Saurbraten--Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking

Pennsylvania Dutch sauerbraten is the rural American cousin to the German classic, brought to the Lancaster County kitchens by 18th-century immigrants and kept alive in family kitchens ever since. A chuck roast bathes in a 50/50 vinegar and water solution with sliced onions for two or three days, which tenderizes the tough cut while infusing it with that signature sour twang. The clever Pennsylvania-Dutch addition is the larding step, holes get poked into the meat and stuffed with bits of bacon and chopped vinegar-soaked onion, basting the roast from the inside as it cooks. Whole cloves and allspice go into the marinade for warm spice depth. The resulting gravy is the trademark of this dish, dark enough to look almost black thanks to the long-marinated beef juices and a final hit of sugar that balances all that vinegar bite. Serve with buttered noodles, potato dumplings, or a heap of soft mashed potatoes to soak up the sweet-sour gravy.

Chef Tips

• Use a non-reactive dish for marinating, the long vinegar bath will pit aluminum and leach metallic flavors into the meat.
• Lard the meat properly with bacon and onion pockets as the directions describe, that internal flavoring is the Pennsylvania-Dutch signature.
• Add sugar to the gravy gradually at the end, the proper balance is sweet-sour with the sour still in charge, not candied.
• Turn the meat in the marinade once a day, otherwise one side cures more than the other and the finished roast cooks unevenly.

Variations

• Stir crushed gingersnaps into the gravy at the end for the traditional German thickening and a deeper spiced flavor.
• Add a tablespoon of dark molasses or brown sugar instead of white sugar for a more complex, less sharp sweetness.
• Substitute pork shoulder or venison for the beef for a regional hunter’s version of sauerbraten.