What is "schaufele"

Schäufele (also "Schäuferle", "Schüfeli", "Schäuferla" or "Schäufelchen") is a traditional dish from the south of Germany. It is made from the pig's shoulder meat, which gives the dish its name, "Schäufele", or the pig's scapula. Depending on region the recipe for the dish differs a bit:

In Franconia the meat, the pork rind and the bone are scratched in a criss-cross pattern, seasoned with salt, pepper and caraway and put in a casserole dish with diced root vegetables and onions where it is doused with beer and roasted in the oven for about two or three hours. The roast is ready as soon as the meat is easy to separate from the bone and the pork rind is crispy and golden brown. It is then served with various side dishes including gravy, Kartoffelklöße, salad, sauerkraut, red cabbage and savoy cabbage.

In Baden the meat is cured and smoked before it is simmered in a broth of water, white wine, vinegar, onion, bay laurel and clove for about two to two and a half hours. It is then served with potato salad, dressed with a broth of salt, pepper and vinegar. Although available all year around, Schäufele with potato salad is the typical Christmas Eve supper in the southern half of Baden.

In Switzerland it is also cured and smoked but served with beans or sauerkraut. There it is very common as a Christmas dish.