Schweinshaxe

Schweinshaxe is a whole pork knuckle roasted until the skin turns dark and crackling and the meat falls off the bone. It's Bavaria's beer hall centrepiece, sized for one determined eater or built for sharing, and one of the few dishes that arrives at the table looking essentially unchanged from the whole cut it started as.

What it actually is

A whole pork knuckle — the lower leg joint, skin still on — is rubbed with garlic, caraway and salt, then roasted slowly, often basted partway through with beer or stock, until the skin blisters, darkens and crackles while the meat underneath turns completely tender. A final blast of high heat crisps the skin further just before it leaves the kitchen, since a soft, unrendered skin is considered a real failure of the dish.

The bone stays in throughout, which both flavours the meat as it roasts and gives the whole thing structure — this is eaten with a knife and fingers, not neatly portioned in the kitchen beforehand.

How it's served

• Whole, on the bone, the crackling skin left intact for the guest to cut into.
• With potato dumplings, sauerkraut or red cabbage, the usual sides.
• With a dark beer, as much a pairing convention as a side dish choice.

Writing it on a menu

• Say that it's served whole and on the bone; it's a substantial, messy dish to eat, and guests should know that going in.
• Mention the crackling skin specifically, since a properly rendered, crisp skin is the entire point and worth naming as a mark of quality.
• Note the sides that come with it (potato dumplings, sauerkraut or red cabbage), since the dish is rarely ordered without them.
• Say whether it is a generous single portion or meant for sharing, since the size of the knuckle varies.
• Flag gluten (barley): beer used for basting or in the gravy brings cereals containing gluten.
• The nutrition figures describe the cooked meat and skin per 100 g, not the plated dish with bone, sides and gravy.