Cider Houses Rule

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Main and the Rhine brought herbs and spices from the South of France, Switzerland and northern Italy. Cooking was correspondingly sophisticated. “I’m not afraid of a Duke,” Goethe’s mother said, on learning of the impending visit of an aristo. “I can cook.” Even the average Frankfurt housewife could magic up potato soup with pheasant.

Restaurant Amador - A Rising Star

According to a rather elevated write-up in the respected Gault Millau Guide, Juan Amador’s restaurant, Amador, just outside Frankfurt, now exemplifies the city’s daring balance of innovation, tradition and foreign influence - in his case, Spanish, with the inclusion on the menu of tapas and Iberian pork. Amador, born in Germany to Catalan and Andalusian parents, is a remarkable rising star, and is cooking himself into the league of Ferran Adrià, the chef at El Bulli in Girona, Spain.

Classics of Hesse Cuisine

But plenty of other chefs are sticking to the classics of Hesse cuisine. Jorg Döpfner, at the Maingau Stuben (Schifferstr. 38-40. T. +49 69 61 07 52), does first-class pork ribs with quince sauerkraut and creamed potatoes, accompanied by the local brew, a sharp apple-wine/cider called Appelwoi. Tourists in search of authenticity and cider bars, die Appelwoi Kneipen, should make for the Frankfurt neighbourhood of Sachsenhausen, where old, wood-panelled inns serve it with sausage-and-meat dishes such as Frankfurter Würstchen (small sausages made from lean pork), Rippchen (salted spare ribs with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes) or Tafelspitzsülze (brawn with green sauce). Some bars, such as Zum Gemalten Haus and Adolf Wagner, have made it into the Michelin Guide.