Herta Heuwer is attributed with the invention of Currywurst when she obtained some ketchup, Worcestshire and curry powder from British soldiers just after WWII… it’s a staple on menus all over Berlin, so I found a recipe in German cookbook and translated it. Yale and I might have to try this out when I get home:
A spicy Currywurst Sauce that can be used for all types of dishes
2 large red or yellow onions chopped very finely 2 × 400 gm can of tomatoes with juice 250 ml ketchup 1 tablespoon mustard 2 tablespoons sugar 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon paprika powder 2 tablespoons curry powder 1/2 teaspoon chili powder salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoon oil
Warm oil over medium heat Add the onions to pan and cook over medium heat until soft, 8 to 10 minutes Add curry powder, paprika powder, chili powder and continue to cook while stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes Add tomatoes and juice to pan, crush thoroughly and stir through Stirring add ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper to taste Bring to boil and lower to simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened. 20-25 minutes. Puree mixture in blender and strain through a sieve. The recipe makes at least 500 ml of sauce. Grill some sausages, slice and cover with warm sauce. Add to the sauce covered sausage you can add some additional Paprika powder, Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder, Curry Powder, Mustard, or finely chopped onion, to taste.
Serve with Fritten, or on a bun*
Guten Appetit!
* Quite a lot of places seem to serve their Currywurst with Asian fried shallots on top – Icelandic hotdog style!
Luxembourg seems to be in two parts, and in between is a gaping chasm that must be 150 feet deep… it feels really weird topography to build a city on?
It doesn’t look that steep from these pics, probably because it’s heavily forested, but trust me, it’s quite the ways down. There seems to be massive public skate parks. Need to sus this out a bit more – weird topography for a city just going from the new section to the old town.
Monument to the Jews of Luxembourg in the Second World War…
Ah, another Notre-Dame Cathedral! But, because we are in Luxembourg, it’s got a sign out front saying ‘Kathedral Notre-Dame’ (in Luxembourgish, yeah apparently that is a real dialect), but also saying ‘Cathédrale Notre-Dame’ (in French), and ‘Kathedrale unserer Lieben Frau’ (in German) because these poor buggers live in a strange little confluence of culture that is smack dab in the middle of France, Belgium and Germany… all the while they seem to be trying to keep their own thang alive.
Construction first started on this cathedral in 1613… so it’s kinda shiny and new compare to Metz yesterday!
Some very cool carved beasties in the western portal.
While the church is predominantly an example of late gothic architecture, it also has many Renaissance elements and decorations. I love these high vaulted ceilings in these beautiful old churches. I can’t imagine what medieval people (I know I’ve ranted about his recently but it bares repeating), who had no mass media in their day to day lives, made of these extravagant buildings.
The organ gallery is unusually at the very front of the church, above the main entrance. It is not a very large cathedral all things considered, so I guess it doesn’t need to be located closer to the main altar place where masses would be delivered.
Luxembourg Cathedral has some frescos, which appear to be in high medieval style, but they are in such good condition, I suspect they may be latter additions. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of English information to go by in this visit.
I love the enormous vaulted ceilings.
There were a couple of rather bold mosaics in some small altar spaces either side of the main nave… again, I couldn’t ascertain how old these mosaics were, but I can confidently say, they are not as accomplished as many of the high medieval golden religious mosaics I have seen in many other churches and institutions, leading me to think they are also a rather more recent addition.
The stained glass windows around the central nave are in keeping with the original construction time of the church – approx 17thC, however the glass towards the towers at the front of the church are of much later, added in the 1930s and then replaced in the 1980s after a fire caused one of the towers to be severely damaged.
Even modern stained glass is beautiful. It’s surprising we don’t see stained glass elements included more in modern architecture… but I guess everything comes down to cost these days.
The enormous columns throughout the cathedral have different patterns carved into them. I can’t say I’ve noticed this in other medieval religious monuments. I mostly recall seeing plain, smooth columns, or in some cases fluted columned, but these have knotwork or diapering patterns carved into them, and hardly any of them match?
Below the Cathedral is the crypt which houses the remains of many important Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses of Luxembourg… the oldest being a tomb for John of Bohemia (1296-1346), and then a long line of modern Dukes and Duchesses: Marie-Adeliade (1894-1924), Marie Ann the Infanta of Portugal and Consort to William IV (1861 – 1924), Felix, Prince Consort of Charlotte I, and a bunch of others up until like five years ago.
