1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,600 Hi everyone, welcome to potluck food talks. Today we're going to talk about German cuisine. 2 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,360 Of our motherland, but my motherland, a little bit your motherland also. 3 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:17,040 Yeah, my fatherland. 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:24,160 I think it's a very underappreciated cuisine, I mean, not just around the world, but also inside 5 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:30,320 of Germany. I feel like a lot of people have kind of lost what German food really is, you know? I 6 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:35,600 mean, like everybody knows the like really basic stuff like sausages and whatnot, but they forget 7 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:40,880 that it's actually a very, you know, just as much as a complex food culture as, you know, other food 8 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:46,320 cultures around the world. Yeah, it doesn't have the reputation at all that you will find in 9 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:53,040 countries like France, Italy, or Spain, not by far, you know? Or even, I would say even the other 10 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:58,400 German countries like Austria and Switzerland have a much better reputation when it comes to food. 11 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:02,080 No, definitely. Yeah, I mean, definitely, I would have to say that, you know, I mean, 12 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:07,840 like obviously Germany is very regional, also the north is very different to the south, but in general, 13 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,080 South Germany is a bit better known for good cooking, you know? 14 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:18,960 Yeah, like also the great chefs from Germany are from that region, I would say, like at least 15 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:23,680 Witzigmann and Bohlfart, you know, who are like the godfathers of German cuisine. 16 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:28,400 Yes, definitely. Yeah. So I mean, like, what's German food like for you? If you think of German 17 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:33,760 food, what do you think of? You know, my father is German, and I was raised with very German things 18 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:38,560 at home. Like, for instance, we were living in Venezuela, but we wouldn't eat arepas or 19 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:44,960 Venezuelan food for breakfast. We would have like mother dough bread, like a sauer type bread with 20 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:50,480 liverwurst, which is basically the German liver pate. We would use to snack maybe with some 21 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:57,280 radishes or mustard or jerrycans, you know, this kind of like home kind of best. And that's pretty 22 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:04,400 German for me. One of my super deep childhood memories is a Kartoffelpuffer, which is basically 23 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:10,720 grated potatoes that you turn into sort of like a pancake with apple puree. And for me, that's also 24 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:16,240 super German. It's super German. Yeah, I mean, like a Kartoffelpuffer is a great example, because 25 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:21,840 I don't think there's a lot of countries where you eat potatoes sweet. And like for me, you know, 26 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:27,360 like a sweet potato cake with cinnamon and apple compote. I don't think there's anywhere else. And 27 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,680 I've seen that sort of thing. It's really, really authentically German, I would say. And like also 28 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:36,640 what you say, you know, German bread is a, you know, as part of the UNESCO World Heritage. Yeah, 29 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:44,560 I know it's the most diverse country when it comes to bread, sausages and beer. Yeah, yeah. And like 30 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:48,640 those sorts of things that they really held in high regards, like these crafts, if you go into a 31 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:53,600 bakery, you know, everybody knows what good bread should be like, you know, they have like very, 32 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:58,640 very specific standards, or any way they should, and they used to, we had a bit of a dip, and 33 00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:04,160 now bakeries are getting much better again. But especially in whole wheat, like there's so much 34 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:10,960 more bread that is whole wheat with whole seeds and ancient grains like dinkle, which is spelt 35 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:16,480 and those sorts of things. Yeah, also Pompaneke, which is like, it's some category of bread. Yeah, 36 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,320 yeah, definitely. And I mean, like also, like you were saying, butchery, you know, like if you go 37 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:25,840 into a good butcher shop in Germany, everything's made in-house and you just have like a huge variety 38 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:32,480 of sausages, both like dried and fresh and like different hams, huge selection of meat, but also 39 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:37,200 things like just butchery made things, like there's a thing in Germany called sausage salad, 40 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:42,720 Wurstsalat. Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, or Fleischsalat, you know, which is like sausages cut up into 41 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:49,040 strips and like mixed into a sort of like creamy salad. And when it's done, like nicely, it's really 42 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:53,200 nice, but it's like really strange, but really nice at the same time. Yeah, I have super nice 43 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:59,840 memories of going to breweries in the south, in Stuttgart. Today, you have like all this hype 44 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:05,280 around microbreweries, but this is like the same thing, just like it has always been there. It's 45 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,600 something like it's probably a couple of hundred years old and they all have the same menu. The 46 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:16,720 beer is like industrial beer. There's nothing exciting about it, like in the way you will find 47 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:23,040 like in microbreweries. But then you have all this variation of potato salads with different 48 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:29,200 forms of doing it. Like some are more creamy and with mayo, others are not at all. They're just with 49 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:36,240 roasted butter and some vegetables. Yeah, I love this like brewery food culture. I really, really 50 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:42,320 love it, you know, especially in like the south, you know, like the Weria and Hessen and Franken, 51 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:47,200 you know, areas that are close to the Alps and like close to France. I think it's amazing, like 52 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:51,840 especially in summer, like people sitting outside in the garden underneath the trees in the fresh 53 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:56,960 air drinking beer from a local brewery and just eating like really good, simple, hearty food. 54 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:01,680 Now potato salad is a really good subject because there's like really like what I would consider 55 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:05,440 like normal potato salads in Germany, like mayonnaise based. But there's like a couple 56 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:10,720 of ways of making potato salads that are really cool. I mean, you know the recipe of using beef 57 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:16,240 stock for making the dressing of potato salad? Yeah, I think I saw that in a Schubert cookbook. 58 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:20,800 Yeah, that's really cool. It's super cool. Like you pour warm beef broth, 59 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:26,960 cut with vinegar onto recently boiled and peeled potatoes and you let it kind of macerate and the 60 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:32,640 beef stock will thicken slightly and glaze the potatoes and form like a clear dressing, 61 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:38,000 making it like really savory, really meaty. I actually did that or something really similar 62 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:43,040 just two days ago for New Year's Eve, but it was not a potato salad, but it was like that kind of 63 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,840 technique just because it was like, well, it was what I had at hand at the moment. Yeah. I would 64 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:55,040 say my favorite super ultra German dish would be Weißbrust with sweet mustard. Yeah. Like this 65 00:05:55,040 --> 00:06:00,560 white sausage that you usually get in its own China that is this dish where it comes with its 66 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:08,400 boiling water and then you usually peel it with your fork and spoon or whatever and you eat it 67 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:16,240 with a sweet mustard. And this sausage for me, it has such a fine flavor and it has like this lemony 68 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,800 quality to it. I love it. That's one of my favorite things. Yeah. That's really cool. Actually, 69 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:25,520 I never thought of it having like a lemony aspect, but that's really interesting. It's like, yeah, 70 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:29,360 I think like the mustard and stuff, like the flavor profile in general is really unique. 71 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,840 I mean, mustard in general, like in Germany, it's like you go to a, like for example, in the UK, 72 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:38,560 you go to the supermarket and you find English mustard. It's one type of mustard, right? English 73 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:42,560 mustard. And then you get French mustard like Dijon. That's it. Here in Germany, you go to 74 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,320 like a normal supermarket and you find like five, six different types of German mustard, 75 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:51,760 different spice levels. You know, some are really mild, some are really extremely spicy, 76 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:56,720 almost like wasabi. Yeah. And then some are, you know, whole grain fermented whole or like, 77 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:01,840 and some are sweet, you know, and it's super, super nice. Actually, I prefer like the Dijon 78 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:08,720 style, but spicy German mustard. I think it's much better than the Dijon mustard itself, or at least 79 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:14,480 it's a, you're so used to see the Dijon mustard all over that this is something different and it's a 80 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:18,720 perfect replacement and you will get like a different note to it. Totally. But I was saying 81 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:24,560 the lemon equality to the sausage, not to the mustard. Yeah. Yeah. To the Weisswurst. Yeah. 82 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:30,560 Yeah. Then you have all this universe of the English translation is dumpling, but it's like 83 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:36,800 its own thing. It's like this dough balls of different things. Yeah. It's really interesting. 84 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:42,000 It's really highly regional also, you know, these dumplings, either you call them Knudel or you call 85 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:50,000 them Klöße, but they're usually always round. And it's like a general term for several, like very 86 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:55,360 different, for example, Kartoffelklöße, which are potato dumplings. And even in that region, 87 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,760 there's like completely different ones. And again, there's techniques that are very, very interesting, 88 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:05,440 like from a chef's point of view, for example, the half and half dumpling, you know, where you make 89 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:11,600 the dumpling dough out of half a part of boiled potatoes and half a part of raw potatoes. Ah, 90 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:16,800 yeah. Yeah. I've seen that. Yeah. And it's actually fairly difficult to pull off properly. But if you 91 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:21,760 do it right, you have some boiled potatoes that you pass through kind of like you would with gnocchi. 