Grünkohl mit Pinkel

Grünkohl mit Pinkel is kale slow-cooked down with bacon fat until dark and soft, served with Pinkel, a coarse smoked-groat sausage. It's Northern Germany's winter dish, and it's genuinely distinct from Himmel und Erde — this one is built on kale and smoked sausage, not the apple-and-potato mash the other dish is known for, even though both are hearty, cold-weather comfort food from German kitchens.

What it actually is

Kale, stripped from its tough ribs and roughly chopped, cooks down for a long stretch — often over an hour — with rendered bacon fat and softened onion, collapsing from a stiff, bitter green into a dark, soft, almost jammy mass. Alongside it, Pinkel — a coarse sausage bulked out with oats or groats and heavily smoked — poaches gently and serves whole on top of or beside the kale, its smoky, grainy character standing in contrast to the kale's slow-cooked sweetness.

Pinkel specifically, not just any sausage, is what the dish is named for. A version served with a plain Bratwurst or a different smoked sausage instead is a reasonable stand-in dish, but Pinkel's coarse, oat-bulked texture is what the traditional pairing is actually built around.

How it's served

• Hot, kale and sausage plated together, often with boiled or mashed potato alongside.
• As a hearty main, traditionally eaten in the colder months.
• With mustard, on the side, for the sausage.

Writing it on a menu

• Say which sausage is used, since Pinkel specifically is what the traditional name refers to.
• Note that the kale is cooked down for a long time, which is what gives it its soft, dark character rather than a bright green side.
• Mention that it's a different dish from Himmel und Erde, since both are Northern German comfort classics that guests sometimes mix up.
• Flag any allergens in the sausage's oat or groat filling, since that varies by recipe.