As can be seen from the following recipes, each taken from a restaurant along the Rhine River (from Koln to Weisbaden), dining on the Rhine is quite a bit lighter than in most of Germany.

To read about Traveling and Dining Along the Rhine (including the addresses of each of the restaurants that have given me recipes for this article), Click here

Salmon and Sour Cream Omelet
A recipe from Bado-La Poele d'Or

6 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
200 gr. cooked salmon, flaked (ideally use fresh salmon)
2 teaspoons onion, chopped finely
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. caviar (optional)

Beat the eggs lightly with 1 Tbsp. of cold water and season to taste with salt and pepper. Fold the salmon and onion into the sour cream.

Melt the butter in an omelet pan and add the eggs, cooking over a medium flame. When the eggs are on the verge of setting spoon the salmon mixture across the center of the omelet, cover the pan and let cook for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes, just to heat through. Uncover the pan, sprinkle the omelet with the caviar, fold the omelet and turn it out on a high serving plate. Serve immediately. (Serves 2 - 3).

Braised Rump of Veal in White Wine
A recipe from Gastatte Fruh am Dom

200 gr. goose or chicken skin, cut in strips
300 gr. medium onion, peeled and sliced thinly
1 kilo medium carrots, peeled, washed and cut in very thin rounds
1/2 head of celery, scraped, washed and cut in very thin slices
1 rump of veal, about 2 kilos
salt and pepper
60 gr. clarified butter
150 gr. Bacon, cut into thin strips and plunged into boiling water for 2 minutes
500 ml. dry white wine
50 ml. marc or grappa
300 ml. veal stock
1 bouquet garni a pinch of savory
200 ml. sweet cream

Line the bottom of a flameproof casserole with the goose skin and over this spread the sliced onion, carrots and celery.

Lightly season the veal with salt and pepper. In a large skillet heat the clarified butter, put in the veal and brown well on all sides. Transfer the veal to the casserole dish. Put the bacon in the skilet and cook until pale golden in color. Drain and put the bacon strips in the casserole with the veal. To the frying pan add the white wine. Place over a medium-low flame and scrape the sides and bottom of the skillet well. Heat only until bubbles begin to form at the surface.

Place the casserole, uncovered, into an oven that has been preheated to 220 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes, turning it over after 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 190 degrees Celsius.

Over the veal pour the mark, wine, veal stock and 200 ml. of water. Add the bouquet garni and savory, set the casserole over a high flame and bring to the boil. Cover the casserole dish and return the veal to the oven for 1 1/2 hours, turning it over after 1 hour. When the veal is cooked remove it from the casserole and set aside to keep warm. Discard the bouquet garni and the bacon, add the cream, bring to the boil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, cut the veal into 5 mm. slices and arrange them in the center of a serving dish or on individual serving plates. Pour over the sauce and arrange the vegetables and garnish around the edge. Serve very hot. (Serves 8).

Roast Goose with Onion, Apple and Celery Stuffing
A recipe from Das Haus Daufenbach

1 cup seedless raisins
2 cups Madeira wine
1/2 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 sour apple, peeled, cored and chopped
the liver of 1 goose or duck, cut in small cubes
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup pecans, chopped coarsely
4 cups toasted bread cubes
1/2 tsp. sage salt and pepper to taste
1 goose or duck, about 2 1/2 kilos
juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 cup chicken stock

Place the raisins in a small pan and pour over about « cup of the Madeira wine. Heat over a low flame just until bubbles begin to appear at the edges of the liquid and then remove from the flame. Let stand for 5 minutes and then pour off and reserve whatever wine that has not been absorbed. Reserve the raisins separately.

In a large heavy frying pan melt 6 Tbsp. of the butter and in this saute together the onion, apple and goose liver. When the onion is translucent add the celery, mix well ane remove from the flame. Add the pecans and raisins and then transfer the mix- ture to a large bowl. Add the toasted bread cubes, sage and salt and pepper to taste. Let cool.

