Fichtner’s Wild Boar Ragout
from Marek Fichtner, Executive Chef, Kempinski Hotel, Prague
Short story about the recipe
I spent most of my childhood and early adulthood growing up around the “Krkonose” mountains. A very good friend of mine is an avid Game hunter and brought me along for one of his great hunting adventures. One of our favorite “catches” was the wild boar . He asked me if I could prepare some tasty “Czech style treat” with this meat. A very popular dish here is a beef goulash so I though a variation of this would be nice. I replaced the traditional goulash spices with cardamom, cinnamon sticks, and juniper berries. I added cranberries and rose hip jam to add a little tanginess to the finished product. All in all we ended up with a very well balanced and enticing dish.
Preparation time
Wild Boar Ragout – 20 minutes
Dumplings – 30 minutes
Cooking time
Wild Boar Ragout – 1. 5 – 2 Hours
Dumplings – 20 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
Wild Boar ragout
1.5 lb wild Boar Leg
9 oz onions
200ml red wine
150ml sunflower oil
50ml hazelnut oil
2 tsp juniper berries
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp cardamom whole
2 cinnamon sticks
5 oz frozen cranberries
2 tsp fresh thyme
1/4 c rose hip jam
salt
Bacon Dumpling
7 oz bacon
3/4 c flour
1/2 c milk
1/2 lb white bread
1/4 c onions
1 oz chopped parsley
1 tb butter
salt, pepper, nutmeg
Preparation method
Wild Boar Ragout
Clean the meat and cut in cubes. Heat the casserole and add sunflower oil and hazelnut oil.
Sauté the meat until it becomes very brown, take out. Add sliced onions and all spices, sauté until golden. Deglaze the pan with red wine and water. Add the meat back and cook until soft. When ragout is ready, add frozen cranberries and rose hip jam.
Bacon Dumplings
Slice the white bread in small cubes and let dry over night. Slice bacon and onions in small cubes and sauté in same pan. Combine the bread with egg yolk, warm milk, flour, onions with bacon and chopped parsley. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. After all slowly mix a whipped egg white inside the mixture.
Brush a cake form with butter or lay out with baking paper, place the mixture inside and bake by 275°F for 25 minutes. After slightly cooled take out, slice and serve with the ragout.