Food Blog: Pim

[bloviatrix]

Pim, I would love for you to describe the bread in greater detail. From the photo it looks like there is some form of nuts or grains in it, but I can't tell for sure. And what does it taste like?

[ludja]

Pim, I would love for you to describe the bread in greater detail. From the photo it looks like there is some form of nuts or grains in it, but I can't tell for sure. And what does it taste like?

I'm sure Pim will add to the description, but I believe the translation for "Kurbiskernbrot" is "Pumpkin Seed Bread".

[pim]

I'm sure Pim will add to the description, but I believe the translation for "Kurbiskernbrot" is "Pumpkin Seed Bread".

Thanks Ludja.

Yes, the bread's name is translated to pumpkin seed bread. It is a type of dense but soft German rye bread. It also contains, as the name suggested, lots of pumpkin seeds scattered throughout and on the crust. I love it. The taste is like a very good and strong whole wheat bread, without such a strong scent of the rye. It stays soft for a few days, making it a very practical breakfast bread to have around.

Yum!

[Louisa Chu]

The fridge was filled to the brim with fantastic food, thanks to a certain German boy.

And who eez zees German boy who leaves refrigerators full of knee-weakening foods? And any coincidence that this visit coincides with Valentine's Day? Eh, fraulein?

And I want those dried persimmons. Now.

[pim]

I was here for dinner Friday night. A small home style cafe in Heidelberg. It was a nice little place that had the look of old fashioned Germany. Well, what do I know about old time Germany, but that's what German Boy said. I really liked it though, the room was very cozy, with old wooden tables and mismatched chairs. The place was utterly devoid of tourists, but was populated with locals and people who looked like old professors and (somewhat) mad scientists from the university.

Schmalzbrot, rye bread served with lard and dried onion. I wasn't a big fan of this one, actually. I was intrigued, but found the lard tasted too much of, well, lard.

Kartoffel-Kohl-Auflauf, a casserole of potatos and cabbage with bechamel sauce topped with cheese. It was decidedly stinky, and looked sort of ugly, but was absolutely delicious!

[pim]

Yesterday was in Strasbourg. You'll just have to make do with pictures for now. I've got no time to do much online as I am running today to another small town in Germany.

Breakfast before driving to France:

Stumbled upon this market on our way to lunch.

Lunch at Julien, menu Coup de Coeur.

Stay tuned for more annotation.

[SobaAddict70]

Let me try my hand at translation: (full disclosure: Latin 3 years in high school, 2 years of college Spanish ; and my French sucks.)

Marinated salmon? with minted tabbouleh salad?

Something of Saint Joseph (Jacques)? something salad with truffles? cremini risotto?

Something (forcemeat) of foie gras, accompanied with fruit compote, and a reduction of meat juices and port wine? (I must be mangling the language, remind me to stop. )

Last thing involved chocolate and sorbet. I should know what "coulis de vin epice" means but can't figure it out.

Not bad for what basically amounts to something approx. $70. Sounds like lunch at Le Cirque 2000.

Ediot: Oh, and I didn't think to look at the pictures. This was a cold translation just peeking at the menu.

Soba

[jackal10]

My french is not much better but I think it says

Thinly sliced marinated wild salmon, with minted quinoa (tabbouleh style) and a salad of sprouted grains.

Scallops, salad of jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) with trufffles (from Richerenches), creamy risotto

Pheasant breast stuffed with foie gras with stewed dried fruit and mango, meat gravy with port

Molten chocolate cake <Guanaja>, whie chocolate mousse, blood orange sorbet, spiced wine sauce

[bleudauvergne]

Beautiful photos, pim !

Fine translation, Jackal10.

But what is in that appetizer plate? Describe!

I wonder why they marinated the wild salmon. It's got such a wonderful flavor in its nakedness. I liked the garnish on the salmon plate, the large fruity looking caper. Did you taste it?

