French · Alsace · main

Baeckeoffe

Baeckeoffe reads umami 6.2, richness 6.1 and salinity 3.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a French · Alsace main, about 27 hr 29 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 6.7 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 3.1 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 1.3 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.0 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 6.3 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 3.9 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.2 · Richness 6.1 · Salinity 3.8 · Allium 3.5 · Sweetness 2.9 · Herbaceous 2.5 · Earthy 1.8 · Warm Spice 1.5 · Bitterness 1.2 · Sourness 1.1 · Funk & Ferment 1.1 · Fruity 0.8 · Floral 0.8 · Citrus 0.8 · Nutty 0.6

What's in it (19)

• boneless beef chuck — 500 g
• lamb shoulder roast — 500 g
• pork shoulder roast — 500 g
• pig trotter — 400 g
• dry alsatian sylvaner — 750 g
• onions — 500 g
• leeks — 250 g
• garlic — 16 g
• juniper berries — 3 g
• bay leaf — 1 g
• thyme — 2 g
• parsley — 240 g
• potatoes — 1500 g
• carrots — 160 g
• salt — 10 g
• freshly ground black pepper — 5 g
• all-purpose flour — 150 g
• water — 90 g
• lard — 20 g

Time & effort: about 27 hr 29 min (3 hr 24 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 108 kcal, 6.6 g protein, 5.8 g fat, 7.6 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

1. The name means baker's oven: the housewives of Alsace assembled this on Monday washing day, carried the sealed terrine to the village baker, and collected it at midday cooked in the falling heat of the bread oven. It is a dish designed to be left completely alone, which is still the best way to cook it.
2. The day before, put the three meats and the split trotter in a bowl with the onions, leeks, garlic, carrots, juniper, bay, thyme and parsley. Pour over the whole bottle of wine, cover and refrigerate 24 hours, turning twice. There is no browning anywhere in this recipe — baeckeoffe is a pale, gelatinous, wine-scented dish, and searing the meat would make it something else.
3. Grease a deep oval glazed terrine with the lard. Lay in a third of the potato slices in overlapping rows, season, then half the drained meat and vegetables. Repeat, and finish with a neat overlapping layer of potatoes on top. Season each layer as you build; seasoning only the top leaves the middle flat.
4. Strain the marinade over — it should come just to the top of the meat layer but leave the top potatoes proud, so they colour rather than boil.
5. Mix the flour and water to a stiff, non-sticky paste, roll it into a long rope and press it round the rim, then set the lid on and press the paste up against it to make an airtight seal. This is the whole engine of the dish: no steam escapes, so the meat cooks in wine vapour at just under boiling and the potatoes above it steam rather than stew.
6. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for 3 hours. Do not open it, and do not be alarmed that nothing seems to be happening — there is no smell until you break the seal.
7. Take it to the table sealed and crack the crust open there with the point of a knife. The rush of wine and juniper steam is the reason for the ceremony, and it lasts about four seconds.
8. Serve straight from the terrine with a green salad. The trotter is not for eating; it is there for the gelatine that gives the juices their body. Lift it out and discard it.
9. Substitutions: Pinot Blanc can stand in for the dry Alsatian Sylvaner.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Smothered Pork Chops with Onion Gravy — Southern
• Grochówka — Polish
• Irish Lamb Stew with Root Vegetables — Irish
• Chunky Beef and Vegetable Soup — Eastern European
• Shepherd's Pie — British

Keep reading: what umami, richness, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.