92 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:26,880 And then you take raw potatoes and finely grate them. And then you press the water out and mix 93 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:31,840 the raw potatoes into the cooked potatoes. But then the water you let settle and you let the 94 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:37,280 starch settle at the bottom. And then you pour the water away and you use the starch of the potatoes 95 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:42,880 to bind the dough of the dumplings. So then what you get is, you know, because otherwise, if you 96 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:48,640 would just make a potato dough, you'd get something like gnocchi. But because you use the starch, 97 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:54,480 you get a much more sort of bouncy elastic texture. And I like for me, that's super interesting and 98 00:08:54,480 --> 00:09:00,720 super delicious. Yeah. All this culture of game, which is also super cool, like cooking with deer, 99 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:05,920 more like in the south. I always imagine these dishes that go with some kind of noodle or 100 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:13,680 krosse, some boiled red cabbage, and it's all sauce. That's like a super straightforward German dish 101 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:18,480 for me. Yeah, definitely. But like, for example, the red cabbage, like for me, is also really 102 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:23,760 iconically German. It's like braised red cabbage. But like the way that you make it is also very 103 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:29,200 interesting because it's kind of like sweet and sour, you know? Yeah. I see that I doing all kind 104 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:35,920 of things to that cabbage, like putting cloves, cinnamon, molasses, sugars, whatever. Yeah, 105 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:41,040 it's, it's a... Yeah, definitely. I don't properly. It's super nice. I sometimes I like to take an 106 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:45,840 apple and like grate it into the mix when I'm cooking it. Yeah. And for example, my dad, 107 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:52,720 he is very proud of his vodka recipe, and he marinades it for two days before he cooks it. 108 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:58,400 So he shreds the cabbage raw, and then he marinades it with red wine and bay leaf and like, like you 109 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:03,200 say, cloves and stuff like that. Then he marinades it for two days, and then only starts cooking it 110 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:08,800 down slowly. It's super delicious. Yeah, the profile direction is like kind of like a glue wine, 111 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:14,800 like red wine and spices. You want to bring it to that direction somehow? Yeah, definitely. But you 112 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:19,440 know, like a lot of German cooking, I kind of like for people who really like have no idea what 113 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:26,240 German like countryside food is like, for me, it's like very similar to some of like northern 114 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:32,080 French cooking, like just really local ingredient-driven rustic country cooking. Like one of my favorite 115 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:36,880 dishes that's also from the area, very traditional in the area where my family's from is Tafel 116 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:43,120 Spitz. Is it Austrian or German? I mean, for me, it's German because like for me, the Frankfurt area, 117 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:48,160 like in Hessen, that's like the traditional dish there, the most traditional. It's like a boiled 118 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:54,320 piece of beef, right? Like in a very strong consomme, and it's cooked inside of it with 119 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:58,320 some vegetables, right? Something like that. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So a lot of the times, 120 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:02,960 it's kind of like a pot au feu a little bit, you know. You take a beef brisket and you like, 121 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:07,920 you don't roast it, you don't sear it, and you pack it into a pot with whole vegetables, you know, 122 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:13,440 carrots, celery, leek or whatever. And then you just poach it really, really gently until the meat is 123 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:19,440 super tender. And then you take the meat out, you slice it thinly. And then often you serve it with 124 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:24,480 the broth and some of the cooked vegetables that we're poaching in the beef broth. And it's really 125 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:30,240 delicate and really delicious. You often also eat it with a side of a horseradish sauce, raw 126 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:35,600 horseradish grated mixed with a little bit of like sour cream. And, you know, it's super nice, you 127 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:40,640 know, and it's not something that people usually think of when they think of German cooking. 128 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,880 In general, I think these like consomme dishes, they're actually really, really German and 129 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:51,040 Austrian, like Fledle. You know, Fledle are like noodles that are made from savory pancakes, 130 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,000 basically. You make these like savory pancakes, roll them up finely. 131 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:54,560 Ah, yeah. 132 00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:55,920 And cut them really thinly. 133 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:56,720 Yeah, yeah. 134 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:00,560 And you get them served in a similar dish, in like these soup dishes that you get the 135 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,000 white sausage in also with the lions on the side. 136 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:05,920 Yeah, that's super German. 