My First Published Food Article
http://photoreporter.com/article.asp?issueID=70&num=17&vol=14&articleType=n&articleID=1025
I arrived late Sunday evening, after a midnight flight to London, a long connection and a change of airlines. After checking into the Köln Marriott hotel, I asked the concierge where I could find the best place for a quiet dinner nearby. “The hotel has a wonderful French brasserie, Fou,” he said enthusiastically through his broken English. “I will get you a seat!” and he quickly whisked me inside.
It was relatively quiet for a Sunday evening, and I listened to Edith Piaf songs and waited as the young German waitress presented me with a dinner menu and wine list. “Do you have any local German Rieslings?” I asked with anticipation. “I’m sorry, miss, all of our wines are French,” she replied, “but we do carry an Alsatian Riesling.” I thought, “How odd to be on the Rhine and not carry German Rieslings.” True to its claim, everything on their menu was French.
I ordered a glass of Vin de Pays (mid-level) Bordeaux from Baron Philippe de Rothschild—it was a secondary brand that (to my knowledge) does not import into the United States. The wine offered a lovely lavender and black currant fragrance that carried through to its taste. For a Bordeaux (primarily a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot), the wine had a robust flavor and light tannins (that velvet feeling on your tongue).
Along with my wine, the waitress brought me a warm, freshly baked baguette on a wooden cutting board with some duck pâté and a dish of cornichons (baby sour pickles). Clearly homemade, I could see the strands of duck meat in the pâté, which melted in my mouth—balancing out the bread’s yeastiness. The pickles added just the right zing to this rich combination of flavors.
As a first course, I ordered “Le Fromage de Gratinée au Poteau,” expecting a baked gratin of sliced potatoes in cream sauce, topped with grated cheese. What I received, however, was a tower of diced, salted boiled potatoes interspersed with slivers of olives and truffle oil, and crowned by a disk of goat cheese with fresh thyme. On the side, a salad of small-diced tomatoes with sea salt, cilantro and onions, and two crisp toasts. It was beautiful! And tasty too. I equally enjoyed the remainder of my meal, and after desert, I received the check with a dark chocolate fondue and large red grapes. This meal set the tone for the remainder of my trip!
Throughout the next several days, I spent most of my time working at the Photokina exhibit, the purpose of my voyage. Much like at American trade shows, I had meetings booked every hour. However, vastly different, my European counterparts served real food inside their booth. In between meetings, I tasted finger sandwiches and hors d'oeuvres of mini pizzas, miniature pork-stuffed cabbage, quarter-sized schnitzel patties and meatballs on toothpicks.
It was a luxury compared to CES or PMA, where, desperate for even a bottle of water, I have to walk what feels like an eternity in heels to the packed food court and wait 45 minutes of my hour-long lunch break on line for a selection of reheated Chinese food, lukewarm pizza or days-old, prepackaged ham-and-cheese sandwiches.
One night, while dining out with some colleagues, we went to an Italian place called Ristorante Etrusca. Once again, the entire menu was Italian. So, we began our evening with a bottle of Barbara d’ Asti, an easy-to-drink red wine from Italy’s Piedmont region (still no German Rieslings). With a clashing of cultures, the menu appeared on a chalkboard in a mixture of German and Italian, and our server did not speak English. Our one German-speaking guest could read the menu but had no knowledge of Italian food. Another person tried ordering in Spanish. At least I understood enough Italian (having eaten enough Italian food) to translate parts of the menu for everyone else.
We ended up with a prefixed four-course meal that began with selected antipastos—including a fresh Mozzarella d’ Buffalo and basil salad (yummy); a second course of gnocchi in a butter sauce; an entrée of our choice; and a truly decadent Tiramisu for dessert.
Approaching my last night in Köln I had not yet eaten a German meal or tasted any local Rieslings. That was about to change. We planned to host some colleagues for dinner at a local restaurant called HOF 18. It is an upscale German eatery that is both owned by and situated next to the Früh am Dom Brauhus. One of Köln’s oldest and most famous breweries, the Früh is located in the shadow of the gothic Dom Cathedral (built in 1248 AD), which escaped bombing during World War II.
I arrived at HOF 18 early to confirm our dinner arrangements and found four different local German Rieslings on the wine list. “Finally,” I thought, and began with a vertical tasting (a ¼-glass each from light to medium body) of every Riesling on the menu. With each wine, the signature dry, crispness and apple flavor shone through. Some were drier than others, and some had more pronounced fruit, but the group enjoyed my favorite, the Mogul, as our dinner white. It held a lovely balance of fruit and dryness and was easy on the palate.
Having planned a menu in advance of pork with cabbage and potatoes, I was not prepared for the quality and elegance of the meal. A succulent, soft medallion of suckling pig with a wine reduction sauce, served on a bed of cabbage chiffonade, with sliced tender fingerling potatoes. Both the Mogul Riesling and the Gigondas (a spicy, red French Rhone Valley wine made up of a blend of Syrah, Grenache and other grapes) matched this meal beautifully.
As the Photokina exhibit ended, we had learned about the newly announced photographic products and which technologies will not make it to the U.S., and we now held a clear expectation for holiday sales. I could go home, sated with experiences of provincial French, Italian and German cuisine, wonderful wines—like the Bordeaux and the Mogul Riesling—and adjust my culinary expectations for upcoming trade shows … PhotoPlus, CES, PMA.
