Maybe one of the best meals...ever.

First off, let me just say that I obviously love food.  I enjoy spending money on food more than I do on clothes, shoes, etc.  I also love a nice glass of wine every now and then.  Before I let you all in, I want to fill you in on what we did on our last day in Germany before heading to our house in Italy (see, I am slowly catching up).

The day started out with a trip to Friedrechshafen, Germany.  This is about a 20 minute drive from Lindau.  We spent part of the day at the Zeppelin Museum.  That was very impressive to see.  They have a replica of what one of the blimps looked like on the inside.  It took 12 days to get from Germany to Rio de Janiero.  They were called floating luxury ships, and you weren't crowded on board with 1,200 of your closest friends like you are with a regular cruise ship.  However, the Hindenburg disaster and World War II brought an end to their use.  They have recently started producing them again as use for tourist trips around a set area...think a ride over a national park, etc.

After our trip the museum, we went out for a quick bite at Brot and Kaffee.  I had a crepe with cheese, prosciutto and sour cream.  Sounds odd, but it was so good.  We didn't want to eat a whole lot since we were going to eat dinner at 6 pm.

We headed back to the hotel and packed.  Then, all we had to do was to traipse down the stairs to the restaurant.  The meal began with a tuna bite and bacon-flavored dashi.  I know, I know-it sounds odd.  But let me tell you, it was so good.  I don't like the flavor of dashi by itself.  This could be because fish is not one of my favorite foods.  This though, this was a grown up lollipop.  The tuna was so fresh and the dashi tasted like liquefied bacon.  How can you say no?

This was followed by what I can only call the wine that Jesus would have turned water into.  Sorry John and Frs. L, Thu and Jude.  It's just a true shame that I can never find this anywhere but in Germany.  Maybe if I promise to pay Spec's tons of money, they may import it.  I can only hope.  Just as a side note, we told ourselves before dinner that we were going to each have a glass of wine with dinner and then take the rest of the bottle with us to Italy.  That didn't happen.

I decided not to get an appetizer, but my aunt did.  She got the scallops.  They were wrapped in a potato crust and sauteed.  They looked amazing.

Maybe my presentation is what got me a C in Art Culinare.  Since I KNOW my plating never, ever looked like this.  It also could have been the fact that I lacked patience to sous vide anything and never grasped why I needed to make tomato water for one dish.  Ok, back to the food.  I ordered the duck with curry jus.  My aunt got the perch with sauteed treviso.

My duck was served with a "special kind of potato" that was mashed and potato dumplings that were filled. And what were they filled with?  Why, more duck.  It gave new meaning to meat and potatoes.  Seeing these pictures again makes me want the duck.  I am not to sure what the special kind of potato was that was mashed, all I know is that they were the most drool-inducing mashed potatoes that I have ever eaten.

The meal was finished with a selection of mini-deserts from the kitchen.  How can I say no to little French Macaroons and white chocolate and vanilla truffles?

It's obvious that I can't say no to mini-deserts and so I didn't.  Thankfully, after the meal, we didn't have that far to go to get back to our room and lapse into food-induced comas.

Next:  Welcome to Italy.

Lindau, Germany

Left Salzburg early enough in the morning and headed to our final stop in Germany before we headed to Italy.  We stayed at the Hotel Villino.  The Villino is actually located outside of Lindau, as Lindau is actually an island on the shores of Lake Constance.  Lake Constance is bordered by Germany, Austria and Switzerland and as such you can take a boat all around the lake and go to the various countries.  If you are so inclined, you can also take the time to visit Lichtenstein.  That is only if you feel the need to set up a tax-free corporation, which I wasn't so inclined to do on this trip.  Maybe next time.

We arrived in time for lunch.  We decided to drive from our hotel to Lindau Insel, about 15 minutes away via car.  We ate at Da Corti, an Italian restaurant in the city center.  I choose the Veal Saltimbocca.  It was served with fries on the side.  It was just ok, but the sauce was fantastic.  The veal had way to much sage on it.  I do like sage, but this tasted like eating grass.  We followed up our meal with large chocolate ice cream sundaes- topped with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and chocolate sauce.  I think they did ice cream better than the veal saltimbocca.  Now that was fantastic.

After lunch, we walked down to the harbor area and decided to have some tea since it had gotten chilly.

Look at me, trying to get all artsy.  The harbor area of Lindau was fantastic.  Actually, the whole island is fantastic.  It's just peaceful.  On the way back, we walked back past the old town hall and a fountain all decked out for Easter.  I really like the tradition of decorating things with painted eggs for Easter...and not garishly painted with glitter glue and crayons.

Next up:  One of the best meals and wines that I have ever had.

