WHAT’S COOKING: Bockwurst with a warm potato and bacon salad and braised red cabbage

Bockwurst is a German cooked sausage (no prizes for knowing that) traditionally made of ground veal and/or pork, and more likely to contain more veal than pork.

Wikipedia (which still exists by the way, if you’re as sick and tired as I am of dull AI explanations of the bleeding obvious) tells us this: “Bockwurst… is a German sausage traditionally made from ground pork or veal (tending more towards veal, unlike bratwurst). Bockwurst is flavoured with salt, white pepper and paprika. Other herbs, such as marjoram, chives, parsley, ginger, mace and coriander, are also often added. Bockwurst is a parboiled sausage that is smoked in hot smoke for around 30 to 60 minutes before cooking. This gives it its characteristic brownish colour.”

The Ricomondo range, a product of the Yeoman Group, is marketed as “a slice of Italy produced in South Africa”. Their Italian range looks impressive, but obviously this product does not fall under that category.

Strangely, there is no sign of bockwurst on the Yeoman Group website, including its Ricomondo section. But it is labelled Ricomondo. Maybe it’s a new addition. I wanted to check the product’s ingredients but was thwarted, so I’ll stick my neck out and say that I doubt there is veal in it, which could be explained by the fact that South Africans don’t seem to have much of an appetite for veal.

But these sausages tasted good, and I like the texture, so I’m not bothered if there’s no veal in them. It’s not compulsory. And it made a change from the red meats and chicken we normally opt for.

This quartet of bockwurst was smoked in beechwood and sold ready to eat. I wanted them to be hot, so I had two choices: cook them in simmering water just long enough to heat them through without bursting, or fry them lightly in a little oil in a pan, again just enough to heat them. This is the route I chose and a risky one, but they came out with neat burnished strips on either side, where the temperature had been hottest, and did not burst.

To go with them I made a warm potato salad. This starts by simmering chopped onion with thyme, then frying off about half a packet of bacon bits, until golden and crisp.

Botanical (or red wine) vinegar is added, and prepared mustard is stirred in. It’s seasoned with salt, black pepper and thyme.

The potatoes will have been boiled earlier and drained. Cubed potato is then added to the bacon, onion and dressing in the pan, and tossed through before serving.

I also braised some shredded red cabbage in olive oil and finished it with fruit juice and a little mustard.

Tony’s bockwurst with a warm potato salad

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

4 medium potatoes, boiled and cubed

1 medium onion, chopped

100g bacon, diced

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 heaped Tbsp Dijon mustard

Salt and black pepper

2 cups shredded red cabbage

A little olive oil

Juice of ½ lemon

Thyme sprigs, as many as you like

Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Peel the onion and dice it.

Peel the potatoes and slice them in half. Put them in a pot of salted cold water and put it on a high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are al dente, but not totally soft. They need a bit of “give”.

Tip them into a colander and leave to drain.

In a pan, heat a little olive oil and add the bacon bits. Fry until they’re golden and crisp. Remove to a side dish.

Add the chopped onion and some fresh thyme sprigs and cook until softened but not browned. Add the cooked bacon back to this pan.

Add the vinegar and stir in the mustard. Season with salt and black pepper.

Shred the red cabbage and simmer in a little hot oil, stirring. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over and stir, to set the colour and prevent it from turning purple.

Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a clean pan and gently cook the bockwurst sausages, turning once, just to heat them through and give them a little extra colour in places. Don’t be tempted to take them too far.

Cut the warm potatoes into cubes and toss through the onion and bacon in the pan and serve immediately with the bockwurst and red cabbage. DM