Where to eat Haspel in Frankfurt
Pickled pork knuckle simmered until wobbling, served with sauerkraut, bread and mustard in Frankfurt's old tavern tradition. Gelatinous, unfashionable and quietly magnificent.
The story of Haspel
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.
How to make Haspel
Serves: Serves 4
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
- Cover the cured hocks with cold water, add the onion, bay and peppercorns, and bring to a bare simmer.
- Simmer gently for 2.5 hours until the meat gives at the touch of a fork.
- Warm the sauerkraut in a ladle of the cooking liquor.
- Serve each hock over kraut with mustard, horseradish and bread.
Editor tip. Buy the hocks already cured from a German butcher; fresh hocks make a different, blander dish. Never let the pot reach a rolling boil.
The editor picks for Haspel in Frankfurt are still in research. Meanwhile, see the Frankfurt signature-dishes index or the Frankfurt food guide.