Bigos

Bring 300 ml of the water to the boil, pour it over the dried mushrooms and leave them to soak for 30 minutes. Lift them out and chop them, and strain the soaking liquid through a paper towel.

Dice the bacon and cut the pork shoulder into 3 cm cubes. Render the bacon in a large heavy pot, then brown the pork in the fat in batches and set both aside.

Slice the kielbasa and chop the onions. Brown the kielbasa briefly, lift it out, and soften the onions in the fat left in the pot.

Shred the white cabbage. Stir the tomato paste into the onions, then add the sauerkraut, the cabbage, the mushrooms with their strained liquid, the bay leaves, juniper berries and caraway seeds.

Return the bacon, pork and kielbasa, pour over the wine and the remaining 200 ml of water, and bring to a simmer. It will not cover everything at first; the cabbage gives off its own juice as it cooks down.

Cover and cook very gently for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Add the prunes and cook for 30 minutes more, until everything has collapsed together and darkened.

Season with pepper. It should taste sour, smoky and faintly sweet all at once.