Schwarzsauer

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4 to 5 litre soup pot or Dutch oven
• •Fine sieve
• •Whisk
• •Instant-read thermometer, useful for keeping the finished stew below a boil

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the broth

   Put the pork, heart or tongue, trotter or bones if using, onions, carrots, celeriac, bay, allspice, peppercorns, cloves, marjoram, and cold water into a heavy pot. Start cold because the bones, rind, and trim give up gelatin slowly; throw them into boiling water and the outside tightens before the broth has taken what it needs.

   Use only fresh blood from a butcher you trust, and keep it refrigerated until the moment it goes in. Blood is not a pantry ingredient.
2. 2

   Simmer gently

   Bring the pot just to a simmer, skim the grey foam, then lower the heat and cook gently for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, until the pork is tender and the heart or tongue cuts cleanly. Runter mit der Temperatur. A hard boil clouds the broth and toughens the lean offal before the belly has softened.

3. 3

   Add the fruit

   Lift out the meat and cut it into spoon-sized pieces, discarding only bones and spent aromatics. Return the meat to the strained broth, add the dried pears or prunes, vinegar, sugar or beet syrup, and a good pinch of salt. Simmer 20 minutes, so the fruit swells and gives the sour broth its dark sweetness instead of sitting in it like candy.

4. 4

   Temper the blood

   Turn the heat low. Whisk a ladle of hot broth into the pig's blood in a bowl, then whisk in a second ladle. Tempering warms the blood gently, so it thickens smooth when it reaches the pot; pour it in cold and it can seize into specks.

5. 5

   Thicken below simmer

   Stir the tempered blood back into the stew and keep it below a boil for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the broth turns dark, glossy, and lightly thick. Do not let it bubble hard. Boiled blood curdles, and then no speech from me will save it.

6. 6

   Season and serve

   Taste only after the blood has thickened, then correct with salt, vinegar, and a little sugar until it sits sweet-sour and clean. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss: the final balance comes last because the blood and fruit change the broth. Serve with boiled potatoes or dark rye bread.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for fresh pig's blood already mixed with a little vinegar or salt to keep it fluid. If it smells sour in the wrong way or looks separated and tired, don't cook with it.
• •Do not skip the rind, trotter, or bones if you can get them. They give gelatin to the broth, and gelatin is what makes the finished stew glossy instead of thin.
• •Dried pears are very northern here; prunes are easier to find and honest in the pot. Use one or the other, not both by the handful, or the stew turns too sweet.
• •Keep liver out unless you know your offal. It turns bitter and dry if boiled too long; heart and tongue behave better for a home pot.
• •Serve with boiled potatoes, not noodles. The potato takes the sweet-sour sauce properly and doesn't fight the dish.

Advance Preparation

• •The pork and broth can be cooked one day ahead. Chill the meat in the strained broth, then reheat gently and add the dried fruit and blood on the day you serve it.
• •Once the blood is added, reheat leftovers slowly and never boil them. The flavour is good the next day, but the texture stays smooth only if you treat it gently.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 520g)