In Germany, a new eating class emerges

By Carter Dougherty

Interntional Herald Tribune

LANGEN, Germany: In the hands of Juan Amador, the "Strammer Max" looks
like a metaphor for German haute cuisine these days. It is fine food
that is light years away from what the world expects of German eating,
but also distant from what most Germans have on their plates.

A Strammer Max is a traditional ham-and-egg sandwich that typically
drips with grease. But the diner who pays EUR 159, or about $240, for
the full treatment at Amador's eponymous restaurant gets to slurp a few
drops of pork fat and smoked oil from a tiny plastic tube, and then
follow it with a quail egg swaddled in paper-thin dough.

Quirky innovations like this one earned Amador three Michelin stars, the
highest rating that the coveted French dining guide awards, and drew
attention to a development that smashes clichés about a cuisine best
known for sauerkraut and sausage. Germany has leapfrogged gastronomic
destinations like Italy and Spain and now has more three-star
restaurants - nine - than any other European country except France.

"Germany's eating behavior has changed radically in the last 10 years,"
Amador said. "We are creating a new eating culture that simply did not
exist before."

Amador's pat on his own back is probably true in today's Germany, but
not only at the high end of the market. A mix of economic developments
and rising appreciation for fine food accounts for a blossoming of the
restaurant scene in the last decade, with the Germans shaking off a
certain reputation for tightfisted-ness when it comes to cuisine.

"People are now - I wouldn't say sophisticated, that's not right - but
they are more willing to spend," said Jean-Luc Naret, the director of
the Michelin guides. "If not more money then the right money for the
right value."

The Michelin Guide for Germany, published in November, added three new
three-star eateries to the country's roster. Amador's hard-to-classify
experimental style sits in the guide alongside Restaurant Bareiss, a
French-inflected outfit run by Claus-Peter Lumpp in the Black Forest and
GästeHaus Erfort in Saarbrücken, where the chef Klaus Erfort cultivates
classic German dishes.

The notion that anything on a German plate would outstrip bella Italia
(which had five three-star restaurants this year) was enough to put the
Italian food world into a froth, with various conspiracy theories making
the rounds.

Davide Paolini, one of Italy's top food experts, took care to look down
his nose at the Michelin guide, questioning its competence in reaching
"verdicts about 'made in Italy' restaurants" in an article in the Milan
newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. The ranking was a cheap publicity stunt,
Paolini said, guaranteeing polemics - and hence free publicity - in the
Italian media.

(If the French had any reaction to the German advance, it was apparently
a collective shrug. With 28 three-star eateries, France has little
reason to develop a sudden inferiority complex.)

But Italians for whom quality pasta and the perfect puddle of espresso
is part of daily life can take heart. Only a small slice of German
society, it turns out, has the desire or wherewithal to enjoy truly good
food.

"We have more and more people in Germany who know what they are doing
when it comes to eating," said Gunther Hirschfelder, a professor at the
University of Bonn. "But the other side of this societal development is
that we have a growing underclass that is detached from the phenomenon.
We don't have a single eating culture in Germany, we have a divergence
of cultures."

Hirschfelder, a cultural anthropologist, ticked off the long list of
eating-induced maladies that have become more prevalent in Germany:
juvenile diabetes, childhood obesity, heart disease.

Much of this development, he notes, can be traced to the worsening
nutritional habits of low-income Germans who are attracted to the ease
of prepared foods, whether in the freezer section of a grocery store or
a fast-food outlet. Invoking an oft-heard line in Germany, Hirschfelder
said, in reference to similar problems across the Atlantic, "everything
that happens in the United States happens here, just 10 years later."

That trend has coincided with the emergence of a new eating class over
the past decade in Germany. Financially speaking, Germans have been
tightening their belts for some time - real incomes declined in 2007 for
the fourth consecutive year. But that development masks a substantial
rise in income inequality, with high earners breaking away from the
pack.

