Erzgebirgisches Neunerlei

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Potato ricer
• •Large wide pot for dumplings
• •Two heavy saucepans with lids
• •Wide skillet for Bratwurst
• •Small mixing bowls for the cold dishes

Instructions

1. 1

   Count the nine

   Set out the nine parts before you cook: lentils, sauerkraut, potato dumplings, Bratwurst, herring salad, beet salad, apple compote, rye bread with salt, and nuts. This is the discipline of Neunerlei. The warm dishes can wait gently, the cold dishes must stay cold, and the sausage comes last because its skin goes slack if you hold it too long.

   Do not chase one official list. Neunerlei is a household custom, and the Erzgebirge keeps several versions. Keep the nine, keep the winter larder, and cook what belongs to the region.
2. 2

   Simmer the lentils

   Warm the oil or lard in a heavy pot and soften the diced onion and carrot until they smell sweet, not browned. Add the lentils, bay leaf, and stock, then simmer 30 to 35 minutes until the lentils are tender but not split. Keep the vinegar and mustard out until the lentils are soft, because acid tightens the skins and makes you wait for no good reason.

3. 3

   Braise the kraut

   Put the sauerkraut, sliced onion, grated apple, caraway, stock or water, and the smoked rind if using into a second pot. Cover and simmer 35 to 45 minutes, stirring now and then, until the cabbage is soft and glossy. Do not rinse the kraut; the sourness is the point, and the apple gives it roundness without turning it sweet. Weggeworfen wird nichts, so the cooking liquor stays with it.

4. 4

   Rice the potatoes

   Boil the floury potatoes in their skins until a knife slides through cleanly, then peel them while hot and push them through a ricer. Spread the potato out and let it cool completely before the egg goes near it. Hot potato keeps cooking the egg and weeps starch, so the dough turns to glue. Cold potato holds its shape in the water.

5. 5

   Shape the Klöße

   Mix the cooled potato with the starch, egg, softened butter, salt, and a little nutmeg, then shape eight small Klöße, meaning dumplings, with damp hands. Drop one test dumpling into salted water that trembles but does not boil. If it holds, cook the rest 12 to 15 minutes; if it frays, work in another spoon of starch. A rolling boil beats the surface apart, and then the dumpling is not wrong, the water is.

6. 6

   Mix herring salad

   Drain the soaked onion well, then mix it with the diced herring, sour apple, pickled cucumbers, sour cream, cucumber brine, chives, and black pepper. Keep it cold until the table is ready. The onion soaking matters because it pulls out the raw bite while leaving the crunch, so the herring stays the main thing.

7. 7

   Dress the beets

   Toss the cooked beetroot with vinegar, horseradish, rapeseed oil, and a pinch of salt. Let it stand at least 15 minutes. The acid sharpens the stored root and keeps the red clean, while the horseradish gives winter food a little bite without pretending spring has arrived.

8. 8

   Cook the apples

   Put the apple wedges in a small pan with apple juice or water, the cinnamon stick, and sugar. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes until the edges soften but the wedges still hold. Stored apples collapse quickly once they give up their juice, so stop before you have sauce unless sauce is what you meant to cook.

9. 9

   Fry the Bratwurst

   Cook the Bratwurst in a little lard or oil over medium-low heat, turning often, until the skins are brown and the centres are cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes. Runter mit der Temperatur. High heat splits the casing before the middle is done, and then all the good fat runs into the pan instead of staying in the sausage.

10. 10

    Finish and serve

    Stir the mustard and vinegar into the tender lentils, then taste for salt; season the kraut only after it has cooked down, because its salt concentrates in the pot. Set down the lentils, kraut, dumplings, and sausage warm, with the herring and beets cold, the apple compote beside them, and rye bread, salt, and nuts to complete the nine. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss. Season at the end and the table tastes alive, not tired.

Chef Tips

• •Use floury potatoes for the Klöße, the kind that fall apart when boiled. Waxy potatoes fight the ricer and make a tight dumpling, and no speech at the table fixes that.
• •Do not rinse the sauerkraut. If it is very sharp, balance it with apple and a little fat; washing it leaves you with wet cabbage and regret.
• •Keep the herring salad cold and make it from cured herring you trust. If the fillets taste harsh or very salty, soak them ten minutes in cold milk, pat them dry, and continue.
• •The smoked rind is optional, but it is good Erzgebirge thinking. A rind that gave its flavour to the kraut has done more work than a trimmed piece thrown away. Weggeworfen wird nichts.

Advance Preparation

• •The herring salad, beet salad, and apple compote can be made up to one day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
• •The potatoes for the Klöße can be boiled, riced hot, spread out, cooled, and covered the night before. Mix in the egg and starch only on the day you cook them.
• •The sauerkraut and lentils can be cooked earlier the same day or the day before. Reheat gently with a splash of stock or water, then add vinegar, mustard, and final salt at the end.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 1250g)