Pork Spectacle

Germans, particularly Bavarians, love pork in all its many forms.  (Their beer pairs well with any pork dish - enough said.)  Probably the most classic pork specialty in Bavaria is schweinzehaxen - pork knuckle.  I saw a few others eating it, and it looked pretty good - there's no hoof or anything, just a lower section of the pork leg, with about two bones and a crispy fat cap.  I was determined to try it before leaving.

When Sarah and I arrived at the beer hall in Andechs (monastery), I knew the time had come.  They were serving several Bavarian specialties in high-volume cafeteria style (usual for a beer hall), but they all looked good and were made by beer-swilling monks - what could be better?  The knuckle looked very good when glimpsed from afar, but the line moved quickly and I had to make up my mind in a hurry, so I got a single pork knuckle and one serving of potato salad (warm, made with vinegar - yum). I hesitate to use the term "soup nazi" while in Germany (i.e. from the TV show Seinfeld), but that was the speed/intensity of service.

Anyway, they cut the pork knuckle in half, threw it on a plate, I threw money at them, and seconds later I had my dish.  Except that they gave me two plates under the pork knuckle.  Hmmm.  As I looked at it, I realized it was quite big - much bigger than the ones I have seen people eat in other restaurants.  And it didn't appear to involve bone and gristle like you might expect - it was mostly meat and (admittedly great-looking) crispy pig fat.  And it was pretty expensive.

I see, it's a TWO-person meal.  For Bavarians.  And my wife is a vegetarian.

Well, I can't let it all go to waste - best to roll up my sleeves and see what I can do.

Hmm, moist and tasty roast pork, came right off the bone.  I resisted the urge to eat much of the (admittedly delectable) fat cap/crackle, as there was LOTS of it.  (Note that's a full dinner plate & regular-sized utensils, with 500mL of doppelbock in the top right.)

And... I'm done!  That was great.  Lots of fat/crackle left behind, but I finished off all the meat.

Wait a minute.  That was only the first half.  The SMALLER half.

Hoo boy, I was a little confused at this point.  What was I supposed to do with this?  I couldn't take it with me as I didn't have any refrigeration.  Yet it would be a terrible waste to leave it.

Well, keep calm and carry on, as they say.

I ate a significant amount more pork, but eventually I had to give up.  Tasty or not, I can only eat so much.  The results:

This was the fat/bone leftovers of the knuckle.

And this is the perfectly-good meat I had to leave behind.  Rough estimate, at least 3/4 of a pound.

Thank goodness we had hiked 5km up and would hike 5km down from lunch, in addition to more walking around Aying later.  I was mouth breathing and felt vaguely pork poisoned for the rest of the day (and part off the next) by this excess of riches.

So, my lessons learned:

1. German pork knuckle is good.  
2. Learning food sizes/servings/portions/etc. in the German language is a valuable skill if you want to avoid the meat sweats accompanying pork overload.