Bigos: Polish hunter's stew

Poland's much-loved slow stew of sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, pork, smoked sausage and mushrooms, rich, tangy and smoky. It gets better each day, so make a big pot and reheat it.

Ingredients

• 500 g Pork shoulder, cut into 2cm pieces
• 150 g Bacon lardons
• 300 g Smoked sausage, sliced
• 15 ml Vegetable oil
• 2 Onions, chopped
• 250 g Mushrooms, sliced
• 800 g Sauerkraut, drained and roughly chopped
• 0.5 Green cabbage, shredded
• 40 g Tomato purée
• 0.5 g Bay leaves
• 2 g Ground allspice
• 2 g Caraway seeds
• 2 g Black pepper
• 1 Apples, grated
• 150 ml Red wine, optional
• 0.5 Bread, rye or crusty bread
• 800 g Potatoes, boiled

Method

1. Fry the lardons in the oil in a large casserole, then add the pork and brown it, then the sausage.
2. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook until soft.
3. Add the sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, tomato purée, bay, allspice, caraway, pepper, grated apple, the wine if using and 400ml water. Stir well.
4. Cover and simmer very gently, stirring every so often and adding a splash of water if it catches, until everything is soft and the flavours have melded.
5. Boil the potatoes for the last 20 minutes.
6. Taste for salt, then serve with the boiled potatoes and bread.