Ofenfrische Grillhaxe auf Dunkelbiersauce

It is a dreary Saturday afternoon here in Wiesbaden. I wanted to go to the open-air farmer’s market in town today, but I woke up to rain. It’s been raining pretty steady, though not heavy, all morning. I went to the continental breakfast at the hotel. This should really just be called breakfast, because we are on “The Continent” that is referred to in the title. Similar to the reason there is no Chinese food in China; there it’s just called food.

Poor jokes aside, my plans to do some exploring and take some pictures have pretty much been put on hold. So I’m doing my laundry, and I’m not going to take pictures of that. Unless anyone would like to make a special request (send all requests by email, and be sure to specify what articles of clothing you would like pictures of, and please be sure to include your cell number.). With any luck, the weather will clear up, and I’ll be able to go exploring later this afternoon. The weather here has been pretty mild so far, and just like at home it only rains on your days off.

Last night I had a dinner of “Ofenfrische Grillhaxe auf Dunkelbiersauce”, which was billed as “Fried Pig Knuckle in Dark Ale Sauce”. I was going to order the cheese spaetzle with grilled onions, but I was feeling carnivorous and wanted a piece of sausage with it. I was having trouble explaining this to the waiter. He thought I was asking for two dishes. I guess in reality I was asking for two dishes, since no sausage comes with the spaetzle, but I didn’t want to pay for two. To make things easier I just ordered the grillhaxe. The Knuckle was good, but a little bland for my taste. It was nicely cooked, and the skin was pleasantly crunchy. The sauce; however, was pretty tasteless and ordinary. I felt that the whole dish could’ve been improved with the addition of a slightly spicy and/or acidic sauce (eg. a red wine sauce). A sauce with a little bit of tartness would have better offset the fattiness of the knuckle, and offered a better flavor contrast. The bread was also a little disappointing, being two pieces of pre-sliced commercial bread. At least it wasn’t Wonderbread, and it did have some tooth to it. All of these are minor points, and the meal was inexpensive. The restaurant is very close to the hotel so I’m sure that I’ll be back for the spaetzle.

The rain has been stopped for a while and it looks like the sun is making admirable attempt to come out. My clothes are clean and dried and folded and put away. So I think I’ll cut this off for now and see if I can’t get myself into some sort of trouble…