2kgof kosher choucroute from Alsace AOP (appellation of origine)LePic brand, certified kosher by Strasbourg Beth Din
1onion
2clovesgarlic
1carrot
300mlolive oil
50grgoose fat
800grpickelfleisch (salted beef)
400grsmoked meat
4saveloy sausages
4cervelas sausages with garlic
8Strasbourg knacks (hot dogs)
1dry sausageC 400 gr
4gendarmes (kabanos)
8medium potatoes
8juniper berries
4bay leaves
1small onion, studded with cloves
salt
pepper
1literAlsatian lager beer or white wine (Riesling, Sylvaner,pinot blanc, during Pesach)
Instructions
Rinse the Sauerkraut in cold water and drain it in a colander.
Peel the carrot and slice it. Chop the onion and peel the cloves of garlic.
Cut the smoked meat in cubes of 2 cm, and cut the dry sausage in thick slices at least 5 mm each slice.
Peel the potatoes and steam them for 10 minutes (they don’t need to be fully cooked).
Heat the olive oil and the goose fat in a big pot or a big pan. Add the chopped onion, the garlic, the slices of carrots, the cubes of smoked meat, and the slices of dry sausages. Continue until the onions turn light brown.
Add the sauerkraut and stir. Let it cook until the cabbage starts to slightly caramelize and gets color.
Add the salted beef, cut in 4 pieces. Stir again.
Pour the beer or the white wine. Add salt, pepper, juniper berries, bay leaves, and the onion with the cloves. Simmer for an hour, checking regularly that there is always some liquid. If not, you can add some water.
Cut each saveloy in 2 pieces lengthwise, and the gendarmes and cervelats with garlic in 2 pieces widthwise. Add them to the pot on the sauerkraut. Cook for another 1⁄2 hour.
Add the potatoes, and let them cook and take the taste of the cabbage.
Heat up the Strasbourg knacks in hot water.
Present the choucroute on a preheated dish, with all the ingredients around and on top of it.
Serve with hot mustard, and a very dry and cold Alsace wine, such as Riesling, Sylvaner, or pinot blanc.
Notes
Choucroute is a very popular dish for the Shabbess lunch meal in Alsace. You can keep it warm on your plata (hotplate) from Friday evening, and it will be even better.