Ingredients
1 small leek
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
1 onion
2 meaty pork hocks
1 salt
1 black pepper corns
2 tbsp cooking fat =or= vegetable shorte, ning.
1 pinch cumin, if desired
1 beer or water
Directions
Wash and dice the leek, celery, carrot, and onion. Cook pork hocks,
diced vegetables, salt and peppercorns in water to cover 2 to 3 hours
or until tender. Avoid overcooking. Remove from water; drain well
reserving vegetables and cooking liquid. Preheat oven to 425F (220C).
Melt fat or shortening in an enamel-lined, cast-iron pan. Add drained
pork hocks, cooked vegetables and a small amount of cooking liquid.
Bake 30 minutes. Moisten meat frequently with more cooking liquid.
Before meat is fully cooked, sprinkle with beer or water in which a
good amount of salt has been dissolved. Add cumin to increase flavor,
if desired. Serve with potato or white bread dumplings or sauerkraut
salad. Note: In Bavaria, the juices and cooking liquid are strained
and served as an accompanying sauce.
The Best of German Cooking by Edda Meyer-Berkhout
Servings: 2 servings
Pork Hocks (Schweinshaxe) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: German; Meat; Pork
The History of Recipes
It is quite feasible to prove the history of written cooking instructions far back into distant history, at least as far into history as pharonic Egypt, and possibly even further. In practice though, sadly, these early cookbooks were just basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for food preparation.
Interestingly, the oldest recipe discovered, according to academics is a collection of tablets in the Sumerian language which show the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made people feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. As we move into The time of the romans 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a collection of documents detailing recipes cooked by his fellow Romans. He tells us how the meals of wealthy Romans were divided into hors d`oeuvre, main meal and desserts, a style of dining still practiced today. This early Roman chef informs us how the Roman cooks used a wide range of spices, including a few that will be familiar to modern chefs such as bay, mint and dill. Later, in the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought back many foods and spices from the holy land, such as parsley and basil. These new culinary innovations prompted an eruption in recipe books, many of which still exist in private libraries. During the next few hundred years, the powerful and wealthy competed to offer the most extravagent banquests, and consequentially cooks and their recipe collections were much in demand. Notwithstanding that, it wasn`t until the 19th century that cookery and recipe collections became really popular. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the US, dedicated their lives to assembling, testing, and publishing the recipes that were being prepared for the better households. By the time we get to the twentieth century, cookbooks are in great demand, as a result of better eduction, more spare time and having more disposable income. Like it or not, the introduction of TV gave us TV cookery programs and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the invention of the internet, permitting us all to search through thousands of recipes just like those on this recipe site. |
We hope you enjoy this Pork Hocks (Schweinshaxe) recipe.
