Zur Letzten Instanz ★ 4.1
Zur Letzten Instanz, Berlin's oldest restaurant since 1621, serves traditional Prussian tavern food in the Nikolaiviertel through the evening.
Try: Eisbein, Sauerbraten, Koenigsberger Klopse
History
Hackepeter (or Mett in northern Germany) has been a Berlin and German staple since the 19th century, when meat was preserved by salt-curing and the freshest, leanest cuts were eaten raw. The dish is famously breakfast or morning-snack food in Berlin: butcher shops (Fleischereien) sell Hackepeter by the gram from a glass counter, often pre-shaped into a small hedgehog (Igel) with onion rings forming the spines. The structural rule is freshness: Hackepeter must be eaten the same day it is ground. The cliché serving format is a Brötchen mit Hackepeter with raw onion.
Common allergens: Gluten
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 400g very fresh pork tenderloin or pork shoulder, ground twice through the fine grinder plate the morning you intend to serve it
- or ask your butcher to grind it for you very fresh (this is the structural step; pork must be sourced from a trusted butcher and consumed within 4 hours of grinding for safety)
- 1 large white onion, very finely diced (about 100g)
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground caraway
- Pinch of grated nutmeg
- Optional: 1 raw egg yolk (for serving on top of each portion, the classic 19th-century touch)
- To serve: 4 fresh crispy German Schrippen (Berlin bread rolls) or rye bread slices, halved
- 1 medium yellow onion, very thinly sliced into rings
- Cornichons or Gewürzgurken (pickled gherkins)
- Coarse sea salt and cracked pepper at the table
- Strong coffee or a small glass of Korn or vodka alongside
Method
- On the day of serving, mix the freshly ground pork with the diced onion, salt, pepper, caraway and nutmeg in a chilled bowl with two forks; do not over-mix, keep the texture coarse and fluffy.
- Taste a tiny pinch (or do not, depending on your trust in your butcher) and adjust salt; the pork should taste mineral and fresh.
- Slice each Schrippe in half (the canonical Berlin presentation is open-faced).
- Pile a heaped tablespoon of Hackepeter (about 100g) onto each Schrippe half, mounding generously.
- Top each portion with several rings of raw onion (the Berlin convention is to crown thickly).
- If using, slip a half-shell raw egg yolk on top of the meat (the older 19th-century classic).
- Plate with a few cornichons on the side, a small dish of coarse sea salt and a pepper grinder for self-seasoning at the table.
- Serve immediately; the Berlin convention is to eat with a knife and fork or by hand, with strong coffee or a small glass of cold Korn (German grain spirit) or vodka.
Tip from the editors. Pork must come from a trusted German Metzgerei (butcher) and be ground the morning of serving; this dish is not safe to make with supermarket pre-ground pork. The freshness rule is absolute. Eat within 4 hours of grinding; never store overnight.
Where to eat hackepeter (mett)
Hackepeter (Mett) in Berlin
Max und Moritz ★ 4.2
Max und Moritz on Berlin's Oranienstrasse has cooked Prussian tavern classics since 1902 in the original ceramic-tiled dining room; the Klopse and rouladen.
Signature: Koenigsberger Klopse, Beef rouladen
Order: The Koenigsberger Klopse with caper-cream sauce; the beef rouladen with red cabbage in winter.
Tip: Closed Monday lunch. The original 1902 dining room is the seating to book; phone two weeks out.
Lutter und Wegner ★ 4.1
Lutter und Wegner on Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt has cooked traditional Wiener Schnitzel since 1811; the wood-panelled room runs Sunday classics and the long.
Signature: Wiener Schnitzel, Sauerbraten
Order: The Wiener Schnitzel with cucumber-potato salad; the Berlin sauerbraten in winter.
Tip: Sunday lunch from 12:00 is the easier seating than weekday dinner. Book two weeks ahead by phone.
More cities are in research. Want hackepeter (mett) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.