Catering’s Best by InterContinental

Nibbling, Frankfurt-Style

Klaus Bramkamp, chef de cuisine at the InterContinental Frankfurt, creates fingerfood with local roots and demonstrates a new way of turning solid home cooking into exquisite treats. But be warned: Both the Frankfurt cuisine and Klaus Bramkamp are full of surprises.

 

Klaus Bramkamp re-invents the Frankfurt cuisine

Fingerfood buffets tailored towards special events are a common request in the Hessian metropolis. Many hosts want to present innovative and exquisite foods to impress their guests. This makes for an interesting challenge for Klaus Bramkamp, who is known for the authenticity of his creations.

His fingerfood á la Frankfurt meets this challenge in various, surprising ways: His creations are based on regional produce and recipes and offer a sustainable, conscious and unique food choice: „Our guests suddenly become aware of their location. This is the keynote we base our Slow Food offerings upon.“

 

Frankfurt Cuisine – Classy food in small, delicious portions?

Even the proudest of Frankfurters would not really make a connection between „classy“ and the local cooking. Traditionally, „Handkäs mit Musik“ (marinated sour milk cheese), “Grüne Soße“ (Green Sauce) and „Rippchen mit Kraut“ (spareribs with cabbage) are consumed in rustic restaurants, without any great ado. But Klaus Bramkamp, who is not a „born“ Frankfurter, takes a stand for Southern Hessian cooking:

„The foods typically sold to tourists visiting Frankfurt are oftentimes not truly related to Hessian cooking.“

The region offers a great variety of ingredients and preparation methods, spanning from the 7 magic herbs used for the „Grüne Soße“ to fine, white asparagus. Lots of possible sources of inspiration for Klaus Bramkamp, who combines, refines and advances local elements, until he has turned hearty, filling dishes into classy treats that proudly state their pedigree.

 

Baked "Handkäse" tartar with sweet-sour stewed onions

 

That exotic taste of home

Globalization has long since conquered the buffets of this planet. It gets more and more difficult to offer truly „unusual“ foods: „The people hunger for the unusual – which, these days, does not include shrimps anymore.“ But due to our constant culinary wanderlust, some ingredients that, but one generation back, were commonplace have been all but forgotten: Elder- and gooseberries, rhubarb and strawberries from the Kriftel region offer an exquisite taste experience, especially if compared to the more voluminous, but watery import variants.

 

Tradition meets creativity

One does not need to be a Frankfurter to be excited by the way Klaus Bramkamp transforms traditional dishes into his own, distinct creations. He has a pretty clear idea of the nature of the regional cuisine:

„Frankfurter fingerfood is aromatic and hearty, yet refined and sophisticated.“ Accordingly, the legendary „Grüne Soße“ with four half eggs has inspired him to create a terrain of 7 Frankfurter herbs with a baked quail's egg in paper-thin bread dough.

Elaborating the essential taste of a dish and refining it with classy nuances, Bramkamp has also created his own interpretation of another classic of the local cuisine: His baked "Handkäse" tartar with sweet-sour stewed onions is probably the most sophisticated variation of „Handkäs“ in history. He even re-made the „Armer Ritter“, a classic dish using leftovers, into a classy, wonderful treat, using lye bread, beef tartar and cultivated caviar stemming from Fulda.

 

A „Stöffche“ that loosens the tongue

Frankfurter fingerfood offers a unique chance of showing local colors. Some people even get nostalgic when they taste these tasty reminders of the „good old“ local home cooking.

Whenever this happens, Klaus Bramkamp feels that he has accomplished his mission, as one of the highest aims of any cook is to reach the hearts of his guests – through their stomachs. These literally hearty treats, combined with a glass of Äppelwoi, also known as „Stöffche“, lead to shared moments that will stay in ones memory for a long time.

 

Ending on a high note: The Frankfurt Dessert

The traditional cuisine also inspired avantgarde dessert variations: Klaus Bramkamp serves the „Kirschmichel“, a baked pudding made of bread, milk, eggs and cherries, in a jelly jar, accompanied by a rhubarb chutney he sweetens with balsamic syrup, just to refine it with a touch of chilly. This nuanced revelation oscillating between the old and the new literally melts on ones tongue.

Another example for the creation of a completely new taste experience using traditional methods and typical ingredients is his jelly of Kriftel strawberries with sweet Green Sauce. Using an sauce made with Äppelwoi for the Hessian Tiramisu, this skilled pastry cook once again shows how versatile the Southern Hessian national drink really is. After dessert, even guests from the most remote places realize: Its a really good things somebody like Klaus Bramkamp has embraced the Frankfurt cuisine.

 

Klaus Bramkamp´s Menue:

Springtime along the Main – The Frankfurter Fingerfood menu

Cold dishes
Terrine of 7 Frankfurter herbs with a baked quail's egg in bread dough
Mille Feuille of broth meat, duck's foie gras and Frankfurter „Grüne Soße“
„Arme Ritter“ made with lye bread, beef tartar and cultivated caviar (Fulda)

Hot dishes
Baked "Handkäse" tartar with sweet-sour stewed onions (with recipe)
Hot chick pralines with dandelion tempura
„Coq au Äppelwoi“ with asparagus tips, shallots and potatoes

Dessert
Hessian Tiramisu with Äppelwoi sauce
„Kirschmichel“ with rhubarb chutney in a jelly jar
Jelly of Kriftel strawberries with a sweet green sauce

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