"More and more we have a clientele in Germany that was not affected by
the economic tightening of the last few years," said Roland Adler, a
market researcher who studies restaurants at NPD Group in Nuremberg.

"On the contrary they did quite well."

Three-starred chefs prefer not to apologize for this fact, a daring
stance given that equality - and the rising lack thereof - is a touchy
subject in a Germany where socialist notions of justice run deep.

Indeed, the career of Amador, born to Spanish parents in Germany, has
been based on cultivating the new eating elite. Amador, 39, hopscotched
around restaurants in Germany, earning his first Michelin star at 25 and
working on the posh North Sea resort island of Sylt.

He openly disparages what wealthy Germans often call the country's "envy
society."

"A two- or three-star restaurant is nothing for the average citizen,"
Amador said. "That is not so polite to say in this country but it is
true, and we shouldn't be ashamed of saying so."

Still, if anything characterizes the economics of haute cuisine in
Germany, it is that people who have the money still bring to the table
hints of the financial perspective of people who do not.

The parking lots of low-end discount supermarkets like Aldi or Lidl are
filled with cars made by Audi, Porsche and Mercedes, suggesting that
Germans attach a higher worth to luxury iron than they do to touting an
appreciation of chi-chi food. "Unlike other people in Europe, the
Germans don't go just to show off," Naret of Michelin said.

Bowing to this logic, three-star restaurateurs demand EUR 100 to EUR 150
(without wine) for their top treatment, about half what a similar meal
would cost across the Rhine in France.

The German chef's answer to this quandary has been to diversify.

Of the nine three-star restaurants in Germany, six of them also have
hotels - often small but sumptuous guesthouses - that enjoy better
profit margins than the main attraction. Many of Germany's one- and
two-star restaurants have adopted the same strategy.

"This has been an answer to the question of how we cover our costs,"
said Hans Stefan Steinheuer, the chef at the two-star Steinheuers Alte
Post, which sits outside Bonn, the capital of former West Germany.

Amador is negotiating with municipal authorities for a spot where he can
offer lodgings with 8 to 10 rooms, and he already has a studio in
Frankfurt - Germany's nearby financial capital - where he gives cooking
classes and stages other money-making events. Amador, displaying a bit
of German envy himself, grumbled that prices need to rise 20 to 30
percent before the best restaurants are financially sustainable.

But in the main, complaints like that seem to be small beer in the new
world of German cuisine. For now, chefs who longed for the culinary
culture of a France or Italy, have their own domestic audience whose
lingering stinginess they are willing to overlook.

"People have become much more open for new kinds of food," Steinheuer
said. "They are ready to test out new tastes."

Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Rome.

Victor Sack schrieb:
> In Germany, a new eating class emerges
>
> By Carter Dougherty
>
> Interntional Herald Tribune
>
> LANGEN, Germany: In the hands of Juan Amador, the "Strammer Max" looks
> like a metaphor for German haute cuisine these days. It is fine food
> that is light years away from what the world expects of German eating,
> but also distant from what most Germans have on their plates.
>
> A Strammer Max is a traditional ham-and-egg sandwich that typically
> drips with grease. But the diner who pays EUR 159, or about $240, for
> the full treatment at Amador's eponymous restaurant gets to slurp a few
> drops of pork fat and smoked oil from a tiny plastic tube, and then
> follow it with a quail egg swaddled in paper-thin dough.
>
> Hello, this it Germany Original Recipe
to Strammer Max


========== REZKONV-Rezept - RezkonvSuite v1.2

Titel: Strammer Max
Kategorien: Snack, Brot, Schinken, Eier
Menge: 5 Portionen

10 Scheiben Baguette oder Weißbrot
60 Gramm Butter
300 Gramm Westfaelischen
-- Knochenschinken am Stueck
2 Essl. Oel
10 Frische Eier
Einige Kerbelblaettchen

1* Die Baguettescheiben goldgelb toasten und mit Butter betreichen.

