Choucroute recipe - a delicious and original dish of Alsatian cuisine

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Prepared by: Zoya Shunina

02/09/2020 Cooking time: 2 hours 0 minutes

Shukrut literally means “sauerkraut.” A traditional dish of German, Swiss and French cuisine. A real winter dish, with lots of meat and sausages. Tasty and satisfying!

History of Alsatian choucroute

In Europe, the Germans have always been leaders in growing cabbage, as well as in preparing a wide range of dishes from this vegetable, a member of the cruciferous family. But the first written mention of special sauerkraut was found in French archives in the 15th century, and in the 16th century it could be found in almost all monastic meal books. The classic choucroute, the recipe of which has been protected by special geographical rights since 2012, along with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, champagne, cognac, Parma ham and other world-famous products, has precisely these, German and French, long-standing historical roots. A special commission identified a number of characteristics by which fresh cabbage choucroute has the right to such a name:

• the cabbage must be of Alsatian origin, meeting certain standards (with a weight of at least 3 kg and necessarily light leaves, when no more than the top three cabbage leaves remain green;
• for fermentation of cabbage, exclusively natural fermentation should be used without heating or adding enzymes;
• Only goose fat and/or lard can be used for stewing;
• the dish should be stewed in local alcohol (usually dry white, sometimes white sparkling wine or beer);
• canonical choucroute cabbage should be produced only in Alsace (in industrial boilers or pots);
• the composition should contain three types of sausages - Frankfurt, Strasbourg and Montbéliard sausages, complemented by knuckle and prosciutto.

“Kompostkrut” or “garbage cabbage,” as the French called this dish in the 17th century, became most widespread in the 18th century in lands such as:

• Alsace;
• Lorraine;
• Baden-Württemberg.

Actually, even now the maximum number of admirers of this classic dish remains in the same area of ​​​​residence. Since KhozOboz is not in Alsace, but it is very interesting to try choucroute cabbage according to a recipe close to the original; all the requirements of the Alsatians, approved in 2012, will be violated, because not Alsatian, but local farm products produced thousands of kilometers from Alsace. Our shukrut recipe with photo is a dish that requires the cook to have sufficient patience, because it takes quite a long time to prepare. KhozOboz has selected a good replacement for Alsatian products.

How to cook Shukrut

Prepare your ingredients.

Peel, wash and chop the onions. Place in a cauldron or thick-bottomed pan.

Pour sunflower oil and fry the onion until transparent.

Place bacon in pan.

Add the chopped pork. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour in dry white wine and a little water. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the meat for 20-25 minutes.

Afterwards, squeeze out the sauerkraut and add to the meat. Simmer for another 20 minutes.

Cut fresh cabbage into thin strips and place in a pan with meat and sauerkraut. Add a little more salt and a bay leaf. If there is not enough liquid, add a little water.

When the meat and cabbage are tender, chop the sausages and add to the pan. Add any spices to taste. Simmer the choucroute for another 10-15 minutes.

While the pork and cabbage are stewing, boil the potatoes and add them to the pan at the end of cooking, stir all the ingredients.

Shukrut is ready. An incredibly tasty and aromatic dish! Bon appetit!

Ingredients for making choucroute

• white cabbage – 1 pc.;
• carrots – 2 pcs.;
• celery – 1 pc.;
• parsley – 1 pc.;
• onion – 1 pc.;
• garlic – 1 pc.;
• goose fat – 100 g;
• apple wine – 0.5 l;
• pork pulp – 600 g;
• smoked pork ribs – 450 g;
• cheek – 300 g;
• boiled-smoked pork ham – 300 g;
• homemade sausage, baked on wood – 180 g;
• boiled creamy sausage – 180 g;
• dogwood – 240 g;
• cloves – 5 pcs.;
• hot red pepper – 1 pc.;
• bay leaf – 5 pcs.;
• salt - to taste.