The small chapel where the royal family of Luxembourg gathers for the farewells is under the Cathedral and not really open for public use.
The tomb of John of Bohemia mentioned above (1296-1346)…
The exit brings you out onto the main square of the Kneudler – or basically the altstadt (but we don’t call it that in Luxembourg because we are being all Luxembourgish.
The Kneudler is the area surrounding the Place Guilliame II, who is depicted on his horse here.
In 1923, this memorial to the Luxembourgers who volunteered in WWI was created by artist Claus Cito. The very noticeable Gëlle Fra (or Golden Lady) overlooks the Place de la Constitution. 1923… feels like maybe they probably wished they’d waited a few years to build this one; could have saved themselves having to build a second one to honour the volunteers of the next clusterfuck.
Luxembourg is a city built over an enormous ravine with huge towering bridges spanning the two plateau’d areas that comprise the old city and the new. So many streets we wandered along had very high drops down to the river below.
Many walking and biking trails line the river and wind up the steep paths to the city. I dare say building housing in this area would be expensive, hazardous and potentially a flood risk, so it’s all enormous public park spaces.
Grand Duchess Charlotte (1896-1985), who ruled in her own right from 1919 to 1964.
The Grand Ducal Palace, which is rarely open to the public and was most definitely not open to the public at the moment as the family is in residence due to it being the Duke’s birthday, like yesterday.
Complete with beautiful carved stone turrets, and beady eyed guards staring suspiciously at tourists and having to tolerate us wankers taking their photograph.
Around the corner – literally – from the Grand Ducal Palace is the Luxembourg National Art and History Museum. Best thing about it : it’s free! Luxembourg seems to like free, they have entirely free public transport here, since 2019. All local trains, trams and buses are 100% free for locals and tourists alike, so the city seemed to have hardly any cars in it, and we found when walking the streets, there were plenty of paid parking spaces available as most people were using the free public transport.
Now unfortunately, this was going to prove to be one of those museums where if you don’t speak one of the languages that they seem to want to embrace (French, German, Dutch and Luxembourgish!), details were going to be scant, but we did what we could.
Merovingian clasps, fibula, buttons and brooches.
I love how the temporary little sign informing visitors that an object has been removed is written in English – when hardly any of the other descriptive panels are!
Cruiciform Fibula – Zwiebelknopffibeln. 😐 Yes, that’s the level of information we got here. lol Oh and that they were worn by high functionaries and officials. But no where or when…?
Merovingian jewelled pieces, gold and garnet. Clasps and necklace pendants. Bertrange.
Buckets c.560-570 AD. One extant, one reproduction. Bertrange.
Merovingian belt buckles
Merovingian era beads.
And suddenly we jump to some glassware, 1stC Found at a necropolis for nobles in a different find in Bertrange.
Orfevrerie Merovingienne. 6-7thC of local provenances. A collection of gold and garnet fibula, ornaments, buttons and accessories. Some from bracelets, necklaces. Motifs are inspired from Germanic art, and early Christian design.
Spoons! Merovingian also, and they’re quite petite compared to spoons seen in other museums. Approx 50mm in length.
Carved monuments from ‘La Colonne de Jupiter’ – a regional monument that was devoted to the population. Objects are all 1stC and made for Jupiter Optimus Maxium and to honour emperor Nero.
Fragments of decoration from a funereal monument, c.2nd-3rdC. Cal air, Wasserbillig op der Spatz.
Seals of various Luxembourg nobles, ranging from 1340 to 1530. Impressions all taken in 1851.
Official regalia and medals of various noble and marital orders:
Busts of Jean l’Aveugle and Elisabeth de Boheme, Pierre Blanc, c.1872
Reliquary of the True Cross. Gold and various gemstones, c.1230-1240
No plaque for this one… le sigh.
Virgin and Child surrounded by Saints – Crucifixion. Oil on wood. Paolo do Giovanni Fei, (1345-1411).
Virgin and Child surrounded by Saints, Lorenzo do Bicci (1350-1427), oil on timber.
Virgin and Child, Unknown Venetian painter. 15thC, oil on timber.
Saint Bernardino of Siena and Saint John the Baptist, Giovanni Ambrogio Bevilacqua, (1481-1512), oil on panel.
