Metzgete - Pork "Swiss Style"
A Swiss culinary tradition that celebrates the whole pig.
The hunting season is over; we’ve gorged our way through the „Wild” season. But if you think it’s time to go on a diet – now is not a good time. Might I suggest that you wait to start that diet after the “Metzgete”?
What is that? If you recognize Metzger – and you understand butcher - you are on the right track. Basically, it is a “Saugut” (actual translation is sow good – or better yet damn fine) hundred year old tradition. Restaurants invite guests to enjoy a freshly butchered pig – all of it, from nose to tail and head to foot.
My First Metzgete - My First Mistake
At my first Metzgete, I committed three major , but forgivable sins. The simple village restaurant was packed to its wooden beams. My husband translated the menu over the noise of the crowd, “potato salad, applesauce, sauerkraut..,”
” Wait what did you say? I heard “Blut und Leberwürste”. Appalled, I asked „Do you truly mean sausages made from blood - real blood? ”
“Yeap that’s right and the other is made out of liver and the pigs head.”
I turned up my nose and simply couldn’t bring myself to try them. Since the owners were good friends of my in-laws, I was given the special treatment and ordered an “extra-wurst”. Actually two; I was served a Bratwurst and a Buurawurst.
Another Mistake
My second mistake was apparently a humdinger; I put mustard on my Bratwurst. Does it sound earth shattering to you? Me either, but in St.Gallen, the home of the Olma Bratwurst, it is a cardinal sin. I still don’t understand why except “weil es so ist” – because it is like it is!
Despite my mistake, I finished my Bratwurst and full of anticipation attacked my Buurawurst.
I stabbed my fork in that sausage and fat shot out of each hole into a fine arch - the perfect synchronal cliff dive. However, the landing was not a perfect entry but a splat onto my neighbor, vis-a-via’s, face. He had four little red burns on the apple of his cheek.
I put the crowd on silent.
“Why in the world didn’t you lay your bread over the sausage before you cut it?” asked my husband horrified - yet again.
Huh. How was I supposed to know that? I don’t cover my T-Bones with a piece of bread when I cut into the steak. Since this was the first sausage I had ever eaten, it couldn’t have simply dawned on me. Is that the reason why we eat a hot-dog wrapped in a bun?
Was there a module offered in the Hausfrau course on “How to eat Sausages?” I must have missed that one. Further education has taken on a new meaning for me.
A short history - about 500 years!
I have learned that the Metzgete has been around hundreds of years. According to Peter Bührer’s “Schweizer Spezialitäten” the „Leber- und Blutwürsste vom Schwein“ were included in the lunch menu in 1480.
But what is a Metzgete besides another excuse to eat? Why is it held now? Actually it used to be held on Martini Tag, 11.11., which historically was 40 days before lent. So like today, it was a good excuse to pig out before dieting.
However, there were two more significant reasons for the autumn slaughter.
The pigs were fat after being fed through the summer and the farmers escaped the trouble and costs of feeding them through the winter In those days there was no need for recycling, they couldn’t afford to waste and didn’t. So what couldn’t be smoked or cured was eaten – all of it at the Metzgete.
The German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck has been attributed to saying, “The less the people know how sausages and laws are made, the better they will sleep.” I agree and will stop my explanation here.
Alternatives and Sides
But to reassure those less adventurous, ham and sometime pork chops are also served as well. Occasionally, döhrte Bohnen, dried green beans that taste almost smoky served as a side. Yum.
It is deftig, hearty fare but great value for money. Another incentive to reserve your first metzgete, is to interact with the locals. Check your local paper for the dates in the restaurants near you. The locals will be there. I hope you will too. En Gueta
References:
„Eine sehr frühe schriftliche Erwähnung findet sich in Peter Bührers im Jahre 1991 erschienenen Buch „Schweizer Spezialitäten“. Darin wird eine Küchenordnung aus dem Jahre 1480 zitiert, die ein St. Galler Abt für einen Hof aufgestellt hatte. „Leber- und Blutwürsste vom Schwein“ sind darin als Teil des Mittagmenüs vermerkt.“
Verein Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz, Version vom 01.01.2010, http://www.kulinarischeserbe.ch Dezember 2009
c/o AGRIDEA CH-8315 Lindau, Eschikon 28
Ostschweiz am Sonntag „ „Wie das Schwein vor Stall auf die Schlachtplatte kommt“ Corina Tobler 26.10.2014
Tagesanzeiger 2.11.2011 „Sauglücklich wenn man das ganze Tier isst“