2* Den Schinken in kleine Wuerfel von 1/2 cm Kantenlaenge schneiden
und auf die Baguettescheiben verteilen.

3* In einer grossen Pfanne das Oel erhitzen. Die Wachteleier
vorsichtig aufschlagen, die Eier ins heisse Oel geben und bei
mittlerer Hitze stocken lassen.

4* Die Pfanne vom Herd nehmen. Mit einem runden Ausstechfoermchen
die Spiegeleier ausstechen und auf die Baguettescheiben setzen. Den
strammen Max mit Kerbel garnieren.

=====

:-))

In article >,
Joachim Weller > wrote:

> Victor Sack schrieb:
> > In Germany, a new eating class emerges
> >
> > By Carter Dougherty
> >
> > Interntional Herald Tribune
> >
> > LANGEN, Germany: In the hands of Juan Amador, the "Strammer Max" looks
> > like a metaphor for German haute cuisine these days. It is fine food
> > that is light years away from what the world expects of German eating,
> > but also distant from what most Germans have on their plates.
> >
> > A Strammer Max is a traditional ham-and-egg sandwich that typically
> > drips with grease. But the diner who pays EUR 159, or about $240, for
> > the full treatment at Amador's eponymous restaurant gets to slurp a few
> > drops of pork fat and smoked oil from a tiny plastic tube, and then
> > follow it with a quail egg swaddled in paper-thin dough.
> >
> > Hello, this it Germany Original Recipe
> to Strammer Max
>
>
> ========== REZKONV-Rezept - RezkonvSuite v1.2
>
> Titel: Strammer Max
> Kategorien: Snack, Brot, Schinken, Eier
> Menge: 5 Portionen
>
> 10 Scheiben Baguette oder Weißbrot
> 60 Gramm Butter
> 300 Gramm Westfaelischen
> -- Knochenschinken am Stueck
> 2 Essl. Oel
> 10 Frische Eier
> Einige Kerbelblaettchen
>
> 1* Die Baguettescheiben goldgelb toasten und mit Butter betreichen.
>
> 2* Den Schinken in kleine Wuerfel von 1/2 cm Kantenlaenge schneiden
> und auf die Baguettescheiben verteilen.
>
> 3* In einer grossen Pfanne das Oel erhitzen. Die Wachteleier
> vorsichtig aufschlagen, die Eier ins heisse Oel geben und bei
> mittlerer Hitze stocken lassen.
>
> 4* Die Pfanne vom Herd nehmen. Mit einem runden Ausstechfoermchen
> die Spiegeleier ausstechen und auf die Baguettescheiben setzen. Den
> strammen Max mit Kerbel garnieren.
>
> =====
>
> :-))


All right, Bubba ‹ you wanna translate that for us?
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; I Think I've Seen it All, 2/24/2008

"Victor Sack" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
(If the French had any reaction to the German advance, it was apparently
> a collective shrug. With 28 three-star eateries, France has little
> reason to develop a sudden inferiority complex.)
>
> But Italians for whom quality pasta and the perfect puddle of espresso
> is part of daily life can take heart. Only a small slice of German
> society, it turns out, has the desire or wherewithal to enjoy truly good
> food.

While I have enjoyed very much the few Michelin starred restaurants at which
I've eaten, they are not reflective in a substantial way of the local
(national) cuisine. They always seem to be a German version of a French
restaurant, or an Italian version... I therefore don't use Michelin for
choosing a restaurant or at least rarely.

The rest rings true, though. It was difficult to find German restaurants in
Meerbusch and Dusseldorf. Pizza, pasta, souvlaki, shishkebab etc. were all
you saw ordinarily. We had at last to go to a tourist oriented place in the
ancient center to get German food. My friend loves the bread and eats
various things in it or on it. Neither her shopping nor her cooking has
anywhere near the attention given it that someone like her here in Italy
would expend.