137 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:11,040 Yeah, these like old royal dishes. And yeah, I mean, these like really intense 138 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:16,240 broths, like for me are also really, really German. Yeah, this completely transports me to 139 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,600 like some Prussian palace in Brandenburg. 140 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:20,080 Totally. 141 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:27,040 You also have all this universe of German pastas. You just mentioned this like strips of like crepes 142 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:33,760 kind of, but you also have Spätzle. I would say it's the most iconic German pasta. And how would 143 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,360 you describe it? It's like a dirty pasta, you know, shape-wise. 144 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:43,680 Well, depends how you make it, I would say. I mean, you can find the beauty in their imperfection, 145 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:44,240 I think. 146 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:50,720 Absolutely. But these are like drops of pasta dough that are randomly fall into the water with 147 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,440 these organic shapes, right? Like how would you describe it? 148 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:58,000 Well, yeah, kind of, you know, yeah, you kind of actually like so I, for me, there's like two 149 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:02,160 different types of making them, you know, there's like the type that you describe, and then there's 150 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:07,600 a type where you kind of cut them. But like, it's interesting, because the Spätzle dough is very liquid. 151 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:12,560 So it's a very simple dough, actually, but it is very liquid. Like, it's not really a dough, 152 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:16,800 it's like a paste, right? So you wouldn't be able to roll it, you wouldn't be able to shape it, 153 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:22,240 nothing like that. And it's famously made by beating the dough with your flat hand. So you 154 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:27,280 kind of hit the dough and pull it. And while pulling your hand back, you pull the dough also, 155 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:31,040 because it sticks to your hand. And you do that. And like that, you stretch the gluten. And also, 156 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:35,520 you introduce air into the dough. You remember once, and then this restaurant where we worked, 157 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:39,680 where the chef came to make us a demo on how to do exactly that. Yeah. And he was like, yeah, 158 00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:43,520 you put your hand in there and you have to do it like this. Too sour, too sour, too sour. 159 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:50,560 How would you describe too sour? Basically, he was calling the dough a dirty pig while he was spanking 160 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:56,800 it. That guy was a beast. I mean, he could really cook. You have to give him that. Yeah, for sure. 161 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:01,920 But traditionally, you're meant to beat the dough until it bubbles by itself. And that takes quite 162 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:06,320 a lot of effort. But that's really only to build the gluten. And then so there's the way to do it. 163 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,640 Like you described it, where you, for example, you put it in like a potato press, like a potato 164 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:15,920 ricer. And then you press it through the holes into a boiling pot of water, well, like simmering pot 165 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:20,880 of water. And that's kind of like the easy way to do it. But most normal way is that you take a pot 166 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:25,520 of water, you fill it up to the very brim, to the very top, and you get it to like a simmering quality. 167 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:30,720 And then you take a wooden board, and you put this like wet dough on the wooden board, and you spread 168 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:36,960 it flat onto this wooden board. And then you dip the very end of the board into the water with a 169 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:41,760 spatula or knife that you wet in the hot water, you go to the edge of the dough, and you very, 170 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:46,960 very thinly start shaving the dough into the water, kind of cutting the dough. And because of the hot 171 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:51,440 water, you always like keeping a spatula or your knife wet, and you kind of like pushing the dough 172 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:56,240 back. So you have like a very, very thin layer on the front. And as you knead, you move more dough 173 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:00,960 into the front. It's kind of like kind of similar to a Chinese method where they shave the noodles 174 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:06,320 into the water, you know. And if you can do it well, you get these very thin, slightly irregular 175 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:12,320 strips of noodles. And yeah, those are basically Spätzle. And what is your favorite thing to eat 176 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:18,080 Spätzle with? Honestly, goulash is a very good thing to have with Spätzle. Yeah, I would say 177 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:23,040 definitely. On one side, I would say Käse Spätzle, which literally just means cheese Spätzle, 178 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:30,080 which is an alpine specialty of these Spätzle noodles with caramelized onions and gratinated 179 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:34,480 with mountain cheese. Mountain cheese literally is called mountain cheese. It's a specific type 180 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:42,400 of alpine cheese that's made in caves in the Alps. And it's very salty, savory-ish. That's 181 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:47,600 really nice. But yeah, I mean, Spätzle together with the goulash, like a meat-based stew, 182 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:52,480 is perfect for me, like so tasty. And also goulash, this is another thing that, well, 183 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:59,920 the father-in-law of my father was Hungarian. So goulash was also among the key recipes for my 184 