I would add the word "seasoned" before scallops in the translation, Yikes topanimbour making an appearance on a 62 € lunch menu, oh la. I wonder what they'd say about that in France. Did you bring your beano? I guess the truffles de Richerenches counteract the mundane in that one - wow!

I just love the presentation of the desserts - really nice the way they pushed the swan through the coulis!

I love your reports photo and written!

Thank you!

-Lucy

edited to remove an annoying space at the end of the post

Edited December 3, 2005 by bleudauvergne (log)

[Pan]

Amazing, "Schmalz" meaning pig fat for the non-Jewish Germans!!!! For Jews, it means "chicken fat," thank you very much!

Great pictures, Pim, but no way am I going to try to guess what was what. I'll wait for you to let us know. Have fun in Germany!

[bloviatrix]

Amazing, "Schmalz" meaning pig fat for the non-Jewish Germans!!!! For Jews, it means "chicken fat," thank you very much!

I just checked with my yiddish expert and schmaltz is actually the generic term for fat. It doesn't really apply to any particular source.

[Pan]

My parents may disagree. I'll try to remember to ask them next time I speak with them.

[pim]

hmm...I wanted to go back to edit the post from the 14th, but apparently I couldn't, so here it is again, pictures and all, with longer notes this time.

---------------------------------

Yesterday was in Strasbourg. You'll just have to make do with pictures for now. I've got no time to do much online as we are running today to another small town in Germany.

(more texts added Feb.16)

Breakfast before driving to France:

German Boy and I had a rendez-vous today with two friends from Zurich. Our meeting place was Strasbourg, where we were to lunch at Julien, a Michelin * restaurant in town.

After picking up Swiss Guy and French Girl from the train station, and stopping once or twice along the way to join the huge manifestation and yell in support of better treatment for Ochalan, the Kurdish freedom fighter/terrorist (depending, of course, on your point of view), we trekked across town on foot to lunch. On the way we stumbled upon this market.

We had no time to properly survey the market, but I managed to snap a few photos anyway.

When we arrived at Julien, our nice table by the window with the view of the cathedral was waiting for us.

Lunch at Julien, menu Coup de Coeur.

The amuse consisted of a few cold mussels marinated in shallots and parsley vinaigrette, and a dumpling of mince fish(?) in a slightly sweet and sour sauce. The mussels were quite fresh and perfectly seasoned in the marinade, but I was less happy with the other thing. I wasn’t even sure it was fish! It just tasted vaguely of some type of seafood, and I wasn’t wild about the sauce either.

Marinated wild salmon, served with Quinoa taboule and sprouts salad. The saumon was almost in the style of lox, but without the smokiness. It was great and almost melted in the mouth. I didn’t quite get the sprout salad though. Sprouts in general have this slightly woody taste that I dislike.

Scallops with a salad of jerusalem artichoke and black truffles from Richerenches, and risotto. This was the star of the meal. The scallops were fresh and sweet, the jerusalem artichoke salad was lovely, though the truffes de Richerenches were largely missing in action.

The meat course was a Supreme of pheasant stuffed with foie gras, accompanied by mango and dried fruit compote and a reduction sauce with port. I wasn’t too happy with this, and left almost half untouched. The pheasant wasn’t at all gamey, in fact, it was so benign it could have very well been turkey. The foie gras was somewhat tasteless, which was strange as it is the specialty of the region. Too bad.

The pre-dessert was a swan with cream and coulis. It was just ok, fancy but somewhat pointless presentation, really.

The dessert course consisted of a “molten” bitter chocolate cake, white mousse and orange sorbet, in spiced wine coulis. I wasn’t too happy with this either. The supposedly bitter “molten” chocolate cake was neither bitter nor molten. The sorbet was also far too cloyingly sweet. The mousse was ok, but nothing spectacular. The tuille cookie was not crispy.

We had a bottle of Riesling that was chosen for us by the sommelier. It was quite good, though they failed to list the name on the bill so I couldn’t tell you what we had.

