Dining Deutsch part 2

30-Apr-2006 - Last updated on 26-Aug-2011 at 23:40 GMT

Related tags World cup Germany Brewing Sausage

The first game of the World Cup kicks of in Munich on 9 June. PubChef headed to Bavaria to explore the region's culinary scene and look at produce...

The first game of the World Cup kicks of in Munich on 9 June. PubChef headed to Bavaria to explore the region's culinary scene and look at produce that might kick-start your menu during the tournament. Jo Bruce reports.

Fingerprint makes impression

The recently-opened Fingerprint restaurant, at hotel Chalet am Kiental, in Herrsching, offers a modern touch in terms of both décor and food.

Head chef is Konrad Wolfmiller, - one of the Junge Wildes.

He hopes to achieve a Michelin star for the restaurant, which serves 70 covers a day with a team of five chefs working to a gross profit of around 70%.

The menu changes every two or three weeks.

Dishes we sampled included piglet aspic with potato spring salad and truffle vinaigrette; sautéed pollan (a local fish) with cabbage fritters and wild garlic; duet of beef served on market vegetables; Andechser cream cheese in crispy batter with grape compóte; and torn-up sweet pancake with Granny Smith sorbet.

For more information call +49 8152982570

Andechs Brewery

Beer is big in Germany, where some 1,500 breweries range from big players such as Becks to lesser-known small operations.

This brewery in Andechs is one of the last in Germany still under the ownership of a religious order, the Andechs Benedictine Monastery, which was established in 1455.

Andechs attracts some 60,000 pilgrims a year, but 1.5 million visit for the beer - the brewery produces 17 million hectolitres of beer a year. Twenty-five monks still live in the Saint Boniface Abbey and the Andechs Priory and, although they are not hands-on in the brewery process, they oversee the brewing business. About 20% of total production is wheat beer, which the brewery only started producing in 1993. The dark beers, which include Andechser Dunkel, are brewed with 100% dark malt using a traditional triple mash process.

The brewery's six beers include Andechser Dunkel, Bergbock Hell and Doppelbock Dunkel.

For more information visit www.andechs.de

Let them eat cake

The original Café Kreutzkamm confectioners was established in Dresden in 1825. The upmarket Munich café opened in 1951 and serves delicious cakes, biscuits and chocolates, including Baumkuchen (tree cake), which is a sponge cake made with eggs, butter, almonds adn spice, baked layer by layer on wooden cylinders in front of a fire and covered with semi-sweet chocolate or vanilla glaze. Other cakes include stollen, the baking tradition of which dates back to about 1450.

Chefs could try using stollen in a bread-and butter pudding for an interesting twist on the traditional.

For more information visit www.kreutzkamm.de

Football forges a new Allianz

The new Allianz Arena in Munich will host the first match of the World Cup, Germany v Costa Rica, when it kicks off on 9 June.

The 70,000-seat stadium was completed in May last year, meeting the rules that require a ground to be in use for a year before a world football championship is hosted there.

The ground is also home to Bayern München and TSV 1860 München.

Catering is big business at the ground, which took three years to build and cost €340m.

Two TSV 1860 and Bayern fan restaurants can seat around 1,300 people. Here fans can enjoy a freshly-pulled beer and Bavarian specialities such as roast pork, sausage salad, meat loaf or baked potatoes with Quark accompanied by really huge pretzels.

The ground also boasts an á la carte restaurant, which offers premium- quality food, wines and cocktails.

Beer and sausage are an integral element of watching football and this tradition is maintained at the Allianz Arena, which has 28 kiosks where hungry fans can buy a bockwurst for €3.

German ingredients

Sauerkraut

This German speciality is made from finely shredded cabbage layered with salt in large vats. The salt draws out the natural juices of the cabbage, which contains the sugars that aid fermentation. During fermentation, lactic acid id produced, giving sauerkraut its distinctive, tangy flavour. Recipe ideas include gammon hock and Black Forest ham terrine with sauerkraut salad; mustard and honey-glazed rabbit with smoked bacon and sauerkraut; and sauerkraut and potato dumplings with Cheddar cream sauce. Sauerkraut makes and excellent partner for seafood.

Quark

Quark offers versatility for sweet and savoury menus. This fresh cheese is ready to use straight from the tub and won't curdle when heated, so it's ideal for finishing sauces. It is also great for cheesecakes and soufflés. Quark accounts for more than half the cheese sold in Germany. Vanessa Royle, northern regional development chef for Avenance, has developed recipes using Quark, including pork fillet in mustard Quark sauce, Quark cheesecake and asparagus with green sauce.

Sausages

If there is one thing Germany really has to shout about, it's the quality of its sausages. By law, German sauasges must contain nothing but the best meat, spices and herbs. Among the most popular is bratwurst, a grilling sausage that comes in a range of tastes and textures, with recipes varying according to place of origin. Sausages are added to soups, salads or casseroles or served with mash, red cabbage etc. Why not try bratwurst with creamy lentils or mashed potatoes, leek and cider gravy?