Pig knuckles
For dinner one night, Amy took me to a well-known Munich restaurant called Haxnbauer. We got the menu and I thought the special was a pig's knuckle like those shown above. I thought Amy said it was also. I wanted to go authentic, so I ordered it. After I ordered it, I saw the English translation was actually that I had gotten a pork cutlet. When it arrived, I recognized it as a pork chop.
Not to be deterred, I decided to make another trip to Haxnbauer to get my pig's knuckle. Amy at first begged off and suggested I do it the night she had to work. Then she changed her mind and decided she want to be there as well. So I made the trek back to Haxnbauer and ordered my pig's knuckle.
It was crispy and dry on the outside but tender on the inside -- much like a ham hock from split pea soup. And I don't think it was so much a pig's knuckle as a pig's elbow. It was very good and well worth the trip back and the $22 for the pig's knuckle. I also ordered spatzle, another German food I loved. I had so much food I couldn't finish it. Amy, it should be noted, wimped out and ordered steak with peppercorns.