I think we have few starred restaurants here because the general run of
restaurants tends to be very good and because local and regional cuisine is
very important. One of my favorites in Florence is Sardegnan in part and is
considered foreign.

--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com

Joachim Weller > wrote:

> Victor Sack schrieb:
> > In Germany, a new eating class emerges
> >
> > By Carter Dougherty
> >
> > Interntional Herald Tribune
> >
> > LANGEN, Germany: In the hands of Juan Amador, the "Strammer Max" looks
> > like a metaphor for German haute cuisine these days. It is fine food
> > that is light years away from what the world expects of German eating,
> > but also distant from what most Germans have on their plates.
> >
> > A Strammer Max is a traditional ham-and-egg sandwich that typically
> > drips with grease. But the diner who pays EUR 159, or about $240, for
> > the full treatment at Amador's eponymous restaurant gets to slurp a few
> > drops of pork fat and smoked oil from a tiny plastic tube, and then
> > follow it with a quail egg swaddled in paper-thin dough.
> >
> Hello, this it Germany Original Recipe
> to Strammer Max
[snip]
> Titel: Strammer Max
[snip]
> 3* In einer grossen Pfanne das Oel erhitzen. Die Wachteleier
> vorsichtig aufschlagen, die Eier ins heisse Oel geben und bei
> mittlerer Hitze stocken lassen.

Wachteleier, ja! Das Rezept könnte tatsächlich von Juan Amador stammen!
:-)

> :-))

Victor

Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

> Joachim Weller > wrote:
>
> > Hello, this it Germany Original Recipe
> > to Strammer Max
> >
> > Titel: Strammer Max
> > Kategorien: Snack, Brot, Schinken, Eier
> > Menge: 5 Portionen
> >
> > 10 Scheiben Baguette oder Weißbrot
> > 60 Gramm Butter
> > 300 Gramm Westfaelischen
> > -- Knochenschinken am Stueck
> > 2 Essl. Oel
> > 10 Frische Eier
> > Einige Kerbelblaettchen
> >
> > 1* Die Baguettescheiben goldgelb toasten und mit Butter betreichen.
> >
> > 2* Den Schinken in kleine Wuerfel von 1/2 cm Kantenlaenge schneiden
> > und auf die Baguettescheiben verteilen.
> >
> > 3* In einer grossen Pfanne das Oel erhitzen. Die Wachteleier
> > vorsichtig aufschlagen, die Eier ins heisse Oel geben und bei
> > mittlerer Hitze stocken lassen.
> >
> > 4* Die Pfanne vom Herd nehmen. Mit einem runden Ausstechfoermchen
> > die Spiegeleier ausstechen und auf die Baguettescheiben setzen. Den
> > strammen Max mit Kerbel garnieren.
>
> All right, Bubba ‹ you wanna translate that for us?

Voilà!

Strammer Max (something like "Strapping Max")

10 slices baguette or white bread
60 g butter
300 g Westphalian ham on the bone, in a piece
2 tablespoons oil
10 fresh eggs
a few chervil leaves

1. Toast the baguette slices until golden yellow and spread with
butter.

2. Cut the ham in small cubes of 1/2 cm edgelength and scatter over the
baguette slices.

3. Heat oil in a large pan. Carefully crack the quail's eggs, slide
into the hot oil and let them set over medium heat.

4. Take the pan off the stove. With a round cookie cutter, cut out the
sunny-side-up eggs and place them on the baguette slices. Garnish the
Strammer Max with chervil.

Bubba

Giusi > wrote:

> While I have enjoyed very much the few Michelin starred restaurants at which
> I've eaten, they are not reflective in a substantial way of the local
> (national) cuisine. They always seem to be a German version of a French
> restaurant, or an Italian version... I therefore don't use Michelin for
> choosing a restaurant or at least rarely.

