Old Sauerbraten Recipe

When I go to Germany to visit my family, I always love to spend time sitting around the kitchen table talking about old recipes. Even though we all have tweaked the recipes to fit more modern methods (even my grandmother), there are some authentic recipes that are just fun to read about, even if we rarely take the time to cook them.

This is one of the recipes I enjoy hearing about. You’ll notice that the recipe is written in the old fashioned manner, all in one paragraph. I hope you enjoy reading it, and maybe even give it a try and let us know how it turned out.

Place a roast in a small crock or a glass bowl. Cover the roast with a mixture of half water and half vinegar. Add 1 onion cut up, 2 bay leaves, and about 4 or 5 peppercorns. Put a flat board or plate on the crock and let this stand in a cool dark closet or corner for 2 days. Remove the meat. Dredge the meat in a mix of flour, salt, and pepper. Heat a large cast iron pot and add shortening, then brown the meat on both sides. When the meat is browned, leave in pot and add some of the soaking liquid into the pot, plus about 1 tablespoon of sugar, more or less depending on your taste. Turn heat down under the pot to low, cover the pot and let meat simmer very slowly until tender. Add a little more of the soaking liquid if you need to and continue cooking until the meat is as tender as you can get it. Remove the meat and thicken the liquid in the pot with some flour to make gravy, adding more soaking liquid if you need to.

If you enjoy reading old recipes as much as I do, I know you got a kick out of this one. I can imagine an old kitchen with a big ‘cold’ pantry meant for food storage, filled with potatoes, onions, and other root vegetables, shelves lined with jars of canned foods, and a crock sitting patiently in the corner.

Now that I’m talking about it, maybe this would be a fun recipe to try. I may just see if I can talk my family into giving it a try. I’ll let you know!