andrejthechef
GermanyBowlDinner

Pfälzer Saumagen

A savory mixture of pork, potatoes and herbs, cooked inside a pig's stomach casing, then sliced and pan-fried crisp. The Palatinate's most famous dish.

prep
45 min
cook
3 h
total
3 h 45 min
serves
6
level
hard
Pfälzer Saumagen, a dish from Palatinate

Saumagen is the Palatinate's best-known dish, a savory pork and potato filling cooked inside a pig's stomach casing, the same basic idea behind Scottish haggis but with a distinctly German flavor profile of marjoram and allspice.

It is famous enough to have been served to visiting heads of state by a former German chancellor, which says something about regional pride. The technique has two real stages: a long gentle simmer to cook the filling, then a cooling period and a hot pan-fry to actually make it crisp and servable.

Part of our 20 best German recipes list.

method

  1. Mix the ground pork, diced potato, onion, marjoram, allspice, nutmeg, salt and pepper thoroughly in a large bowl.

  2. Rinse the cleaned stomach casing well. Fill it with the pork mixture, leaving enough room for the filling to expand slightly as it cooks, and tie the opening securely closed with kitchen twine.

  3. Prick the casing in a few places with a needle or skewer to let steam escape during cooking.

  4. Put the filled stomach in a large pot of simmering water and cook gently, not at a hard boil, for 2.5 to 3 hours, until the filling is fully cooked through.

  5. Lift it out carefully and let it cool completely, ideally overnight in the fridge. This firms the filling enough to slice.

  6. Cut the cooled Saumagen into thick slices, about 2 cm.

  7. Heat the oil or butter in a skillet over medium heat and pan-fry the slices for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until the cut surfaces are golden and crisp. Serve hot.

chef's tips

  • This is a two-day dish in effect: simmer and cool it one day, slice and fry it the next. Trying to slice it while still warm just falls apart.
  • The stomach casing is a genuine specialty order from a butcher, already cleaned, since preparing a raw one yourself is not a reasonable home project.
  • Helmut Kohl, the former German chancellor, famously served this to visiting world leaders, which tells you how seriously the Palatinate takes it as a point of regional pride.
  • The initial simmer sets the filling; the pan-frying afterward is what actually makes it a dish people want to eat, crisp outside, soft inside.