After we saw Swiss Guy and French Girl back to the train, German Boy and I went in search of a good cheese shop. We found one, La Fromagerie de Tonnelier, which is owned by the same people who owns the famous cheese restaurant La Cloche de Fromage. The fromagerie carries all sort of raw milk cheese from all over France.

When we found the place, there was a big sign in front exclaiming “Le Vacherin Mont-d'Or est arrive”. So of course, naturally, we bought one. I also insisted on a slice of Bleu d’Auvergne, even though it’s not from this region. I’ve just been craving it so long. I also got a Valencay, a goat milk cheese formed into a pyramid shape. And to also get something local, we got a big slice of local Munster cheese.

After the big lunch, dinner was a simple meal of cheese, bread, and saucisson sec (also bought from the cheese shop). To drink were a glass of bordeaux and a bottle of Karlsberg.

Edited February 16, 2004 by pim (log)

[pim]

Sunday Feb.15

Breakfast today was much like the last two days, so I didn't take a picture.

I was invited to lunch today with a friend's family. They live in a town in Germany, only about two kilometers from the French border. The area has changed hands so many times between France and Germany, the last change was not too many decades ago, that the food, the language, and the people are pretty much bi-cultural.

The scene at the house was slightly surreal, I must admit. A Thai girl visiting a German family, but we were all speaking French because that was the language that everyone, including the 70 yr.old grand-mère, spoke. In fact, the grand-mère could speak so many languages, French, German, Italian, Spanish, even a bit of English, and she kept using whichever language that came first to her mind. At one point she said, "I enseigne con flauta", one sentence, four words, in four languages. How fantastic was that?

We had lunch at a local restaurant named Canapé. Just like everything else in that area, the restaurant was a mix of French and German food, even with a bit of Italian pasta thrown in for good measure.

We started with a salad of frisee, lettuce, dandelion, and a healthy heap of lardon, in a creamy herb dressing. It was very good.

The next course was a sorbet of lemon, in champagne. How indulgent! Absolutely delicious.

Next was grilled mullet in langoustine sauce, served with fettucini. Someone translated the name of the fish from German for me as river bass, so I ordered it. When it arrived, I was surprised to see mullet, or rouget in French. If I had known that it was mullet, I probably wouldn't have ordered it, as I found mullet this far from the sea slightly dubious. Luckily the fish turned out quite fresh, and the sauce delicious.

I also stole a few bites of this rack of lamb in rosemary sauce.

The dessert was house-made vanilla icecream and strawberries. Yes, I know what you're thinking, strawberries in February! (roll eyes) The icecream was good though.

And of course, a proper espresso to end the meal.

We drank a bottle of local Reisling, whose name I forgot to take down.

For dinner, we drove around Heidelberg looking for scarywurst (I'll tell you all about it later), but couldn't find it so we ended up at a Thai semi-take out place. German Boy showed it to me for fun, as it was considered the best and most authentic Thai place in all of Heidelberg. It looked pretty good, in fact, so, on a dare, I decided to eat dinner there. We split two dishes, Gai Pad Kra-pow (chicken an holy basil) and Gang Pa Talay (Jungle curry with seafood).

They weren't too bad, really, but the Pad Kra-pow had to much dark chinese soy sauce in it, so it tasted a little muddy. Both the dishes were spicy as hell, even for me.

Edited February 16, 2004 by pim (log)

[SobaAddict70]

Wow, wonderful pix, pim.

Glad to see my translation wasn't too far off the mark on some things.

So, what's next? And, who's next? Isn't Mardi Gras upcoming? (*looks around for Mr. Mayhaw*)

Soba

[pim]

Wow, wonderful pix, pim.

Glad to see my translation wasn't too far off the mark on some things.

So, what's next? And, who's next? Isn't Mardi Gras upcoming? (*looks around for Mr. Mayhaw*)

Soba

Thanks!

