Sauerkraut (Choucroûte)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5-quart heavy Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid
• •Cheesecloth and kitchen string or a reusable tea infuser
• •Medium saucepan for poaching the sausages
• •Deep oval serving platter or large warm bowl

Instructions

1. 1

   Judge the choucroûte

   Taste a strand before doing anything to it. If the choucroûte is fresh, cleanly tart, and pleasant, drain it without rinsing. If it is old or sharply sour, soak it in cold water for 2 to 3 hours, changing the water once, then drain it. Press out as much water as you can and pull the leaves apart strand by strand so no dense masses remain. Wet clumps dilute the braise outside while staying harsh within.

2. 2

   Prepare the aromatics

   Push the clove firmly into the onion. Tie the juniper berries and whole peppercorns in cheesecloth, or close them inside a reusable tea infuser. Keep this spice packet distinct from the bouquet garni so both can be removed cleanly. The juniper quantity is deliberate, but the berries must remain whole; crushing them would make their resinous flavor too forceful.

3. 3

   Build the braise

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Line the bottom and lower sides of a 5-quart Dutch oven with half the streaky bacon. Season the separated choucroûte lightly with about half the salt and all the ground pepper, then pile it loosely over the bacon. Tuck in the carrot, clove-studded onion, bouquet garni, spice packet, goose fat, and the breast of bacon prepared by Blanchings (No. 273). Pour in enough hot white consommé or stock to barely cover the cabbage, then lay the remaining bacon slices across the surface as a fatty lid.

4. 4

   Start the slow braise

   Cover the pot and bring the liquid just to a boil on the stove. Move it immediately to the oven and braise for 1 hour. The liquid should scarcely move beneath the bacon covering; a hard boil batters the cabbage and renders the pork greasy instead of tender.

5. 5

   Lift the bacon

   After 1 hour, uncover the pot and remove the breast bacon. Let it cool, then cut it into neat rectangles for serving. Cover the choucroûte again and return it to the oven for 4 more hours. Check the liquid every hour without stirring the cabbage. If the upper strands begin drying or the pot smells as though it is catching, ça se rattrape: pour a little hot consommé down the side, cover tightly, and continue. The cabbage needs moisture beneath it, not enough liquid to float.

6. 6

   Poach the sausages

   During the final 15 minutes, place the Frankfort or Strasbourg sausages in a saucepan of water held just below a simmer. Poach gently until heated through and taut, about 8 to 10 minutes. Never boil them, which splits the casings and sends their juices into the water. If a casing begins to swell alarmingly, lift that sausage out and let its own heat finish the center.

7. 7

   Drain and arrange

   Remove the covering bacon, carrot, onion, bouquet garni, and spice packet. Drain the choucroûte thoroughly, then taste and add only as much of the remaining salt as it needs. Mound it in a warmed deep oval platter, the home equivalent of the original timbale. Arrange the thin ham slices, reserved bacon rectangles, and poached sausages around and over the cabbage; cover for 2 minutes so the ham and bacon warm against it. Bring the whole generous platter to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose fresh refrigerated choucroûte whose strands still have a little resilience. A shelf-stable jar will work if it tastes clean, but very soft canned cabbage may lose its shape during the full five-hour braise.
• •Use unsalted or very low-sodium consommé. Three kinds of cured pork bring plenty of salt, and you can always correct the seasoning at the end. An oversalted braise is a more tiresome conversation.
• •The source proportion gives the juniper a real voice. Keep the berries whole and enclosed in the spice packet so they perfume the cabbage without appearing under anyone's teeth.
• •Goose fat gives the roundest finish, while lard is the source-approved alternative. Serve the choucroûte with dry Alsatian Riesling, Sylvaner, or a clean lager, plus strong mustard at the table.

Advance Preparation

• •If the sauerkraut is old and sharply sour, soak it for 2 to 3 hours before the measured preparation begins, then drain and press it thoroughly dry.
• •The braised choucroûte can be made up to 2 days ahead. Cool it promptly, refrigerate it in its liquor, and reheat it covered over gentle heat, adding a spoonful of stock if it has tightened.
• •Keep the ham, bacon rectangles, and sausages separate when making the dish ahead. Poach the sausages shortly before serving and arrange all three meats around the reheated cabbage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 560g)