Westfälische Pumpernickelsoße

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy-bottomed saucepan, 2 to 3 litre capacity
• •Whisk
• •Stick blender, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Crumble the bread

   Crumble the pumpernickel as fine as you can, crust and all. The dense rye meal hydrates slowly, so small crumbs melt into the sauce while cubes stay grainy in the middle. If the bread is very moist, chop it with a knife and let it sit uncovered while you cut the onion.

   Use real dense pumpernickel, not soft sweet sandwich bread called pumpernickel by the label. The sauce needs rye, sourness, and dark baked grain, not a brown loaf pretending.
2. 2

   Sweat the base

   Set a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat and melt the butter, lard, or pan drippings. Add the Speck if using and let the fat run out slowly, then add the onion with a small pinch of salt and cook 6 to 8 minutes, until glassy and soft. Don't brown it hard; dark onion plus dark bread gives bitterness, not depth.

3. 3

   Cook the beer

   Pour in the dark beer and scrape the bottom of the pan, because the browned pork bits are part of the sauce and Weggeworfen wird nichts. Add the bay leaf and juniper, then simmer 3 minutes so the raw beer edge cooks off before the bread thickens everything around it.

4. 4

   Simmer the crumbs

   Add the stock or Kasseler cooking liquor and bring it just to a gentle simmer. Stir in the pumpernickel crumbs, then runter mit der Temperatur, down with the temperature, and cook 12 to 15 minutes, whisking and mashing now and then, until the bread swells, darkens, and gives the sauce body. A hard boil catches the sugars on the bottom of the pan and turns a good Westphalian sauce into scorched rye.

5. 5

   Finish with cream

   Remove the bay leaf and any large juniper pieces. Whisk the sauce smooth, or use a stick blender for a finer gravy, then stir in the cream, mustard, vinegar, and sugar beet syrup if using. Keep it below a hard boil now; cream splits when bullied, and mustard loses its bite. Taste only at the end, because Kasseler liquor, beer, and bread all bring salt and bitterness at different speeds.

6. 6

   Serve and loosen

   Season with black pepper and only as much salt as the finished sauce asks for. Spoon it over sliced Kasseler, boiled potatoes, or a plate of green beans and potatoes. If it thickens while standing, loosen it with a splash of stock, beer, or water and whisk it back; rye keeps drinking after the pot is off the heat. Nicht aus dem Glas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy the pumpernickel by weight and feel. It should be dense, dark, and slightly sour, with close rye grain. If it feels like cake, leave it there.
• •Choose a malty dark beer, not a fierce bitter one. Beer reduces into the sauce, so a sharp hop bite grows louder in the pan.
• •Salt at the end. Kasseler cooking liquor can be salty already, and pumpernickel varies from bakery to bakery. Taste after the cream and vinegar are in.
• •For boiled potatoes without Kasseler, use the Speck. For smoked pork, leave the Speck out and use the pan drippings or cooking liquor, because the smoke is already on the plate.

Advance Preparation

• •The sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cool it quickly, refrigerate it covered, and reheat gently with a splash of stock or beer because the rye thickens as it sits.
• •For freezing, stop before adding the cream. Freeze the bread-thickened base up to 2 months, then thaw, warm gently, and finish with cream, mustard, and vinegar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 150g)