Münsteraner Töttchen
Originally considered a "poor man's meal", traditionally Toettchen was made from a calf's head and innards such as lung and heart, cooked with onions and vinegar into a sweet and sour ragout. These days, veal and veal tongue are mainly used, and the dish appears on restaurant menus.
Region North Rhine Westphalia
Ingredients
- veal shoulder or breast
- 1 onion halved
- 1 leek
- 2 sprigs parsley
- 1/4 celery root (celeriac)
- 2 bay leaves 2 cloves
- 2 cloves
- 3 allspice
- 8-10 white peppercorns
- 1 onion diced
- 2 tbsp butter or lard
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp medium hot mustard
- ½ tsp chervil or thyme leaves
- juice of 1/2 lemon or white wine
- 1-2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- sugar
- Worcestershire sauce
- salt & pepper freshly ground
Instructions
- Put the meat with the washed and cleaned soup greens, the bay leaves, the halved onion studded with cloves, the crushed allspice, the peppercorns and a little salt in 1 ¼ liters of salted water, bring to the boil and cover for about 1.5 hours on a medium-high heat cook heat. Remove from the broth, allow to cool slightly, remove any fat and tendons and cut into small cubes. Pour the broth through a fine sieve.
- Peel and finely chop the onion, then fry in the butter/lard until golden. Dust the flour over it, let it brown slightly and deglaze with a little broth. Pour in enough of the broth to create a well-bound sauce. Let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes, then season with the lemon juice or vinegar, a little sugar and the mustard mixed in three tablespoons of broth to make it spicy and slightly sour. Add the meat cubes to the sauce and heat for a few minutes. Add chervil or thyme leaves and leave to stand briefly. Before serving, drizzle Worcestershire sauce over the ragout.
- In Münster only fresh, strong farmhouse bread, mixed salad and a tasty beer would be served as side dishes. If you like, boiled new potatoes, spaetzle noodles would do.
