Manfred, my personal Cook
Manfred is in his element when he’s in the kitchen. Lucky for me, cause I’m not a gifted cook! I just love to watch him having so much fun not to mention how I love sampling what he whips up. Even if it’s just an every day ordinary meal, he makes it so pleasing for the eyes that you think it’s something special. He believes that your eyes eat with your stomach, so everything he makes looks as good as it taste!
Moving to Germany from America was a culinary transition for me. But the biggest change wasn’t as much the food as the drinks. I stopped drinking Coca-Cola after a short time and realized that’s probably the best thing I could have done for my health. Now I’ve learned to appreciate the German wines with almost every meal. Understanding German wine is an art in itself which I haven’t mastered. I just know which ones taste good to me and which ones are my favorite.
But most Germans can tell you which wine is dry, sweet, fruity, sparkling, red, white, full of aroma, herbal, velvety smoothe or not worth a dime. Although if you have three or four of them in a round and ask their opinion of a specific wine, you’ll get three or four different opinions. Then if you push the issue, you can get a deep conversation going and if they all have another glass, they might even end up in an argument. I’ve learned in seventeen years of wining and dining with Germans, to respect each one’s opinion and not argue over wine, but rather let them drink their favorite, and I drink mine.
As far as food is concerned, Germans do eat more than just saurkraut and sausages. Just to give you a brief idea of what Manfred and I eat on normal days, here are a few pictures of some of Manfred’s ordinary meals that he cooks on normal days of the week. I’ll put some of the special occasion foods in the column to the left just to share some special foods with you too, or a recipe or two from Manfred’s cookbook. Guten Appetit!
Roastbeef with Avacado Dip and Red Onions
The roast beef is thinly sliced fresh roastbeef. The avacado dip is made using fresh avacados, creme frische, red onions and kapern. A red wine compliments this meal, like an Italian Bardolino or any other favorite dry red wine.
Fresh Trout from the Black Forest, steak-fries and salad
Cauliflower with cheese sauce
Sometimes we drive to a Black Forest farm close to us that raises trout and buy two fresh-from-the-pond trout to grill. Manfred wraps them in a thin Black Forest ham before grilling which gives it an extra flair. He serves salad and steak fries with the fish. A good white wine or even a beer goes well with it.
I love Manfred’s pumpkin soup! It’s just pure pumpkin which he cooks and purees, adds salt and pepper to season, and a dash of freshly grated nutmeg, topped off with a little flower of thyme from Manfred’s fresh herb garden. The herb “garden” is flower pots of herbs on the balcony next to the kitchen.
We do eat healthy meals which include a vegetable plate once in a while. He usually gets all the vegetables from the farmer’s market. Carrots, green beans, zucchini, fenchel or brussel sprouts. Topped off with a grilled tomato with melted cheese and a leaf of basil.
We like to eat simple meals like cauliflower with cheese sauce and potatoes once in a while. Here topped with a twig of chervil and freshly grated nutmeg over it. In America, my Mom always used Velveeta cheese for this which I’m sure is a lot more fat than the cheese we use for it, but it’s just as tasty. We try to use as little fat as possible in all cooking.