Sunday, 9 February 2014

INSIDE STORY: THE RISE OF GERMAN CUISINE

Germany is holding its place when it comes to fine dining. Interview with the winners of this year's S.Pellegrino Kulinarische Auslese.

BY JAMES BRENNAN ON MARCH 18, 2013

In the 2013 Michelin guide, Germany chalked up an impressive 311 stars across 255 restaurants - more than any other European country besides France. There are now no fewer than 10 three-star restaurants and a whopping 36 with two Michelin stars in Germany. Not bad for the country that gave the world currywurst.

Contemporary German cuisine combines the essence of traditional German food, but with a creativity and lightness of touch that draws from a wide range of contemporary influences. But how did the home of spätzel and knödel become one of the powerhouses of modern European gastronomy?

At the 2013 S.Pellegrino Kulinarische Auslese - the awards ceremony that recognises the best chefs and restaurants in Germany and Austria - some of the chefs responsible for the rise and rise of German cuisine gathered in Hamburg. A Lifetime Achievement award was given to Gerd Kafer, the octogenarian restaurateur and caterer credited with bringing the concept of the delicatessen to Germany. Meanwhile, the award for the Best Chef in Germany was shared among three men who have been at the forefront of German Cuisine: Harald Wohlfahrt, Helmut Thieltges andJoachim Wissler. All three have played their part in refining and revitalising traditional recipes to create something altogether new and surprising in German food.

Gastronomic trends such as nouvelle cuisine, molecular gastronomy and new Nordic cooking are referenced in dishes that use the best of local ingredients, sometimes with a leaning towards Asian or French fusion. The style is less important than the spirit in advancing German cuisine.

“In my opinion the whole sector is prospering very much, but there is enough place for all directions of style, the classic and the avant-garde. There is a validity of claim for everything,” says Harald Wohlfahrt, whose own personal influences range from the nouvelle cuisine pioneer Alain Chapel, to the Austrian legend Eckart Witzigmann.

At Wohlfahrt’s three-Michelin star Schwarzwaldstube restaurant in the Black Forest, one of his seasonal specialities features a ragout of snails from the Swabian Alps with garlic chips and crispy bacon in a parsley emulsion. “Just the best of everything,” is Wohlfahrt’s mantra. “That means products, service, staff and also mood.”

It’s a philosophy that’s shared by Helmut Thieltges, who has been perfecting his art at his own family’s Waldhotel Sonnora in Dries for some 35 years. “From the beginning I wanted to offer the best in everything to my guests, which at the same time is the right basis to be economically successful as well.” “I don't think that there is any special German trend - most of the trends in cuisine are global,” says Thieltges, whose dish of Challans duck à la presse with oriental spiced skin, pan-fried duck foie gras, red cabbage and glazed pears, displays a variety of influences from French to Asian.

Meanwhile, Joachim Wissler’s Vendôme (in Bergisch Gladbach, near Cologne) is another destination restaurant with three Michelin stars. Wissler has become an example for "neue deutsche Küche," or new German cuisine, Germany's 21st-century culinary research. Mr. Wissler has become famous for his meticulous and artful recipes, which aim to push the boundaries of German cuisine while reawakening memories of his home nation’s culinary past. His suckling pork belly condenses hundreds of years of German gastronomic history into a delicate slice of meat packed with texture and flavour.

“I always involve my origins in my work," says Wissler. "Therefore I also involve long forgotten traditions of our German gastronomic culture. The term “new German school” also means to confront oneself, besides globalisation, with one's own culinary origins. That also means to protect our culinary tradition. But I reserve for myself the right to present these traditions in my own way.”

Vendôme is one of two restaurants to make it onto the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. As Germany goes from strength to strength, don’t bet on them being the last.

trends!!

I fell in love with its savoury, flavourful leaves while there, de-stemming and blanching it to sit beneath my poached eggs; using its raw leaves massaged with olive oil in salads; or chopped up and folded into stews and braises. And feeling wonderfully smug the whole time about just how much good it was doing me.

"Superfood" is a term that doesn't quite do justice to this fabulously frilly member of the cabbage family. The brassica, which can be grown easily at home, and flourishes in the UK for most of the year, is low in calories, full of antioxidants, and has very high levels of iron, vitamin C, vitamin A, calcium and dietary fibre. It can also claim to lower cholesterol, boost the immune system and aid liver function. Gwyneth Paltrow has sung its praises in her books and on Goop, her online lifestyle magazine, and tough-guy Kevin Bacon is a fan. There's even a dedicated kale cookbook (The Book of Kale, available from Amazon) which features more than 80 creative, kale-focused recipes.

