Choucroute Garnie (Alsatian Braised Sauerkraut with Meats)

Choucroute Garnie is the great feast dish of Alsace, France's easternmost region, where German and French culinary traditions have intertwined for centuries. Lacto-fermented sauerkraut — choucroute — is braised low and slow in Riesling wine with juniper berries, caraway, and a bay leaf until it becomes meltingly soft and mellow, losing its sharpness but retaining its complex tang. The sauerkraut is then blanketed with smoked pork products: thick-cut smoked bacon lardons, Strasbourg sausages or frankfurters, smoked pork knuckle or kassler (smoked pork chop). It is a dish of great generosity, historically served on New Year's Day as a symbol of prosperity, the long strands of cabbage representing a long life.

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) raw sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
• 300 g (10 oz) smoked bacon lardons or thick-cut smoked bacon
• 2 smoked pork knuckles (about 700 g / 1.5 lb each) or 600 g kassler smoked pork chops
• 4 Strasbourg sausages or good-quality frankfurters
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tbsp lard, duck fat, or neutral oil
• 350 ml (1½ cups) dry Riesling or other dry white wine
• 200 ml (¾ cup) chicken or pork stock
• 10 juniper berries, lightly crushed
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves
• Black pepper

To serve: boiled waxy potatoes, Dijon mustard

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F). In a large Dutch oven, render lardons in lard over medium heat until golden, about 8 minutes. Remove and set aside.
2. Sweat onion and garlic in the same fat for 8 minutes until soft and translucent.
3. Squeeze any excess moisture from the sauerkraut and add to the pot. Stir to combine with onion.
4. Add wine, stock, juniper berries, caraway, bay leaves, and cloves. Nestle the smoked pork knuckles into the sauerkraut. Return lardons to the pot. Season with black pepper.
5. Bring to a simmer, cover tightly, and transfer to the oven. Braise for 2 hours until the knuckles are very tender.
6. In the last 20 minutes, add the sausages, nestling them into the sauerkraut to heat through.
7. Serve directly from the pot, piling sauerkraut onto plates with all the meats, boiled potatoes, and a generous spoonful of Dijon mustard.

Cook's Notes: Rinsing the sauerkraut is optional — if you prefer a stronger sour flavour, skip it. The dish improves overnight as flavours meld. Leftovers make an exceptional next-day Reuben-style sandwich.