Food and wine
France > Alsace > Food&Wines
The cuisine of Alsace is quite distinct from that of other regions of France and clearly shows its German origins, albeit tempered by Gallic refinement. The classic dish is choucroute, the aromatic pickled cabbage known in German as sauerkraut. The secret here is the inclusion of juniper berries in the pickling stage and the addition of goose grease or lard. Traditionally it's served with large helpings of smoked pork, ham and a variety of sausages but some restaurants offer a succulent variant replacing the meat with fish (choucroute aux poissons), usually salmon and monkfish. The qualification à l'alsacienne after the name of a dish means "with choucroute". Foie gras, both duck and goose, is another prized delicacy and locals swear theirs is better than the stuff from the southwest.Strasbourgsausages and boiled potatoes are another common ingredient in Alsatian cooking. One of the best culinary incarnations of the spud is the three-meat hotpot, baeckoffe, which consists of pork, mutton and beef marinated in wine and cooked between layers of potato for a couple of hours in a baker's oven. Onions, too, are a favourite dish, either in the form of an onion tart, made with a béchamel sauce, or flammeküche (tarte flambée in French), made with a mixture of onion, cream and pieces of chopped smoked pork breast baked on a base of thin pizza-like pastry. Noodles are also a common feature, and don't miss the chance to sample a matelote (a stew of river fish cooked in Riesling) or Vosges trout cooked au bleu (briefly boiled in Riesling with a dash of vinegar). Like the Germans, Alsatians are fond of their pastries. The dessert fruit tarts made with rhubarb (topped with meringue) or wild blueberries, apple or red cherries, red quetsch or yellow mirabelle plums – tartes alsaciennes – are delicious. Cake-lovers should try kugelhopf, a moulded dome-shaped cake with a hollow in the middle, made with raisins and almonds, and birewecks, made with dried fruit marinated in Kirsch. All of these delights can be washed down with the region's outstanding white wines, renowned for their dry, clean-tasting fruitiness and compatibility with any kind of food. The best-known of them are the tart Rieslings, flowery Gewürztraminers, refreshing Sylvaners and the three Pinots (blanc, gris and noir – dry white, fruity white and dark rosé, respectively), named after the type of grape from which they are made. There are, incidentally, a few reds – light in colour and bouquet – from Ottrott, Marlenheim and Cleebourg. Alsace also shares the German predilection for beer – look out for the flavoursome Christmas and March brews – and has long been the heartland of French hop-growing. Look out, too, for the clear fruit brandies, sold in elegant bottles, especially kirsch, made from cherries, and quetsch and mirabelle distilled from the two varieties of plum also used in tarts. They round off a hearty Alsatian feast perfectly, often trickled over mouthwatering sorbets made with the same fruit.
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