Dr. John Bayerl kindly shares this recipe from a few years past, woven into a rich tapestry of memories. He states this recipe is a German dish, a "gelatinous meat dish that we would make for special occasions."
"This dish was prepared on the farm where I grew up in the little hamlet of Birch Creek, just five miles north of Menominee on U.S. 41. We would always make sulze after a pig was slaughtered, but of greatest meaning to me are the times we made and served it on Christmas Eve. The dish would have been made during the afternoon and then put in the basement to chill and set up.
The whole family would bundle up and drive the two miles to Holy Trinity Church for Midnight Mass. At the time I'm recalling my "family" consisted of my mom and dad, my dad's parents who lived with us, two uncles who lived with us, two sisters, and older brother and myself. (Later two more sisters and a brother would be added to the mix.)
Before leaving for Mass we would have built a fire in the wood-cooking stove, heated the oven, and put several rings of home-made liver and blood sausage in a roasting pan into the oven just before leaving.
Coming in from the sometimes below-zero night and stepping into the kitchen on our return from church is something I'll never forget. In addition to the excitement I felt as a child on Christmas Eve, there was the sudden warmth from the stove, the ongoing discussion of the priest's sermon, the sight of the Christmas tree draped in icicles, and above all the smell of the home-made sausage, now baked to a delicious crisp in the oven.
We gathered around the big kitchen table, and the meal was served. In addition to the sausage, there would be buttered, home-baked rye bread with caraway seed, and the sulze, now a delight of chunks of pork and veal surrounded by a just-sour-enough gelatin. For dessert there would be mom's specialty that she called an apple noodle. Probably the best way to describe it would be to call it a pasty shell filled with apple pie filling.
Then we children would do the dishes in the kitchen sink before trundling off to bed. Christmas Eve or not, it was never a problem falling asleep after a night like that."
Making the Sulze
"Here is how my mom gave me the directions along with my interpretation of their meaning.":
Ingredients:
Pork and veal, more pork than veal. (A couple of pork hocks and a veal shank.)
Put the meat in a kettle with enough water. (Cover the meat in water.)
Add the following:
- A bay leaf
- A handful of salt (about 3 tablespoons to start with, add more to taste)
- Lots of pepper (at least a tablespoon; add more to taste)
- Vinegar - enough so that it will taste more sour cold than it does hot (This is the part that cracked me up; it is the artistic part of cooking.)
- 1 envelope Knox Gelatin - Optional - There should be enough gelatin from the pork and veal bones, but sometimes it's okay to add an envelope of Knox Gelatin powder to the liquid while it's still boiling.
Directions:
- Boil the meat mixture until the meat falls off the bones.
- Remove the meat from the liquid and let it cool.
- When meat is cool, remove the meat from the bones, and throw away any unnecessary fat and skin.
- Grind the meat in a meat grinder, and use the coarse setting.
- Put the ground meat into a glass bowl or dish, and pour the liquid over it.
- Refrigerate until cold and gelatin sets. Slice and serve with buttered rye toast.