Madonna and Child surrounded by Angels and Saints (freaky looking saints!) Giacomo del Piscano, c. 1475, tempura on panel.
Group of Saints – Heligengruppe. Don Silvestro dei Gherardcci (1339-1399), tempura on board.
Crucifixion. Simone del Crocifissi (1350-1399), oil on board.
Virgin and Child. Unknown veneto-byzantin artist. 13thC-14thC, oil on timber.
Holy Kinship, Frans Floris (1516-1570)
The Adoration of the Shepards, Joachim Beukelaer (1533-1574). Oil on canvas.
Saint Jerome Attributed to Joos van Cleve (1485-1540), oil on board.
Charity Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553), c.1538. Oil on canvas.
A Boy and Girl with Their Pigeons in a Loft – the only ‘domestic’ scene in the entire museum. Henri Voordecker (1779-1861), c.1833, oil on canvas.
The Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Attributed to Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld (1758-1846), oil on canvas.
Francesca de Rimini (1255-1285) and her brother in law, Paolo Malatesta (1246-1285), embracing while reading – both were married to other people but fell in love. When Paolo’s older brother discovered the affair, he killed both his wife and brother with a dagger, (a story originally told by Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedies, 1320). Sculpture originally attributed to Antonio Canova (1757-1822), c.1790, but since determined to be a work by Tito Angelini (1806-1878), an important Italian Romantic sculpture.
Isaac Blessing Jacob, Argus Wolffort (1581-1641), oil on canvas.
Bacchus and a Follower, Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678), c.1645, oil on canvas.
Roman mosaic of the Muses of Vitchen. 10.3 x 5.9m. Polychrome mosaic, 1stC AD.
Grand Marble Vase, 2-3rdC AD. 61cm tall, 70cm diameter, carved from a single piece of white marble.
Roman amphorae 1-3rdC AD, terracotta. Diverse provenance – used for the commercial transport of wine, oil dates, and that fishy stuff the Romans loved but I can’t remember the name of right now…. Garum! Remembered. 🙂
Oil lamps, GalloRoman 1-3rdC AD.
Fragments of large fresco-style mosaics popularised in GalloRoman restaurants.
All museum’d out, we went for some drinks and were having a lovely time with some Long Island Iced Teas and some Pisco Sours – until a bunch of French people came along and reminded us of how Europeans still love to chain smoke! Yikes! Happy B’Day Angus.
Dinner was at a local French restaurant called ‘Copin D’abord’. We had a delicious meal made from local produce. Entrees: clothed foie gras and mango chutney, and scallops in Galician sauce. Mains: Beef Bourginon and rump steak with Forrester champignon sauce. Desserts: unstructured Lemon Tart and Crème Brûlée and Panacotta. Delicious!
While we were here, we thought we’d find a really nice dining experience and I booked us a table at Nouri – it’s considered a global fusion restaurant in that they take inspirations from food cultures all over the world and blend them into unique creations.
I’d heard of before Nouri, and was definitely keen to take the chance to check it out while we were here. The restaurant itself is one of those open kitchen places where the staff are so well drilled you don’t hear a peep out of any of them… everyone knows their jobs and it (outwardly) appears to run like a well oiled machine. The atmosphere, was classy yet not stuffy, and the service was exceptional.
We had to try their iconic Crossroads Menu – which is a chef’s tasting menu which delightfully came with a saké pairing flight. There was a European sommelier who was guiding us through out saké flights, and I swear, I’m no slouch in the saké department, but this guy has probably forgotten more about saké than I’ve ever known. He was so informative and very generous with knowledge, I was truly pleased we had decided to forgo the wine and opt for the saké.
The start of the tasting menu was ‘The Snacks’…
Rye sourdough, Vegetable broth, Silken cheese, Tomato as a sauce, Escabech Gelée and Shanklish… it was all delicious, but OMG the Shanklish was fabulous!
Silken Cheese…
Shanklish…
Escabeche Gelée…
Tomato as a sauce…
Narezushi…Otoro tuna, cultured rice cake, prahok, Oscietra caviar and katsuboshi…
Pamonha… Japanese white corn custard, bafun uni, and blue corn velouté…
Bouride… turbot in it’s own broth, bouquet garni (brewed table side, garlic skyr, and sesame paste.
Acarajé, Afro-Brazilian style fritter.