Yet in the UK, aside from a brief moment during the Second World War when it was planted as part of the Dig for Victory campaign, it hasn't been trendy since the Middle Ages, and until fairly recently was considered to be deeply unsexy fodder for pious health nuts – and used as cattle feed. But now we're finally catching on to the fact that, aside from being one of the most nutritious things you can eat, kale is a delicious, versatile and affordable ingredient that's busting out of the culinary closet and into the mainstream. One of its many pros is the way it crisps up to a satisfying brittle texture when roasted or dehydrated – Pret A Manger has begun stocking kale crisps, with M&S (which has cited kale as "one of 2014's hottest food trends") following closely behind, launching kale crisps as part of its healthy snacking line last spring.

Sweet greens: Kale is big news in the world of veg-boxes (Alamy)
Restaurants are getting in on the trend, too, with the Vietnamese chain Pho introducing a Super Green kale juice with apple, pineapple and lime. Juice-bar chain Crussh is selling it as Lean Green and Veggie Green juices and a Kale & Avocado Tabbouleh while it's also become a firm veg-box favourite. British restaurants, such as Mayfields in Hackney and One Leicester Street, are serving different varieties in innovative preparations. "It's one of the best things about winter," says Mayfields' chef Matthew Young, who chars purple and white kale on the plancha, to serve with seared haddock and lemon foam.

"We use lots of different types of Kale grown in Cornwall," says Tom Harris, chef patron at One Leicester Street, "a particularly beautiful variegated purple kale, and a fine Russian kale that has a long, tender stem. Both make regular appearances on our menus. The former I use whole, simply dressed as a side to roasted and grilled meats dressed with mustard, or to poached fish dressed with anchovy. The curly variety gets shredded and added to soups or for finishing braised beans with. We also use them as a simple warm salad with a soft hens egg, dressed with anchovy and fried rye crumbs."

Not just for hippies: Kale is popular on the high street too (Gavange Photography)
Supermarkets are reporting record bumper sales of the veg, too, as more of us cook it at home. M&S reports that when it tried stocking kale a few years ago, no one wanted it. "But it's suddenly become very trendy," says Louisa Read, M&S's vegetable buyer, "and our sales are up 400 per cent on a year. It's had a lot of celebrity endorsement, which has helped spread the word about its health benefits. It's used in detoxes a lot and in smoothies because it's good for your liver and immune system, it lowers your cholesterol – it does all these amazing things."

There's even been some buzz about it on social media, from chat about kale lollies (yes, Green Wave Smoothie Pops are a thing in the US), to much sharing of recipes and photos. "Kale has generally stopped being a freaky health food thing and it's much more popular as an everyday ingredient," says kale enthusiast and cook Elly Curshen, who owns Bristol's acclaimed Pear Café. Curshen started eating kale more often as part of the 5:2 diet, and created a hashtag on Instagram documenting her recipes #100wayswithkale.

"I was making myself laugh by how much I was cooking with kale: it was getting a bit ridiculous," she says. "Out of seven days in the week I'd use kale five times. It was a joke initially, but then it became a little bit of a challenge as I realised that there were actually lots of things I could do with it. You can buy absolutely enormous bags of it for hardly any money, and it lasts really well in the fridge, it doesn't go sad and floppy like broccoli. It also stands up to being prepped in advance. On fasting days, it's good because it's really low in calories and you can have a huge amount of it, plus it takes a lot of chewing, so it's more satisfying than something like spinach, which disappears to nothing."

Freelance chef Stephanie Boote agrees. "Nutritionally, kale's praises could be sung all day, but don't just boil it to death when you're cooking it," she says. "Think creatively and respect this amazing ingredient. Kale sweated down with buttery leeks, cumin spiced yoghurt and baked eggs is divine. Use leftover kale for a take on bubble and squeak, or try a kale and white bean salad with lemon zest, pumpkin seeds and a light tahini dressing. The possibilities are endless, so just get experimenting."

Rosie Birkett's debut cookbook – 'Fresh: 80 New Recipes from Market-to-Table' – will be published by Hardie Grant in spring 2015

bonappetit.com/tag/kale-recipes

Pasta with kale and almond pesto (Alamy)
Kale and almond pesto

Makes a small jar of pesto for smothering on sourdough, gallettes, fish, steak or for stirring into spaghetti

60g/three big handfuls of washed curly kale, stems removed and discarded
Large handful basil
Large handful parsley
3 spring onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic
40g sliced/flaked almonds
25g of grated parmesan – the best you can find
Large pinch of red chilli flakes
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling
Good grind of black pepper
Large pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
75g spaghetti

Put a pan of salted water on to boil. Add the spring onions and garlic once it boils and cook for 3 minutes, until they're soft. Add the kale and cook for about 40 seconds, until it's bright-green and floppy – could be less. Don't overcook it, as it will lose that lovely bright-green colour.