Michelin has always been considered notoriously unreliable in Italy.
Yet, not so long ago, it was the only guide available, as there were no
Gambero Rosso or Veronelli. In the 70s and early 80s, it was the guide
I used and occasionally it was exactly the right thing to do. In
Florence, there were two trattorie on Borgo San'Jacopo, Cammillo and
Mamma Gina, with a single star each. It is there, particularly at Mamma
Gina, that I learned to love trippa alla fiorentina. On the other side
of Arno, just around the corner from the Excelsior hotel, there was an
unassuming little Osteria 1 Rosso, marked as good value in Michelin. I
do not think there was a singe tourist there. It was exactly the right
mark. I am now looking at their menu from 16th June, 1981. Here are
some dishes:

Affettato toscano con crostini L. 2500
Panzanella alla campagnola L. 2000

Tegamino di zuppa alla contadina (Ribollita) L. 1700

Pulpitielli veraci affogati con piselli L. 6500
Baccalà alla livornese L. 4500
Fritto di funghi porcini L. 7500
Fritto di cervello schienali e fiori di zucca L. 6000
Tegamino di trippa alla fiorentina L. 4500
Bistecca alla fiorentina L. 17000 al kg. per due persone

Ah! Now I want to go back there!

> The rest rings true, though. It was difficult to find German restaurants in
> Meerbusch and Dusseldorf. Pizza, pasta, souvlaki, shishkebab etc. were all
> you saw ordinarily.

Well, I could point you to any number of German places around here.

> We had at last to go to a tourist oriented place in the
> ancient center to get German food.

Not the Weinhaus Tante Anna, by any chance?

> My friend loves the bread and eats
> various things in it or on it. Neither her shopping nor her cooking has
> anywhere near the attention given it that someone like her here in Italy
> would expend.

Why is this so?

> I think we have few starred restaurants here because the general run of
> restaurants tends to be very good and because local and regional cuisine is
> very important. One of my favorites in Florence is Sardegnan in part and is
> considered foreign.

Veronelli and Gambero Rosso are more reliable, but certainly not
infallible.

Victor

"Victor Sack" > ha scritto nel messaggio
.. .
> Giusi > wrote:
>
>> While I have enjoyed very much the few Michelin starred restaurants at
>> which
>> I've eaten, they are not reflective in a substantial way of the local
>> (national) cuisine. They always seem to be a German version of a French
>> restaurant, or an Italian version...

> Michelin has always been considered notoriously unreliable in Italy.
> Yet, not so long ago, it was the only guide available, as there were no
> Gambero Rosso or Veronelli.

> Affettato toscano con crostini L. 2500
> Panzanella alla campagnola L. 2000
>
> Tegamino di zuppa alla contadina (Ribollita) L. 1700
>
> Pulpitielli veraci affogati con piselli L. 6500
> Baccalà alla livornese L. 4500
> Fritto di funghi porcini L. 7500
> Fritto di cervello schienali e fiori di zucca L. 6000
> Tegamino di trippa alla fiorentina L. 4500
> Bistecca alla fiorentina L. 17000 al kg. per due persone
>
> Ah! Now I want to go back there!
>
For those prices the whole country wants to go with you. I try to ask
someone who lives there, someone who is helping me at whatever-- a vendor in
the market if I want a simpler place, a phone call to a friend who lives
there for an upper end place. www.divinacucina.com has a very reliable list
for all the neighborhoods of Florence and is written by a chef friend of
mine whose expertise I know. So far we've disagreed about one restaurant,
but we haven't ordered the same things. One of the best meals I have eaten
in all Puglia was recommended by a cheese stall owner in the Sat market.
Here in my town the Michelin starred restaurant is good, but modern
euro-chow with great wine list. It isn't expensive, but for half the money
you can eat very well indeed, if not drink so well.
I also like to adventure a bit and poike my head into places not mentioned
anywhere. In October I ate a plate of fried chicken and vegetables in a
fluorescent-lit Florence dive that was so good I wanted to eat it everyday--
but it was a daily special.