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Choucroute or bigos Alsatian style

Shukrut from Alexey Orlov

Choucroute is a symbolic dish for the cuisine of the Alsace region, over whose ownership France and Germany waged a centuries-long dispute with the mutual use of piercing and cutting weapons and firearms. The word “choukrout” itself - choucroute - is a tracing-paper from the German sauerkraut, in our language - sauerkraut. However, when they say “choucrout”, in Alsace and in France in general they mean, first of all, choucroute garnie, that is, choucroute, supplemented with various tasty things. Usually this is meat, primarily pork, inexpensive cuts of which, when properly prepared, transform into a delicious delicacy. Of course, choucroute is a hearty, high-calorie dish, that is, primarily winter, but you can serve it at other times of the year, if it is not very hot.*

*when speaking “choucrout”, in Alsace and in France in general they mean, first of all, choucroute garnie, that is, choucroute, supplemented with various tasty things. Usually this is meat, primarily pork, whose inexpensive bran, when properly prepared, transforms into a delicious delicacy. Shukrut is considered to be a winter dish, and it is prepared and eaten mainly in winter. It’s a little cold here in Moscow now and we wanted something filling.

10 servings

pork knuckle weighing about 800 g. pork belly weighing about 800 g. smoked pork ribs weighing about 800 g. sausages and sausages weighing about 600 g. 1.5 kg. sauerkraut 2 onions 2 sour apples 1 tbsp. allspice 1 tbsp. juniper berries 1 tsp. black pepper 1 tsp. cloves 3 bay leaves 2 tbsp. Riesling, pinot blanc or other white wine salt vegetable oil

As is usually the case, there is no single correct recipe for shukrut; everyone prepares it in their own way. A festive choucroute in Alsace can include up to 20 different types of meat and sausages, but two or three are enough for an everyday dish. Feel free to experiment, and if Alsace cuisine seriously interests you, read this article.

Place the shank and pork ribs in a large saucepan, add water, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 2 hours (you can add carrots, onions, celery root, that is, everything that is usually added when cooking broth). Drain and strain the broth, remove the meat from the ribs (except for the most beautiful ones), discard the bones, and set the meat and shank aside. Boil the broth two or three times (if the taste is too concentrated, dilute with water) - you will need about 2 glasses, the rest can be frozen. All this can be done the day before the main preparation.

Cut the brisket into slices about 1 cm thick, chop the onion finely and the apples a little larger. In the same large pan, heat a little vegetable oil, fry the brisket on both sides and set aside. Add sausages (in the absence of Alsatian sausages, semi-smoked hunting sausages, Vienna sausages, Krakow sausages, etc.) are suitable, broken or cut in half, quickly fry and set aside for the brisket. If necessary, pour a little more oil and fry the onion over low heat until transparent, then add the apples and all the spices. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add the sauerkraut, and fry it all for another five minutes.

Level the contents of the pan and pour in the mixture of Riesling and broth until it completely covers the cabbage. Place the meat on top - sausages, shanks, etc. - and press down so that it is slightly submerged in the cabbage. Cover with a lid and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, then cook in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 1.5-2 hours. Traditionally, choucroute is served with boiled potatoes or dumplings.

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Choucroute

cabbage in layers) is an ancient French dish, the calling card of Alsace (a region in northeastern France). In an era when there was no sterilization, no frozen foods, no vacuum packaging, choucroute was the only source of vitamin C during the winter cold, and also saved sailors from scurvy. Although, sour vegetables were also popular in the Balkans. In the Middle Ages, choucroute appeared in Alsace, it is assumed that it was the local residents who began to add pork in any form to it: smoked and fresh lard, smoked fillet, boiled meat, brisket, liver meatballs, boudin - blood sausages, fried, smoked sausages, Strasbourg and sausages. It is no coincidence that sauerkraut “ripens” just in time for the Alsatian pig slaughter festival.

The famous Alsatian choucroute is not very difficult to prepare: sauerkraut is seasoned with garlic, cumin and white wine, placed in a deep pan mixed with smoked pork, pork legs, ham, sausages and stewed in goose fat with onions and juniper berries until the meat is tender. will become tender and fragrant. Choucroute is served on huge plates with Alsatian Riesling or light beer.