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:05,360 dad. But for me, goulash is something German as well. I mean, Hungary and Austria were the same 185 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:12,080 country at some moment, German speaking. So, and this is also something you will find in any German 186 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:17,920 restaurant, quite commonly all over Germany. And it's also such a simple thing to cook, 187 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:24,480 for me, goulash is basically lots of onions and beef and just letting it cook with some 188 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:29,840 very high quality paprika, not much more. Yeah, exactly. The one that you're describing is 189 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:34,480 this actually a very interesting one, which we call Segedine goulash with, like you say, 190 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:39,840 like a really high quality paprika and often the addition of sauerkraut, which we actually haven't 191 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:45,360 talked about, you know, the fermented cabbage, the Schuckrute. Yeah, which is probably one of the 192 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:51,680 most iconic German recipes, sauerkraut, of course. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. It's eaten with so many 193 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:55,920 things now. And yeah, I mean, that's super, super delicious. And it's like earlier, you mentioned 194 00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:02,800 the game culture, you know, here in Germany, we have Germany is, or used to be, but still is largely 195 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:09,760 covered by forests. And we have a lot of game in this country, mainly deer, so venison and wild 196 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:15,280 boar. And apart from beef, those are also things that people cook like goulash quite a lot. And 197 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:20,160 yeah, it's super nice for me also. It's like, yeah, sure. I think like originally it's Hungarian, 198 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:26,800 but for me it's quintessential goulash. It's such a comfort food, you know? Yeah. Another super cool 199 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:34,480 German dish for me, it's Kaisersmand. Yes. Which it's kind of like, I would describe it kind of like 200 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:39,440 a pancake soufflé. That's exactly how I would describe it. Yeah. It's like a pancake soufflé, 201 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:45,040 and you break it. You cook it in the pan, you put like the whole pan to the oven, and then you break 202 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:53,520 it with like a fork and spoon, right? So like this irregular pancake pieces in your pan, and then you 203 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:58,800 put whatever on top, like some fruits or some ice cream or whatever you want to eat it with. 204 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:02,640 Well, well, well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. You can't put anything on top. 205 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:07,280 Yeah. So I mean, this is like, this is actually one of the dishes where you can definitely say 206 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:12,480 that's definitely Austrian, you know? It's very, very Austrian. Kaisersmand, Kaisers, 207 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:21,280 Kaisers is like the emperor. Yes. And Schmand is? Schmand is several things. So Schmand on one side 208 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:28,080 is like a sour cream, but that has nothing to do with it. Schmand is something that is a term that 209 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:35,840 often gets used in the Austrian slang for nonsense. And so the story is that the royal chef was 210 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:40,880 supposed to come out with a new dessert for the emperor, and he was going to make this like pancake 211 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:46,800 soufflé, but he fucked it up while flipping it or something. And so he decided to improvise, 212 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,960 and he decided to rip the whole thing up into small pieces and then put it back into the oven 213 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:55,120 with a little bit of butter and stuff so the pieces would crisp up a bit and then serve it. 214 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:59,600 And when he served it to the emperor, supposedly the emperor looked at it and said, 215 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:04,640 wasn't das für ein Schmarrn? Yeah, which means what kind of nonsense is this? This ripped up pancake. 216 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:10,640 But he ended up really liking it. So and now it's a classic of Austrian cuisine. Yeah. 217 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:16,320 Yeah, it's a super nice dessert. Yeah, and it's so original, you know, because it's like a broken 218 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:21,360 soufflé. Yeah. And it sounds very simple. It's kind of like, oh, you make a pancake, you rip it up, 219 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:28,000 but it's actually not that easy because if you had a really properly made Kaiserschmand, you realize 220 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:32,480 that there's quite a lot to it and then you try to make it at home. And it's definitely kind of like 221 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:36,800 a tortilla. You have to get the right technique and you have to get the right consistency. It's 222 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:42,160 very simple, but you have to kind of nail it. Yeah. For me, my two favorite German products are 223 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:47,040 strawberries and white asparagus. Strawberries, there is this thing with strawberries because 224 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:52,640 they're original from America, but the original American strawberries have nothing to do with 225 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:58,240 German strawberries. They got like with whatever, with breeding techniques and this kind of thing, 226 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:04,080 they got this variety that man, when it's in season, it's something so nice and so special. 