Sauerbraten

A very German dish is the Sauerbraten, pickled beef in wine, vinegar and spices.

Sauerbraten was originally made from horse meat, but it can be made with many different kinds of roasting meat. Tougher, less expensive cuts of meat are used—typically a rump roast or bottom round of beef. Venison or other game are often prepared as sauerbraten as the spices and vinegar take away the gamey taste of the meat.

This Instructable is for 1 serving as I had some leftovers.

• 150 grams beef rump roast

Spices:

• 1 slice of lemon
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 clove
• 1 peppercorn
• 2 berries allspice
• 2 juniper berries
• a bit parsley root
• a bit cultivated onion
• a pinch salt

Marinade:

• 50ml wine
• 50ml vinegar
• 50ml water

• kitchen scale
• measuring jug
• kitchen knife
• kitchen container or ziplock bag or enamelware (cocotte)

Add all the ingredients into the kitchen container (I used a cocotte). The 50ml wine, 50ml vinegar, 50 ml water, then add 2 berries allspice, 2 juniper berries, 1 clove, 1 bay leaf, parsley root, the sliced onion, the slice of lemon, a peppercorn and the pinch of salt. If you want to eat the Sauerbraten after 4 days, bring all ingredients except the beef to a boil in a cooking pot, let it cool down and then pour it over the beef in the cocotte. For a longer storage of up to a month, do not heat the marinade.

Close your cocotte and store it in a cool place. The beef needs to be turned once per day for the expansion of flavours inside. To simplify this step you can put this all into a ziplock bag and store it in the fridge. There are many recipes for Sauerbraten available on the Internet, most of them bake it at 200°C (400°F) for 1.5 to 2 hours, some even 4 hours depending on the size of the roast. The meat will be very tender and full of flavour. In Germany there are many different recipes for Sauerbraten, other spices used are raisins, gingerbread, carrots, celery, etc.

Enjoy your meal!