{"id":11315,"date":"2017-01-24T23:17:45","date_gmt":"2017-01-24T23:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=11315"},"modified":"2017-01-24T23:17:45","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T23:17:45","slug":"knusprige-schweinshaxn-kartoffelklose-blaukraut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=11315","title":{"rendered":"knusprige Schweinshaxn; Kartoffelkl\u00f6\u00dfe; Blaukraut"},"content":{"rendered":"

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[aka\u00a0crispy pork knuckles, potato dumplings, red cabbage]<\/p>\n

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Somewhere, while doing research for this meal, I came across a reference to a Bavarian proverb intended\u00a0to reassure a cook worried\u00a0about how large a knuckle to use: ‘‘S is ned, wia grous’ s is, aba wia guad’ s is.<\/em>‘, it goes, at least as I translated it from the English into Boarisch<\/a><\/em>, with some online help. I think the English went something like, ‘It’s not how big it is, but how good it is’.<\/p>\n

Barry and I\u00a0both had numerous occasions to vouch for\u00a0the goodness of Schweinhaxe<\/em>, and we’ve never had one that was too small – or too large\u00a0– and they’ve all been very good.<\/p>\n

The difference between Eisbein<\/em> and Schweinshaxe<\/em> may not always be hard and fast (puns intended), but basically Eisbein<\/a><\/em>, often associated with Berlin, is a cured or smoked (gep\u00f6kelt oder\u00a0ger\u00e4uchertes<\/em>) knuckle, and Schweinshaxe<\/a><\/em>, very big in Bavaria, is fresh pork. They are both deceptively and incredibly delicious.<\/p>\n

I’ve cooked pork knuckles before<\/a>,\u00a0in that case, 2 years ago, it was smoked Eisbein<\/em> (beziehungsweise,<\/em>\u00a0ger\u00e4ucherte Schweinshaxe<\/em>); last night I tried my hand at ‘Schweinshaxn<\/em>‘ (the Bavarian spelling).<\/p>\n

I combed my books, paper files, and the internet in order to assemble a working model of a recipe. I ended up using most of that\u00a0included in the large compendium, ‘Culinaria Germany<\/a>‘.<\/p>\n

We were both delighted with the result, but I should leave the cook (me, and whoever) with a lesson and a suggestion:<\/p>\n

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  1. \u00a0At the last minute I realized that the only beer I had on hand wasn’t a dark brew, \u00a0 which would be preferred in Bayern<\/em>, but\u00a0our nor’easter persuaded me not to go fetch another, so I went with the\u00a0Pavoni, which may have been waiting for its star turn.<\/li>\n
  2. I was very concerned ahead of time with getting the skin crispy, but only succeeded partially; with hindsight, I believe that finishing the knuckles on a grill pan might have produced the ideal result.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I’ve included images of the vegetables in the pan after the meat had been browned, and another which shows the hocks returned to the pan, before being placed in the oven.<\/p>\n

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