Wild Boar with Rosehip Sauce and Carlsbad Torn Pancake

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1
  You can prepare the rosehip puree in advance – a few days and put it in the fridge or longer and store it in the freezer. First, sort out only the nice, firm rosehips – all soft or with brown spots must go. Clean them by removing the remnants of twigs on one side and cutting off the caps on the other. Place the rosehips in a pot, cover with water, cover with a lid, and simmer until soft. Depending on ripeness and size, this will take at least an hour, maybe two. Make sure they stay submerged and don't dry out during this time. You may need more water and will have to add it.
• 2
  After cooking, blend the rosehips with a hand blender at the lowest possible speed. The goal is to break the skins but not blend the hard seeds. This will help with the subsequent straining through a fine metal sieve. It's not easy, but you can do it! Keep going until only skins and seeds remain in the sieve, although I always give up with a sore hand a little earlier. The resulting puree can be used immediately in the sauce or stored.
• 3
  Before you start on the sauce, take care of the meat. It needs to be treated like when preparing goulash or beef cheeks – the meat must be out of the fridge for at least an hour to reach room temperature. After unpacking and possibly cutting, dry each piece separately with a paper towel – this ensures it won't release water and stew instead of searing. Salt it and season with ground game spice mix.
• 4
  Prepare the vegetables as well. Peel a large carrot, a smaller parsley root, and add as much cleaned celery as needed to reach the required weight. Grate the vegetables coarsely. When it becomes difficult, you can just chop the leftovers. Peel and finely chop the onion. Place the spice balls in a submersible closable sieve (also used for tea). Tie the sprigs of fresh herbs with kitchen string. And cut the bacon into small cubes.
• 5
  It's ideal to use a heavy pot with a lid, in which you can both sear the meat and prepare the sauce. First, heat only the lard. When it's hot, add the pieces of meat so they have space around them. We want to sear the meat golden brown on all sides – it must not start stewing, releasing water, nothing like that. High temperature is necessary. If the pot is smaller, you may need to divide it into more batches, but definitely do it, it's worth it. Set the meat aside, remove it with tweezers so that the drippings and lard remain in the pot. Add butter and possibly sugar (we use it at this point only if we use homemade puree in the sauce, not the already very sweet store-bought rosehip jam). Stir. When the sugar dissolves, add the bacon and the mixture of carrots, parsley, and celery. Stir occasionally, let it turn golden. After a few minutes, add the onion and bay leaves. Again, let it gain more color for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then sprinkle with plain flour, roast it, a minute is enough. Pour in the wine and let it cook for a few more minutes to start evaporating the alcohol. Then add the broth, at least a teaspoon of salt to start, the spices in the cage, the bundle of herbs, and finally the meat, including the juice it released during resting. Bring to a gentle boil, cover with a lid, and let it simmer until the meat is nicely tender – depending on the quality and age of the piece, it can take between an hour and a half and two and a half.
• 6
  When the meat is nicely falling apart, carefully fish out each piece separately into a bowl next to it, trying to leave as little vegetable on it as possible. Set aside for a moment and focus on the sauce. Remove the herbs and spices. Grab the sieve and start straining. The goal is to push all the mass through the sieve, only then will the sauce be sufficiently thick. If you're thinking of a blender, forget it immediately. The sauce would look like a darker svíčková and it wouldn't be possible to go back! Using a whisk, mix in the rosehip puree or jam and check the sauce's consistency. If it's too thick, add a little more broth. When everything is well mixed and starts to come to a boil, you can taste it. If using puree, it will need more sugar. It will probably also need salt, add freshly ground pepper. Put the meat back in. This way, you have it ready for serving, just reheat it at the last moment.
• 7
  Preparing the torn pancake takes about 20 minutes in total and is a great alternative to dumplings. It's moist, fluffy, and also half golden brown! Heat all the butter in a 22 cm diameter pan. When it's liquid, set it aside for a moment to cool slightly. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Separate the yolks from the whites. The yolks go into a medium-sized bowl, the whites with a pinch of salt wherever you'll be able to whip the egg whites well in a moment. Pour milk into the bowl with the yolks, add salt, and whisk thoroughly with a whisk. Gradually add the flour. Then the cooled liquid butter, chopped parsley, and half a roll cut into small cubes. Whip the egg whites until stiff and gradually, about a third at a time, gently fold into the mixture using a spoon or spatula. When it's beautifully homogeneous, carefully pour it back into the still butter-greased pan. Place on the stove over medium heat and let it set for about 3 minutes. Then transfer to the oven and let it set there for 10 minutes. Ideal time to heat the sauce with the meat. When the time is up, flip the beautiful 'cake' upside down onto a cutting board. As the name suggests, you can tear the torn pancake. But it can also be cut into wedges and left in a regular shape. And you can serve immediately!