227 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:09,360 I haven't had anything similar or nowhere else. Yeah, absolutely. I can totally agree with you. 228 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:12,400 Actually, I haven't really thought about that, but now that I'm thinking about it, 229 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:17,520 you're totally right. They are really exceptionally delicious. The only place that I had similar 230 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:22,480 strawberries was in Denmark and were similar climates. But I mean, yeah, in Denmark, you know, 231 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:27,520 it's a seasonal delicacy also. But yeah, white asparagus, also very interesting. There's not 232 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:32,640 really anywhere else, but like Germany and France, that white asparagus is actually a thing. 233 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:36,640 Everywhere around the world that I go, everybody's crazy about green asparagus. 234 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:42,480 No, here, here, across country as well. But here they're usually eaten preserved, like canned. 235 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:48,800 Exactly. It's like, why? They're like a delicacy and everything. But I mean, 236 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:54,800 the German asparagus for me are the best. The bayleets, the asparagus, they're fucking amazing. 237 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:59,920 Yeah. And it's such a beautiful thing because it's such a hyper seasonal ingredient and it gets 238 00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:05,120 celebrated in such a nice way. I really wish that like a lot of other things were celebrated in the 239 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:10,080 same fashion because come like late spring and asparagus is in season. That's all people eat. 240 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:14,240 That's all restaurants offer. I mean, not all, but everybody has it all and everybody's excited for 241 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:19,360 it. And you eat it in such a simple way. Yeah. You know, boiled with a few more things and that's it, 242 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:23,360 you know, they, they, they, they doesn't need much. It gets poached a little bit. You eat it 243 00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:28,720 with some new potatoes, maybe some clarified butter, maybe some poached ham on the side and 244 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:33,040 hollandaise. Hollandaise, very common. Yeah. Something like that out of the skin of the 245 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:37,840 asparagus, the skin is very, very fragrant. So often with the skin, you make a broth, 246 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:42,000 an asparagus broth, and then with the offcuts of the asparagus, you make an asparagus cream soup. 247 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:48,320 And it's just super tasty. And, and I love this like simple ingredient driven cooking, you know. 248 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:53,600 You mentioned Eckart Witzigman. Yeah. For me, he is one of the most relevant chefs, 249 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:59,600 not only in Germany, but in Europe. I think that this is someone who was really ahead of its time. 250 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:07,360 If you take old cookbooks and you look at what he was doing at Aubergine, his restaurant in the 251 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:12,560 early nineties, I mean, those dishes could be served today in a restaurant. They would look 252 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:20,160 kind of like vintage, but still something you could serve. They were really ahead of its time. 253 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:28,400 I remember also working, this is a guy who has written an amazing large amount of cookbooks and 254 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:34,960 culinary books. And I remember these are always good go-to books because the recipes always worked 255 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:40,800 pretty well. I also did this Kaiserschmann recipe from one of his pastry books, but also many other 256 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:46,320 recipes. And they would have like this, you know, this twist, this sophistication of things, 257 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:52,640 like techniques that you haven't seen nowhere else, but were like pretty French, pretty classic, 258 00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:58,880 but uncommon and then just small variations. Yeah. Yeah, totally. I totally agree with you. 259 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:04,240 Yeah. He, he really drove it forward. And I think like what made him so special for me is that is 260 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,160 exactly what you just said, is that when you look at his recipes and when you look at his dishes, 261 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:15,600 they're built on a super solid foundation of cooking, of like traditional, you know, 262 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:21,120 provincial cooking, and then adding a little bit of refinement and adding like a little bit of a 263 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:26,640 twist. And I think that's what made him really, really good. And also he really celebrated like 264 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:33,120 his heritage and where he was from. And, and yeah, he, he made it really enjoyable. 265 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:39,840 Yeah. Or also taking, you know, recipes that in its traditional versions, you will find like super 266 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:46,320 overcooked or astute like deer or venison of these kinds of things. And he would serve it 267 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:51,840 just cooked to perfection, you know, red on the core, these kinds of things, early nineties, 268 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:57,440 without sous vide techniques or anything, or just making like a venison tartare, you know, 269 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:03,760 like just like that, taking like super German flavors and ingredients and just twisting, 270 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,680 making something new and more refined out of it. Yeah. I love that guy. 271 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:14,160 What other German chefs are there? Schuhweg, he's like this famous TV chef with traditional 272 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:18,080 German recipes. I'm not such a big fan of him. I just wanted to mention him because, you know, 273 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:23,840 he's going to jail for tax evasion. Yeah, I saw that. I mean, he had it coming now. 274 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:30,160 Oh, he did. Come on. Everybody knew. I mean, I think I like Hans Haas, who's actually also 275 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:35,360 Austrian. He was the head chef in Tantris together with Eckhard Witzigmann for a huge 276 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:39,440 amount of years. Like, I don't want to lie, but I think it was at least 20 years that he was head 277 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:44,640 chef there when he's an icon. Yeah. Yeah. I really, I really like him as well. Yeah. Well, 278 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:49,280 like Witzigmann was head chef there before him. And then he was chef afterwards, like for 20 279 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:54,800 years, something like that. