Leipziger Allerlei (Leipziger Potpourri)

Vegetables for gourmets

Ingredients for 4 portions:

• 200 g (7 oz) young, green beans (bush beans/Prinzeßböhnchen)
• 200 g (7 oz) white asparagus (Spargel)
• 100 g (3.5 oz) fresh peas
• 12 small carrots with tops
• 1 small cauliflower (about 400 g/14 oz)
• 2 small, young, kohlrabi
• 12 morels (optional)
• 80 g (2.8 oz) butter
• salt
• 2 pinches of sugar
• 8 fresh crawfish (each about 80 g/2.8 oz)
• 1/4 tsp caraway (Kümmel)
• 1 small sprig of dill
• 1 small onion
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
• 100 ml (3.4 oz) dry white wine
• 200 ml (6.8 oz) cream
• 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
• fresh grated nutmeg
• 20 g (0.7 oz) crawfish butter (see tip, or use store-bought)
• freshly ground white pepper

Preparation time: about 2 1/2 hours

Per portion: 520 calories

Directions:

1. Clean and cut the ends off the beans.  Peel the asparagus and cut off the woody ends.  Shell the peas.  Peel the carrots, leave about 2 cm of the green tops on.  Wash the cauliflower and break up into small florets. Peel the kohlrabi and cut into 3 cm long julienne.
2. Take each of the vegetables separately and wash in a sieve under running water, let drain.  Cut the stems of the morels, wash the morels well, and blanch them.  Squeeze out the morels and cook for 5-10 minutes in butter.
3. Boil each vegetable sort separately in salted water, spiced with 1 pinch of sugar and 1 tsp butter for 8-10 minutes until just cooked.  After each vegetable sort is done, plunge into ice water, then let drain well.  Set aside the water the vegetables were cooked in.
4. Wash the crawfish under running water.  Bring about 1 1/2 liters of water with 1 tsp salt to a boil.  Add the caraway, dill, the peeled onion, and the parsley stalks without the leaves  to the water.  Place 4 crawfish at a time in the boiling stock and allow to cook for 8-10 minutes.
5. Remove the crawfish, quickly run under cold water and lay on a kitchen towel to dry.  Take the meat from the shells, remove the intestines, and use the crawfish heads as you like (see tip).
6. Take about 200 ml (6.8 oz) from the vegetable broth and bring to a boil with the wine.  Add the cream allow it all to come to a half-boil.  Add salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper, sugar and nutmeg to taste.
7. Melt the butter and crawfish butter in a pan.  Toss the crawfish several times with the butter and remove.  Toss the morels and each vegetable sort by turn through the hot butter.  Lightly salt and pepper.
8. Decorate a large, pre-warmed platter, with the vegetables, morels and crawfish. Add the sauce on the side and between the vegetables. Garnish with washed parsley leaves.

“Leipziger Allerlei” is arguably the most beautiful and known vegetable dish in Saxon cuisine.  It was the vegetables of the season, the “Allerlei” season, that come into this cuisine and were brought together in a colorful arrangement.

Naturally, there are many variations to this dish, one thing is especially important though: the vegetables must always be very fresh!  You can leave out the morels and crawfish, or fill the crawfish heads with Grieß- or Semmelknödel, which adds refinement to the dish.

• You can make your own crawfish butter: Bake the crawfish shells in the oven for 1 hour at 100°C (212°F) to get them completely dry. Grind them up in a mortar and then render the powdered shell in a pan with butter, until the butter is clear. Pour the butter mixture through a fine sieve and continue to use the butter.

Want to read more about this recipe? Find out how the challenge went. Want more Real German Cuisine? Check out the full recipe list organized by German state. Do you have an alternative recipe for this dish or helpful hints? Please let us know in the comments!

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