Pichelsteiner is a German stew that contains several kinds of

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

and

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

Preparation

In the first step,

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

and

mutton Lamb and mutton, collectively sheep meat (or sheepmeat) is one of the most common meats around the world, taken from the domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries'', and generally divided into lamb, from sheep in their first year, hogget, from sheep in thei ...

are seared. Then the vegetables are added, which are usually

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es, diced

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

s and

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum''), is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to Greece, Morocco and the former Yugoslavia. It has been introduced and naturalisation (biology), naturalized in Eur ...

roots, cut

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

and

leek A leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of Leaf sheath, leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a "s ...

. Subsequently meat broth is poured over the mixture and everything is cooked together (some recipes also add diced

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

s and

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

). In

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

, it is common to serve the marrow of the bones with which the broth was made together with the finished stew as a garnish. As the dish is very easy to prepare, ''Pichelsteiner'' is often prepared in large-scale catering kitchens. Its consistency is normally quite thick.

Etymology

The creation of this dish has been traced to Auguste Winkler (née Kiesling). Originally from

Kirchberg im Wald Kirchberg im Wald (, ; officially Kirchberg i.Wald) is a municipality in the district of Regen, in Bavaria, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and th ...

, she worked as an innkeeper in

Grattersdorf Grattersdorf is a municipality in the district of Deggendorf, Bavaria, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Al ...

, where she is also buried. The name is likely to have derived from the nearby

Büchelstein The Büchelstein is a mountain, high, in the southern Bavarian Forest near the higher peak of the Brotjacklriegel. Its forested slopes rise above the bowl of the Lallinger Winkel in the east and the village of Grattersdorf to the north. Just ...

mountain, where the annual Büchelsteiner Fest has been celebrated since 1839. As early as the 40th anniversary in 1879, the open-air cooking festival was considered a tradition, and because the letter ''ü'' is pronounced like ''i'' in the local dialect, the dish's name developed. In

Regen Regen (; Northern Bavarian: ''Reng'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and the district town of the district of Regen. Geography Regen is situated on the great Regen River, located in the Bavarian Forest. Divisions Originally the town consiste ...

, a town in the

Bavarian Forest image:Zell-bayerischer-wald.jpg, The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest The Bavarian Forest ( or ''Bayerwald'' ; ) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany, that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech Republic, C ...

, the citizens have met annually since 1874 on Kirchweih Monday to eat Pichelsteiner together, a tradition that is still alive today. They also claim the name's etymology. In their opinion, it derives from the pot in which the stew is cooked, which was called a ''pichel'' in the past, but this version is highly questioned by Bavarian researcher Max Peinkofer. The dish was first mentioned in a cookbook in 1894.

References

* Max Peinkofer, "Büchelsteinerfest und Büchelsteinerfleisch" he festival and meats of Büchelstein (a mountain in Bavaria, Germany)in: ''Der Brunnkorb'' fountain in the town of Tittling, Bavaria, Germany (Passau, Germany: Verlag Passavia, 1977), {{ISBN, 3-87616-060-X German stews German pork dishes Bavarian cuisine Swabian cuisine Meat and potatoes dishes Cabbage soups Meat stews

Preparation

Etymology

See also

References