Köln: An Industry Professional’s Culinary Tour at Photokina 2006
by Deborah Szajngarten
In anticipation of this year’s Photokina trade show, I, along with
other American photo industry professionals, left for Germany with some
common questions: “Who will announce new cameras, lenses and
accessories? What technologies will sell in Europe that will not make
it to American market? And, “How will these announcements affect the
American holiday selling season?” However, I also had another, very
important question on my mind—a question I was sure that everyone else
traveling to Photokina shared, “What will I eat in Köln?”
I arrived late Sunday evening, after a midnight flight to London, a long connection and a change of airlines. After checking into the Köln Marriott hotel, I asked the concierge where I could find the best place for a quiet dinner nearby. “The hotel has a wonderful French brasserie, Fou,” he said enthusiastically through his broken English. “I will get you a seat!” and he quickly whisked me inside.
It was relatively quiet for a Sunday evening, and I listened to Edith Piaf songs and waited as the young German waitress presented me with a dinner menu and wine list. “Do you have any local German Rieslings?” I asked with anticipation. “I’m sorry, miss, all of our wines are French,” she replied, “but we do carry an Alsatian Riesling.” I thought, “How odd to be on the Rhine and not carry German Rieslings.” True to its claim, everything on their menu was French.
I ordered a glass of Vin de Pays (mid-level) Bordeaux from Baron Philippe de Rothschild—it was a secondary brand that (to my knowledge) does not import into the United States. The wine offered a lovely lavender and black currant fragrance that carried through to its taste. For a Bordeaux (primarily a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot), the wine had a robust flavor and light tannins (that velvet feeling on your tongue).
Along with my wine, the waitress brought me a warm, freshly baked baguette on a wooden cutting board with some duck pâté and a dish of cornichons (baby sour pickles). Clearly homemade, I could see the strands of duck meat in the pâté, which melted in my mouth—balancing out the bread’s yeastiness. The pickles added just the right zing to this rich combination of flavors.
As a first course, I ordered “Le Fromage de Gratinée au Poteau,” expecting a baked gratin of sliced potatoes in cream sauce, topped with grated cheese. What I received, however, was a tower of diced, salted boiled potatoes interspersed with slivers of olives and truffle oil, and crowned by a disk of goat cheese with fresh thyme. On the side, a salad of small-diced tomatoes with sea salt, cilantro and onions, and two crisp toasts. It was beautiful! And tasty too. I equally enjoyed the remainder of my meal, and after desert, I received the check with a dark chocolate fondue and large red grapes. This meal set the tone for the remainder of my trip!
Throughout the next several days, I spent most of my time working at the Photokina exhibit, the purpose of my voyage. Much like at American trade shows, I had meetings booked every hour. However, vastly different, my European counterparts served real food inside their booth. In between meetings, I tasted finger sandwiches and hors d'oeuvres of mini pizzas, miniature pork-stuffed cabbage, quarter-sized schnitzel patties and meatballs on toothpicks.
It was a luxury compared to CES or PMA, where, desperate for even a bottle of water, I have to walk what feels like an eternity in heels to the packed food court and wait 45 minutes of my hour-long lunch break on line for a selection of reheated Chinese food, lukewarm pizza or days-old, prepackaged ham-and-cheese sandwiches.
One night, while dining out with some colleagues, we went to an Italian place called Ristorante Etrusca. Once again, the entire menu was Italian. So, we began our evening with a bottle of Barbara d’ Asti, an easy-to-drink red wine from Italy’s Piedmont region (still no German Rieslings). With a clashing of cultures, the menu appeared on a chalkboard in a mixture of German and Italian, and our server did not speak English. Our one German-speaking guest could read the menu but had no knowledge of Italian food. Another person tried ordering in Spanish. At least I understood enough Italian (having eaten enough Italian food) to translate parts of the menu for everyone else.
We ended up with a prefixed four-course meal that began with selected antipastos—including a fresh Mozzarella d’ Buffalo and basil salad (yummy); a second course of gnocchi in a butter sauce; an entrée of our choice; and a truly decadent Tiramisu for dessert.
Approaching my last night in Köln I had not yet eaten a German meal or tasted any local Rieslings. That was about to change. We planned to host some colleagues for dinner at a local restaurant called HOF 18. It is an upscale German eatery that is both owned by and situated next to the Früh am Dom Brauhus. One of Köln’s oldest and most famous breweries, the Früh is located in the shadow of the gothic Dom Cathedral (built in 1248 AD), which escaped bombing during World War II.
I arrived at HOF 18 early to confirm our dinner arrangements and found four different local German Rieslings on the wine list. “Finally,” I thought, and began with a vertical tasting (a ¼-glass each from light to medium body) of every Riesling on the menu. With each wine, the signature dry, crispness and apple flavor shone through. Some were drier than others, and some had more pronounced fruit, but the group enjoyed my favorite, the Mogul, as our dinner white. It held a lovely balance of fruit and dryness and was easy on the palate.
Having planned a menu in advance of pork with cabbage and potatoes, I was not prepared for the quality and elegance of the meal. A succulent, soft medallion of suckling pig with a wine reduction sauce, served on a bed of cabbage chiffonade, with sliced tender fingerling potatoes. Both the Mogul Riesling and the Gigondas (a spicy, red French Rhone Valley wine made up of a blend of Syrah, Grenache and other grapes) matched this meal beautifully.
As the Photokina exhibit ended, we had learned about the newly announced photographic products and which technologies will not make it to the U.S., and we now held a clear expectation for holiday sales. I could go home, sated with experiences of provincial French, Italian and German cuisine, wonderful wines—like the Bordeaux and the Mogul Riesling—and adjust my culinary expectations for upcoming trade shows … PhotoPlus, CES, PMA.
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