🇫🇷Strasbourg, France

The Choucroute Pilgrimage

A mountain of wine-braised sauerkraut, buried under sausages, smoked pork and a knuckle or two. France and Germany on one enormous plate.

Photo: Food & Wine

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Why this dish?

Choucroute garnie is the grand dish of Alsace: sauerkraut slowly braised with Riesling, juniper and goose fat, then loaded with an armoury of charcuterie - Strasbourg sausages, smoked pork, ham hock, sometimes a slice of belly - and boiled potatoes. It's German in DNA and French in execution, which is Alsace exactly: half-timbered, bilingual, and very, very good at lunch.

You can't really do this at home - the joy is the sheer abundance and the room it's served in. A proper winstub (Alsatian wine tavern), wood-panelled and warm, a carafe of dry Riesling on the table, the platter arriving for two and feeding three. Strasbourg's old town looks like a fairy tale and tastes like a feast.

Our Picks

Maison Kammerzell

Address: 16 Place de la Cathédrale, Strasbourg
What to order: Choucroute garnie (or their fish version, choucroute au poisson) and a pichet of Alsace Riesling.
Book ahead: Yes, especially for a window table over the cathedral square.
Pro tip: Go hungry and consider sharing - the platters are built for big appetites.

Chez Yvonne

10 Rue du Sanglier, Strasbourg

A classic winstub locals trust for Alsatian classics - wood-panelled, fairly priced, and as cosy as the cuisine demands.

What to order: Choucroute, or baeckeoffe (a slow-baked meat-and-potato casserole) if you fancy the other great Alsace dish.

Good to know

Strasbourg is in Alsace, where the food, wine and dialect lean German - order the local Rieslings and Gewürztraminers, not Bordeaux. A 'winstub' is the Alsatian equivalent of a bistro and the right place for choucroute. The cathedral and Petite France quarter are walkable and stunning; allow time.

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