Choucroute à l' ancienne (Choucroute according to an old recipe)

2 kg raw cucumber 2 pieces of bacon with skin 2 carrots 2 onions ½ tsp. black peppercorns ½ tsp. cumin 2 cloves of garlic 4 cloves 12 juniper berries 2 bay leaves sprig of thyme pork thigh 2 slices of ham (finger-thick layers of fat) ½ bottle of dry Riesling 4 small Montbéliard sausages 600 g smoked pork shoulder 4 pairs of small Strasbourg sausages 1 Morteau sausage

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Finely chop the cabbage, which has been fermented for several weeks in salted cabbage juice. Then rinse the cabbage in a colander and let the water drain. Place pieces of lard on the bottom of the cast-iron duckling pot, add half the cabbage, place chopped carrots and onions on top, and spread peppercorns over the surface. Place a bag of thyme and spices on top. Then lay out the pork and lard, cover with the remaining choucroute, pour in wine and 250 ml of water.

​

Close the lid tightly and simmer in the oven for 2.5 hours at 180ºC. Then add smoked sausages, smoked pork shoulder and simmer for another 20 minutes. Remove the bag of spices. Place the choucroute on a plate along with the meat and sausages. Serve with a glass of Sylvaner or Riesling.

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Choucroute maison

(For 6-8 servings)

1 lightly salted thigh 2 slices of ham (with layers of fat as thick as a finger) 1 tsp. black peppercorns 1 sausage 3-4 pairs of Strasbourg sausages 1.5 kg fresh cabbage 3 tbsp. l. goose fat 3 onions 2 bay leaves 3 clove buds 10 juniper berries ½ bottle of dry white wine

Wash the pork and lard, place in a saucepan with cold water, add pepper and simmer over low heat for 75 minutes. Add sausages and sausages and cook for another 20 minutes. Rinse the shukrut and let the water drain. Melt goose fat in a goose pan. Peel the onion, chop thinly and fry in goose fat. Add choucroute, juniper berries, bay leaf, cloves. Pour wine over everything, add water so that the liquid covers the kaputa. Cover and simmer over low heat for 40 minutes. Place the cucumber on a plate. Cut lard, sausages, and pork into pieces, place sausages on top. Add potatoes. In Alsace, this dish is served with beer.

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About the benefits of shukrut

This dish successfully combines a large assortment of vegetables and meat products, which allows us to talk about the balance of fiber and protein. Shukrut is an optimally high-calorie dish, decreasing in calories due to the high content of low-calorie cabbage. Natural apple wine is a source of iron, and carrots in goose fat are a good way to get digestible carotene.

Alternative options for preparing choucroute

In addition to dry white grape wine, sparkling and apple wines, with the same composition of ingredients, you can also use beer, obtaining a completely different taste of choucroute. You can experiment with meat products, achieving some new notes in a popular dish prepared based on Alsatian cuisine. Or try to find the opportunity to go to some Alsatian village to prepare a classic version using local products, recognizing the taste that has been cultivated for several centuries. KhozOboz hopes that you found Alsatian cuisine attractive and the opportunity to experiment with the products available in your market. Now you have all the instructions to make delicious choucroute.

Description of preparation:

Shukrut, despite the abundance of ingredients, is very simple to prepare, but it takes time.
This will take 1.5-2 hours. I assure you that your efforts will not be in vain and your loved ones or guests will be grateful. There are no dogmas in making choucroute. This dish is quite democratic. You can take any meat, any smoked sausage. Add beer instead of wine. Add potatoes or do without them. This also applies to spices. Following European recipes, juniper berries are placed in choucroute, but this exotic product is not always available in supermarkets. And without juniper it turns out incredibly aromatic and incredibly tasty. Purpose: For lunch / For dinner Main ingredient: Meat / Vegetables / Cabbage / Sauerkraut Dish: Hot dishes Geography of cuisine: European

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Shukrut recipe - cooking history

Today we are preparing choucroute - this is a dish of Alsatian cuisine. Literally translated it means “Alsatian sauerkraut”. Basically, the dish is prepared from sauerkraut with the addition of some side dish. Namely meat, potatoes or sausages. This dish was first prepared in the monasteries of Alsace, and over time it became widespread beyond its borders.