Vatapá… turmeric and coconut curry, salted prawn emulsion.
Beouf à la Presse… A5 Keisan-guy wagyu ribeye, white kimchi, pressed beef jus.
At this stage of the meal, we were offered tea… this came in the form of, what sort of tea do you usually enjoy and what are your favourite flavours. I responded ‘English Breakfast black tea and vanilla, maple and bourbon’ as the first thing that came to mind, and Mr K replied with ‘Earl Grey, and lemon, whiskey and root beer’.
I don’t know what magic was conjured up as he brewed some combinations of leaves for both of us, but he somehow handed both of us the most delicious cup of tea that was specifically chosen for our individual preferences. No, my tea didn’t taste of the things I listed, but it was absolutely marvellous to my palette… whereas I thought Mr K’s was really ordinary, and he loved it!
Troy de Champenois… violet granita, pickled lemon, sparkling wine.
Chocolate Fish balls… chocolate sorbet, ikan billis, wild pepper leaf, colatura di alici.
Petit Fours…
Nutmeg candy and Giandujotto…
Coffee and Hazelnut Dorayaki and Osmanthus Jelly
Season fruit… mango.
And because I mentioned the now much celebrated 25th wedding anniversary in our booking notes… there was also this delightful peach dessert to finish the meal.
This really was a dining experience like no other I had ever had before. The food was all so incredibly and passionately researched, and the chef was happy to share that inspiration and research with patrons who were interested. The saké flights were fantastic on every level – on one pairing, our sommelier (what is the saké equivalent I wonder?), suggested we try the saké he had chosen, then take a bite of our dish, and he then promised the saké would completely change in its flavour… and it really did! It went from tasting like a fresh crisp and somewhat citrusy saké to being more mellow, and tending towards a melon flavour. It was incredible how the food changed the profile of the drink.
I would highly recommend a night out at Nouri in Singapore. It’s pricey, but absolutely worth it. I will definitely be keeping an eye out to see what Chef Ivan Brehm and his team get up to in the future. 11/10 would absolutely do again.
This famous restaurant was conceived in 1900 around the time of the Universal Exhibition. At that time, it was the Gare de Lyon’s station buffet, which later became Le Train Bleu. It was a famous architect named Marius Toudoire who was responsible for the Gare de Lyon clock tower and the façade of the building who was entrusted with the design and works of the restaurant. The management of the railway company wanted to create an unmissable gourmet expierice for people travelling through the Gare de Lyon.
The station buffet was opened by then French President Emile Loubet and became Le Train Bleu in 1963, the name apparently a tribute to the ‘Paris-Vintimille’ line from 1868 on Le Train Bleu (the legendary train that services the towns along the Mediterranean Coast and the French Riviera). The decor of the restuarant retains that sumptuous ambiance that the Belle Époque (c.1871 to 1914) is so famous for.
It’s like a time capsule…
The restaurant is quite large and has a large lounge/bar area as well, so I looked up to see how many diners they can seat and it’s a huge 200 people that can be seated here at any time. That is quite a considerable number of people and certainly explained the general hustle of the place; totally consistent with being in one of Europe’s very busiest train stations. I also learned at this time that Le Train Bleu is a two Michelin Star restaurant. Seems 2024 is accidentally becoming a ‘Big Year o’ Fine Dining’.
Naturally, we decided to stick to our resolve to drink as much champagne at every opportunity while in France… the Bollinger, always a good choice (for breakfast, lunch or dinner!), was delicious and moorish.
The meal started with a small purée of herbed carrot that wasn’t on the menu… very tasty!
I spent more time looking at the ceilings than at the menu!
Just beautiful!
Mr K looking very happy with his wash… bit of Bolli before lunch will do that.
M. Alain preparing Mr K’s entrée, table side…
Devilled eggs and Petrossian caviar for me; herbed Green Asparagus with vinaigrette for Mr K…
M. Alain returned to prepare Mr K’s main meal table side also… I thought these staff members were wait staff, but it seems they need to be capable chefs too.
Pork medallion Mignon, with champignons for me; braised lamb shoulder with garlic and potato au gratin for Mr K…
Delicious so far – and large portions! Like, pushing American size portions.
