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Timbal of Sauerkraut, German Style

A layered German dish of sauerkraut, pork, sausage, and pâté baked in a mold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pork and meat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,208 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Timbal of Sauerkraut, German Style

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Cook the sauerkraut with the parboiled salt pork until three-quarters done, then drain and let cool.

  2. Prepare a timbal mold and line it with pâté paste.

Layer and bake

  1. Layer sausage meat mixed with fine herbs at the bottom of the mold.

  2. Add a layer of sauerkraut, followed by thin slices of salt pork and fresh fillet of pork.

  3. Repeat layering until the mold is full.

  4. Cover the top with a layer of pâté paste and place a buttered paper cover over it.

  5. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1.5 hours.

Serve

  1. Remove the paper cover, turn the timbal onto a dish, and remove the mold.

  2. Make a hole in the center and add a few spoonfuls of Madeira wine sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pork + meattop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,208 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Madeira wine + saucetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together230 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Meat + saucetop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,167 recipes
  4. Pork + saucetop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,666 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Pork + madeira winetop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together211 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sauerkraut
Provides a tangy, acidic flavor that cuts through the rich meats and fat.
Salt pork
Adds fat and savory flavor, keeping the layers moist as they cook.
Pâté paste
Forms a sturdy shell that holds the layered filling together while baking.
Sausage meat
Adds savory richness and binds the timbal's layers with its fat.
Fresh pork fillet
Contributes lean, tender meat that cooks through within the filling.

The step that matters

Cooking the sauerkraut to three-quarters done. Sauerkraut partly cooked before layering lets it finish gently inside the timbal without becoming soggy or releasing excess liquid that could weaken the filling and pastry.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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