Sauerbraten (sour roast) is regarded as one of THE national dishes of Germany. It was invented in the middle ages or even older when there exist no fridge, so they used vinegar and wine/water to made the meat durable.
It´s made with beef and there are many regional variants of sauerbraten. In the Cologne area it was made many years ago with horse meat and they add raisins and thicken the sauce with sugar beet syrup to provide sweetness to complement the sourness of the marinade. I made a Sauerbraten from the south, my area, which does not use raisins or sugar beet syrup, so the dish has a nice light sour note. In general it is served with potato dumplings, red cabbage or with boiled potatoes. In my area in the south of course with Spätzle.
Thanks Martin. My MIL from (originally from the Donauschwaben) makes this regularly for us. Usually with Spaetzle, but sometimes Knodl (sorry, no idea how to use Umlauts on my laptop).
They’re hosting a large family get together next weekend and this will be served as 1 of the mains.
So, while we had it this past weekend, my MIL admitted to buying a package (German specialty food store) to do it and only let it soak overnight in the fridge, then cooked it.
I asked if she still makes it from scratch anymore and she said she stopped as the package is more consistent, so she no longer has batches than end up too sour or too sweet.
Oh well.
