Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Straight from the Farm
185
Das Wirtshaus zum Herrmannsdorfer
Schweinsbräu
Home of the Happy Pigs
Glonn, Germany
In Europe, they tend to call it biofood,
short for biologically responsible. That's
the mantra at the organic Herrmannsdor-
fer farm, sprawling outward from a red-
roofed traditional agricultural cooperative
about half an hour southeast of Munich.
About 70 organic growers are involved in
this cooperative, but the chief crop is pigs.
And not just any pigs, but
glücklichen
schweinen,
or “happy pigs,” with a free-
range lifestyle and organic diet. While
you're dining here, stop in to visit the
black-and-pink floppy-eared Schwäbisch-
Hällisches pigs in their pigpen, and you'll
see just how happy they are.
Chef Thomas Thielemann believes that
happy pigs produce better meat, and the
fare at the Herrmannsdorfer Tavern may
convince you he's right. The full menu
draws ingredients from various producers
in the co-op—fruit, vegetables, and
meat, as well as organic breads from the
Herrmannsdorfer baker, organic hand-
made cheeses from the dairy, and hearty
ales from the organic microbrewery. This
isn't just a country barbecue, by any
means; Thielemann is a skilled gourmet
cook, who also turns out menu items like
marinated sashimi tuna, or a wild duck
breast with speck, cabbage, and potato
pancakes. And you'll pay gourmet prices
as well, upwards of 50
per person with
drinks. But the pork seems to work its way
into a number of dishes, either in the form
of sausages, cured meats like speck and
ham, refined pork cutlets, a particularly
spicy stuffed pig's foot, the juicy, tender
schweinebraten,
or roast pork, with its
crispy outer crust, which is Thielemann's
house specialty. The silky firmness of
Herrmannsdorfer pork is much more like
milk-fed veal than your usual mass-pro-
duced pork; many top Munich restaurants
procure their meats from Herrmannsdor-
fer. How much better to relish it here in
the country air, paired with the fresh
vegetables plucked that morning from the
nearby field, served in a light-flooded for-
mer barn with scrubbed-bare wide-plank
floors and simple, sturdy wood tables.
Everywhere you look, there are pigs—
in paintings, sculptures, wooden cutouts,
trivets—there's even a glamorous porker
on the labels of the local beer. On your
way out, stock up on Herrmannsdorfer
products at the village market, which sells
fresh produce, breads, cheeses, sausages,
preserves, and pates. You'll be buying it
straight from the source.
Herrmannsdorf 7 (
&
49/80/9390-
9445;
www.schweinsbraeu.de).
(
Munich (57km/35 miles).
L
$$
Hotel St. Paul,
St-Paul-Strasse 7
(
&
49/89/5440-7800;
www.hotel-stpaul.de).
$
Am Markt,
Heiliggeistrasse 6 (
&
49/
89/22-50-14;
www.hotelinmunich.de).
