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Pigs' Feet, German Style
Gplit three good-sized, cooked pigs' feet in half, place in an earthen vessel with a sliced onion, sprig of thyme, two bay leaves, two cloves, a teaspoon each allspice, whole black pepper and salt, a gill each vinegar and water, turn feet well in seasoning and let marinade for two hours. Mix on a plate a tablespoon oil, teaspoon salt and half teaspoon pepper. Lift feet from marinade, repeatedly turn in seasoning and lightly roll in bread crumbs, arrange on double broiler and broil over a brisk fire for six minutes on each side. Remove, dress on a hot dish, decorate with six quarters lemon and parsley greens and serve.
A grilled-offal dish that depends entirely on work the recipe assumes you have already done: the feet must be fully tender before they are ever marinated. Six minutes a side crisps the crumbs and nothing more.
- "Cooked" is the hingePigs' feet must be simmered until the collagen has broken down and the meat pulls easily from the bone — figure 2.5 to 3 hours at a bare simmer in water with aromatics, or about 45 minutes at pressure. Brolling alone will never make them edible.
- A gillHalf a cup. So a half cup each of vinegar and water for the marinade.
- "Gplit"A typesetter's slip for "split." Halve the cooked feet lengthwise through the bone; a heavy knife and a mallet, or a cleaver, does it cleanly while they are still warm.
- Earthen vesselAny non-reactive bowl — glass, glazed pottery, stainless. The point is that the vinegar not sit on bare metal.
- Double broilerNot a double boiler. This is the hinged wire grill basket that clamps food between two grids so it can be turned as one piece — essential here, since crumbed split feet fall apart on an open grate. A fish grilling basket works.
- Brisk fireHigh direct heat: hot coals, or a gas grill run hot. Under a household broiler, place the rack close to the element and watch it; the crumbs and the exposed gelatine both scorch fast.
- The oil and crumbsThe oiled plate of salt and pepper is a binder, not a batter. Turn the drained feet in it repeatedly, then a light roll in dry crumbs — a thick coating will burn before the interior is hot through.
- YieldThree feet, split, give six halves, and the recipe sets out six lemon quarters; it names no number of servings. The texture is frankly gelatinous under the crust; that is the dish, not a fault.
Despite the name, this is close to the classic French treatment of pieds de porc a la Sainte-Menehould — long-simmered feet, crumbed and grilled until crisp — a preparation generally traced to the town of Sainte-Menehould in the Champagne region. What marks it as "German style" in a book of this vintage is the sharp spiced vinegar marinade, the same souring that produces Sulze and pickled pork in German kitchens, applied before grilling rather than for keeping. The International Cook Book belongs to the era when American professional cooking catalogued dishes by nationality, and its author wrote out of that restaurant tradition, where nose-to-tail thrift and elaborate garnish sat side by side. Pigs' feet were cheap and unremarkable then; the lemon quarters and parsley are what turned a cellar cut into something a waiter could carry into a dining room.