Alsace is a special place from a culinary perspective. Some say that French and German influences combine to create une cuisine which at best is refined as the French know to make it and solid as the German like it. Other disregard it and consider it to be rough and neither French not German. Liliana and me love it.
auberge-restaurant S'bastberger-stuewel
Out first encounter with the Alsacian cuisine in this trip was in fifth day of the trip, when lunch time caught us hungry on the road. We could not resist the view of an auberge nicely decorated with flowers and sculptures in the picturesque village of Imbsheim which is kind of a suburb of Bouxviller where we were heading to, and stopped there for lunch.
the bar at restaurant S'bastberger-stuewel
It proved to be one of the most beautiful restaurants we have ever seen. It’s a family place on the road combining a restaurant and a small hotel, and it must be pretty famous in the area as the owners were taking reservations by phone during all our lunch there.
witches on the walls at Restaurant S'bastberger-stuewel
The decoration inside included flowers, and rustic paintings and comic posters in German or Alsatian dialect and witches puppets which reminded us immediately about one of our preferred restaurants in Israel – the Witches Casserole and The Milkman near the Nimrod fortress on the Golan Heights.
menu fix au Restaurant S'bastberger-stuewel
What about the food? Well, we were quite late for lunch so the owners suggested that we have the fix menu. Three course, soup, chicken with potatoes prepared in a rustic style and a tasty cream to end – pretty simple but inexpensive and tasty. The full menu included many local specialties that we would have loved to try, but these had to be left for another occasion.
Strasbourg - La corde a linge
We were not very hungry that evening, but we could not avoid a good beer and a bite on a terrace in the Petite France area of Strasbourg. We chose La corde a linge by the river Ill.
music by the Ill
Although the pick tourist season was over the place was quite crowded because of the location, the perfect weather and the music band which was playing on the pedestrian street in front of the restaurant for the customers of the restaurants around.
spaetzle keltch and salade Corset
The bite ended by not being that small, as the restaurant has generously sized portions. We especially enjoyed the spaetzle keltch which is kind of a consistent and tasty pudding of German egg noodles with cheese and ham. Diets start the day after the vacation – did you know that?
gateaux chez Christian
The next day was the full day that we spent in Strasbourg. We had one very specific recommendation from our friend Erica for Christian – patisserie and chocolatier near the cathedral. We found it late in the afternoon after we had already eaten a fast street food lunch so we just tried the cakes and acknowledged that the recommendation was completely in place.
Maison des Tanneurs
We could not leave Strasbourg before having the best of the local specialty – la choucroute. The place that we chose – also located in the Petite France area – was La Maison des Tanneurs. The building is one of the oldest typical and beautiful buildings in place in the area, built in 1572, and renovated in 1972 for the four centuries anniversary. It was a tannery for most of its history and became a restaurant in 1949.
Maison des Tanneurs - interior
After enjoying the stylish interior we met our waiter who had a look and accent that were not at all local, but rather Mediterranean. Soon we learned that he is a Turkish Kurd, and we became friends after he identified the language we were speaking as Romanian and we found the common subject of discussion between almost any Romanian and any Turk – Gheorghe Hagi.
choucroute - the real thing
The specialty we came there for was at the level of the expectations.
choucroute au poissons
We tried also a variant of choucroute with fish – it proved to be very different than what we expected. Good but different.
yes, we are in Alsace!
The wine we chose was a Riesling Grand Cru from Domaine Klipfel. We such started the preparations for the Route des Vins which we were planning to travel the next day.
Frumos! Ce pofta mi-ai facut atat de locuri cat si de specialitati!
cand spui ‘imprejurimi’ imi vin in minte atat nume cunoscute, Colmar, Riquewihr, Ribeauville cat si multe mici asezari pitoresti.
Cand am inceput sa citesc despre choucroute si am vazut poza apetisanta cu felul clasic, am vrut sa te intreb ‘dar de peste ai mancat’?
Am primit raspunsul in paragraful urmator 🙂
Am vazut locuri cu cate 10 feluri de choucroute in meniu, dupa pofta fiecaruia, inclusiv cea cu un mic fazan bine facut ce troneaza pe varza acra.
As aminti printre specialitati si supa de ceapa acoperita cu un strat gros de ‘brinza galbena’ topita si, nu se poate sa incheiem fara sa pomenim de faimosul Baeckeoffe. Se observa ca originea cuvantului vine de la ‘cuptorul brutarului’ iar mancarea contine traditional cateva feluri de carne, legume si mirodeniile cele mai diverse. Culmea este ca are cateva asemanari cu tshoulent-ul, inclusiv la pregatirea la cuptor peste noapte, deobicei spre duminica, respectiv sambata.
Daca esti la inceputul toamnei pe-acolo, ca si la Bucuresti sau Viena, gasesti un must… ah, ce bun!!!
Teddy – mai asteapta un episod sau doua si ajun si eu la Riquewihr si Colmar. Baeckeoffe imi pare a aduce cu casseroles de la restaurantul cu vrajitoarele de la Nimrod, pomenit si el in acest episod.