A big part of any river cruise is the food, both on land and on the water
On my Rhine River cruise on the SS Antoinette, we pass from the Netherlands through Germany, France, and Switzerland
stopping in picturesque medieval villages, Alsace's famous wine region, and historic German cities
where a visit to the local browhouse is a must. Sampling culinary delights from these different destinations along our route
I also get in on the action, behind the scenes, meeting with celebrated chef Edward Blanco
This is my first German-inspired cooking class. Actually given to you by half-Spanish-Hof English guys
We're local here in the world, right? We aren't just eating what's local on excursions
Chefs make sure to also source locally. and create dishes inspired by the land, its history and traditions
We're fortunate to have sort of an established route of this solution. We negotiate yearly, monthly, with these suppliers
They come with specials, you know, regional ingredients that are sort of, you know, in season
and they sort of call us up and they liaise with our product manager to sort of say
you know, we've got 500 kilos of this beautiful apple that just come into seasons
Do you want it? We negotiate and we go, we select it
and if it's good enough for us, then obviously it's good enough for our guests. Chef Edward Blanco is teaching me to make a dish
that's traditional to the Rhineland of Germany. Sour bratton with a braised red cabbage, potato dumpling
and an apple puring. I like how you have the recipe here for me
so that I can try to help you. So this would be a traditional dish
This is very regional A sour roast in translation And the trick of this dish or the the particularity of the dish is that it requires a long time of marination It usually uses the
harder cuts, the more fibrous cuts of meat and through this sweet and sour
marination it breaks them down it makes them tender and it's a question of braising so we're
cooking the joint in liquid aromatic's liquid until it's tender soft and then we'll be offering it
today with some braised red cabbage, a little apple puree, and a potato dumping, which is also
very, very regional. Akin to a German pot roast, sour brought in secret sauce, is in a long marinating time, from
three to ten days. Its history is thought by some to date back to Julius Caesar and by others to Charlemagne
as a way to use leftover roasted meats. So a nice pino noir, regional pio noir as well
Later, you'll be speaking with a sommelier, which does his wine pairing according to our menus
As you can notice, you've got the aromatics now filtering through, you've got your vinegar, you've got the red wine, yeah
But definitely, and also an essential element, the acidity to conserve, to marinate
and to break down the fiber of the meat there, which is the most important thing, and the reason for this preparation
Looks like a meaty herbal sandbria. I think we should get a couple of glasses to taste, though
Lots of flavor. We brought the marination back out of it. That's it
Nice little facial there for you. Do you want to come make Thanksgiving for me
The finished dish looks and smells amazing. And up in the dining room, I get to taste it
Mmm. That is truly delicious. The meat is just tender enough. The sauce is salty, yet sweet
It's really good. And I can't wait to see what's on the menu next