Rooster Stew with Dumplings

Rooster stew is the triumph of slow cooking: rooster meat turns really tender and deeply flavoured only from long, patient cooking.

Rooster stew

1. Clean the rooster meat (1.5 kg), and cut it up – use the larger bony parts too, as those give the flavour of the sauce.

2. Chop the onions (3) finely, and in the lard (3 tablespoons) fry them slowly glassy.

3. Add the crushed garlic (5 cloves) and the paprika (3 teaspoons), then take it off the heat and quickly pour in a little water, so the paprika does not turn bitter.

4. Put in the rooster meat, salt and pepper it, add the caraway (1 teaspoon) and the marjoram (1 teaspoon).

5. Add the diced tomato peppers (2) and the tomatoes (2), then covered, over a low heat, cook it tender for hours. Top up its liquid with a little water if needed.

Dumplings

6. From the flour (400 g), the eggs (3), the water (200 ml) and the salt mix a thick batter.

7. Drop it into boiling salted water, cook it, then serve it with the rooster stew.

Tip: Rooster stew needs a longer cooking time – do not rush it, because the slow cooking is exactly what makes it really characterful.