Dining in Würzburg

On November 30, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany, Recipes4 Comments

We mentioned this the other day, but we were very fortunate to find a wonderful little restaurant in Würzburg over the past weekend. We were walking some of the side streets, trying to get away from the larger crowds around the Christmas markets when we found Stachel, a restaurant established in 1413. The atmosphere was relaxing with wonderful stained glass windows and very unique chandeliers. In fact, we have found a lot of places to have beautiful chandeliers, which we have enjoyed seeing.

We don’t usually do starters as well as an entrée, which we shared of course, but we decided to do so this particular day. Game food is definitely on the specialty menus these days, rabbit, duck, goose, and venison can be found at almost every authentic German restaurant. There are also a variety of seasonal soups, including chestnuts, Riesling, and potato soups. We decided to go ahead and get the black pudding, also known as blood pudding, which was served with roasted potatoes.

Trio of Soup, Potato, Beef Broth, Creamy Riesling

For the entrée, we chose the half duck, which was definitely a lot of food for the two of us, but it was exquisite. Tender and moist, but the crispy skin was the highlight of the meal. We have had potato dumplings before and the ones that accompanied our duck were very similar, although it is hard to describe the texture of these springy sponges. A local beer was definitely the perfect pairing for the gamey taste of the duck.

Speaking of beer, our day started by stopping in a small pub as we arrived in town. We would later learn that there is a difference in how the people from the Bayern region view having a beer early in the day versus those in the Hessen region where Frankfurt sits. This was definitely the local watering hole and although it was only noon, there were not any empty seats as the local men gathered to share stories from the week and most likely talk politics and life.

It isn’t all about beer, though, Germany has wonderful wines and we have enjoyed many of those as well. We ended our day by stopping by a wine bar, Weinstube, which carried local red and white wines. Their logo is a monkey drinking wine with a pretzel in his hand, so we shouldn’t have been surprised when our wine glasses arrived with a plastic monkey hanging from the lip. Some cheese covered bread to go with the wine made our food day complete. We probably won’t have a chance to visit Würzburg again, but we definitely enjoyed the food and drinks that we were able to have during our brief visit.

Delicious Goose Dinner

On November 16, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany, Recipes4 Comments

We were told the other day that it is goose season here in Germany at the moment. We decided to go ahead and have the goose dinner at our local restaurant and we couldn’t have been more pleased. The goose was succulent and moist and was accompanied by red cabbage with apple and potato dumplings. Needless to say, pictures don’t provide justice to how good this meal truly was. We have cooked goose and duck at home ourselves and it can be a tricky meal to make due to the fattiness of the skin, but this goose was cooked to perfection. We have had some wonderful German meals since our arrival, but perhaps this might have been the best for a traditional German dinner.

The Food of Heidelberg

On November 2, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany, Recipes19 Comments

Every region in Germany seems to have local favorites that are unique to that area, while everyplace seems to have schnitzel and sausage. We were only in Heidelberg for a day, so we didn’t eat a wide variety of food, but we took a chance and ate what was deemed to be a specialty of the region. It was listed on the menu as “Pork Stomach”. Needless to say, we weren’t sure at all as to whether we should order it since it didn’t sound particularly appetizing. It actually turned out to be pretty tasty and we have some assumptions as to how it is prepared.

Basically the pork stomach is pork meat, potatoes, and vegetables that we assume are stuffed in the stomach lining and then cooked. The result is something that looks kind of like a giant sausage or for those who are familiar with it, a slice of Spam. The texture is a little difficult to describe, but with the brown gravy it was served with, it was very good. We probably won’t order it again, but at least we gave it a try.

Obviously there was local beer and we also had a very nice goulash with noodles. We have had this particular style of noodles a couple of times and they too are a little difficult to describe. They a soft and chewy, nothing like most pasta that we have had. It is a good thing that we have been walking a lot because the portions here have been very large. After almost every meal, we are asked if we didn’t like the food because we couldn’t finish the whole meal. We have done a lot of reassuring because it has been good, we just can’t eat that much.