Roasted Pork with Potatoes and Onions (Schweinsbraten)
Photo: Austrian delicacy, CC BY-SA 3.0
Schweinsbraten is the Sunday and celebration roast of Austrian, Bavarian and Bohemian kitchens. The pork roasts in a shallow bath of water, then turns fat side up, where caraway, onions and repeated brushes of cold beer build a brown, crackling crust. The pan juices become a thin, clear gravy with no flour at all, which local cooks treat as a matter of principle. Leftover slices are excellent cold with bread and horseradish.
Instructions
Preheat the oven. Wash the pork, pat it dry with paper towel, and cut a diamond pattern about 1 inch long into the fat side so the skin crisps later.
Rub salt, pepper and crushed garlic well into the meat. Pour water about 2 cm deep into a roasting tray and set the pork in it fat side down. Sprinkle with caraway seeds and lay onion rings on top.
Place the washed, peeled potatoes beside the meat and roast at 220°C for about 1 hour. The potatoes are ready when they are soft.
Take the potatoes out and cover them with foil to keep warm. Turn the pork fat side up and sprinkle it again with caraway seeds and thinly sliced onions.
Roast for another 30 to 45 minutes, basting often with a little of the pan juices or beer. Add water if the pan runs dry. Brush the rind once more with cold beer near the end to help the crackling crisp.
The pork is done when only clear juice runs out, with no blood, and the crust is brown and crunchy.
Deglaze the pan with beer and hot water, scraping up the browned bits, and season with salt and pepper. Do not thicken the gravy with flour or cornstarch. Slice the meat thinly and serve with the gravy, potatoes and bread dumplings.
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