Salzburg- Day 2

Started out today with breakfast at the hotel.  Then we decided to take a tour of Salzburg.  We decided on the Hop On, Hop Off tour.  I love those things.  It's a great way to see the city you are in and it allows you to either stay on the whole way or get off and see those things that grab your interest.  There were a total of five people that started the tour.  I can imagine that in summer it is PACKED.  This tour played pieces of Mozart when they weren't talking about what you were seeing.

Things I learned about Salzburg:
1.  It is the birthplace of Mozart.
2.  It got its' name from the fact that salt was mined in the mountains around and then shipped up the river from there.
3.  Most of the "Sound Of Music" was filmed there.
4.  There are two or three concerts a night put on there throughout the year.

On the tour, we decided to "hop off" at two places.  The first was just a stopover that the bus driver had to make:

All of you "Sound of Music" fans out there can tell me what scenes were filmed here.  We opted out of the "Sound of Music" tour, although it followed the same route.

The second place we stopped at was Hellbrunn Castle.  The Archbishop at the time built it as a place to drink and embarrass his guests with trick water fountains.  The grounds were fantastic.  The only way to see them is with a guided tour and 30 of your closest friends, so off we went.  The guide showed us where the trick fountains were and explained that the Archbishop would turn them on after all of guests were drunk enough.  It was usually done during the summer, and of course all the guests had to laugh at their humiliation.

You can tell that a lot of time was spent designing and creating the fountains.  The water features still work after 400 years.  Can't get craftsmanship like that anymore, can you?

The creepy little figure in the bottom middle that looks like it has Dumbo ears actually dumped water out of hist mouth every so often.  His eyes would roll back into his head, the mouth would open and the tongue would stick out.  Something that basically translate as a big "F. U." back then.

Finally, there was my favorite piece, which was a miniature scene carved out of lime wood.  The figures moved around to the sounds from an opera.  It was run by water and has survived for 250 years.

Ok, ok.  On to the food.  After Hellbrunn, we stayed on the bus until we reached the beginning again.  Then we got off and walked to see where Mozart grew up, not his birthplace.  We were pretty hungry after all this, so decided to eat in the old town.  For the life of us, we couldn't find a place that was still serving lunch. Granted, it was close to 3pm and every place we passed was on to serving coffee and snacks, not a full meal.  A nice gentleman working at one of the cafes told us about St. Peters.  After another 10 minutes of trying to find it, we were there and starving.  A little bit about the restaurant before I go on to the food.  The restaurant is said to be the oldest in the world.  It was started in 803 A.D.  It is located by St. Peter's Church in Old Town Salzburg.  As you enter, there is a courtyard that I am sure gets packed in the summer by people enjoying a nice beer.  Not today though.  It was somewhat chilly.  The menu wasn't that big, which can always see as a blessing when you are starving.  No one wants to spend 15 minutes looking at a menu when you want to saw off your own arm and eat it.  Hungarian Goulash it was for lunch.  I almost got the roast pork with sauerkraut, but changed my mind at the last minute.

The verdict...well, at least I wasn't hungry when I left.  It was just alright.  The beef was tender, but some of it wasn't trimmed well.  The sausage cut up to look like an octopus made me feel like a kid (in a good way).  The dumpling on the left was good for soaking up the sauce that came with it.  The highlight may have been the handmade bread and cheese that was served before the meal.  The bread was made just a few hundred feet away in the abbey.  So good.

We ended the day with a concert at the old fortress.  I think I burned off the meal walking up all the steps to get to the top.  But, I would say that it was worth it.

   

Baden Baden and Salzburg, Austria

I know I am really behind on blog posts.  Wi-fi has been an issue, but we finally have it sorted out.  I am currently in Italy right now, but I need (and want) to finish talking about our trip through Austria and Germany.

On April 17, we walked around Baden Baden.  We ended up eating lunch at Leo's.  It wasn't much.  They had a lunch special for 10 euros that got you a main course and a cup of coffee/cappuccino/tea afterwards.  Not a bad deal in a town that is pretty pricey.  I got the cordon bleu.  It wasn't the best thing that I have ever eaten.  You know the meals I mean...the ones that after you have eaten them, you think to yourself, "Well, at least now I won't be starving later."  It was one of those.  The chicken wasn't dry, which is always a blessing.  It was difficult to find the cheese in it though.  It did need more salt.  The fries that it was served with were good though and of course they were from frozen.  Can't have it all for 10 euros can you?

The drive to Salzburg took us about 4 hours.  We stayed at the Hotel Schloss Monchstein and got in just in time to have drinks and dinner.  There weren't a lot of people staying in the hotel and as such, we were the only ones there for dinner that night.  The dinning room is small and has a great view of the mountains as well as part of the city.  It was so peaceful and quite there.  To start with, we had what amounts to Tuna Canneloni with asparagus cream.