Sprinkle the inside of the bird with salt and pepper, pack it loosely with the stuffing and sew up the opening. Tie the bird, spread the skin with the remaining butter and sprinkle with salt. Place the goose breast side up on a roasting rack in an oven that has been preheated to 200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.

While the bird is roasting, mix together 1/2 cup of the Madeira with 1/2 cup of water and the lemon juice. Turn the bird to one side, base with the Madeira mixture and reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees Celsius and continue to roast for 30 minutes longer. Turn the bird to its other side, baste again, and roast for an additional 30 minutes. Turn the bird so it is breast side up and continue to roast until the bird is done (1 1/2 - 2 hours longer, depending on the size of the bird), basting every 15 minutes with the Madeira mixture. Be sure to remove the fat from the pan several times during the roasting.

Transfer the bird to a serving platter, remove the trussing and set aside to keep warm. Pour off the remaining fat from the pan, add « cup of Madeira wine and heat over a medium-high flame, scraping the sides and bottom of the pan well with a wooden spatula. Add the stock and cornflour and simmer gently until this sauce thickens (about 5 minutes), stirring constantly. Correct the seasoning of the sauce with salt and pepper to taste, spoon a little of the sauce over the bird and serve the remaining sauce separately. Serve hot. (Serves 4 - 6).

Chicken Fricassee with Baby Vegetables
A recipe from Chez Alex

12 small white onions
90 gr. butter
150 gr. small white champignon mushrooms
1/2 lemon
300 gr. fresh peas in their pods or 200 gr. frozen peas
300 gr. baby carrots, with the tops intact
a pinch of sugar
1 chicken (the best you can find), cut into 8 convenient serving pieces the neck, feet, wing tips, and gizzard of the chicken, chopped
2 Tbsp. clarified butter
3 shallots, sliced thinly
1 sprig of thyme
1 bay leaf
500 ml. dry white wine
300 ml. chicken sock
400 ml. sweet cream
1 Tbsp. snipped chives
salt and pepper

Plunge the onions into boiling water, rinse them under cold water and then peel them. In a small saucepan heat 30 gr. of the butter and then add the onions. Pour over water to barely cover and cook for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Peel and wash the mushrooms. Thinly slice the stalks and keep them for the sauce. Heat 30 gr. of the butter in a small saucepan, add the mushroom caps, 2 Tbsp. of water and a few drops of lemon juice. Bring to the boil and then set aside.

If using fresh peas shell them and cook them in lightly salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Rinse under cold water, drain and set aside. If using frozen peas cook them in boiling water for 1 minute and then rinse and drain.

Peel and wash the carrots and then place them in a small saucepan with the remaining butter, a glass of water, a pinch each of salt and sugar and cook gently for 8 minutes. (The carrots should be cooked but still firm).

To prepare the chicken, heat the clarified butter in a shallow pan. Lightly season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, put them in the pan and saute for about 2 minutes on each side, without letting them brown. Cover the pan and cook the chicken in an oven that has been preheated to 220 degrees Celsius for 8 minutes. Remove the breasts and wings, cover them so that they do not dry out and set aside to keep warm. Replace the pan containing the rest of the chicken in the oven and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove the remaining chicken pieces and put them with the breasts and wings.

To make the sauce, set the pan in which the chicken was baked over a medium flame, and add the chopped neck, feet, wing tips and gizzard. Add the mushroom stalks, shallots, thyme and bay leaf and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the wine, scrape the sides and bottoms of the pan and bring to a boil, boiling until reduced by half. Add the chicken stock, reduce by one-third and then add the cream and cook until the sauce lightly coats the back of a spoon. Pass the sauce through a strainer and season to taste with salt and pepper. Drain all of the vegetables and add them to the sauce. Put on a low flame just until the sauce begins to simmer, remove from the flame and add the chives.

To serve, place the chicken pieces in a deep serving dish or on deep plates, pour over the sauce and serve immediately. (Serves 4).

© Daniel Rogov