Recipe: Red Cabbage Flemish style

Cut your red cabbage in half. Take the core out, wash it well and place it in a large pot with some cold water. Bring it to the boil and allow to cook for 2 minutes. Stain it and cool it down rapidly. In the original recipe, the cabbage is sweated off raw, but I personally prefer to blanch it first. It makes it more digestible.

In a cast iron pot, heat up the lard. Add the finely sliced onions and the red cabbage. Season well and allow to gently cook for 10 minutes. Then add the vinegar.

Cover with some cold water and add the juniper berries, bay leaf and thyme. Allow to cook gently, covered for 50 minutes.

Then, add the apples (peeled, cored and sliced) as well as the brown sugar. Let the lot cook, uncovered for another 20 minutes. At this point it is important to let your pot uncovered to allow the evaporation of the excess liquid. As a result the cabbage will take the consistency of a coarse compote.

Red cabbage Flemish style can be either eaten cold or hot. As an accompaniment of a pork, rabbit or poultry dish. A must is to use the cabbage as a base for a pan fried slice of veal liver.