Labskaus

Martina Meuth and Bernd Neuner-Duttenhofer’s Labskaus keeps its meat and vegetables in pieces, with Matjes, pickled beetroot and sour gherkins served separately. Their selected presentation differs from the page’s older mashed route and includes their own pickled-beetroot preparation.

The supplied cured pork belly and beef brisket enter a large pot. The vegetables are washed, peeled and cleaned; their trimmings, including outer and dark-green leek parts and the selected celery-root peel, enter the pot with the root vegetables. Water just covers the contents, which slowly come to the boil uncovered. Once the surface foam subsides, the heat drops to its lowest setting. After ninety minutes the pork is removed; the beef may continue for another half to three quarters of an hour. The broth is strained through a sieve into another pot.

The remaining vegetables are cut into slices or cubes. The potatoes are peeled and cut into cubes two centimetres wide, then cook with the vegetables in the same broth for about half an hour. The meat is cut into cubes and reheated in that broth with the vegetables. Supplied finely chopped parsley finishes the stew in soup plates.

For their own pickled beetroot, the beetroot is peeled and cut into finger-thick sticks, salted in a bowl, kneaded and left for two hours. It is briefly rinsed and drained. Onion segments, horseradish sticks and selected crushed garlic are layered with it in a lidded jar, and the listed spice seeds are distributed over them. Vinegar and water boil for the brine; salt and sugar dissolve in it before cooling. The brine fills the jar, a glass weights the vegetables below its surface and the lid rests loosely on top for marinating. The main recipe uses only two hundred grams of this prepared beetroot.

Matjes, the same pickled-beetroot portion and sour gherkins accompany the stew separately, with fresh bread alongside. An optional egg per person follows the selected separate poaching route: water boils in a pot, a good dash of vinegar is added and a spoon creates a whirlpool; the egg slides in from a cup and poaches over medium heat for about three to four minutes.