Schwein Gehabt!

I thought it would be a good time to talk about luck.
I love reading about good luck traditions of people in the past.
In my childhood and youth.

It feels like we are a bit in uncharted teritories much like our ancestors
before science and the abiltiy to summon information about anything.
Life was a gamble and our relatives of the past 
would grab onto "Symbols", 
that would give them reasurrance and 
"Good Luck" 

You've heard of the "Luck of the Irish" ...

How about the "Luck of the German".

So the Irish have their Shamrocks and the German's
have their symbol....a pig!

They have a saying
"Schweine Gehabt"

meaning "Got Pig"

Schwein Gehabt

What does this mean.....Got Pig?
Well it could mean that if you got a pig you'll have provisions for the winter.

On the German Wikipedia page it gives several theories all that I find interesting.

In the 16th century some German's called an

Ace of Spades in a card game
a "sow", so if you were lucky you could
draw the sow
"Schwein gehabt!"

and still is called a sow in a card game called
Schafkopf or "Sheephead"

Whatever it was lucky card,
so maybe it just became
one of those sayings.....

Maybe the saying came from the cards
but there is a deeper reason that the pig carries a feeling of luck,

This beautiful mural painted on the city hall Münden, in the city of Hahn, in Lower Saxony, Germany
depicts a flood in that city and some of the citizens taking their valuable possesions on a raft,
one of which is their pig.

If you "Had Pig" you had at least had sustenance.

Germans love to eat pork also!

Pork or Schwein have a long history in Germany. There ancestors wild boars then bred
to be less wild. Soon were herded in flocks like sheep.
They responded to a shepherd with noises from calls and horns.

They were raised in swampy meadows durning the Spring and Summer and
Then led into the Forset in the Fall for "Fattening". They would eat the acorns
and beech nuts and fruit such as apples and plums that had fallen from the trees.

Why pork and not beef?

The versatile pig or Schweine, is not as high management as beef
was the main reason. Pork will eat any kind of scraps and can be raised for next to nothing.
If a family had a pig they were safe from starvation. They also clean up spoiled garbage
helping to keep the homestead sanitary.

Our ancestors brought pigs to the United States where it was not indigenous to
the area.

Pigs became so prevalent in what is called New York City that they occupied
the streets right with people cleaning up the garbage, and also blocking traffic,
and occasionaly scaring little children. Older proper ladies were outraged that
they were compelled to watch these hogs, sometimes very large Berkshires
copulate in the streets.

Eventually Peter Stuyvesant with urging of the wealthier business class built a wall on the street
around the west part of the Island to keep intruders but also those dang pigs out, calling it Waal Straat

The British that attacked the Dutch and took over the town,
tore down the wall but the street name to this day remains and is called Wall Street.
You may have heard of it.

The Pig as we know today was domesticated from a
Wild boar.

Through breeding we have what we call a pig or Schweine today

One of the cuts of pork you can buy now in supermarkets is a
Whole Pork Loin.

There are so many advantages to buying this cut,
You save about half I figure.
I am not sure where you live, but where I live
we find it for 3 dollars a pound on sale,
and pork chops or pork loin roast are likely 6 dollars a pound.

Much of this meat is very lean, and recommended for many
low fat diets.

The flavor is very mild so you can use any sauce or stuffing,
any ethnic style will utilize this cut well, be it an German dish
but also dishes from our Italian, Asian or Spanish friends
whom our cuisine has mingled ideas wwith.

Now everywhere you can find these complete pork loins.
They may look big but they are easily divided into many meals.
I want to say easily, as you can see it is not a big cube of meat that
you would need to separate the muscles in the exact place. Most are
boneless, but even if there are the pork chop bones intact you can
slice to the side of them.

courtesy of pork.org

The fat can be trimmed off easily if you want.
Then you can trim and freeze.

Stuffed Pork Chop with
Apple & Onion Dressing

A

You can make this with a boneless chop as well as with one with the bone in

Pork Rouladen
Filled with Ham, Cheese and Pickle
"Cuban Style"

Pork Sauerbraten

Szged Pork and Sauerkraut Goulash
with Potato Dumplings

Pork Schnitzel

This is done like a Wienerschnitzel but since it is made with pork loin instead
of veal we can't call it Wienerschnitzel.

Basic Schnitzel preparation from a Loin of Pork

I like to prep these up ahead and freeze them.

Go here to Prepare Schnitzels
from a Pork Loin.

Go Here for Some Recipes for Cooking
Jaegerschnitzel, Rahmschnitzel, Ziguenerschnitzel and many more

Spiessbraten
Spit Roasted Pork Loin Stuffed with Spiced Onions

Spiess means "spit" in German and this specialty of the Saarland
area of Germany, and really is best roasted on the rotissere of your grill.

You can of course roast it or grill it if you don't have a rotissere,
that shouldn't stop you from trying this most excellent dish.

You will need to learn how to slice the pork loin and make a huge "Schnitzel-Like"
flat shape

Then fill with the onions, either cooked or uncooked, and roll it up jelly roll style

and tie it off with butcher's twine

Go Here to make Spiessbraten!!!
with Step byt Step Pictures

Some other ideas for stuffing a jelly- roll style
pork loin

Stuffed with a dressing with sundried tomato and green mild chilies then I grilled it on the BBQ.

I made a apple and cranberry dressing to stuff this pork loin.

Marzipan Pig Store

German Music

Through modern technology we can enjoy music from Germany at the touch of your computer, there are many venues now, Pandora, Amazon music, and Youtube is free. I love my noise canceling headphones that are completely wireless and give incredible sound!

Bose Headphones over 2500 perfect reviews, it is a bit of an investment but worth every penny.

 

Stefanie Hertel

A recipe book and short biography of my Grandmother Emma Block. Her recipes, culture and cooking styles that were brought over from Germany. How they evolved when she came to America in the early 1900s and settled in Portland, Oregon on the west coast of the United States. Over 100 recipes

Bonus Recipe CD with the Ebook and recipes with step by step pictures

To order the Cookbook with the CD

Order the Kindle Version

\

Biography of my grandma
Emma Block
From Germany with Love tells the story of my grandma, Emma Block, growing up in a little town in Baden/ Würtemberg, Germany near Heidelberg named Steinsfurt. Then at the age of 15 immigrating to the United States, taking a train with one of her sisters and brothers to Hamburg and sailing the Atlantic with other hope filled Germans wanting to make a life in the "New World". It was not easy but with good values learned in her German upbringing made a full life, had a wonderful family with lots of fun and celebration including the great German meals.

Order Here
15.97