Amy & Adam's European Highlights

As we will be leaving this lovely corner of Germany at the end of February, we are feeling the need to see more of it. Accordingly, on Saturday we went on a field trip with Max and Chiara in their car to three towns in the Schwäbishche Alb (Swabian Alb): Rottenburg, Haigerloch and Rottweil. The Schwäbische Alb is a beautiful plateau or small mountain range that runs southwest and southeast of Tübingen. In nicer weather, we could have taken a myriad of beautiful hikes. However we were greeted with a steady rain all day, and our exploring was limited to what we could see from the car and on foot in the town's city centers. As it was a gray day, all my photos were quite dull and flat. Accordingly, the medium of black and white seemed to capture the mood much more accurately.

Rottenburg, situated on the Neckar River (like Tübingen), has a very lovely downtown and active Saturday market. It was fun to stroll through the center as locals were out running their errands prior to the shops closing. Here in small-town Germany, most shops close at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday and don't reopen until Monday. Yes, this includes grocery stores so it is important to plan accordingly!

Here is a picture of the market and a house with an incredible wooden balcony. We don't think this would pass fire code in the States:

A cute wooden figure sitting on the bank of the Neckar River. It appeared to be a popular spot to feed the ducks:

The main square:

Haigerloch is situated dramatically within a valley and is a very picturesque town. We walked a bit through one region of the town but didn't visit the castle which was a site of Hitler's nuclear program.

A chapel crest and a statue of a saint we're calling "the patron saint of bowling":

Detail of a "fachwerk" (wooden and stucco) house:

The lovely town of Rottweil is the oldest town in southwestern Germany. It is an incredibly charming town with beautifully restored houses and two lovely churches. Yes, the only photo of this entry in color is reserved for the stained glass window.

The gang in the town center, a quiet residential street and church interior:

Rottweil was also the location of our incredibly tasty traditional Swabian lunch of Käiserspätzle and Maultaschen. Now as I type, I'm realizing that I have yet to properly document our love of these Swabian food specialties so I will do so now.

Delicious Swabian food:

Käsepätzle is cheese spätzle. And what is spätzle? Well, it's a delicious pasta-like substance that epitomizes "comfort food." You can buy spätzle in any supermarket here either dried or wet in the refrigeration section. We have also had the pleasure of eating it freshly homemade (as you can imagine this is the most tasty variety). The two best spätzle experiences we had were at Marc's house and Uli's house. Both Marc and Uli made the fresh dough and then used a grater to create small pieces of noodle which cooked for a few minutes in boiling water. They then added a variety of good melting cheeses (here the default is Gouda) and added the lightly-boiled spätzle to the cheese in a baking dish. Marc then added an additional level of decadence: a cream sauce lightly seasoned with nutmeg, salt and pepper. The dish is cooked until the cheese is melted and golden. Although you shouldn't say this to a Swabian, it tastes a bit like the best homemade mac and cheese that you can ever imagine...

Maultaschen are large ravioli (outer layer of pasta stuffed with various combinations of meats, vegetables, and spices). We are told that maultaschen are the creation of monks in the region who thought that by hiding the meat in a pasta pocket, the lord wouldn't mind their meat consumption during lent. A great story and an incredibly tasty food. They are traditionally served two ways: in a broth or fried in butter and served with a breadcrumb-butter topping.

For all of my food friends, I highly recommend experimenting with either or both of these tasty treats. It's perfect cold-weather food. Now if I have succeeded in tempting you them, I found a website with recipes complete with the American measuring system. (Silly cups)...
http://www.mpip-mainz.mpg.de/~pleiner/recipe.html#SPA

My other favorite local dish is potato salad that has been prepared with broth and apple cider vinegar. It's the dainty, sophisticated cousin to the heavy mayonnaise based salad. I watched Rose make it on New Year's Eve and will work on writing out a recipe as she is one of the advanced cooks who adds "what looks right."

Our love of German mustard has also branched out to French mustard (yes, the original) as Rose gave us four different varieties of mustard for Christmas. My favorite is the classic bitter, powerful and unlike anything else-- Dijon. Adam prefers the softer and more balanced "ancient" variety with the whole mustard grains. Our experience here has taught us that we don't eat nearly enough mustard (and for that matter far too much mayonnaise) in the U.S. We hope to import our new palate when we return.

Happy New Year to all!

love,
amy