Sauerkraut braised slowly in Riesling with juniper, then piled with smoked pork, salt pork and sausages, with boiled potatoes and mustard. Alsace's great winter dish, made here with raw sauerkraut, smoked pork, kolbassa and European wieners from Canadian stores.
I'm Alsatian, and choucroute is our dish: the one every Alsatian family makes in winter and argues about. In Canada you put it together piece by piece, because almost every meat in it is sold differently here.
Sauerkraut, Riesling and four kinds of pork
Raw sauerkraut braised for about two hours in Alsatian Riesling with juniper, onion and goose fat or lard, then "garnished" with pork: smoked loin or shoulder, salt pork belly, smoked sausages and Strasbourg sausages. Boiled potatoes and strong mustard go on the side.
What goes in the pot, and when
The salt pork and the smoked shoulder go in at the start, because they need the full braise to give up their flavour to the sauerkraut. The kolbassa and any smoked chops go in for the last 45 minutes, since they only need to heat through. The wieners are poached separately at the end: cooked with the cabbage, their casings split.
How soft should the sauerkraut be?
Tender with a little bite left, pale gold and only gently sour. Rinse it once if it's very acidic, never more, or it tastes of nothing.
Making it in Canada
The 6 French ingredients, and what to buy for them in Canada.
Choucroute crue d'Alsace→Raw (unpasteurized) sauerkraut from the refrigerated case
Raw sauerkraut is crisp and mildly sour, and softens slowly in the wine. Canned or shelf-stable sauerkraut is pasteurized: soft and sharp before it even starts. You need about 1.5 kg drained, which means several jars; a European deli selling it by weight is easier for this much.
🛒 Real Canadian Superstore sells Karthein's Organic Sauerkraut Traditional (375 mL, labelled raw and unpasteurized). Metro lists Bubbies Sauerkraut (750 mL); check the label says unpasteurized. In Ontario, Sobeys' Farm Boy organic sauerkraut (375 mL) is unpasteurized too.
Kassler (palette ou carré fumé)→Smoked picnic shoulder, or smoked pork chops
Carré fumé is smoked pork loin, which is what smoked pork chops are. Palette fumée is the shoulder: a smoked picnic shoulder is the same cut, and it goes in at the start to get the full two hours. If you find neither, a toupie-style smoked ham is cured, smoked pork that holds up in the braise.
🛒 Metro, IGA and Maxi sell smoked picnic shoulder, shelved with the hams. Walmart sells Lafleur toupie-style smoked ham (1 kg). Outside Quebec, smoked picnic is harder to find: try a European deli first. If it has none, leave the shoulder out and use a third kolbassa ring and 400 g Capital Fine Meats slab bacon (Voilà by Sobeys) in place of the salt pork, added at the start.
Petit salé (poitrine de porc salée)→Salt pork with meat, or slab bacon
Canadian salt pork is saltier than French petit salé, so blanch it 10 minutes. Pick a piece labelled "with meat", not plain salted fat. Slab bacon is smoked, which changes the taste a little, and needs no blanching.
🛒 Metro and Maxi sell salted lard by weight, Walmart lists L. Fortin salted fat with meat, and Loblaws stocks cured salt pork. Voilà (Sobeys) sells Capital Fine Meats slab bacon by weight.
Saucisses de Strasbourg et de Montbéliard→Natural-casing European wieners and smoked kolbassa
Strasbourg sausages are thin, lightly smoked and snap when you bite them; European wieners in sheep casing are the closest. Kolbassa, the Canadian label for smoked Polish sausage, is coarse and smoky like Montbéliard, with more garlic. Skip skinless hot dogs: they turn soft in the steam.
🛒 Piller's Kolbassa (375 g) is at Metro and Loblaws; Schneiders Kolbassa rings (300 g) are at Voilà (Sobeys) and Walmart. Piller's European Wieners (450 g, natural sheep casing) are at Voilà (Sobeys).
Goose fat is hard to find here, and plain lard gives the sauerkraut the same rich, round taste. Duck fat works too if you have some. Butter burns over two hours and oil tastes thin.
🛒 Tenderflake Pure Lard (454 g) is at Metro, Super C and Walmart.
Riesling d'Alsace→Dry Canadian Riesling
Niagara and the Okanagan both make dry Riesling. Pick one labelled dry: off-dry Riesling makes the sauerkraut sweet.
🛒 At the SAQ, Cave Spring Riesling Dry (Niagara, VQA). At the LCBO, Balance Dry Riesling (Niagara, VQA), or Joseph Cattin Riesling from Alsace. My pick is Alsatian: Pfaff Cuvée Jupiter Riesling, dry, at the LCBO (stock varies; the SAQ and BC Liquor list it too).
Good to know: A German, Polish or Ukrainian deli will have most of it in one place: raw sauerkraut by weight, smoked pork and natural-casing sausages.
Ready to cook?
Choucroute Garnie
Sauerkraut braised slowly in Riesling with juniper, then piled with smoked pork, salt pork and sausages, with boiled potatoes and mustard. Alsace's great winter dish, made here with raw sauerkraut, smoked pork, kolbassa and European wieners from Canadian stores.
Prep time
30 min
Cook time
2 hr 30 min
Total time
3 hr
Servings
6
Ingredients
Original recipe: 6 servings.
Instructions
Prepare the sauerkraut. Taste the sauerkraut; rinse once in cold water only if it's very sour. Squeeze it dry by handfuls.
Blanch the salt pork. Put the salt pork in cold water, bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes, then drain. Taste a sliver: if it's still very salty, blanch it 5 minutes more in fresh water. Skip this step for slab bacon.
Soften the onion. In a large Dutch oven (at least 5.5 L), melt the fat over medium heat and soften the onion 5 minutes, without browning. Add the garlic for 1 minute.
Braise the sauerkraut. Add half the sauerkraut, then the juniper, bay leaves and peppercorns tied in a square of cheesecloth, then the salt pork (and the picnic shoulder, if using), then the rest of the sauerkraut. Pour in the Riesling and broth. Cover and cook over low heat, or in a 160°C (325°F) oven, for 1 hour 15 minutes.
Add the smoked meats. Bury the smoked pork chops (if using) and the kolbassa in the sauerkraut. Cover and cook 45 minutes more, until the sauerkraut is tender with a little bite and the meats are hot through. If it looks dry, add a splash of Riesling or broth. If the picnic is labelled uncooked, it must reach 71°C (160°F) in the centre, Health Canada's minimum for whole pork cuts; check it at the end of this step.
Cook the potatoes and wieners. Boil the potatoes in salted water about 20 minutes, until a knife slides in. Heat the wieners in barely simmering water for 8 to 10 minutes; boiling splits the casings.
Serve. Remove the spice bag. Pile the sauerkraut on a large platter, slice the meats and arrange them on top with the potatoes and wieners. Serve with mustard.
Equipment
Staub 5.5 L round cocotte: A 5.5 L cocotte holds the sauerkraut and the meats, and goes from stove to oven.
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Notes
Make it a day ahead if you like and reheat it covered, with a splash of Riesling, until steaming. Health Canada's safe minimum for reheated leftovers is 74°C (165°F).
Keeps 4 days in the fridge. Freeze the sauerkraut and meats separately from the potatoes.
If the sauerkraut is still crunchy after two hours, give it 20 minutes more, covered. If it tastes flat, stir in a splash of Riesling at the end.
Serve with the other half of the Riesling or a cold lager.
Course: Mains · Cuisine: French · Adapted for Canadian kitchens
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