April 5, 2009
“Old Friend, New Friends, Really Good Food”
Sweet are the memories of youth, sweeter yet the memories we make new each day, preserving the tastes and aromas of our life experiences, when we eat really good food. Such was the evening in Munich, or München as its called auf Deutsch, with my long-time, long-distance friend Christoph Bieringer, who I first met in Alaska in 1984…when we were both just 19 years old. Look at us now, more handsome and well-fed than ever, and enjoying life fully, we’re the lucky ones and THESE are the good old days.
I have friends who cook, and some of them very well. Christoph is one of the best, and I can’t believe that I had to weight (sic) 26 years to taste his incredible cooking for the very first time. Thanks Christoph, and my new friends Thomas, Bettina, RALPHY and Astrid, for making this evening one that I will never forget, with music and laughter and love and REALLY good food. More to come….I’m wireless, mobile, and heading to Zurich for a “special” event with my boss, updating SwissFix via Swisscom Mobile High Speed Wireless Internet from the shotgun seat of his MiniCooper as we blaze up the highway from Bern with everyone else in a rush! Isn’t technology grand?! My battery is running low after uploading lot’s of photos though, so I’ll add more later!
Reunion 2009!
Christoph, hard at work in the kitchen, where he truly loves to be. His friends, including me, would say that is a really good thing!
Course #1, fresh pan seared Rainbow Trout and Dolly Varden (caught just hours earlier), served on a bed of Honey-Creme Saurkraut…what a fresh, new taste that left us all wanting more!
The table is set, the Salat mir sat!
This was, without doubt, the finest sauce I’ve ever tasted in my life. A deep, dark, rich smooth sauce derived of beef stock, vegetable stock, red wine and finished with Spanish brandy. Absolutely a symphony in my mouth, and the meat was as tender as spring flowers, absolutely melting as it entered my palate!! Christoph, lieber Christoph, Du machtest es absolut perfekt rein!
Just like the TV Show friends, minus Phoebe who is still back home in Alaska wishing she was here for that sauce, my new friends are really great to hang out with, can you figure out who represents which character?
The the singing began, until my fingers cramped, our voices were dry, and our stomachs ached from the laughter…what a great evening!
My midnight snack at a roadside rest, someplace between Munich, Germany and Austria and my “home” in Switzerland!
And this was my riding partner…Chika.
