Strasbourg - Cuisine

One of the things we enjoyed most when we were in Strasbourg was the cuisine. Because it's so near the German border, there is a decidedly German influence to their food. The sauerkraut was delicious, the beer was excellent (according to Larry) and the wine was good. Riesling is the local wine specialty (which is one of my favorites). Alsatian Riesling is a little drier than the German labels of the same name.

Our favorite dish there was something called Baeckeoffe. The local story is that baeckeoffe is the original crockpot dish. Supposedly years ago, the women would put the ingredients into a clay pot, and bring it to the baker's on their way to church. The baker would seal the cover of the pan with a simple dough of flour and water and put the pot in his oven (that was cooling after the morning's work was done). It would cook for the 3 hours the women were in church and they would pick up their cooked meal on their way home.

We decided that Baeckeoffe is Alsatian comfort food. The dish is a kind of stew made with pork, beef, lamb, potatoes, carrots, spices and Alsace Riesling. One ingredient that initially "threw" us is the pig's foot. It's added to the pot not as something to be eaten, but there is some kind of fat in it that works to keep the wine from evaporating during the cooking process. Baeckeoffe is absolutely delicious!

I bought myself a baeckeoffe pot and recipe and will try my hand at making it this weekend. Each pot is handmade and signed.