History
Baeckeoffe means baker's oven, and the name tells its story. Alsatian housewives would assemble the casserole on washing day, seal the dish with a strip of dough and drop it at the village baker's on the way to the laundry, collecting it cooked hours later from the residual heat of the bread oven. The overnight Riesling marinade and the slow, sealed cooking give it its character. It remains a winter winstub staple, ordered for the table and served straight from the terracotta pot.
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Common allergens: Gluten, Sulphites
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 500g lamb shoulder, 500g beef chuck, 500g pork shoulder, all cubed
- 1 pig's trotter, split (optional)
- 750ml dry Riesling
- 2 onions and 2 carrots, sliced
- 2 leeks, garlic, bay, thyme and juniper
- 1.5kg waxy potatoes, sliced
- Salt and pepper
- 200g flour mixed with water for the sealing dough
Method
- The day before, marinate all the meat in the Riesling with the carrots, garlic and herbs, covered, in the fridge overnight.
- Heat the oven to 160C. Layer half the potatoes and onions in a deep terracotta dish and season.
- Lift the meat from the marinade and pile it in, then top with the rest of the potatoes and onions.
- Pour over the strained marinade until it almost covers, season again and put on the lid.
- Roll the flour-and-water dough into a rope, press it around the lid to seal, and bake undisturbed for 3 hours.
Tip from the editors. Do not lift the lid while it cooks; the steam trapped under the dough seal is what keeps everything moist.
Where to eat baeckeoffe
Baeckeoffe in Strasbourg
Fink'Stuebel ★ 4.3
Fink'Stuebel is a half-timbered winstub near Petite France with painted ceilings, serving baeckeoffe, kaseknepfle dumplings and roast pork knuckle.
SignatureBaeckeoffe, Kaseknepfle
L'Ami Schutz ★ 4.2
L'Ami Schutz sits by the Ponts Couverts in Petite France, a long-running winstub for baeckeoffe and choucroute garnie with a riverside terrace.
SignatureBaeckeoffe, Choucroute garnie
Chez Yvonne ★ 4.4
Chez Yvonne, the S'Burjerstuewel near the cathedral, is the city's best-known winstub, a wood-panelled room famous for its tete de veau and Alsatian classics.
SignatureTete de veau, Baeckeoffe
Winstub Le Clou ★ 4.7
Winstub Le Clou on Rue du Chaudron near the cathedral is a classic Alsatian tavern for choucroute, baeckeoffe and waedele, poured with Riesling.
SignatureBaeckeoffe, Waedele
More cities are in research. Want baeckeoffe covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.