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Then I really like Harald Wohlfahrt, who used to 280 00:24:54,800 --> 00:25:01,120 be the head chef at Traubetonbach for a long time. It was one of the biggest three-million-star chef 281 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:06,240 restaurants in the country that also cooked very, very classic. Yeah. And probably the chef with 282 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:12,080 the longest time holding three stars from all that we've mentioned, the guy probably had like 283 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:16,960 for a long, like 20 years, something like that. Yeah. 20, 30 years. Yeah. For me, those are the 284 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:22,800 biggest names. Like if we were talking about like Kassigall, yeah, Dieter Müller could also be on 285 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:28,480 that list, but for me, Witzigmann is the greatest. Yeah, definitely. I mean, especially talking about, 286 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,920 you know, there's other like great chefs that do like very modern sort of things with their own 287 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:38,640 identities, but yeah, Witzigmann is definitely with by far the OG. Yeah. He's really someone, 288 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:44,880 because everybody built on his work. Like he traveled to France in the seventies and came back 289 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:53,040 at Tantris. And while he was head chef there, he started doing this renewal of German cuisine 290 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:57,920 that holds up until today, I would say. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's a shame that 291 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:02,880 there's only really chefs in the like very high Michelin star end that like we can talk about, 292 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:08,480 because one thing that's missing in Germany is more people being comfortable in the like mid-range 293 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:14,720 of just cooking, you know, very solid food. That's not avant-garde, that's not Michelin star, 294 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:20,880 that's just really, really good cooked food, you know, with a very local identity. I think 295 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:25,520 that's really missing. And I think there's been a resurgence of that, especially, you know, in 296 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,760 south of Germany and in places like Berlin, there's a lot of chefs that are now much more 297 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,840 comfortable cooking local food and putting the label of it saying like, yeah, this is German 298 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:42,960 food. What's your favorite ultra traditional German restaurant in Berlin? Well, mine is one called 299 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:51,280 Ständige Vertretung near Friedrichstrasse. If it's still open, you know, like with all this COVID 300 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:56,480 thing, you never know which one's closed or in which one survived. But yeah, this is a typical 301 00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:02,560 place where you will go to have your ice bind with Sauerkraut and the whole super German 302 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:06,960 menu. Yeah, it's a really good one. Oh, that sounds pretty good. I have to check it out. I haven't 303 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:12,880 been there yet. And I actually, I have a craving like once a month of going to like a super German 304 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:19,920 place, drinking a big pint of beer and just having the like Wurzhaus experience. One restaurant that 305 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:26,720 I really like, it is also a Michelin star restaurant, but the chef, he does really draw on his 306 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:31,920 southern and Austrian roots and that's restaurant Horvath. I wonder, I wonder just before leaving 307 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:38,080 Berlin, that was like my farewell dinner from Berlin. How was it? Super nice. He was, yeah, 308 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:46,080 he's doing like this new Alpine cooking that, yeah, that I wouldn't relate it to super traditional 309 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:53,360 dishes, but the super traditional flavors and ingredients from the region. Yeah, I'm a big fan 310 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:58,720 of that, I think. And he's, you know, he's really a chef's chef, I think, because he really, it's 311 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:03,920 really solid cooking, you know, there's no smoke and mirrors, it's no pretentiousness, everything's 312 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:07,920 super refined. I mean, he's got two Michelin stars now, you know, he is playing with the big boys. 313 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:15,200 Yeah, he had them back then as well, just fresh. Yeah, and but you know, it's just like solid 314 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:19,840 cooking and delicious food and I think that's really great. Cool. I think that's another episode. 315 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:27,840 That's it for this week's episode of Potluck Food Talks. If you like what we're doing, 316 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:32,640 make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. You can also find us on 317 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:59,440 Instagram and TikTok as Potluck Food Talks. The show airs every Monday.