CHRISTMAS CHOUCROUTE 

A Sacred Family Tradition

Choucroute is only good after it has been reheated seven times 

— an old Alsatian saying

Each family has their own sacred holiday traditions they look forward to every year. Rituals that are passed down from generation to generation to pay homage to our cultural roots and identity. It is a time for family to gather together and reconnect to our heritage.

For me, no tradition is more important than the Christmas ones I grew up with.

We celebrated Christmas in a typically French style. I am not talking about what the Parisian fashionistas do, but rather what ordinary people did in their own homes. You got dressed up, went to midnight mass, and then returned home for a grand feast shared with friends called Réveillon. Christmas Day by contrast was usually reserved just for the intimate family and more of a homey meal served.

In our house, it was always the same routine; my sister and I would go to sleep early on Christmas Eve so Santa could deliver the presents. I remember trying my hardest to stay awake and catch Santa only to be awakened by the ringing sound of a sleigh bell and my father telling me I had just missed him.

The Three Christmas Masses

My father once gave a great speech on French food. In it, he mentioned Alphonse Daudet’s great cautionary tale warning against the sins of gluttony, “The Three Christmas Masses”. In the story, the devil torments a French priest with the evocative scents of a truffled turkey roasting while trying to give mass. The priest rushes through the three low masses so quickly that he completely butchers them. After overindulging in the feast, he dies without being able to repent for his sins and has to perform 300 perfect masses before being allowed into heaven. Truly a story geared toward a French audience.

With that in mind, we would go to church trying our very best not to think of the feast afterward. After mass, all my parent’s friends would show up, dressed to the nines, ready to eat and dance into the early hours of the morning.

On Christmas Day, we woke up early to play with our toys while my mother cooked lunch. The house would slowly come alive with the heavenly scents of fatty pork sausages slowly simmering in a vat of choucroute. Choucroute was an homage to her family roots.

Choucroute is one of the world’s great celebratory meals that, like bouillabaisse, is impossible to cook solely for only a handful of people. If you have never eaten one you may be surprised, no, overwhelmed, by the sheer volume of food served. Traditionally it is made with at least 3 different sausages, smoked pork loin, and pork belly all slowly simmered in sauerkraut surrounded by a legion of potatoes.

When my mother was a small girl, she would visit her grandparent’s farm in Alsace. I remember her sharing stories about harvesting cabbages in the late fall. They would shred the cabbages by hand then mix them with salt and slowly ferment them in wooden barrels. The cabbage was kept submerged and weighted down with large stones and would be ready in time for Christmas.

At about the same time, her grandparents would slaughter their pig, putting the meat up in various forms including sausages and cured hams. Add the Gewurztraminer grapes that are harvested about the same time and you understand why Choucroute garni is the perfect marriage of these fall harvests.

This is the perfect meal for holidays - very little actual work that pays a huge dividend at the table.

Choucroute

PREP TIME: 10 minutes | COOK TIME: 3 hours on day 1. 2 more hours on day 2 | MAKES: 8 servings

• 1/4 cup rendered duck, goose, or pork fat

• 1 large onion, finely diced

• 2 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, and shredded

• 2 quarts sauerkraut, drained (see tip)

• 20 juniper berries, crushed with the flat side of a heavy knife

• 1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 2 cups Riesling or Gewürztraminer

• 1 pound smoked pork belly or slab bacon, cut into 8 pieces

• 8 knockwurst

• 8 skinless frankfurters

• 8 Weisswurst or bratwurst

• 8 slices smoked pork loin, about 4 ounces each

• 2 pounds small Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• Assorted mustards for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.

2. Melt the fat in a large Dutch oven. Add the onion, and apples and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the sauerkraut, juniper berries, caraway seeds, bay leaves, and pepper. Add the wine and pork belly, cover, and braise in the oven for 3 hours. Refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to marry together.

3. Preheat the oven to 300°F.

4. Return the Dutch oven to the oven and braise for 1 hour. Thirty minutes before you are ready to eat, bury the sausages and pork loin into the choucroute and cook until they are just hot, about 15 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover them with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium-high, and cook until very soft, about 25 minutes. Drain and toss with parsley.

6. Arrange the sauerkraut on a large serving platter with the sausages and meats set on top along with the potatoes. Serve with an assortment of mustards.

TIP: To rinse the kraut or not? Most cooks will tell you to wash the brine off the sauerkraut, but I think, unless it is very strong, you need some of that fermented acidity. It acts as an emulsifier when combined with the rendered belly fat in the pot and will add complexity to the palate. I drain but never rinse my kraut. But do what works best for you!