Lift out the kale with a slotted spoon and put it onto a plate. Lift out the garlic and spring onion and blitz them in a food processor with the almonds. Add the parsley, basil and chilli flakes and blitz again.

Squeeze the excess water out of the kale and add that to the food processor, too, blitzing, followed by the lemon juice and zest, parmesan and 4 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season with black pepper and salt to taste, and stir. Store your pesto in a clean jar and drizzle with olive oil to seal in the freshness.

Butternut squash, kale, pomegranate and pumpkin seed salad with lemon and maple dressing

Serves 2 greedy kale lovers

2 large handfuls curly kale (preferably a mix of red and green), stems removed and discarded, torn into bite-sized pieces, washed and spun dry
Half a small butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil
50g pomegranate seeds
2 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon maple syrup
Quarter teaspoon Maldon salt
Black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 190C. Toss the squash in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper on a baking tray. Roast for 30-35 minutes, or until golden, tossing after 20 minutes.

Whisk together the remaining olive oil, mustard, lemon, maple syrup, sea salt, and pepper. Pour 3 tablespoons over the kale to begin with, and "massage" the kale well with your hands, till it's coated in the dressing and taking on a soft, almost wilted texture. Add the remaining dressing as needed and according to tastes. Add cooked squash, pomegranate seeds and pumpkin seeds. Serve.

Tuesday, 4 February 2014

Butter ! is back

Billion-pound brands such as Flora have been at the heart of the Anglo-Dutch giant since its inception nearly a century ago. But the appetite for margarine seems to be melting around the world, forcing Unilever to admit defeat in the war against butter.

Last autumn, the company added butter to one of its spreads for the first time. Last week, Unilever said the move was paying off: although margarine sales were still down during its fourth quarter, shoppers in Germany had “responded positively” to the new-taste, “butter-based” Rama.

And this from a company whose head of foods, Antoine Bernard de Saint-Affrique, said in 2010, “Some people say it’s bread and butter, but here we say ‘bread and margarine’.”

Where British chefs aren’t making their own butter, they are buying it direct from artisan butter makers such as Abernethy Butter, based in Co Down, Northern Ireland.

“We can’t make it quickly enough. We make 600 rolls a day. It’s 1pm and I’ve got three left,” said Allison Abernethy. “It’s very time consuming and labour intensive, so many chefs find it easier to buy from us.” Abernethy’s fans include Heston Blumenthal and Marcus Wareing, who buy it for the flavour: the cream comes from grass-fed cows and contains something known as CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), which has been found to have anti-cancer properties.

Robin Gill, who owns The Dairy restaurant in south London, makes his own butter, showcasing his efforts by serving bread with a choice of butters as a separate course on the tasting menu. “We don’t want butter – and bread – to be an afterthought, so we make a bit of a celebration.” Made with anything from seaweed to smoked bone marrow, his butters have proved so popular that the restaurant’s customers often ask if they can buy them to take home.

“It’s almost a hindrance,” he added. “You create all these great dishes and people just go on about the bread and butter.” He says he was inspired to make his own after travelling around Scandinavia.

Shoppers too are backing butter. Figures from the research company Kantar Worldpanel show that sales of butter rose 7 per cent by volume in the five years to January 2014, to 141 million kg. That compared with a 6 per cent fall in volumes of margarine over the same period, although that market is still far bigger, at 271 million per kg. In retail terms, butter has done even better, with rising milk prices pushing up the cost of each block, making the market in the 12 months to January 2014 worth some £683m.

Amy Price, an analyst at the market research firm Mintel, said that the changing perceptions of butter played a role in its resurgence: “The recent trend is very much driven by its more natural positioning.” A recent Mintel report on the spreads market found that 39 per cent of people agreed that butter was “more healthy” than margarine because it’s more natural.

the tartan knive

Sunday, 9 February 2014

INSIDE STORY: THE RISE OF GERMAN CUISINE

trends!!

Kale and hearty: The curly green stuff is suddenly trendy and sales are up 400 per cent

Rosie Birkett charts the vegetable's progress from cattle fodder to superfood

Tuesday, 4 February 2014

Butter ! is back

Butter is back: Margarine giant admits defeat in the battle of the spreads

Margarine makers have an unusual response to our renewed taste for butter