Darlings,
For a nation that puts so much store by timekeeping, it’s always surprised me that the Germans start Oktoberfest in September. One supposes that, being a logical bunch, they must have their reasons….
Anyway, it’s here now and I don’t mind confessing that this silver fox will be partaking. And in no small measure. My first ever Oktoberfest came about accidentally….
It was the late 80s and British intelligence had asked me to stir things up in the GDR and generally make life difficult for that old goat Erich Honecker. Without wishing to blow one’s own trumpet, I think it’s fair to say that this mission was, ahem, completed.
It was during this time that I got to know an American asset, a middle aged man called David. To be fair to the CIA, they had clocked that David was hugely popular with the German populace on both sides of the Iron Curtain. I must confess, mes choux, that I never really understood why. He did have a German surname, though, so perhaps it was that?
In any event, when our paths inevitably crossed, David kindly invited me to join him for some R&R back in the west and specifically in Munich. Oktoberfest was in full flow and, as a direct result, my memory is a haze (at best). But what I do retain is David’s rather wonderful recipe for pork knuckle with sauerkraut and it is, as the Hoff (as he insisted on calling himself) kept drunkenly repeating in his cod German accent, absolut lecker!
Tschuss!
Reynard
X
PS – you can find beer, sausages, pork knuckle and many more Oktoberfest delights here.
DAVID HASSELHOFF’S PORK KNUCKLE MIT SAUERKRAUT
Serves 4
Ingredients
Pork knuckle
Salt and pepper
2 x onions, quartered
2 x glass of beer (David absolutely insisted on this, darlings)
1 glass of water
2 x jars of sauerkraut
3 x apples, chopped or grated
Half a pat of butter
Instructions
Pork:
Preheat your oven to 180 Celsius and then rub your pork with salt and pepper. Place the onion pieces in a roasting tin, with the pork on top. Pour in the beer and the water (not over the meat, mes choux, as it will wash your seasoning off….). Roast the pork for 2.5 hours, turning it once or twice. Add more water if it dries out and for the last 20 minutes, turn the heat up to a whopping 220 Celsius for that lovely crispy skin.
Kraut:
Towards the end of the roast, melt the butter in a pan on a low to medium heat. Introduce the sauerkraut and the apple and stir gently, ensuring not to overheat so as not to lose all that probiotic goodness.
Serve by placing the knuckle on the kraut, alongside a decent portion of boiled and buttered potatoes. And litres and litres of Märzen….