Best ever sauerkraut

At the Taste of the Huon on Monday, I ate a delicious pork sausage on a bun, that was badly let down by the sauerkraut accompanying it. Now, I LOVE sauerkraut, but this was clearly fresh from the tin, and hardly warmed. So I decided to share my recipe for the BEST EVER sauerkraut. Well, in my opinion. It will be like potato salad - every German will have a better one. When I say sauerkraut, I'm not talking about making it from scratch by fermenting the cabbage, though I am keen to try that. The stuff in a tin, a packet or a jar is fine, home made better of course, but it's how you cook it that makes the difference.

It's not my recipe, just an adaptation. Many years ago, I visited Bavarian Smallgoods and Butcher, a small shop on a suburban street in Ermington in western Sydney. This place smelt incredible - mainly of smoked ham - like walking into a little piece of Bavaria. Unfortunately it has closed now. That day, David and I were shopping in preparation for our annual Oktoberfest that we host at home, so I bought many kilos of the fantastic sausages, some cold meats, mustard and several large jars of sauerkraut. As I handed over my money, owner Ricky pointed at the jars of sauerkraut and asked me, 'how are you planning to cook this?'. I told him I normally added a cup of white wine and simmered it for a while. No, no, no. All wrong. Here's what you need to do to guarantee the tastiest sauerkraut.

You'll need:

• Speck (smoked bacon - ideally both a fatty and a leaner piece), finely diced
• Small brown onion, finely sliced
• Cans or jars of sauerkraut
• Some riesling
• Caraway seeds
• Two cooking apples such as Granny Smiths, peeled and grated

First, fry some fatty speck in a large saucepan. Add the sliced onion. Once the pan is glazed with fat and onion is browned, add about a third of the sauerkraut and heat through. Add the grated apple, a few teaspoons of whole caraway seeds (a German friend of mine swears they are fart-retardant!) and another third of the sauerkraut. Stir and heat through. Add a cup or two of riesling, the remaining sauerkraut, the non-fatty speck and stir. Put the lid on and simmer for at least two hours, stirring occasionally. Fertig!