According to ancient recipes, cabbage was shredded and filled with brine for further fermentation. Before consumption, the cabbage was removed from the brine and boiled in beer or white wine. Sometimes. together with cabbage and cooked the meat.

Shukrut recipe - a delicious original dish

Next, to prepare the side dish we will need rice. So, sort out the rice, add six glasses of water and cook until half cooked. Next, rinse the rice with cold water.

First of all, take a frying pan with high sides and put the meat in it. Let's add some broth. Place rice and vegetables on top of the meat. Salt to taste, add a little vegetable oil and ground black pepper and simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes. Simmer the choucroute until fully cooked.

I would like to warn you that when preparing this dish, under no circumstances should you add fresh or dried herbs. Because this will immediately ruin the dish.

Shukrut recipe of fresh cabbage with rice and meat

But, time has passed. And now I want to offer a recipe for shukrut using modern preparation.

First of all, to prepare this dish we need a small piece of beef and pork. So, wash the meat and cut it into small pieces and put it in a saucepan. Next, add hot water and cook until half cooked.

In the meantime, while our meat is cooking, let's start with the vegetables. Carrots, peel, wash and cut into thin strips. Peel the onion and cut into thin half rings.

Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan, add onion and fry until golden brown. Then add carrots, stir and cook until done.

Add shredded cabbage to the fried vegetables and simmer everything together.

Nutritional and energy value:

Step-by-step recipe with photos:

First, let's ferment the cabbage. This must be done at least 4 days before preparing the shukrut.

We will need half a head of cabbage.

Shred the cabbage by hand or using any convenient equipment.

Salt the cabbage and squeeze lightly.

Finely chop the carrots.

Here I want to show that the cabbage is already releasing juice. It is important!

Part of the juice, if there is a lot of it, can be drained.

Mix cabbage with carrots. Add some salt again. Mix and squeeze.

Look how much more juice there is in cabbage.

Leave the cabbage for a day. Just stir it occasionally.

After 1-2 days, put the cabbage in a jar and compact it tightly. I do this with a rolling pin.

Pour in juice so that the cabbage is salted in its own juice.

Place the jar of cabbage on a plate and leave for 3 days.

Braised red cabbage

This dish is very popular among Germans; it is usually served with meat or poultry.

Even from the most ordinary products you can cook something unusual. This recipe is a direct confirmation of this: choucroute with sausages and sauerkraut.

The ingredients are very simple and almost every housewife has them in the refrigerator. I want to warn you right away that the dish takes a long time to prepare: but, believe me, it’s worth it. Shukrut has an unusual and rich taste: due to a mixture of seasonings and white wine. The sausages are juicy and cooked through. The dish itself is very satisfying and high in calories: but sometimes you can treat yourself to such a tasty treat.

Recipe 3: stewed cabbage with minced meat and rice (step by step)

This dish turns out to be very inexpensive and tasty, in addition, the active cooking time takes only 15-20 minutes. With this cooking method, rice does not turn into porridge.

• minced meat - 250 g;
• white cabbage - 1 kg;
• carrots - 150 g;
• onion - 1 piece;
• vegetable oil - for frying;
• salt - to taste;
• rice - 150 g

Wash the rice and soak in cold water for 10-15 minutes. My minced meat is a mixture of chicken fillet and pork, you can use any other combination.

Peel the carrots and grate them on a medium grater. Chop the onion into fine cubes.

Place the minced meat and carrots in a heated frying pan with oil, fry over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, add the onion and fry for another couple of minutes. The minced meat should become crumbly and not fried.

We remove the bad leaves from the cabbage and chop it into strips or cubes (as you like).

We put the frying out of the frying pan. Place cabbage in it. Pour 1 cup of salted water over the cabbage. We put rice on top of the cabbage in a layer, and then our frying on top of the rice. You can add a sprig of herbs (dill or parsley) while stewing, but I didn’t have any, so I did without it.

Close the lid and place our dish on low heat. Do not lift the lid for an hour. After an hour, you can check the dish for readiness; if the rice is soft, then the dish is ready.

