from the sublime...

things have been quiet on the food blog for some time, mainly because i am still trying to come to terms with the full-on tasting menu at reflets par pierre gagnaire. i'm still not really capable of writing about it in any coherent way, except to say it was almost certainly one of the top three meals of my life...

which brings me to a rather drastic extreme - a three day press trip to munich staying not in the city centre but out in the concrete wilderness of the exhibition centre. and what is it with germans and all that meat? even as a fish eater, i had to survive on barely adequate pasta for three days, whilst surrounded by more pig by-products that one could imagine possible. are they so keen on pork because it shows they're not jewish?

okay, forget the war. the really curious thing is that germany has a fine tradition of health - from naturism to an early adoption of wholegrains and so on. breakfasts are a treat - even in our poor hotel, there were six varieties of muesli, a dozen variants of healthy bread and giant platefuls of fresh fruit. it just seems to go downhill after that...

which gives me a brief chance to name check chef gabi at magnolia, here at the madinat in dubai. despite being german, her fine dining vegetarian dishes are a revelation - i just wish she had an outlet in munich...