Eisbein

The pork knuckle - also known as knuckle, knuckle, Haxn or pork, Knöchla, Hechse, Hämmche, Bötel referred, in the Hessian also reel in Austria Stilts, on bavarian knuckle of pork, also known as the Frankish Knöchla or Adlerhaxe, Swiss Gnagi or Wädli - is a meat dish. It is the part of the leg of pork, which is located between the knee or elbow joint and the tarsal joints.

Eisbein is heavily mixed and surrounded by a thick layer of fat. Unlike the calf or lamb the Hinterhaxe in pigs is less than the meatier foreshank. The meat is very tender and aromatic, but must be cooked long. It should be in all cooking methods, boiled or grilled, can be easily detached from the bone.

Preparation

The method of preparation varies regionally, but there are two main variants: While it is in Northern Germany usually vorgepökelt and then cooked, it is fried in Southern Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria usually ungepökelt in the oven or grilled, whereby the rind into a crumbly crust.

Usually it is too hearty, simple dishes used in Berlin cooked with pea puree, for example, in Swiss francs as " herb and Knöchla " with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes or bread. For the Austrian preparation ( " stilt " ), it is often pre-cooked in a garlic - Kümmelsud, after which it goes into the oven or on the grill until the skin is crispy. Stilt is traditionally served with mustard, horseradish ( horseradish ) and pickled vegetables.

The consumption of pork knuckle is often carried out as a social event of associations with partially 5000 participants. In Austria, there will also be held in conjunction with the card game Rummy Rummy as so-called stilts, where you can win a stilt respectively.

Etymology

Knuckle of pork

For the origin of the name knuckle there are different explanations. After the more common, which probably comes from the etymology, it comes from the previously common use of the shins as a material for skate blades from, called the Norwegian islegg to legg " leg bone tube ". Alternative explanation is that knuckle goes back to the Old High German īsbēn, an old word from the technical language of hunters and physicians for the hip bone, probably borrowed from Latin ischia " hip " which in turn from the Greek ischíon " hip bone " that by shifting meaning only in NHG lower leg respectively.

Leg

The designations Shank, Hechse, Haxe go to the Old High German Hahs ( i) na " Achilles, Kniebug the hind leg " back, whose origin is unclear. Maybe she is related to the Latin coxa " hip ", which would mean the knuckle comparable shift in meaning.