It sets into a firm loaf that keeps for days in the fridge; thick slices are fried until crisp and eaten for breakfast or supper with apple sauce, fried potatoes or rye bread. This version uses pork belly and coarse liver sausage. Chef's tip: fry the slices in a hot pan and leave them alone for the first 4 minutes, so a crust forms before you turn them.

90 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Weißwurstfrühstück

In Munich the Weißwurst breakfast is a late-morning ritual, eaten between ten o'clock and noon in beer halls and butcher's cafés, with soft pretzels and a pot of sweet Bavarian mustard. The pale sausages of veal and pork back fat, flavoured with parsley, lemon and mace, are bought fresh from the butcher and gently heated, never boiled, then the skin is peeled off at the table. Making the mustard yourself is the easy, rewarding part. Vegetarians can heat plant-based white sausages the same way and keep the mustard and pretzel. Chef's tip: keep the water just below a simmer; boiling splits the skins and the sausages go grey and dry.

40 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nürnberger Rostbratwürste

Nuremberg's little pork sausages are barely longer than a finger, grilled over beechwood in the old town's sausage kitchens and sold three at a time in a crusty roll, 'Drei im Weggla', at the Christmas market and all year round. They are delicate, coarse-ground and fragrant with marjoram, mace and lemon zest, and at a sit-down meal six or twelve come on a pewter plate with sauerkraut and horseradish. Making them at home needs a mincer with a sausage nozzle and narrow sheep casings, and is a satisfying weekend project. Vegetarians can buy small vegetarian bratwursts and grill them with the same sides. Chef's tip: keep the meat and mincer ice-cold; warm fat smears and the sausages turn crumbly.

75 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Birnen, Bohnen und Speck

Birnen, Bohnen und Speck is late-summer cooking from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, made in August when green beans and small, firm cooking pears ripen at the same time in the Vierlande market gardens. A piece of smoked pork belly bacon is simmered until tender, and its smoky broth then cooks the beans, whole pears and potatoes, with summer savory to tie the sweet and salty together. It is one pot, served straight from the stove with the bacon sliced on top. Chef's tip: choose pears that are still hard; ripe dessert pears collapse into the beans.

90 minGermanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mecklenburger Rippenbraten

Mecklenburger Rippenbraten is the Christmas and Sunday roast of Mecklenburg on the Baltic coast, a flat piece of pork belly spread with apple and prunes, rolled, tied and roasted until the skin crackles. The fruit melts into the meat and turns the pan juices into a sweet, dark gravy, served with red cabbage and boiled potatoes. The prunes are sometimes soaked in rum; here they are soaked in apple juice, so the dish is alcohol-free. Chef's tip: dry the scored skin uncovered in the fridge overnight; dry skin is what puffs into crackling.

180 minGermanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pfälzer Saumagen

Saumagen is the pride of the Palatinate, served at wine-village festivals and family dinners from the Haardt hills to Ludwigshafen. A cleaned pig's stomach is stuffed with diced pork shoulder, pork sausage meat, potato and carrot seasoned with marjoram and nutmeg, poached slowly, then sliced thick and fried until crusty. The stomach works only as a casing and is ordered from a butcher; if you can't get one, bake the same filling in a covered terrine in a water bath. Serve with sauerkraut and mashed potato. Chef's tip: fill the stomach only three-quarters full, or it bursts as the potatoes swell.

225 minGermanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Thüringer Rostbrätel

In Thuringia, a summer garden party or village fair isn't complete without a Rost, the charcoal grill, loaded with Rostbrätel: pork neck steaks that have spent a night in mustard and plenty of sliced onion. The fat in the neck keeps the meat juicy over the coals, and the onions from the marinade are fried and piled on top, with rye bread on the side. Many Thuringian grillers splash beer over the meat while it cooks; this version needs no alcohol. Chef's tip: scrape most of the onion off before grilling, as it burns on the coals; fry it separately instead.

35 minGermanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mutzbraten

Mutzbraten is the fairground roast of eastern Thuringia, from Schmölln and the Altenburg area, where big chunks of pork shoulder are rubbed with salt, pepper and lots of marjoram, threaded on skewers and hung in an iron cage over a birch-wood fire. It is sold sliced with sauerkraut and a slice of rye bread at markets and village festivals. At home a lidded kettle barbecue with birch or other mild wood chips gives a close result; an oven version is in the steps. Chef's tip: marinate overnight, as the marjoram needs time to work its way into the meat.

170 minGermanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Labskaus

Labskaus is the pink, rough-textured hash that ships' cooks made from salted beef and potatoes, and it is still on the menu in harbour pubs from Hamburg to Bremen, often as a hearty lunch after a cold walk along the Elbe. Salt beef is fried with onion, then pounded into mashed potato with pickled beetroot and a splash of its juice, so the whole plate turns magenta. A fried egg goes on top, with gherkins and, for those who like it, a rolled pickled herring on the side. Chef's tip: keep back some of the beetroot liquid and add it at the end, a spoon at a time; it is the sharpness that stops the hash tasting heavy.

60 minGermanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Leberkäse

Despite its name, Bavarian Leberkäse contains neither liver nor cheese: it is a smooth, finely ground loaf of pork and beef baked until it has a dark, crunchy crust. In Munich it is the mid-morning snack, a thick warm slice folded into a crusty roll with sweet mustard and eaten standing at the butcher's counter. Made at home without curing salt, the inside bakes pale grey rather than pink, which is normal. Chef's tip: everything, including the bowl of the food processor, must be ice-cold; if the mix warms above about 12 °C the fat separates and the loaf turns crumbly.

