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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  The fundamental plate
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The fundamental plate

The German chef on meat and potatoes, and the Mediterranean influence

Chef Mathias Woebken at a grill demonstration. Photo: Aniruddha Chowdhury/MintPremium
Chef Mathias Woebken at a grill demonstration. Photo: Aniruddha Chowdhury/Mint

Simple food is what drives German chef Mathias Woebken. Fillet of Soul, the Hamburg restaurant where he works, serves a mix of German and European food, but at home Woebken prefers to dabble in Asian cuisines. “I can’t help it, the spices, the fragrances, and the flavours—they tempt me all the time!" he confesses. Visiting India after almost a decade to kick off the Oktoberfest celebrations at Le Meridien hotel, Bengaluru, he laid out a very German spread, leaving his Asian experiments for another time. Edited excerpts from an interview:

Germany is a big country. Is the food region-specific?

Apart from ingredients, there are certain dishes peculiar to certain regions. For instance, the north eats a lot of fish because of its proximity to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. They have a dish called the Labskaus—a mix of corned beef, potato, beetroot, puréed and served with fish and an egg, served sunny-side up—a really early version of Surf ’n Turf. It doesn’t look very attractive, but it’s delicious.

In the south, pork legs with potato dumplings and sauerkraut is a very traditional dish. You also get the white sausage and brezel (known as pretzel elsewhere), which is served with sweet mustard. Back in the days before refrigeration, it needed to be eaten by noon. Nowadays, of course, it’s served through the day.

Currywurst was invented in Berlin. In the south-west, religion prohibited consumption of meat on certain days. So people came up with the Maultaschen or Swabian pockets, a kind of ravioli, to hide the meat!

What’s the food that you grew up with?

From the time I can remember, my mother used to make this dish with crispy duck, fried potatoes and red cabbage. This is one dish that I continue to be in love with.

Also, we get together on family holidays such as Christmas and it’s always something traditional at home. Stuffed goose, red cabbage, potatoes, and a sauce to go with it—it’s delicious, and extremely nostalgic. I also love the Wiener Schnitzel (breaded pork cutlet), and also the old-fashioned potato salad, with oil and vinegar, and bits of ham.

What really characterizes German cuisine?

Well, in Bavaria, beer is officially considered a staple! But no, we don’t drink beer from the moment we wake up. Wine is extremely popular in Germany as well.

So far as the food is concerned, we are all about meat and vegetables: pork, beef and chicken on the one hand and cabbage, beans, potatoes, tomatoes and cucumber on the other. And breads, of course. It’s not very complicated, and we are not big on spices. We work mostly with salt, pepper and mustard. But that’s changing gradually.

Could you explain?

We’re trying to adopt other European ingredients, like we’ve adopted the Euro. There’s quite a bit of Mediterranean influence; you even get German antipasti now. We are incorporating dried tomatoes and herbs into our food. I won’t say it’s being welcomed with open arms though: There’s a fairly large population of traditionalists, who are opposed to change.

The local market scene must be buzzing.

I can’t say that. Life has become very expensive. In most families, both parents hold a job, and have very little time to cook. People end up making their purchases at the supermarkets, and prefer ready-to-eats that they slip into an oven or a microwave. They also go to fast-food joints quite a bit; the Turkish döner, burgers, and pizzas have become very popular in the cities of Germany.

There is of course a “foodie" community growing in Germany, and fast. You’ll see them in the local markets, buying fresh seasonal produce and cooking at home. And then there are those who watch cookery shows on television and go into the kitchen to pop a frozen pizza into the oven during the commercial break. This is a really interesting phenomenon worldwide; people love watching cooking shows but won’t spend much time in the kitchen. Unbelievable.

Is barbecuing a big thing in Germany?

Yes, it is, but only during the summer months, between April and September. We also bring out our barbecue grills on New Year’s Day, and use that grill as a heater as well!

Wine and Butter Sauce

“I love making sauces," says Woebken. “Make a batch of this, freeze it, and cook it with almost anything."

Ingredients

1 cup butter

1 cup white wine

A slice of lemon

1 vanilla-bean pod

A pinch of salt

Method

Mix together the butter and wine in a pot, with the salt.
Add the lemon and vanilla bean. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove the lemon and vanilla bean before serving. Use this sauce on mashed potatoes, grilled meat, fish, even vegetables.

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Published: 15 Nov 2014, 08:32 PM IST
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