>> The rest rings true, though. It was difficult to find German restaurants
>> in
>> Meerbusch and Dusseldorf. Pizza, pasta, souvlaki, shishkebab etc. were
>> all
>> you saw ordinarily.

> Not the Weinhaus Tante Anna, by any chance?

I haven't any memory of its name. Lots of sausages, anyway. I had seen
hundreds if them at the supermarkets but none I could get my hands on, so
that's what I wanted. It was in a Medieval part and there were lots of
business travelers in it. A big place.

>> My friend loves the bread and eats
>> various things in it or on it. Neither her shopping nor her cooking has
>> anywhere near the attention given it that someone like her here in Italy
>> would expend.
>
> Why is this so?

I don't know if it is her or something more characteristic of German
attitudes. Your article seems to place it as a German thing.

On Thu, 6 Mar 2008 23:56:18 +0100, (Victor Sack)
wrote:


>Veronelli and Gambero Rosso are more reliable, but certainly not
>infallible.

For smaller, less formal places, I like Il Gambero Rozzo (pun
intended, and a very good guide to informal good trattorie).

Nathalie in Switzrerland

Giusi > wrote:

> www.divinacucina.com has a very reliable list
> for all the neighborhoods of Florence and is written by a chef friend of
> mine whose expertise I know. So far we've disagreed about one restaurant,
> but we haven't ordered the same things.

I have looked and I see that Buca Lapi is still there! I have eaten a
very nice bistecca alla fiorentina there once.

> I also like to adventure a bit and poike my head into places not mentioned
> anywhere.

Yes, sometimes just looking at the menu can tell one a lot. One of the
keys is the presence of regional dishes. And, of course, an absence of
any translation into foreign languages is a good sign, too.

[Düsseldorf and Meerbusch]
> > Not the Weinhaus Tante Anna, by any chance?
>
> I haven't any memory of its name. Lots of sausages, anyway. I had seen
> hundreds if them at the supermarkets but none I could get my hands on, so
> that's what I wanted. It was in a Medieval part and there were lots of
> business travelers in it. A big place.

Definitely not Tante Anna, then. Probably one of the beer halls/brewery
outlets, of which there are several in the Old Town, namely Zum
Schiffchen, Zum Schlüssel, Im Füchschen, Im Goldenen Kessel, etc. They
are indeed a good choice if one is looking for German regional food.

Victor

Nathalie Chiva > wrote:

> (Victor Sack) wrote:
>
> >Veronelli and Gambero Rosso are more reliable, but certainly not
> >infallible.
>
> For smaller, less formal places, I like Il Gambero Rozzo (pun
> intended, and a very good guide to informal good trattorie).

I did not know about that guide! I'll have to look it up. Thanks!

Victor

On Fri, 7 Mar 2008 23:51:59 +0100, (Victor Sack)
wrote:

>Nathalie Chiva > wrote:
>
>> (Victor Sack) wrote:
>>
>> >Veronelli and Gambero Rosso are more reliable, but certainly not
>> >infallible.
>>
>> For smaller, less formal places, I like Il Gambero Rozzo (pun
>> intended, and a very good guide to informal good trattorie).
>
>I did not know about that guide! I'll have to look it up. Thanks!

We had some *very* good meals using that one :-)

Nathalie in Switzerland

Nathalie Chiva > wrote:

[Gambero Rozzo]
> We had some *very* good meals using that one :-)

Are you perhaps familiar with the Osterie d'Italia guide, published by
Slow Food Editore? Is it in any way comparable to Gambero Rozzo?

Victor

"Victor Sack" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> Nathalie Chiva > wrote:
>
> [Gambero Rozzo]
>> We had some *very* good meals using that one :-)
>
> Are you perhaps familiar with the Osterie d'Italia guide, published by
> Slow Food Editore? Is it in any way comparable to Gambero Rozzo?
>
> Victor
While I am a fan of slow food, there's a misconception about what their
guide means. A restaurant has to apply and be checked. To get into Slow
Food means only that you make the food from scratch, not using pre-prepared
things, and not that it is particularly good. For years we had only one
Slow Food resto here and believe me it wasn't special! Then a couple of
others were encouraged to apply. Others didn't because they didn't want to
give up their broth cubes!

