Sauerbraten

Ingredients

Marinade

• 500 mlred wine vinegar
• 500 mlwater
• 250 mldry red wine
• 2onions (about 250 g), sliced
• 1carrot, sliced
• 1small celeriac wedge (about 100 g), diced
• 10juniper berries, crushed
• 6whole cloves
• 3bay leaves
• 1 tbspblack peppercorns
• 1 tspmustard seeds
• 1 tbspfine salt

Meat

• 1.4 kgbeef topside or silverside, in one tied piece
• 40 gclarified butter or beef dripping, for browning

Gravy

• 60 graisins
• 60 gRheinischer Apfelkraut (apple syrup), or 2 tbsp sugar
• 60 gAachener Printen or Lebkuchen, crumbled
• 1 tbspplain flour
• 150 mlsoured cream, optional
• Salt and pepper

To serve

• Kartoffelklösse (potato dumplings)
• Braised red cabbage with apple

Directions

1. Bring the vinegar, water, wine, vegetables and spices to the boil, simmer 5 minutes, then cool completely. Never pour warm marinade over raw meat.
2. Put the beef in a non-reactive bowl or a strong bag, pour over the cold marinade so the meat is submerged, and refrigerate 4 days, turning it once a day.
3. Lift the meat out, dry it thoroughly with cloth and season with salt. Strain the marinade and keep both the liquid and the vegetables.
4. Brown the beef hard in the clarified butter in a heavy casserole over high heat, 3–4 minutes a side, until every surface is deep brown. Colour here is the backbone of the gravy.
5. Take the meat out, fry the strained vegetables in the same fat for 6–8 minutes until they catch and darken at the edges.
6. Return the meat, pour in 700 ml of the strained marinade, bring to a bare simmer, cover and braise at 150°C (300°F) for 2.5–3 hours, turning at half time, until a skewer slides in with no resistance.
7. Lift the beef out and keep it warm under foil. Strain the braising liquid, press the vegetables through a sieve and skim the fat off the surface.
8. Stir the crumbled Printen, the Apfelkraut and the raisins into the hot liquid and simmer 10 minutes; the gingerbread dissolves and thickens the sauce and gives it its spiced, sweet-sour character. Whisk in a flour slurry only if it is still thin.
9. Taste and balance: it should be sharply sour and clearly sweet at once. Stir in the soured cream off the heat if you want the Rhineland’s paler, rounder gravy.
10. Carve the beef across the grain into 1 cm slices, nap with plenty of gravy and serve with potato dumplings and red cabbage.

Technique

• Four days is the minimum for a real Sauerbraten; the acid tenderises the lean cut and drives the flavour to the centre. Some Rhineland households go to a week.
• Use only glass, glazed ceramic or stainless steel for marinating. Vinegar strips metal from aluminium and cast iron and taints the meat.
• Crumbled Lebkuchen or Printen is the authentic thickener, not cornflour; the spices in it are part of the recipe, and it is the clearest sign of a Rhenish version.
• In the Rhineland the dish was historically made with horse meat, which is still sold in some Cologne butchers; beef became standard in the twentieth century.

Substitutions

• No Printen or Lebkuchen: use 60 g crushed gingerbread biscuits with a pinch of ground cloves and cinnamon, plus 1 tbsp sugar.
• No Apfelkraut: dark beetroot syrup or 2 tbsp of dark brown sugar with a squeeze of lemon gets close.
• A brisket or beef cheek will braise more succulently than topside if you prefer soft, gelatinous meat.

Variations

• Rheinischer Sauerbraten, sweet-sour with raisins and Printen, the best-known version.
• Fränkischer Sauerbraten, marinated in wine rather than vinegar, with a darker, drier gravy.
• Schwäbischer Sauerbraten, served with Spätzle instead of dumplings.

History

Marinating beef in vinegar for days both tenderised and preserved it; the Rhineland version was traditionally made with horse meat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sauerbraten?

Sauerbraten is a main from Germany: beef pot roast marinated in vinegar, sweet-sour raisin gravy. Marinating beef in vinegar for days both tenderised and preserved it; the Rhineland version was traditionally made with horse meat.

How long does Sauerbraten take to make?

Sauerbraten takes 40 min of preparation and 3 hr, plus 4 days marinating of cooking. The recipe makes 4–6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Sauerbraten?

Yes, within limits. No Printen or Lebkuchen: use 60 g crushed gingerbread biscuits with a pinch of ground cloves and cinnamon, plus 1 tbsp sugar. No Apfelkraut: dark beetroot syrup or 2 tbsp of dark brown sugar with a squeeze of lemon gets close. A brisket or beef cheek will braise more succulently than topside if you prefer soft, gelatinous meat.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sauerbraten?

Bring the vinegar, water, wine, vegetables and spices to the boil, simmer 5 minutes, then cool completely. Never pour warm marinade over raw meat.