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Thismonth, our roving food columnist Rosie Birkett finds
that Germany’s chefs are defying their culinary stereotype
TRAVELLER
43
A LOTONHER PLATE
together to shake unflattering
notions of their national cuisine.
And they’re making serious noise –
Elverfeld’s establishment recently
made number 22 in the World’s
Best Restaurant list, while – at
number 23 – JoachimWissler at
Vendôme, in Bergisch Gladbach,
just outside of Cologne, is heralded
as the godfather of the movement
for dishes like goose liver snow
with winter truffles.
The way these chefs are
bringing their country’s traditional
recipes to the fore is a matter
of national pride, but unlike the
New Nordic cuisine, which is
extreme in its approach to using
indigenous ingredients, these chefs
acknowledge global influences
while pushing prime German
produce. White asparagus, wild
mushrooms and Black Forest ham
are key ingredients.
In Berlin, young chef Daniel
Achilles, who opened Reinstoff
three years ago, has already gained
Achtung,
baby!
UNTIL RECENTLY,
my lasting
impression of German food was
of the soggy sauerkraut and
flaccid frankfurters dished up at
the German Christmas markets in
Leeds. Every December, the staff
where I worked would trek there
for a night out, cramming into
wooden stalls for beer
and bratwurst served
by ruddy-cheeked
men in lederhosen. The
cuisine, if you could call it
that, invariably came with a side of
sore heads and indigestion.
And yet, these culinary adventures
couldn’t have been further from
my mind when I made my way
to Germany for dinner at three
Michelin-starred Aqua (
restaurant-
aqua.com
) in Wolfsburg, 2
½
hours’
drive from Hamburg.
Here balletic waiters flourish
glasses of floral Riesling, while
diners tuck into elegant creations
from chef Sven Elverfeld. Sampling
a lattice-work dish of simmered
corned beef fromMüritz lamb with
Frankfurt-style green sauce, my
preconceptions of German food
dissolved like the Champagne
cream sorbet the sommelier
doused in Moët & Chandon Grand
Vintage Rose 2002.
A member of the food movement
christened “New German”, Elverfeld
is just one of that country’s food
producers who are working
two Michelin stars for his exciting
take on German classics, bringing
together local products in unusual
combinations, like Lüneburg River
catfish with lilacs, while Sebastian
Pfister, at nearby Neu (
restaurant-
neu.de
) pulls apart age-old recipes
and reforms themwith global
inflections. His menu includes artful
riffs on familiar dishes, invigorating
schnitzel, pork and mashed potato
too. His Duroc pig with beetroot
jus, cumin brittle and risotto and
caramelised onions deserves every
bit of praise it’s getting. Best of all,
there are no lederhosen in sight.
These chefs acknowledge global influenceswhile
pushing primeGerman produce