Coffee and Cognac

It appears that a coffee, specifically an espresso, and a Cognac, together, are the drinks of choice on Saturdays, after lunch in Alsace. The area is famed for its long winding road that travels through the vineyards, with pit stops and dozens of wineries and tasting rooms. But a lunch time, after the aperitifs and de rigueur glasses, carafes or bottles of wine, out comes the Cognac and coffee. It's a ritual.

Originally I thought that this early afternoon imbibing was geared only to tourists, as there are many who flock to the quaint towns of Alsace. But in fact, the tourists hop back into their cars and race to the next town while the locals, the families at enormous tables who are catching up for the week, the workers, who gather still in on-the-clock garb, are all talking and eating and then wind down with a coffee and Cognac.

What are you drinking today?

--Tracy Schneider

Time for Trout

The lakes around Alsace are filled with trout, my server told me, when I asked with the fish was fresh and local. So I couldn't pass up the opportunity to give the restaurant's lunchtime special a try. Fish isn't fussed up when it's served in France. You get the head, the tail, the bones, and though I was out of my element when it came to deboning, the server came to my rescue to show be just how to do it. First she slice off the head and put it in a separate plate, just for bones, then she sliced through the back of the fish, lifting the skin and meat away from the bones. I'm certainly not yet an expert, but I did expertly remove the backbone of my second trout and cleaned my plate. Any tips can you offer me for deboning fish?

--Tracy Schneider

French Wurst in Alsace

You might think that this lovely platter of wrst was a dish I ordered in Germany. But it's not. In fact, it was the charcuterie platter that I was served in France. In Alsace to be exact, a region of France that has been at various times a part of Germany.You see the German influence in the names of towns, the type of architecture, and of course in the food. Alsatian specialties like sauerkraut, sausages and pretzels are common foods in Germany.

This charcuterie platter was the first course of a lovely meal I ate at a family run restaurant in the wine region of Alsace. Charming small towns are peppered up and down this part of France, with wineries and sample rooms, cafes and restaurants. I have to admit that the charcuterie I was served, was not at all what I expected. I had envisioned thin slices of sausages and thick slices of pat, not cold cuts. But that is the specialness of Alsace.

--Tracy Schneider