I'm running back to Strasbourg tonight for dinner at Le Buerehiesel. It's a Michelin *** restaurant specializing in the food of the Alsace region. Then tomorrow I'm going back to California

But my blog duty ended Sunday, no? I think Marlena Speiler is next.

[jackal10]

OOOH Please, please report on Le Buerehiesel!!!

[ludja]

OOOH Please, please report on Le Buerehiesel!!!

I second that request...

[marlena spieler]

Pim, your foodblog is delicious!

I'd love to take over from you, but not until you finish your travels, as i can hardly wait to see what you eat and photograph next.

and also because i'm on deadline this week.

next week would be fine as i'm going to paris, and maybe later in the week barcelona.....and am actually thinking that the week following might be even better. tried emailing you privately but your email wasn't listed in member list.

very handsome website though!

[SobaAddict70]

Ooooo

yes, please pim and marlena. heheh

Looking forward to the report of both.

Will they let you take pix of the place? I was thinking that the Michelin place might be a bit restrictive when it comes to photos.

Soba

[pim]

My eating life today has been quite a roller-coaster.

The day started out in Heidelberg with the usual breakfast of bread, butter, and honey, and a great big mug of coffee. Adding to the usual breakfast diet were some saucisson sec and Vacherin Mont d’Or cheese, leftovers from last night’s simple dinner. The Vacherin and the saucisson both were fantastic. If you’ve never had Vacherin, I suggest you try it whenever you’ve got a chance. It’s stinky, earthy, creamy, runny, and absolutely delicious.

For lunch, German Boy and I continued our search for Scarywurst, aka Currywurst, a relic from his childhood that he insisted I try. When German boy emailed me a photo he found on the internet to show me, it was so spectacularly frightening that I started calling it Scarywurst rather than Currywurst! Look at this picture and see for yourself! We found it at a tiny stall at the outskirt of Heidelberg.

So we had Scarywurst for lunch. It was actually not anywhere near as disgusting as it looked. The wurst was freshly grilled, sliced into small pieces, then smothered with ketchup and curry powder, then served on a paper plate with french fries. Plus, it was kind of a fun way to prepare ourselves for the dinner at the three-starred Le Buerehiesel.

Near dinnertime, we hopped into the spunky Audi and raced down the fabled German Autobahn to Strasbourg, about 150 km away. Barely an hour and a half later we arrived with over an hour to spare, so we decided to take a walk around the Petit France area again. This area was where I bought all those fantastic cheeses the other day. I wanted to buy another Vacherin for my lunch on the plane tomorrow, so we went back to La Fromagerie des Tonneliers again. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on our side when it came to photographing this place. When we were there the other day, the battery on my camera was dead. Today, we left the camera in the car. Sorry.

Anyway, we bought a petit Vacherin, a small chevre called Briquette de Langoumois, and another local Alsace cheese called Berville. The shop also sells some other food items, so I grabbed a jar of mi-cuit foie gras, a jar of creamy miel de fleurs de Provence, and a jar of confiture de prunes Reine-Claude, which is a type of prune local to the Alsace region. On the walk back to the car to go to the restaurant, we stumbled upon another nice looking shop selling confitures, so in we went and out we walked with five more jars, one of confiture aux clementines et Campari, two jars of confiture de quetches, and a large jar of miel d’acacia). By then German Boy’s eyes were filled with panic, or perhaps it was marvel, at my ability to acquire ridiculous amount of things to eat in an improbably short time period. (Right, I forgot to mention another tiny stop at a patisserie to buy a croissant and two éclairs for tomorrow.) Anyway, I decided to give it a rest and went on our way in search of dinner.

Le Buerehiesel is located in a beautiful old building in the Orangerie park just across the street from the European Parliament building. I’m sure business from all the Euro-politicians is almost enough to keep a three-star place in the Black.

