Ya' know, I've always wanted to start a paragraph with "It all began, innocently enough,..." Well, here it is:
It all began, innocently enough, with a bouquet of pretzels. Yeah, that's right, bouquet. The vase was an off-white metal convergence of wiry spirals, four of 'em around the outside of a central container of the same material, made into an inverted cone of equally-spaced metallic rings. There was even a handle between the outer rings, an L-shaped piece of the same metal. The bouquet itself was one traditional twisted pretzel, soft and warm, hanging from a hook above one of the spirals, two pumpernickel pretzels one either side, and one with gashes that resembled a sausage. The central rings were occupied by a pretzel with baguette ambitions and a huge triangular piece of flat crackly bread coated with toasted sesame.
This was at the Cafe, the same place that serves breakfast here. I finally got my wiener schnitzel! I am the Anti-Orson Welles, a thin man with a fat guy screamin' to get out. I dined alone, my traveling companions had disappeared into the Tower Of Babel Food Court and everybody wanted different things, so we parted ways. I went to the mini-mart and bought two cheap Hite beers to celebrate. I like these people, but I've had every meal with them for the last 4 days.
Time for the wiener schnitzel. It arrived, topped with twigs of rosemary and thyme which apparently had been coated with olive oil, shaken, and grilled just long enough to release their secret aromas. The aromas that make you lean back in your chair and think, "Oh my, I think I've forgotten something." Lean forward again. German potato salad, warm, not hot, bits of ham. Not traditional, not enough bite, but a well-rendered interpretation.
Sprinkled atop both potato salad and the schnitzel, a gaggle of tiny cracklings, not dry or crunchy, chewy, releasing flavorful fat. Ummmmm...fat. On each slice of breaded and fried veal, a thin slice of lemon, skin removed, topped with an anchovy. This may sound kinda plain, but to someone with German blood, it is a miracle. Who brought the recipe here? It is an international hotel, so anything goes, but this is the first German food I've tasted that the word "delicate" could be used to describe. Thought: wonder how wiener schnitzel made with panko would be? Wonder if that's how the idea of tonkatsu evolved?
Time is winding down here and that's good. I miss Liz, my cats, and cooking.
6:57:26 AM 
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