On Sun, 9 Mar 2008 07:33:41 +0100, (Victor Sack)
wrote:

>Nathalie Chiva > wrote:
>
>[Gambero Rozzo]
>> We had some *very* good meals using that one :-)
>
>Are you perhaps familiar with the Osterie d'Italia guide, published by
>Slow Food Editore? Is it in any way comparable to Gambero Rozzo?

Yes, I bought that one once. For some reason, I like the Gambero Rozzo
better - I think they are less "purist" if you see what I mean.

Nathalie in Switzerland

On Sun, 9 Mar 2008 07:47:53 +0100, "Giusi" >
wrote:

>"Victor Sack" > ha scritto nel messaggio
.. .
>> Nathalie Chiva > wrote:
>>
>> [Gambero Rozzo]
>>> We had some *very* good meals using that one :-)
>>
>> Are you perhaps familiar with the Osterie d'Italia guide, published by
>> Slow Food Editore? Is it in any way comparable to Gambero Rozzo?
>>
>> Victor
>While I am a fan of slow food, there's a misconception about what their
>guide means. A restaurant has to apply and be checked. To get into Slow
>Food means only that you make the food from scratch, not using pre-prepared
>things, and not that it is particularly good. For years we had only one
>Slow Food resto here and believe me it wasn't special! Then a couple of
>others were encouraged to apply. Others didn't because they didn't want to
>give up their broth cubes!


That's interesting. So I see why I consider them as "purists" and why
I like the Gambero Rozzo better then...
Thanks for the explanantion.

Nathalie in Switzerland

Giusi > wrote:

> "Victor Sack" > ha scritto...
> >
> > Are you perhaps familiar with the Osterie d'Italia guide, published by
> > Slow Food Editore? Is it in any way comparable to Gambero Rozzo?
>
> While I am a fan of slow food, there's a misconception about what their
> guide means. A restaurant has to apply and be checked. To get into Slow
> Food means only that you make the food from scratch, not using pre-prepared
> things, and not that it is particularly good. For years we had only one
> Slow Food resto here and believe me it wasn't special! Then a couple of
> others were encouraged to apply. Others didn't because they didn't want to
> give up their broth cubes!

Ah, I see. Theirs is a different premise, then. This is good to know.
Thanks!

Victor

Nathalie Chiva wrote:

>> Are you perhaps familiar with the Osterie d'Italia guide, published
>> by Slow Food Editore? Is it in any way comparable to Gambero Rozzo?

> Yes, I bought that one once. For some reason, I like the Gambero Rozzo
> better - I think they are less "purist" if you see what I mean.

Gambero Rozzo is a new very straightforward guide, I too like it.
The wordplay between "rosso" (red) and "rozzo" (rough) is just winking at
theyr target on good eats without frills. They mainly list familiar or
informal places.
--
Vilco
Mai guardare Trailer park Boys senza
qualcosa da bere a portata di mano

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:29:35 GMT, "Vilco" > wrote:

>Nathalie Chiva wrote:
>
>>> Are you perhaps familiar with the Osterie d'Italia guide, published
>>> by Slow Food Editore? Is it in any way comparable to Gambero Rozzo?
>
>> Yes, I bought that one once. For some reason, I like the Gambero Rozzo
>> better - I think they are less "purist" if you see what I mean.
>
>Gambero Rozzo is a new very straightforward guide, I too like it.
>The wordplay between "rosso" (red) and "rozzo" (rough) is just winking at
>theyr target on good eats without frills. They mainly list familiar or
>informal places.

Yes, that's what I meant by "pun intended" :-)

Nathalie in Switzerland