Mecklenburger Rippenbraten

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Roasting pan or heavy ovenproof Reine
• •Kitchen twine or small metal skewers
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine sieve

Instructions

1. 1

   Cut the pocket

   Ask the butcher to cut a deep pocket along the pork loin beside the rib bones, or do it yourself with a long narrow knife, stopping before you break through the far side. The pocket must hold the fruit inside the meat, not spill it into the pan; if you cut through, the filling becomes sauce before the pork has taken its flavour.

2. 2

   Make the filling

   Soak the dried plums in hot water for 10 minutes, then drain and chop them roughly. Cook the onion in butter until soft but not brown, because browned onion pushes the filling bitter. Mix onion, plums, apples, rye crumbs, marjoram, allspice, vinegar, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper. The crumbs are there to catch the apple juice, so the stuffing stays moist without running out.

3. 3

   Stuff and tie

   Season the pork inside the pocket, then pack in the filling loosely and close the opening with kitchen twine or skewers. Don't ram it full. Apples swell and dried plums plump in the heat, and a tight filling splits the roast open. Rub the outside with the remaining salt, pepper, and lard.

   If the roast has rind, score it in narrow strips without cutting into the meat. Salt can then reach the fat, and the fat can render cleanly instead of sitting under a hard cap.
4. 4

   Start cool

   Put the carrots, leek, bay leaf, and any pork bones or rind trimmings in a roasting pan, set the pork on top, and slide it into a cool oven. Set the oven to 160C and let the roast come up with the heat. This slow climb renders fat before the meat tightens, which is the difference between a juicy Rippenbraten and a dry one with sweet fruit beside it.

5. 5

   Roast and baste

   After 45 minutes, pour the cider or apple juice and stock into the pan, not over the top of the roast, so the seasoning stays on the meat. Roast for another 75 to 90 minutes, basting the sides now and then, until the centre reaches 63C and the juices run clear. If the surface is pale near the end, raise the oven to 220C for 10 minutes; brown comes at the end, after the fat has done its work.

6. 6

   Rest and sauce

   Lift the pork to a board and rest it 15 to 20 minutes, because slicing straight away sends the juices across the board instead of keeping them in the meat. Strain the pan juices into a saucepan, pressing the vegetables hard; Weggeworfen wird nichts, their sweetness belongs in the sauce. Simmer until glossy, then thicken lightly with potato starch only if it needs help. Nicht aus dem Glas.

7. 7

   Slice and serve

   Cut thick slices across the roast so each piece shows pork, apple, and dried plum. Taste the sauce last for salt, vinegar, and pepper, because the fruit changes the balance as it cooks. Serve with Salzkartoffeln, boiled potatoes, or Kartoffelklöße, potato dumplings, and red cabbage if it's Sunday.

Chef Tips

• •Use a bone-in pork loin or rib roast with a decent fat cap. A very lean loin looks tidy in the butcher case and eats dry on the plate; this dish needs fat to carry the fruit and keep the meat forgiving.
• •Choose tart apples, not sweet dessert apples. Boskoop, Elstar, or another firm sour apple keeps the filling bright; a soft sweet apple collapses into paste before the pork is done.
• •Dried plums should be soft and dark, not hard little stones. If they feel dry, soak them longer and use a spoon of the soaking liquid in the filling.
• •Do not thicken the sauce into wallpaper paste. Mecklenburg sauce for this roast should coat a spoon lightly, with apple sweetness, pork fat, and vinegar still clear.
• •Leftovers are good cold on rye bread with mustard. Weggeworfen wird nichts, and a slice of stuffed pork on Schwarzbrot is a proper second meal.

Advance Preparation

• •The roast can be stuffed, tied, covered, and refrigerated up to 24 hours ahead. Salt it before chilling so the seasoning has time to move into the meat.
• •The cooked roast slices cleanly when cold. For make-ahead service, roast it fully, chill it whole, slice it cold, then warm the slices gently in the sauce so they don't dry out.
• •The filling can be mixed a day ahead, but add the rye crumbs just before stuffing; they should absorb apple juice inside the roast, not sit overnight as paste.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)