Delicious is the only way to describe what came out of the kitchen.  The tuna was topped with more asparagus cream.  This was courtesy of the kitchen.  We followed this up with an asparagus salad.  Lynn and I split it.  Let me just say that I have eaten more asparagus this trip then I have in the past month.  And I haven't even been in Europe for a week.  I guess we can thank the fact it is asparagus season here for that.  Let me just say that I have never tasted asparagus that is this good in so many different preparations.

It was an asparagus salad with white asparagus served with Parmesan and soured milk (the circle things with purple on top).  As you can see, the presentation was fantastic.  I don't know what the purple stuff was.  However, the soured milk was salty and not all that good in combination with the salad.  The asparagus puree underneath was just another layer of flavor.  My main course was Pike Perch with Parmesan sauce and balsamic vinegar (and more asparagus).

Again, a beautiful presentation.  The fish was nice and moist.  The sauce didn't overpower the fish as can sometimes happen.  The sauce was so delicate.  And the balsamic vinegar just added to everything that it touched.  Finely, we ended with chocolates from the kitchen.

The chocolates were presented on a bed of ground cocoa nibs.  Let me just say that there are very few things that I want with my chocolate.  Booze, nuts and fruit are really not high on the list.  There were only two chocolates that fit that bill on the plate.  Thankfully, Lynn and I found them, but only after eating some filled with booze, nuts and fruit.

After this delicious meal, it was time to head back to our room and try to get some sleep.  Stay tuned to find out about my meal at the oldest restaurant in the world!

  

Baden Baden- Brenner's Park Hotel

Well, we made it on our first drive from Sindelfingen to Baden Baden.  The car handles like a dream.  The engine is so quite and it so spacious on the inside.  I have never spent more than two days in Germany and that was only on a trip from the Czech Republic.  Anyway, the drive through the Black Forest was fantastic.  We spent the night at Brenner's Park Hotel.  The hotel makes you feel like you are on some grand tour of Europe in the 1800s, and in fact that is when it was started.  Although, I am pretty sure I dragged the average age down in the place.  Since we had such a late lunch in Sindelfingen, I wasn't that hungry.  I opted for the Wild Garlic Risotto with tomatoes, pine nuts and whole meal crostini.

The risotto was very good, although I couldn't find the pine nuts in it.  The garlic flavor that might be supposed wasn't really there.  Instead, I found it to be more of an onion taste.  There were actually diced and peeled and mixed in as well.  The crostini were fantastic.

To drink, we had a German sparkling wine called Furst von Metternich.  It had a very nice flavor and was crisp. 

To finish off the meal, we had a little plate of confections, courtesy of the kitchens.  As you can see, there were little macaroons, cookies and chocolate.  All very tasty and very much appreciated.  We looked like some cartoon when we ate all but the three chocolates in the middle and wrapped those in the doily that was provided.  I am sure that the waitstaff thought we were strange.

Finally, I will leave you with a picture from Brenner's Park Hotel on our stroll by the river.

Car Pick-Up Day Lunch- Sindelfingen, Germany

Today was the day that we picked up the car.  For those of you who have just stumbled upon my blog, my Aunt and I, through a convergence of forces both found ourselves with time off at the same time.  She has just retired from a long career and I have just finished culinary school.  One of her dreams was to buy a car for European delivery and then drive around Europe for a period of time.  Our trip is going to last about 8 months.

Back to the food, which is what I am going to write about here, unless you all want something more.  Mercedes-Benz is very efficient and very pleasant when it comes to flying 9 hours to pick up a car to drive around only to have to then drop it off and wait 6 weeks before it comes to its home in America.

The factory is located in Sindelfingen, on the outskirts of Stuttgart, Germany.  We started off with a factory tour, which I only mention because it was so cool.  Normally I don't find cars all that interesting, but the way they run things there.  Wow!  The business side of me was very impressed.  Oh yeah, and I guess seeing a car made from start to finish.  That was neat too.

After the tour, we had lunch.  One might think that the food at a factory is going to be blah, but it was the first well seasoned meal that I had in Germany since arriving two days early (and might I mention, properly cooked meal).  That's a big thing for me...properly seasoned food.

I had the veal ravioli, but it wasn't a traditional ravioli like one usually thinks off- you know, square with crimped edges.  It was covered with a thin layer of pesto, asparagus, mozzarella cheese and surrounded by "asparagus broth" which was more like cream of asparagus soup.  It was topped by a homemade cracker that had little dried flowers in it.  Let me tell you, it was tasty.  So very tasty.  The pasta was tender, but not soggy.  The filling was moist and flavorful and the soup was so good that I would have liked my bowl were I not in a restaurant.

My Aunt had the lamb two ways.  She told me that it was very good and well seasoned as well.  I didn't taste it since I was too involved with my own.