• 2 lb/1 kg sauerkraut
• 4 oz/100 g lean salt pork
• 2 garlic cloves
• Black pepper
• ¾ pint/375 ml dry white wine
• ¾ pint/375 ml chicken stock
• 2 medium onions
• 4 cloves

Some or all of these may be used:

• Frankfurters
• Smoked boiling sausage
• Pigs’s trotters
• Garlic sausage
• Baked ham
• Roast duck or pheasant

Drain the sauerkraut and rinse it well in cold water. Drain thoroughly and squeeze out moisture without breaking the sauerkraut. Put thin slices of salt pork on the bottom of a heavy oven-proof casserole dish. Put half the sauerkraut on top and sprinkle on half the chopped garlic and a liberal seasoning of freshly-ground pepper. Put on remaining sauerkraut, chopped garlic and more pepper. Pour on the wine and chicken stock. Peel the onions and stick the cloves into them. Bury these in the sauerkraut, cover and cook at 325°F/170°C/Gas Mark 3 for 3 hours so that the liquid is absorbed but the sauerkraut remains firm-textured. Serve with boiled potatoes and a selection of meats, plus a choice of mustards and some rye bread or pumpernickel. The various sausages should be fried or boiled according to type (follow instructions on can, jar or packet); the pig’s trotters should be boiled with an onion until tender; the meats and poultry freshly baked, fried or roasted. Each kind of meat should be prepared separately so that the flavours do not become mixed before service.