Pork Knuckle.
In Bavaria, the knuckle goes into the oven uncured. In Frankfurt, it's cured first.
That's what makes it pink, juicy and mild instead of dry. Then two and a half hours of steam before the heat turns the rind into crackling. With sauerkraut from our own barrel and a sauce made with dark beer. A knuckle the way you'll only eat it here.
A knuckle you don't have to chew.
The pork knuckle is the dish people from all over the world come to a German tavern for. And the dish where most things go wrong: too dry, too salty, hard outside, tough inside. Ours is none of those.
We use the hind knuckle of Hessian farm pork, because it carries more meat than the front. It comes from Metzgerei Friz in Frankfurt, lightly cured; that gives it the pink colour and the mildness. Then two and a half hours of steam, until the meat comes away from the bone, and only after that the heat that turns the rind into crackling.
It weighs 800 grams raw. On the plate it's less, because the steam takes the water and leaves the meat behind. Beside it stands what belongs to it in Frankfurt: sauerkraut from our own barrel and a sauce made with our dark beer.
Four steps,
no shortcuts.
Two and a half hours for a piece of meat that others have ready in forty minutes. Girolamo Falco does it this way because there's no other way, if it's meant to taste like this.
The MeatHind knuckle, lightly cured
The hind knuckle of Hessian farm pork, from Metzgerei Friz. Lightly cured, just enough to keep the meat pink and let the pork still come through.
The SteamTwo and a half hours
The knuckle cooks in the combi steamer, two and a half hours in steam. The temperature stays our secret. What we can say: afterwards the meat comes away from the bone without falling apart.
The Crackling230 degrees
Only now comes the heat. At 230 degrees the rind turns into crackling, and Gino knows when it's done: when it blisters everywhere and is soft nowhere.
The SauceDark beer, caraway, knuckle juices
Made with our house beer, Krombacher Brautradition Dunkel, with the juices of the knuckle and a caraway blend Gino puts together himself. The base is a stock of beef bones, cooked in-house. No powder, no stock from a jar.
On the side: sauerkraut from our own barrel.
We make our own sauerkraut: with juniper berries, caraway and one ingredient we don't give away. It's the reason guests ask what's in it. We don't tell.
What guests ask.
Is the knuckle for one person?
Yes, one plate for one hungry guest. 800 grams raw, bone in. If you can't finish it, start with the crackling.
What Gino drinks with it.
Krombacher Brautradition Dunkel, our house beer
What's in the sauce belongs in the glass: malty, soft, with a light roasted note that suits the crackling.
Höhl from the barrel, in the Bembel
Acidity against the fat. A sip after every bite of crackling, and the next bite tastes like the first.