Stewed Pork and Fruit is Silesian Heaven (Schlesisches Himmelreich)

This is THE dish of the former German region of Silesia (German: "Schlesien"), an area, since the end of World War Two, largely in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. The region had been contested going back a couple centuries or more, although often by German versus German. It was a region with lots of coal and copper, which saw heavy industry develop there, thus making it a coveted area for any ruler. The population had been very mixed for centuries, with Germans much in the majority in the overall area, but with a substantial Polish minority (and outright Polish majorities in some locales), and even a Czech minority (which was actually a Czech majority in that particular part). The Habsburg monarchy (the Hapsburg ruler also being emperor of the Old German Empire in those times) controlled the area for quite some time, until Frederick the Great, of the Hohenzollern monarchy, successfully wrestled most of the region (except the Czech part) from the Habsburgs, giving control to Prussia. The end of World War Two saw the Allies give most of the region to Poland, although a small part went to Czechoslovakia, and a small part remained with Germany, essentially around the city of Görlitz. Much of the German population was expelled from the area given to Poland, although there remains a small German minority there of about 350,000, from what I understand, and they are Polish citizens.

To some, perhaps even to many, this dish may sound strange, and it may be that you will need to acquire a taste for it, but it's really very good, with the fruit sweetening the meaty, mildly smoky sauce. This dish is well known, as the German Silesian refugees carried their individual recipes for it to their new homes elsewhere in post-war Germany.* I've seen recipes for this with cured, but unsmoked pork too, but smoked pork is more common, often pork belly. You can use pork stewing meat, but it's cheaper to buy some pork steak or pork chops and cut them up yourself, then add some pieces of smoked bacon for that flavor. Typically served with potato or yeast dumplings.

Ingredients:

1 pound pretty lean boneless pork
1/2 pound smoked bacon
water to cover 
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups (total) dried apple, dried apricots, dried pears, golden raisins (even better if the peels are on the apple and pears) **
peel from one lemon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
2 tablespoons cornstarch and 4 tablespoons cold water (well mixed, to make a "slurry")

Put all of the ingredients, except the ground cloves, sugar and cornstarch and water mixture, into a pot over medium heat. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cook until the pork pieces are tender, and the liquid reduces a bit. Stir in the ground cloves. Taste it to see if the sugar is needed, and if so, add it and stir. Gradually add the cornstarch and water, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens a bit. If you're like me, and you like much thicker sauces, use more cornstarch/water.

* If you have seen the movie, "Nowhere in Africa" ("Nirgendwo in Afrika"), the main characters are from Silesia, and early on, Walter Redlich tells their Kenyan cook about "Silesian Heaven," adding, "Ummmm," to show how he loves it. While the Redlichs were German Jews, they were not practicing Jews, and thus, they did not forbid themselves pork. I did an article on this wonderful movie, an Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, at this link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/06/nowhere-in-africa.html

** Fresh apple and pear slices can be used, but they may well fall apart during cooking, and traditionalists would never approve.

"Silesian Heaven," with "Silesian Potato Dumplings." The apricots sure stand out. 

WORD HISTORY:
Belly-This word, closely related to "bellows," goes back to Indo European "bhel," which meant, "to swell," from which a derivative developed, "bhelg," with the same meaning. This gave its Old Germanic offspring "balgiz," meaning, "bag." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "bælg," meaning "bag," but also "bulge." This then became, "belig," ^ then, "beli," before the modern spelling, but the meaning of "the abdomen" took place not long before 1300.

^ Old English words began losing the "ig" sound for words with that ending, leaving what came to be most commonly spelled, "y." Close relative German still spells many words with an "ig" ending, but the pronunciation by "some" German speakers sounds pretty similar to English "y."