Schweinefleisch mit Backpflaumen

Some of the best meals I’ve eaten haven’t been in restaurants.

This one was cooked for me by my friends @sturmcatcher and @kaurwakee in their apartment in HafenCity, Hamburg. Jan made his family’s pork recipe — Schweinefleisch mit Backpflaumen. Pork floured and shallow fried in dairy tallow, then a sauce made in the same pan: wine, orange juice, cream, bouillon, reduced until creamy and sticky and clinging.

The Backpflaumen — dried plums, soaked in wine — go in last, whole, so they stay firm enough to cut into alongside the pork. Sides were Kroketten. Buttered peas with shallots.

Fruit cooked into meat is one of the oldest ideas in European cooking. Dried plums were sweetness, acidity, preservation — centuries before making this a true classic homestyle cooking. This recipe carries the mantle of tradition.

Jan didn’t have a name of this — It is just what his family makes, and now he’s taken over that mantle.

There is a generosity in cooking someone your family’s recipe when they visit from across the world. It is, I think, the highest form of hospitality. You are not taking them to a restaurant. You are handing them something that belongs to you.

I’ve been thinking about this meal since I got back. And here it is for you to recreate too — Recipe on the blog

(Also highly recommend leftovers the next day)