German Ham with Sour Cream: Schmantschinken nach Ostpreußischer Art

There are other recipes in German cooking called "Schmantschinken" (also spelled "Schmandschinken"), but this general recipe originated in East Prussia (German: Ostpreußen), a former German province in northeastern Germany, and the provincial capital was Königsberg (now the Russian city of "Kaliningrad"). The "nach Ostpreußischer Art" means, "East Prussian style." 

 

After World War Two, East Prussia was divided between Poland and the then Soviet Union (Russia), with Königsberg itself renamed Kaliningrad as part of the Soviet Union. East Prussia had come to be known for dairy products, including sour cream, a product in common use in much of eastern Europe. The Germans arrived in what became East Prussia in the 1200s and many of these German settlers were Low German speakers; and thus, Low German formed the basis of the particular dialect that developed in East Prussia. The dialect incorporated some vocabulary from the Slavic people in the area, as well as additional German settlers from elsewhere and also Dutch speaking settlers. As the Russians approached the region in the last months of World War Two, the German population was largely evacuated from East Prussia into the interior of Germany. While I'm not completely certain of this, I'd have to believe that there are few East Prussian dialect speakers still around, especially those truly fluent in the dialect. East Prussia was known for having been cut off from the rest of Germany as part of the territotrial adjustments after World War One, with the Polish territory between East Prussia and the main part of Germany being called the "Polish Corridor." It is also known to World War Two history buffs as the location of Adolf Hitler's main military headquarters from 1941 until late 1944. It was at this headquarters that the Nazi nutcase was nearly assassinated when a bomb was placed under the map table during a military conference on July 20, 1944. The area of Hitler's former headquarters has been a part of Poland since the end of the war, but remnants of its many structures remain.  

 

I use a center slice ham steak, which has the small round bone in the middle, with the ham being about a half inch thick. 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 center slice ham steak (with the small round bone), about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds  

3 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup milk (I use canned evaporated milk, NOT sweetened condensed milk)

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground white pepper (or black pepper)

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Heat a large (12 inch) skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the ham slice and brown it lightly on both sides. Remove the ham and add the flour to the melted butter used to fry the ham and stir lightly until the mixture turns light brown/tan. Add the sour cream and stir well, then stir in the milk to thin the sour cream a little. Stir in the lemon juice, sugar, white (or black) pepper and salt; mix well. Add the ham slice back to the skillet to reheat it and cut it into serving pieces. Serve with ham pieces topped with the sour cream sauce, and boiled potatoes and a salad alongside.    

 

WORD HISTORY:

Finch-This name for a common type of bird is closely related to "fink" (keep reading). "Finch" goes back to Indo European "(s)pingo/(s)pingos," the name for the "chaffinch," the name for which seems to come from the idea of the birds feeding on seeds found in the chaff of harvested grains. The Indo European form gave Old Germanic "finko" (the 'p' becoming 'f' in Germanic), which then became "finkiz," as a diminutive. This gave Old English "finc," which meant "finch," and this then became "fynche" (ending 'e' would have been normally pronounced 'ah/eh'), and this then became the modern form "finch." Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Fink," Low German has "Fink," but it seems to now be limited to regional usage (in Westfälisch dialect?), although it was long in broader usage as "fink(e)" and "vink(e)" until a couple of hundred years ago, West Frisian "fink," Dutch "vink," Danish and Norwegian have "finke," but this is a borrowing from Low German in the Middle Ages, Icelandic "finkur" (from English or Low German?), and Swedish has "fink," but also borrowed from Low German. Note 1: The North Germanic languages seem to have had a Germanic form with a beginning 's' and the 'p,' instead of 'f.' This gave forms like "spink, spinke," which was used for a type of sparrow, but the West Germanic form was borrowed and overtook those forms and they also took forms of "sparrow" from West Germanic. Note 2: German "Fink" (all German nouns are capitalized) is the strong candidate for English "fink," used to indicate a person of contemptible ways, especially "a person who provides information to law enforcement about another person or people." This developed in the German criminal world from the idea of a finch (German: Fink) being a talky and singing bird, and in the American criminal world it was often said, "If the cops press Randy, he'll sing about us to the heavens, fink that he is." Hey, I can hit the high notes too!