Catering’s Best by InterContinental

Culinary Carnival Delights –
If it's tasty, it's a Go!

Jörg Stricker, a proud citizen of Cologne, loves the carnival. He is also the chef de cuisine of the InterContinental Cologne.

Stricker has collected many important facts concerning the carnival traditions of his city: Among them the reason why carnival really is a culinary festivity, and why a „halver Hahn“ is a tasty meal for vegetarians as well as carnivores. Furthermore, he has a menu suggestion for the carnival season and a true carnival offering in store for us.

 

Cologne is a place with a special “twist”.
Especially during carnival.

During the carnival season Cologne is in a state of emergency; the carnival knows no age, no education levels, no society status. On the contrary: Whoever has a certain status in society tries to ascertain his status with an often quite extravagant membership in one of the many carnival societies. Accordingly, the catering at such events is anything but pedestrian. And if you asked Jörg Stricker whether he celebrates carnival personally, his short and unsympathetic affirmation would undoubtedly make it very clear that this was a, well, silly question. The „carnival spoil sport“, or „Karnevalsmuffel“, is an endangered species in the city of Cologne.

 

Everybody celebrates. Some fast.

The carnival tradition goes way back into pagan times, when the evil spirits were exorcized in the springtime. Then, in the early middle ages, Christianization added a religious meaning – and a culinary dimension - to the crazy affaire. From then on, the festivities were a „Carne Vale“, a goodbye to the meat, and so people went all-out just before the lent. This is why good food has such a special place in the carnival traditions, traditions that are expressed in various long-established dishes. The „fifth season“ has lost nothing of its allure since these early days, even if today only a very few go on a fast afterwards...

 

In the Thick of it you can have it all!!

If you consider Cologne one big carnival celebration, then the InterContinental is the party's VIP lounge. The elegant, modern building is located right inside the Old Town, bordering the traditional route of the major carnival processions and right next to the Gürzenich, the legendary ballroom that serves as the spiritual epicenter of the local carnival.

This hotel building is truly rooted in Colognes tradition – a fact that is more than obvious when one considers the remains of old Roman brickwork to be found in the underground car park. In the hotel itself, a chimney in the room named „Overstolz“ has withheld the changing times for over 400 years; it already occupied the same space back in the middle ages, in the town house of the family of that same name. Maybe it is precisely this vivid combination of old and new that makes the InterContinental one of the preferred meeting places of many venerable carnival societies: The Guard of Honor of Cologne, the Corps à la Suite of the „Prinzengarde“, the „Blauen Funken“ - some of Colognes most prestigious carnival societies use the establishment to get pampered before or after their „official acts“. Jörg Stricker can tell tales of times when the hotel lobby was crammed with the instruments of a marching band, and the exclusive hotel bar was frequented by “fools” in uniforms.

 

 

„Jecke Zick“. You've never seen the likes of this.

In the „jecken Zick“ (a local dialect expression for the carnival season), those who stay away from the carnival fun also stay away from the InterContinental. Guests travel here from all over to the world to secure themselves a first row seat in the carnival revelries. The special carnival spirit starts at breakfast already, when fresh „kölsche Muzen“, a traditional carnival delight, are served. And from the hotel's own terrace offering space for more than 220 „Narren“ or „fools“, all of the major carnival processions can be seen closeup. But that special ingredient that makes the Cologne carnival so unique cannot be put to words: It needs to be experienced. Personally.

 

 

A Kitchen of Fools

On an average day, the InterContinental offers international cooking with contemporary overtones; prepared by Cologne's own. That's why, although the carnival sounds of the „Höhner“ might be blaring from the radio, the chef de cuisine insists on the utmost discipline – especially now. For the major carnival societies request culinary peak efforts, even if most of the dishes served have a rather traditional tone.

„Kölscher Kaviar“ (blood pudding with onions) and „Ähzezupp“ (pea soup) are, and this the chef de cuisine knows very well, very difficult dishes. For the “fools” are not only demanding gourmets, but also know their local dishes well. Because of this, his variation of the traditional dish „Himmel un Äd“, which he refines using scallops and apple foam, is just as delicious as it is bold. Jörg Stricker has a fine instinct telling him which dishes might profit from a modern touch, and which ones are best left as is: „A „halver Hahn“ („half a chicken“) stays a “halver Hahn” – messing with this dish could be nothing but a crime“. That's why he serves the „halven Hahn“ the way the good citizens of Cologne are accustomed to: A rye bun with butter and a slice of Gouda. Any questions?

Jörg Strickers menu suggestion for the carnival season:

"Culinary Carnival"

Papilotte made of „Kölsche Klüngel“
Pork belly with honey, licorice & walnuts, cooked in parchment

D`r Zoch kütt, Kamelle
“Schnippelbohnensuppe” (Pea soup) with chives and heavy sour cream,
vegetable confetti & Wan Tan of blood pudding

"Kölsche Mundard" (Cologne Dialect)
"Himmel un Äd“ with scallops and mashed potatoes (“Stampes”), endives and apple foam

“Et kütt wie et kütt”
Braised deer shoulder (from the Eiffel) with sweet-sour cranberries

“Kölsche Schnippelkuchen”
pea puree & crispy bacon

Sweets
“Armer Ritter” made from butter brioches
Apple-Mango-Sugo with honey and rosemary ice cream flavors added
Almond crunch with Pumpernickel

 

It might be Ash Wednesday, but it's not all over – not yet.

When the „Dreigestirn“ („Triumvirate“) has resigned and the last “Kamelle” has been thrown, the cooks at the InterContinental have to face one last culinary task: by offering a wholesome „hangover breakfast“, they help their guests to a “soft” start into the following day.

Some carnival societies restore their mineral balance eating traditional herring dishes. And on 11-11, it all starts again. For there is one thing that Jörg Stricker is certain of: „Our terrace will be completely booked in 2010, just as every year.“

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