The word "Grenadiermarsch" comes from the military-slang and contains "marsch" which means march. It is said that this dish was prepared during war-times, when food was poor but soldiers needed energy. Back then people started throwing their leftovers together and created an amazing dish containing things you'll probably have at home most of the time.
The Grenadiermarsch is made throughout Austria and varies from region to region; it can contain sausages or meat leftovers, noodles or Austrian dumplings called "Knödel". In Eastern Austria near the Hungarian boarder, people love ground paprika because of it's spicy taste. As I am from east Austria and raised with dishes containing this red aromatic powder, I made it like the Austrian-Hungarians did it during the monarchy. Okay, history lesson done.
The recipe calls for "pulled ham hock", which is basically a salty pulled pork. You can usually find this in a package at a grocery store, but if not you could use plain pulled pork, pulled beef, speck or sausages — personally I prefer the ham hock. The key ingredient for a great Grenadiermarsch is butter...lots of butter As the very first star cook, Fernand Point, would say: "Give me enough time and even more butter". For the pasta, it has to be small and preferably in exactly this shape which we call "Hörnchen" — it is a nice way to say small horns. Elbows or small macaroni would work!
Here's the recipe that will change your life and perspective on Austrian food.
Grenadiermarsch
- Prep Time:15 mins
- Cook Time:15 mins
- Total Time:30 mins
- Servings:2
- Medium
- 1 Cup Butter
- 2 Medium Potatoes or the equivalent if small
- 2 Cups Medium-Sized Pasta preferably "Chifferi Rigati" or elbows
- 1 cup Pulled Ham Hock
- 1/2 White Onion chopped
- Grounded Red Paprika
- Salt and Pepper
- Ghee
Ingredients
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Step 1
Cut your potatoes into small pieces. If you have some cooked potatoes left from another meal, use them. If the potatoes are very big (not like mine LOL) I would recommend par-boiling them first. The thinner the better!
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Step 2
Fry the potatoes in 4 tablespoons of butter with some salt on top. Bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta later.
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Step 3
Once the pasta water boils, throw in the pasta. Boil for approximately 10 minutes. Don't make it the Italian way; "al dente" is a no-go, we want our "Hörnchen" to be soft.
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Step 4
As soon as the potatoes are soft and golden, add the chopped onion.
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Step 5
Season with a lot of pepper - the more the spicy it gets, the better.
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Step 6
Add the ham into the pan and cook it through. (The meat is already cooked, so you just need to make sure its hot and crispy.)
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Step 7
Add some paprika for an extra kick. OOOH YUMMYYYY!!!!
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Step 8
Grenadiermarsch is not supposed to be healthy or dry - add the rest of the butter and some ghee to give it a cheesy taste.
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Step 9
Mix the drained pasta in and YOU'RE DONE!