Der Große Otto

My version of a famously filling Berlin breakfast reworked as a hearty meal with a nod to traditional German cuisine.

Everybody loves to argue about Strammer Otto and his even better known brother Strammer Max. Somehow these two dishes have been absorbed into the languid früstück culture of an affluent post-WWII Germany. But they certainly weren't invented as breakfast at a time in which you were lucky if you got more than one meal a day.

With it's notoriously late nightlife, perhaps what we now see as brunch gained prevalence at a time when Berlin's burgers were chowing down just before going to bed. The clue might be in its Dutch cousin, a very similar dish called the "Uitsmijter", which translates as "the bouncer".

A occasional fan of its Dutch cousin and its second cousin (once removed? I always get confused) the "full English", one of my lockdown amusements was reproaching this simple comfort food and deciding that it really can be part of a bigger picture, a hearty lunch or dinner when breakfast is no longer a big deal.

I opted for combining the Strammer Otto with two other of my favourite German classics, potato salad and sauerkraut.

Shopping list

For the Strammer Otto

• A slice of a suitably rustic bread such as a dark sourdough or multigrain loaf; ideally a large slice in terms of area but not thickness

• An egg

• A few gherkins

• 2 slices of thinly sliced roast beef or pastrami

• A slice of Emmental cheese (optional, and far better with the ham of a Strammer Max

For Ken's potato salad

(These portions make enough potato salad for three to four people. Fortunately it keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge)

• 5 to 6 large potatoes

• 1 large onion, finely diced

• A few spring onions or a handful of chives, finely chopped

• gherkins, finely chopped. Leave them out of the salad if serving it as part of this meal that already includes gherkins, in which case use capers instead, but add them to any leftover kartoffelsalat)

• Mayonnaise to preference

• A couple of tablespoons of mustard (I personally prefer it with Dijon or wholegrain)

• Kräuter salz (failing that, rock salt)

• 1 hard boiled egg (optional)

Sauerkraut

Yes, you could make it yourself from scratch, but chances are it won't be anywhere near as good as the many excellent bottled versions readily available. So just buy it.

Cooking method

Make the potato salad first.

1. Cook the potatoes whole in their skins. Drain and once cooled, peel the skins (or leave them on if you want the extra vitamins and fibre)

2. Dice the potatoes into cubes of your preferred size

3. Finely dice the onions and chop the chives and gherkins and/or capers

4. Stir in mayonnaise and mustard to preference, dress with a little kräuter salz

5. If you are doing the version with the egg, finely crumble the cold hard boiled egg over the top of the potato salad

6. Store in the fridge in a covered dish until 30mins before serving

The Strammer Otto

1. Toast the bread (or shallow fry it in a knob of butter if you're going high-fat, old-school; lard if really old-school)

2. Finely slice the gherkins

3. Fry the egg

4. While the egg is frying, plate the bread (and cheese if you are using it). Place the roast beef on top of the bread.

5. Once the egg is fried, place it on top of the roast beef and garnish with the sliced gherkins

Serve the Stammer Otto on its own as a breakfast or with potato salad and sauerkraut as a lunch or light supper.

Pairings

If you're having this as a lunch or light supper, this works best with any decent beer. I enjoyed it with with Franziskaner Weissbier sold by a UK supermarket chain as if it were the real thing, but knock yourself out. I guess it works best with coffee for the breakfast version but, hey, if you're doing a really traditional German früstück I guess a pilsner is just fine.