Eisbein

Method

1. The night before, rinse 60 g of yellow split peas and leave them to soak in a bowl of cold water, covered by at least three fingers' depth, for 8 hours or overnight.
2. Rinse the 400 g cured pork knuckle under cold running water to wash off surface brine and set it in a deep, narrow pot in which it just fits. Cover with cold water by 3 cm, add 1 bay leaf, 4 crushed juniper berries, 6 black peppercorns and 2 allspice berries, and bring slowly to the boil.
3. Skim off the grey foam as it rises, then drop the heat until the surface barely shivers — a rolling boil toughens the meat. Cover partly and poach for 2 hours 30 minutes, topping up with hot water if the knuckle breaks the surface. It is done when a skewer slides into the thickest part with no resistance and the meat begins to shrink from the bone. Do not salt: the cure seasons the broth.