Czech roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut-style cabbage (Vepřo knedlo zelo)

1. For the roast, rub the pork shoulder with 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of caraway and the crushed garlic. Spread 2 sliced onions in a roasting tin, lay the meat on top, spread with the lard, pour the water underneath and roast covered in an oven preheated to 180 °C for 1 hour, then uncovered for another 60-70 minutes, basting several times, until the top is crisp and brown.

2. For the dumplings, warm the milk and let it froth for 10 minutes with 1 teaspoon of sugar (from the cabbage sugar) and the yeast. Knead the flour, a pinch of salt, the egg and the yeast milk into a medium-firm dough, then knead in the finely diced (slightly stale) bread rolls; cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.

3. Shape the dough into two rolls about 6 cm thick and rest for 20 minutes. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add the dumplings, cook covered for 10 minutes, turn and cook for another 10 minutes. Lift out and prick immediately to let the steam escape (this keeps them light).

4. For the cabbage, finely chop the remaining onion and sweat it in a little fat spooned from the roasting tin. Add the finely shredded cabbage, the remaining caraway, 1 teaspoon of salt and 100 ml of water and braise covered for 30 minutes. Season with vinegar and sugar until sweet-and-sour.

5. Slice the dumplings 1.5 cm thick with thread or a sharp knife. Slice the meat and bring the juices in the tin to the boil with a little water.

6. Put meat, 3-4 slices of dumpling and cabbage on each plate and pour over plenty of gravy.

Tip: "Vepřo knedlo zelo" (pork-dumpling-cabbage) is the best-known dish of the Czech Sunday lunch and pub kitchen, almost a national symbol; Czech cooks slice the dumplings with thread so they don't get squashed.