Zuurkool met Spek (Sauerkraut with Bacon Mash)
Zuurkool met Spek
The Limburg way with sauerkraut — mashed through potato with a whole slab of streaky bacon simmered on top and a thread of dark apple stroop to soften it.
IIStamppot & the Mash- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 60 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Beginner
Cross into Limburg, the hilly Catholic tail of the country, and the sauerkraut mash changes character. The east makes zuurkoolstamppot sharp and bacon-flecked; the far south does something softer and more Burgundian, simmering a whole slab of streaky bacon down into the kraut and then reaching, as Limburg reaches for almost everything, for a spoon of near-black stroop. The result is sweet-sour, rich, and unmistakably of its place.
An exchange in one pot
The heart of the method is cooking the bacon and the sauerkraut together rather than apart. Over three quarters of an hour they trade: the pork gives up smoke and fat that mellow the kraut, and the kraut's acidity renders and lightens the bacon. By the time the slab comes out to be sliced thick, both have become something the other made better. Juniper and bay in the water nod to the dish's old ties to the German-speaking lands just over the hills.
Stroop, the local hand
Then comes the move no eastern cook would make — a stir of Limburgse stroop through the mash. This dark apple-pear syrup is a regional obsession, spread on bread and used against savoury sour dishes, and here it turns a tangy mash sweet-sour and round. It is not a garnish but the whole regional argument: acid and dark sugar, meeting in the potato.
The kraut brings the sour, the stroop brings the dark sweet, and Limburg brings them together.
Serve the bacon in thick slices over the mash, a little extra syrup threaded across the top, and plenty of black pepper to keep the sweetness honest.
“The thread of Limburgse stroop is not a garnish but the whole regional idea — the sour of the kraut and the dark sweet of the syrup meeting in the mash.”
Ingredients
Serves 4
The pot
- 1 kgfloury potatoes — peeled, in chunks
- 500 gsauerkraut — drained
- 300 gstreaky bacon — in one slab, rind on
- 2bay leaves
- 6juniper berries — lightly crushed, optional
To finish
- 40 gbutter — cold
- 2 tbspLimburgse stroop — dark apple-pear syrup
- to tasteblack pepper
- a littlewarm milk — if needed
Method
- 1
Simmer the bacon in the kraut
Lay the slab of streaky bacon on a bed of drained sauerkraut with the bay and juniper, add water to barely cover, and simmer gently for 45 minutes. The bacon perfumes the kraut with fat and smoke as it slowly softens.
- 2
Boil the potatoes
In a second pot, boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until fully tender. Go easy on the salt — the bacon and sauerkraut carry more than enough between them.
- 3
Slice out the bacon
Lift the slab of bacon out and set it aside to rest. Drain the sauerkraut, pressing gently, and give it a rough chop so no long strands remain in the finished mash.
- 4
Mash and sweeten
Drain and dry the potatoes, then mash with cold butter, loosening with a little warm milk or some of the bacon liquor if stiff. Stir in the stroop — the dark syrup is the Limburg counterweight that tames the sour kraut.
- 5
Fold and plate
Fold the chopped sauerkraut through the sweetened mash and grind over black pepper. Slice the bacon slab thick and lay it over the top, spooning a little more stroop across if you like it sweet-sour.
In the kitchen
The tools that make this recipe easier.
- EssentialPotato ricer ↗
The route to lump-free stamppot and mash.
Crowning the mash
Stamppot is a canvas: a well of gravy and something smoked or pickled.
- Rookworst — smoked sausage, sliced into the well
- Jus — a pool of dark gravy in the centre
- Piccalilli or zuur — sharp pickles to cut the richness
- Speklapjes — crisped pork belly for kale stamppot
Questions from the kitchen
What makes this the Limburg version?+
Two things: a slab of streaky bacon simmered whole in the kraut rather than diced, and the stir of dark Limburgse stroop, the apple-pear syrup that the Catholic south loves against sour and savoury dishes alike.
What is Limburgse stroop?+
A thick, almost black syrup boiled down from apples and pears, traditional to Limburg. It is used on bread and, as here, to sweeten and round sour dishes. Any good dark apple syrup stands in.
Why simmer the bacon in the sauerkraut?+
Cooking the two together is an exchange — the bacon lends its smoke and fat to the kraut, and the sauerkraut's acidity cuts the richness of the pork. Neither is as good cooked apart.
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