Our experience has been that domesticated pork, no matter in what country we’ve eaten it, manages to maintain some taste of its wild, Eurasian boar origins.  The exception seems to be found in American pork, which is tasteless and lately has a spongy quality, like that found in American chickens.  Bleah!  I don’t know exactly when this happened, having spent most of our lives overseas, but during one home leave we noticed the difference in both the pork and poultry; no taste, other than that added by rubs and sauces.  The spongey thing is fairly new.

Anyway, the purple cabbage, which everyone else calls red, is so pretty in an outer-space alien kind of way.

I love cooking this, and the German recipe I found while in Stuttgart is perfect for pork.

I rubbed the pork belly, as usual, with salt, then Emeril’s essence and overnighted it in the refrigerator uncovered.  Perfect for sandwiches.

German Style Cabbage

1/2 cup lardons

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, halved and sliced

1 small head purple cabbage, shredded

3-4 sprigs thyme

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 -1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

Salt and pepper

Brown the lardons in a wok.  Add the olive oil and the onion, then cook until the onion is soft.  Add the cabbage and thyme, then stir fry for 3-4 minutes.

Mix the vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper together, stir into the cabbage, then cover and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.