Before we arrived, I decided that I would bring my camera, but if it looked as though I would disturb other patrons, I wouldn’t use it. Luckily, we were seated at a nice window table, far from other people, so you’ve got the pictures to see after all.

We decided to order le menu truffe. For Aperitif, I had a Muscat d’Alsace and German Boy had a champagne. I forgot to ask for the names of these, sorry. With dinner we shared a bottle of Kientzler, an Alsace Grand Cru from 1999. It was very dry and fragrant, and was perfect with the food.

The first to come was some amuse. These items were not listed on the menu so I couldn’t give you the name in French, but they were poached quail egg in vinaigrette with dandelion greens (This is the second day in a row that I saw dandelion greens on a French menu, perhaps they are in season already?), a fried little pocket of duck and vegetable, a slice of Boudin Noir, topped with a sliced of cooked apple, on a tarte fine, and a small glass of gelee of lobster and creamy chestnut sauce.

My favorite was the gelee in chestnut cream, which was a fantastic mix of flavors and texture. The second favorite was the boudin noir. The other two amuse were just good, not great.

Next was a Terrine de Poireaux et Coquilles St.Jacques aux Truffes.

This was fantastic. The fantastically fresh scallops were ever so slightly poached before being added in the terrine with leeks. The dish was subtle yet fully flavoured, a difficult balance to attain IMHO.

Grenouilles poelees aux truffes, Lasagnes truffees et jus mousseux.

The chef here is rightfully famous with his frog legs. This dish of frog legs in truffle sauce served with a ‘lasagne’ of truffles and caramelised onions. The lasagne was a bit more like a ravioli than a lasagne in my opinion. Well, whatever it was, it was simply fantastic. I nearly cried at first bite!!

Poitrine de Pintade aux truffes, petite tourte au foie de canard, marrons et pommes de terre.

Guinea fowl’s breast, roasted with truffles underneath the skin, in truffles and jus sauce. The small tart was of duck foie gras, chestnuts, and potatoes, encrusted in thin slices of crisp potatoes.

Fromage.

Cheese! Oh, what can I say about those cheeses, except that they were all to die for?

The pre-pre-dessert were two small plates of thin cinnamon wafers, petit financier with cherries, grapefruit pate de fruit, and caramelised sesame cookies.

Then the pre-dessert arrived, two small glasses of fruit compote, mainly orange, with a few other things thrown in for good measure, a tiny breme brulee of macademia nuts, and the creamiest egg custard ever topped with meringue.

Oeuf de Poule glace a la truffe fraiche.

The most amazing icecream I’d ever had. The glace was light and fantastically creamy, with small bits of truffles throughout. This is the first dessert made of or garnished with truffles that I’ve ever liked. The truffles felt like they belonged perfectly in the glace, instead on being a gimmick added on for more value.

Pine apple tast with Sizhuan peppercorns, vanilla, and lime, served with a pineapple sorbet. I wasnät too wild about this one. The tart was sweet and tated of canned pineapples. Yuck!

The last course was coffee, served with chocolate truffles, candied grapfruit peels, caramels, and assorted sugar. They were all great.

I’m off now to bed, to catch a few hours before my flight back to California.

Edited February 17, 2004 by pim (log)

[ludja]

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful dinner with us--and snagging the photos as well! The whole blog has been just fantastic. What a week of food. Incroyable!

Edited February 17, 2004 by ludja (log)

[pim]

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful dinner with us--and snagging the photos as well! The whole blog has been just fantastic. What a week of food. Incroyable!

merci, Ludja, tu es gentil.

I must admit I look forward to eating food without first grabbing the camera! But it indeed had been fun. Now I must go to bed, preparing to go back to real life. Ugh, real life is seriously overrated IMHO.

[Pan]

Thanks for sharing those beautiful dinner pictures with us, Pim, and have a safe flight back to SF. I really enjoyed your blog.

[Bux]

Thanks for this blog. I've referenced the meals in Strasbourg in the France forum.