Choucroute garnie

The word choucroute comes from the Alsatian sürkrüt, "sour cabbage". It is white cabbage, traditionally the large quintal d'Alsace, cut into fine strips, salted and left to ferment for two weeks to two months. After about 20 years of effort, Choucroute d'Alsace obtained the European protected geographical indication in summer 2018. The village of Krautergersheim, south of Strasbourg, calls itself the capital of choucroute and celebrates it every September.

Served garnie, it comes with charcuterie: Strasbourg and Montbéliard sausages, bacon, pork knuckle and potatoes. Escoffier's version braises it with goose fat or lard, carrot, onion studded with clove, juniper and blanched belly in white consommé for 4 hours, then serves it with ham, bacon and Frankfurt or Strasbourg sausages. Alsatian home recipes, such as the one followed here, braise it in white wine.

In the vat, bacteria naturally present on the cabbage turn its sugars into lactic acid in the absence of air; the salt draws out water and keeps unwanted microbes in check. The result is sour, firm and pale. Cooking softens the strands and mellows the acidity. Wine adds its own acidity and aroma, fat carries the flavour of juniper and bacon, and an hour of gentle simmering is enough for raw sauerkraut; Escoffier, cooking 5 kg at a time, gives 4 hours in the oven.

The meats are cooked apart and joined at the end. Hachette simmers the salted pork in water for about an hour and a half, and lets the sausages warm through on the sauerkraut, off the heat, for 30 minutes, so they keep their snap.