SPECK WITH BRAISED RED CABBAGE

Cooking this made me feel like an Alsatian ... and I don't mean the dog, I mean the fine folks of Alsace. Which is pretty much the same things as saying Germany - because Alsace is about as German as you can get outside of Germany (okay maybe not as German as Austria ... and parts of Argentina straight after WW2 ... but close. And in any case, I'm pretty sure Alsace WAS Germany at one stage). This speck had polka dots on its skin. I thought it might have come from a rare spotted breed of pig, but no. It seems the speck was smoked on a rack with holes in it and so the dark circles are simply where the smoke rose through the holes. Anyway, the smoky richness of the speck and the sweet earthiness of the cabbage were a marriage made in ... um Alsace.

SPECK WITH BRAISED RED CABBAGE