History

Haspel is the lower shank of the pig, cured in brine and simmered whole, an economy cut from the era when Frankfurt's taverns fed dock workers and market porters rather than tourists. The meat cooks to a sticky, gelatinous richness that the city's sharp apfelwein was practically designed to cut. It has faded from many menus as schnitzel conquered the tavern kitchen, which makes the houses still simmering Haspel a marker of the old school, worth seeking out for the disappearing plates of working Frankfurt.

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Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 20 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 4 cured pork hocks (Eisbein or Haspel cut)
  • 1 onion studded with 3 cloves
  • 2 bay leaves and 10 peppercorns
  • 800g sauerkraut
  • Mustard, horseradish and dark bread to serve

Method

  1. Cover the cured hocks with cold water, add the onion, bay and peppercorns, and bring to a bare simmer.
  2. Simmer gently for 2.5 hours until the meat gives at the touch of a fork.
  3. Warm the sauerkraut in a ladle of the cooking liquor.
  4. Serve each hock over kraut with mustard, horseradish and bread.

Tip from the editors. Buy the hocks already cured from a German butcher; fresh hocks make a different, blander dish. Never let the pot reach a rolling boil.

Where to eat haspel

Haspel in Frankfurt

Featured by TableJourney as a signature dish of Frankfurt. See where to eat Haspel in Frankfurt or the Frankfurt signature dishes guide.

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