Then mix the cabbage thoroughly, add salt if necessary, and if you put a sprig of greens, it should be removed. When serving, you can add sour cream, this will make the taste even better. Bon appetit!

Sherry choucroute

Shukrut is essentially sauerkraut. But we are not a beer restaurant, but a gastrobar, so, of course, our choucroute is not classic. We invest in our cabbage - not to stew it to such an extent that it is killed into rubbish, much like they cook it in a hospital. For us, it remains stewed, but at the same time fresh. Sour - but this acid is refreshing. We make it with red cabbage rather than white cabbage because it's more fun. It gives color to the dish itself, no need to add leaves, for example.

We do this: in the evening I chop the cabbage, pour it with apple juice, mash it and leave it until the morning, for at least twelve hours, in the refrigerator. Apple juice is regular store-bought, clarified. You just need to find one that is more or less apple-y: more apples, less sugar.

The cabbage absorbs moisture and apple flavor, then I squeeze it out and start cooking. First I fry the bacon, then I put in the cabbage, they make friends in the saucepan, and then I bring the taste to balance with vinegar, sherry, and sugar. Sometimes I add a little more apple juice. And just before serving, I throw in the chopped apples.

There is another way. I was recently in Mallorca for an internship with Andreu Genestra, his restaurant received a Michelin star this year. And he worked at one time for the famous Elena Arzak - and told how she makes choucroute. He takes cane sugar, pours it with orange juice and begins to evaporate it. When 75 percent has evaporated - you get such a rich mixture - cabbage and vinegar are added, and the whole thing is stewed. Absolutely cosmic thing. By the way, the idea of ​​our shukrut came about thanks to this.

Choukrut is traditionally served with pork knuckles or, as we do, with sausages. We buy our own sausages because we can’t make them ourselves. It is best, of course, that they are chemical-free and real. In general, you can use anything, as long as it’s tasty. Kupaty is also suitable.

Just recently, Moscow chefs were looking for some wonders, unearthing herbs, amazing algae, and a mysterious special wild garlic. And now - especially after the sanctions were introduced - we are looking for where to find good duck or good cheese. I remember - bang! - Argentine parmesan appeared. At first everyone was delighted: Argentine parmesan! But as soon as I threw it into the risotto, it immediately ruined so many products! Rice, seafood and so on. This cheese just killed everything. I decided that I would rather not cook with cheese at all than this.

So it’s more interesting to work with what we have—and what we have consistently. Look at an ordinary product a little differently and bring it to a crazy state. For example, here’s a banality: chicken. We have a roll from it on the menu. In principle, there is nothing special about chicken roll; they are also made in culinary shops. But we took a primitive leg, coated it with chutney, stuffed it, fried it properly, made a good side dish - and it turned out to be a great dish. Number one for us. Inexpensive, absolutely understandable, but at the same time memorable, with oriental notes of chutney, raisins, pear, cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices. The same people come to us and eat this chicken every day. I couldn't do that - I'd get tired of him. I tell them: “But we now have an excellent duck, soft and flavorful with a crispy crust.” They try it, praise it, and the next day they order chicken again.

Everyone says how delicious it is in Italy on the coast. And it’s delicious because they don’t do anything with the product there, they don’t spoil it. And often it’s not even the cook who works, but just a good person who runs the cafe. Why does he need a cook? He took sea salt, spices that his grandparents and other relatives cooked with, excellent olive oil that smelled like fresh grass, caught turbot, drizzled it, seasoned it, cooked it - so that you start crying with happiness, applauding, and so on. But he just took the fish and didn’t spoil it.

Red cabbage is also not a special product. Just good. You just need to make sure it’s not dry, just marinate it a little. And then don’t quench it with spices, vinegars, oils, and so on, but take a little bit of everything, so that you can really feel that this is tart red cabbage, and not just some sour mass.

We have choucroute as part of our tapas set; we serve it in a tiny copper saucepan along with a glass of gazpacho, roast beef bruschetta and salmon chips. But what happens: large groups of men come and just order sausages or grilled tenderloin - and a mountain of cucumber to go with them. And they don't need anything else. So maybe we'll make it a separate dish soon. We will no longer serve it in a saucepan, but on a plate.