Seasonal Tastings

By James Podles
Last week (Nov. 23-28), the Apollonia Restaurant, at the Rogner Hotel Europapark, celebrated the peak of the fall season with a special menu created by resident chef Tobias Fritz and visiting chef Robert Pressinger (of the Rogner Fuchs Palast in St. Veit, Austria), which inventively mixed seasonal flavours, classic Central European cooking techniques, and local Mediterranean ingredients. The menu showcased the fruits of the autumn harvest (pumpkins, potatoes, and chestnuts especially) combined with rich, strongly flavoured meats and fish. The food was perfectly suited to the autumn weather: hearty, mellow, evocative of crisp, cool evenings; changing leaves; and smoky fireplaces.
All of the appetizers were, a little strangely, served cold and more or less raw. While the tartare of salmon with caviar, for example, sounded excellent, it seemed ill-suited to a cold November evening, as did a carpaccio of beef and a chicken liver pat鮠Soup, on the other hand, sounded like the perfect starter, so we began with a rich, smooth cream of pumpkin drizzled with a lacing of pumpkin oil and topped with toasted pumpkin seeds, and a fantastic chestnut and celery soup. The layers of flavour in the pumpkin soup showcased the quintessential fall vegetable’s versatility: the mellow, unctuous, purꦤ flesh of the squash mingled with the nutty earthiness of the oil, and was set off by the crunchiness of the toasted seeds. The chestnut and celery soup blended the principal ingredients with an excellent, savoury stock reminiscent of wild mushrooms; scattered slivers of roasted red onion provided a sweet, chewy counterpoint.
After the pumpkin-overload of the soup, I regretfully decided to pass on the vegetarian main course, a “steak” of pumpkin and ricotta. Instead, we ordered roe deer (which was promptly nicknamed “Bambi”); a filet of salmon; and a venison steak (“Bambi’s mother”). Other possible choices included trout; a rack of lamb; spiced roasted chicken; and pappardelle with tomatoes and feta cheese.
The salmon was the only sub-par main course: the naturally oil-rich fish was cooked in far too much additional oil. The accompanying fried risotto cakes and roasted root vegetables did nothing to mitigate this oiliness: if anything, they increased it. The venison, on the other hand, was fantastic. Seared perfectly to the requested medium doneness, the rich, gamy, chewy meat was served on a bed of velvety braised cabbage. A strudel-like concoction of mashed potatoes baked around a mixture of sautꦤ spinach and onions sat alongside, while a ring of balsamic vinegar and wild berries encircled the plate. The roe deer, placed atop a mound of truffle-laced mashed potatoes, was meltingly tender, soft enough to cut with a fork. Garnished with a small stack of savoury pancakes, it was complemented by a mixture of sautꦤ artichoke hearts and zucchini.
As for desserts, the yogurt-honey mousse and grape-walnut strudel were both good, but the undisputed highlight was the pear dumplings in sabayon. The small, beignet-like dumplings, filled with diced pear, had been chilled and then quickly deep-fried so that the exterior was hot and crisp, while the centre remained smooth and cool. Swimming in a pool of Muscat wine-flavoured custard sauce, surrounded by wild berry compote, and topped with a slice of dehydrated apple, the dish’s finishing touch came in the form of a small glass filled with gently stewed sour cherries.
Each section of the menu was matched by a choice of recommended wines (available either by the bottle or by the glass): a great idea, especially for someone (like myself) with little or no experience of the restaurant’s predominantly Austrian wines. The venison, for example, was matched with a deep, fruity Syrah, while two florally astringent white wines (a Gew