Tuesday we left Klinganthal at 7:30 am and drove to Wilstatt to see George Kronen and his factory, at least the German factory. I met George, his son Simon, and the sales manager Frank. They demonstrated the equipment that they developed for the “cockpit.” Small lettuce spinner, blenders, food processors like the Cuisinart, cutters similar to the cutomato and even a small device to crack coconuts. Kronen now manufactures all of these items, in a factory in Cecezlovacia, rather than buy from other suppliers. After the demonstration, it was of course time for lunch. George invited us to go to a restaurant nearby, it was what I would imagine was a typical local German restaurant. Frank suggested we have the Gravlax appetizer first. It was enough for a meal, arranged on a large white square plate with only salt, pepper, and a slice of lemon, and that was all it needed. The salmon was one of the best I have had…no fishy taste. Then we had also ordered a main dish, I was trying to choose other than meat so I had a dish of spatzel with wild mushrooms in cream sauce. Large pieces of mushrooms barely sautéed with leeks. I can re-create this dish; just have to find the mushrooms.

We returned to the factory and spent the rest of the afternoon talking about opportunities with George. Left about 4 and drove 2 hours to PMB’s to drop off Phillip-Emanuel, then drove back to Strasbourg to pick up Jean-Baptiste from the train station. We walked around the city before he arrived and I was glad we were staying in the country rather than the city.

We left Strasbourg about 8 and drove the hour + to Klinganthal, dropped off Jean-Baptiste and went back into the village to eat dinner.

At this time it was about 9:30 pm, and the Bientot a Barr Les Hortensias was still servicing traditional Alsatian food. We had a salad, which in that area was a layer of thinly sliced cabbage with mache on top and a vinaigrette of very light olive oil and shallots. PMB suggested the Croute charchatieur. I chose the one for a single person, but when it arrived I could not imagine how big it would be for the plate for 2 people. There was a mound of sauerkraut surrounded by a smoked sausage, fresh sausage, fresh ham slices, and a pork cutlet. It was too much to eat, but I tasted everything and the sauerkraut was not too acidic, with a slight taste of juniper. A local white wine in a pitcher, with espresso and we were ready for bed again!