www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Pork and Saurkraut

I have a question for all of you food afecciandos out there. I have been asked, very nicely I might add, by several people to prepare pork and saurkraut for the New Years Party at the Hospital. Now, my question is, should I use barley when I roast, like in the Old Country, or is that too much for American tastes? I normally make it with a couple of loins and toss in 20 or so chops, just to get the grease levels up to where it saturates the saurkraut so that the pork taste permeates everything. As it will still be Lent, I can't even taste it to see if it is suitable for non Slavic tastes! So I guess I'll wing it. Any recipes or hints would be greatly appreciated!

Alexandr

You could probably get a "dispensation" per "economia" to taste the pork as a cook! I always throw in paprika.

It will still be Lent?????

Did you mean "it will still be Advent?"

Just checking.

Brother Ed

LOL!

Zimnaya Post! Winter Lent. Advent is, although technically correct, seldom used in Orthodox terminology. All Fasts (Posts) are described as a Lent, just as Posnaya translates as Lenten.

Alexandr

Alexandr:

When I make this dish--German style--I don't use any barley. Don't know what you do with that. (Like to learn, though; always looking for some new variation on a dish.) I do rinse my sauerkraut thoroughly in a collander to get the brine out of it. I do put apple slices or whole apples in the roaster to sweeten the kraut. Also, I try to keep all the kraut on top of the pork as it roasts.

You're making me hungry. And since my good wife hates the taste and smell of sauerkraut I don't get it too often. When I was young and lived near my grandmother, she never made a beef or pork roast without a toping of sauerkraut. Gotta love those Germans and their sauerkraut.

Happy New Year,

BOB

I've always added caraway seed or bay leaf, and also sliced onions to mine. A heap of mashed potatoes on the side and some rye bread. Hmmm. Now I'm hungry.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Sounds yummy!!

Thanks, Alexandr. Learned another something today!!

Brother Ed

Dear Bob,

I always loved sauerkraut. I recall topping my hot dogs with it when I was a child in Middle School. From the comments I've heard though, it appears that most Greeks hate the stuff...or so I think. I have never been served it in my house, nor in any house that I know of. Nor have I ever dared cook with it.Well I recall reading years ago, (or rather decades ago), that the army was using this like/hate thing towards sauerkraut, in planning what to serve for meals.

I wonder if it has to do with one's taste buds, or with the chemical balance within a person's system. You know I'm Greek, but it seems I not only look German, (got a lot of attention when I flew with Luftansa), but I have so many German traits. Now I'll also have to include my love for sauerkraut.

I am curious though as to the news that was once posted on this forum about it being a cure for bird flu. If so, and the sauerkraut is store bought and rinsed well, will it still contain the attributes that make it helpful in fighting viruses? I guess I'll have to ask Dr. Eric.

Zenovia

Zenovia:

You really have nothing to fear about cooking with sauerkraut. Take a can, rinse it thoroughly, and place it atop a pork or beef roast. Cook as you would any other pork or beef roast. I like the apple slices on top of the roast BEFORE putting the kraut on and another layer of slices on top of the kraut. The apple is supposed to take away any bitterness fromt he kraut being brined as part of its preservation and preparation.

I love a good hot dog with kraut on it and recommend adding a spicy mustard to the whole thing.

Happy New Year.

BOB

Saurkraut is almost a staff of life here, especcially in the winter, there is always a pot of Kapusta on the woodstove. When it's cold and windy, and your bones hurt, "Muzhik" food is always just what the doctor ordered!

A real, skinned hotdog, grilled, with freah kapusta, sprinkled with crumbled bacon and good horseradish mustard, a plate of potatoes fried in bacon grease, and a good, dark beer. Only 169 more hours to go!!!

Alexandr

Zenovia,

I don't know about sauerkraut. I don't like it and I imagine all my German ancestors are rolling in their graves about now.

It does seem that certain foods are served during certain times of the year to deal with various environmental factors and diseases.

F'rinstance: Gluewine is made with lemon juice, wine, cloves and cinnamon. Lemon juice, cinnamon, and cloves work to keep your nose from running when it is cold outside which is why those are all Christmassy spices. Usually during Christmastime it is cold out so you get a runny nose. Conversely, cinnamon and cloves shouldn't be used if your nose is stopped up, they will only make it worse.

Try putting kolbasi in with the kraut -- not the beef or chicken kolbasi but the pork kolbasi with the grease that oozes out. The flavor permaeates the kraut and takes away a lot of the sharpenss.

Beware the color will change from white to a darker color, but to me taste takes precedence over color. It think you'll find that it's better than a pork roast or chops.

Hey Alexandre,

Keep eating like that, and you're not going to live very long. Get away from that bacon grease, (although I remember how great my scrambled eggs tasted when cooked in bacon fat). Today, it's make the bacon as crispy as possible, and blot off any bit of grease. Oh well!

But then again, you always have lent to clean out your system. Be glad!

Zenovia

[quote=theophan]Zenovia:

I love a good hot dog with kraut on it and recommend adding a spicy mustard to the whole thing.

MUSTARD!!!!!

Oh, no. Any good Pennsylvania Dutchman (i.e., German), from certain areas of Western Pa. will tell you it's KETCHUP (Heinz, of course) with kraut.

We always had pork and kraut for New Year's Day, and my father's favorite way of eating it: pork on one side of the plate and on the other, a hugh scoop of mashed potatos, covered in sauerkraut, and then covered in ketchup.

To this day, I never eat a hotdog with kraut unless there's ketchup (one of the 4 basic food groups in my opinion) on it. Oh yeah, it's ketchup on scrambled eggs too!

... And then there was my great uncle who put ketchup on buttered bread, folded it over, and then dunked it in his coffee. YUM!

Zenovia advises:

As the Southern gentleman said when told that drastic changes in his diet would prolong his life significantly:

Fr. Serge