I was amazed at how quickly they could turn the tables over. There were loads of people waiting for tables when we arrived. We had booked this on the recommendation of some colleagues before we left home, so had no trouble getting seated but many were standing around for quite a long time waiting for a table to be vacant, but I swear the party opposite us finished up and paid their bill, a new party of diners were being seated within about 3 minutes… impressive.
I had had an elegant sufficiency so passed on dessert, but Mr K had ordered the Iranian pistachio soufflé served with Turkish sour cherry gelato at the beginning of the meal, (as is usually the case with soufflé!). I had a tiny taste, and it was delicious! Seriously, it was a next level super tasty dessert – likely due to the complete lack of chocolate! 😉
A lovely long lunch in a gorgeous restaurant – certainly would recommend it to anyone coming to Paris as an opportunity to step back in time, and have a lovely meal in absolutely beautiful surroundings.
Since learning we’d be in Paris leading up to the 2024 Olympics for work, I’ve been following some Americans who moved to Paris on YouTube – their channel is called “Les Frenchies”, (yes, I know… but what can you do?), and they have some great, up-to-date content for people visiting Paris. One of the things they highly recommended, was something I thought would be way too touristy for my liking, but based on their frequently voiced dislike of highly touristy experiences, I thought we’d give it a try. So, I booked us a dinner cruise on ‘Le Calife’.
Seeing we are now staying in Saint Germaine (*wipes away faux tears* – it’s lovely, but it’s not the Georges V!), we had only a short 350m walk to the Pont des Arts, where ‘Le Calife’ is berthed.
I love this! I wonder if this was dedicated before she passed away in 2020… ‘On 23rd September 2021, “The ‘Place Juliette Gréco’ was inaugurated in Paris. It can be found beside the Church of Saint-Germain-de-Paris, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris.” Bummer.
This is not out boat.
This is our boat. Le Calife was originally built in Belgium in 19as a cargo carrying ship and has large twin stream engines, but when this type of transportation became less popular it was sold to an enthusiast for restoration. It apparently took 18 years to restore and transform it into a restaurant; it has its original engines still operating. The ship is all fitted out with red mahogany, brass and other decorative details, including seriously vintage stained glass lamps from 1789… which I will no doubt mention later!
Square du Vert-Galant…
Pont Neuf…
We were welcomed aboard at 20:00 with a glass of champagne, and a set menu with several delicious choices for each course…
Our delightful waiter asked us if we would like a bottle of red wine or white wine, all chosen by the chef… we had both chosen meat for dinner so opted for a bottle of red. Which may or may not have been a bit of a mistake, because we didn’t realise that we weren’t going anywhere until 2045, and the first course of dinner wouldn’t be served until roughly 21:30..!
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris… still under masses amounts of scaffold as the restoration after the 2019 fire, but expected to reopen December 2024.
A nod to the teams of people working on the Cathédrale…
L’entrées… the vol au vent of chanterelles with foie gras and morel mushroom sauce for me, the Label Rouge salmon fillet gravlax with fresh cheese and herbs for Mr K:
Ah, there they are, the fabulous antique stained glass lamps through the verandah of the boat. A lovely touch, but perhaps not so practical when it comes to photography reflections!
The mains… Rossini style beef tenderloin, with foie gras, Dauphinois potatoes and roasted vegetables for me, and Lamb shoulder confit, with seasonal vegetables and baby roast potatoes for Mr K:
Just as dinner was being served we sailed into view of the Eiffel Tower. Gorgeous! I particularly love the stained glass motif they have incorporated into the lighting! 🙂
It is a striking element of the Parisian skyline for sure. A little after these pictures were taken, we swung around and the tower started to ‘sparkle’ as they have the flashing lights going for five minutes on the hour every hour… kinda gave up on the photos by now though.
The underside of one of the several bridges we went under… complete with reflections of someone’s dinner. 🙂
Dessert… Lemon cheese cake, with lemon cream, lemon sorbet and limoncello for me, and Chocolate lava cake, custard and Madagascar vanilla ice cream for Mr K. The lemon on lemon with a lemon motif was really quite good!
Alas we were back to the quay all too soon; not really it was just before midnight. The dinner cruise was really lovely. The food was nice, but we made the mistake of doing this *after* we’d had the fanciest meal of our lives at Le Cinq! When will we learn… you don’t go China straight after you go to Japan and you don’t go to a *good* French restaurant the night after going to a internationally famous three Michelin star’d French restaurant!