115 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Saure Kutteln

Saure Kutteln is old-fashioned Swabian comfort food, still served at Stuttgart's Wasen fairs, in country inns around Reutlingen and Tübingen and by butchers who make it every Thursday. Thin strips of beef tripe are simmered in a dark roux sauce sharpened with vinegar, bay and juniper, and eaten with crisp fried potatoes. Buy tripe that the butcher has already cleaned and blanched. Some cooks add red wine; this version uses only vinegar and stock. Chef's tip: brown the roux slowly until it smells of toasted nuts, because it gives the sauce its colour and depth.

120 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Schäufele

In Baden, Schäufele ("little shovel") is the bone-in pork shoulder blade, cured and lightly smoked by the butcher, and it belongs on New Year's Eve and family get-togethers. It is gently simmered so the meat stays juicy and rosy from the cure, then sliced thick and served with a warm potato salad dressed with broth and vinegar. Ask a German butcher for a ready-cured Schäufele, or use a cured and smoked pork shoulder joint. Chef's tip: keep the water barely trembling; a rolling boil tightens the meat and squeezes out its juices.

145 minGermanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Schweinshaxe

In Munich beer halls and Upper Bavarian village inns, a Schweinshaxe arrives as a whole roast pork knuckle, crackling glassy on the outside and the meat falling off the bone, usually with a potato dumpling and a spoon of sauerkraut. At home it is a weekend dish for cold months: the fresh (not cured) pork hocks are simmered first, then roasted hard so the skin puffs. Ask the butcher for hind knuckles, which carry more meat than front ones. Chef's tip: dry the simmered skin with kitchen paper and leave it uncovered for 20 minutes before roasting; dry skin is the secret to crackling that shatters.

190 minGermanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Eisbein

Eisbein is old Berlin pub food, the cured pork knuckle served in Kneipen across the city with a mound of yellow pease pudding (Erbspüree) and sauerkraut, and it is especially popular in the cold months. Unlike the Bavarian roast Haxe, this pork knuckle is pickled in brine by the butcher and then simmered slowly, so the meat turns pink, tender and gently salty and the rind stays soft. Order a cured ("gepökelt") knuckle from a German or Polish butcher. Chef's tip: soak the knuckle in cold water for a few hours first if your butcher's cure is strong; taste a little of the simmering water after 30 minutes and change it if it is very salty.

180 minGermanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Schweinebraten

Schweinebraten is the Sunday roast of Bavaria, the dish a Munich family sits down to after church and the one every village inn chalks up on its board. This is pork shoulder with its rind still on, roasted on a bed of onion, carrot and celeriac while the rind blisters into crackling, and the gravy is built from the roasting juices and a bottle of dark beer. The beer contains alcohol; most cooks off but not all, so use alcohol-free dark beer, or the same amount of beef stock with 1 tsp dark molasses, for a gravy without it. Serve with bread or potato dumplings and warm cabbage salad. Chef's tip: score the rind through to the fat but not into the meat, or juices leak up and the crackling turns leathery.

190 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Königsberger Klopse

Königsberger Klopse come from old East Prussia, but today they are cooked all over Berlin and eastern Germany as a weekday family dinner and a school-canteen favourite. Soft meatballs of veal, or veal mixed with pork, are poached in broth, then served in a creamy, lemony white sauce dotted with capers, with boiled potatoes and beetroot salad. A little anchovy in the meat is traditional and gives a savoury depth without tasting of fish. Chef's tip: poach, never boil, the meatballs; a gentle simmer keeps them light and stops them breaking.

60 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Leber Berliner Art

Leber Berliner Art is a dish of old Berlin dining rooms and corner restaurants: thin slices of calf's liver fried in butter and piled with soft, sweet onion rings and golden apple rings, served with creamy mashed potato. The sweet apple and onion balance the rich liver, and the whole plate is on the table in half an hour. For safety the liver here is cooked through, which keeps it tender as long as the slices are thin and the pan is hot. Chef's tip: salt the liver only after frying; salt draws out juices and makes it tough.

30 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Asado uruguayo

Sunday in Uruguay means asado: in Montevideo backyards and the cattle towns of the interior, beef ribs (asado de tira), chorizo and morcilla cook slowly over the embers of a wood fire, with only coarse salt, while the family waits. The parrillero rakes coals under the grill and keeps the heat low and even. This recipe includes pork chorizo. The mistake is cooking over flames; the fire should burn down to embers you can hold your hand above for 6–8 seconds. Chef's tip: salt the meat only when it goes on the grill, with coarse salt, never fine.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kinderpunsch

At every German and Austrian Christmas market, from Nuremberg to Vienna's Rathausplatz, the stalls selling Glühwein also sell Kinderpunsch: a steaming, alcohol-free mix of fruit tea and juices with cinnamon, cloves and orange, served in the market's own decorated mugs. Children love it, but so do drivers and anyone who just wants something warm to hold on a cold evening. It takes 20 minutes at home and makes the whole house smell of Advent. Chef's tip: keep it just below a simmer; boiling makes the spices bitter and dulls the fruit flavour.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sauerbraten

Sauerbraten is the Rhineland's Sunday roast, from Cologne to Düsseldorf, and in the old days it was a way to keep beef for a week. A joint of topside sits for three days in a spiced vinegar marinade, then is braised slowly and served with a sweet-sour gravy thickened with crumbled gingerbread (Printen or Lebkuchen) and raisins. Red cabbage and potato dumplings are the classic plate. Many families put red wine in the marinade; this version uses red wine vinegar and stock, so it is alcohol-free, and you can swap 250 ml of the water for red wine if you like. A common mistake is serving it too soon: give the meat the full three days in the fridge so the vinegar reaches the middle. Chef's tip: dry the beef very well before browning, or it will steam and stay grey.

210 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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