Choucroute Alsacienne

Name: Choucroute Alsacienne
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: salt and pepper; 4 pounds/1.8 kg. raw or cooked sauerkraut; 1-pound/450-g piece lean bacon; 6 tablespoons/90 g goose fat or lard; 1 large dessert apple, peeled, cored, and sliced; 2 bottles (750 ml each) medium-dry riesling; 1-pound/450-g piece canadian bacon; 6 onions (about 2 pounds/900 g total), chopped; 5 pounds/2.25 kg. waxy potatoes, unpeeled; 1 pound/450 g smoked pork sausages; 8 to 10 cured pork chops (about 2 pounds/900 g total); 2 teaspoons juniper berries; 8 to 10 frankfurters (about 1 pound/450 g total); 1-pound/450-g piece smoked pork loin; dijon mustard, for serving; very large flameproof casserole of at least 10-quart/10-liter capacity; ½ cup/125 ml. kirsch

Preparation info

Serves
8 to 10

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Country Cooking of France

By Anne Willan

Published 2007

About

If ever a glorious one-pot meal has existed, it is Choucroute Alsacienne, and regional restaurateurs make the most of it. A good bistro version unites at least three kinds of cured pork and bacon, two or three different sausages, and potatoes, all aromatic with juniper and white wine and served on a giant platter. The best sauerkraut is crisp and fresh, made at home from finely shredded raw cabbage that is salted and left to ferment a month or more. Ready-prepared sauerkraut is, of course,