German
Cookbook
BY JAN MITCHELL
The Story and the Favorite
Dishes of America's Most
Famous German Restaurant
WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND ILLUSTRATIONS
BY LUDWIG BEMELMANS
Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York
To the Most Wonderful
People in the World
My Patrons
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 52-5764
Down Where the Wurzburger Flows, copyright, 1902, by Harry Von
Tilier Music Pub. Co. Copyright renewed, 1929, and assigned to Harry
Von Tilzer Music Pub. Co. Used by permission of copyright proprietor.
Copyright, 1952, by Leonard Jan Mitchell
AH rights reserved including the right to reproduce this book
or portions therefrom in any form.
Printed in the United States of America
Designed by Alrna Reese Cardi
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION BY LUDWIG BEMELMANS, 11
THE STORY OF LUCHOW'S, 17
HOW WE COOK AT LUCHOW'S, 37
1. Appetizers, 38
2 . Soups t 48
3. Fish and Shellfish, 59
4. Poultry and Game Birds, 73
5. Meats and Game, 92
6. Cheese and Eggs, 140
7. Dumplings and Noodles, 144
8. Salads and Salad Dressings, 150
9. Vegetables, 157
10. Sauces, 171
11, Desserts, 182
THE WINES, BEER, AND FESTIVALS AT LUCHOW'S
OR Down Where the Wurzburger Flows, 207
INDEX, 215
INTRODUCTION
BY LUDWIG
BEMELMANS
*The German dictionary defines the word "gemutlick" as good-
natured, jolly, agreeable, cheerful, hearty, simple and affection-
ate, full of feeling, comfortable, cozy, snug; and "Gemutlichkeit"
as a state of mind, an easygoing disposition, good nature, genial-
ity, pleasantness, a freedom from pecuniary or political cares,
comfortableness.
Of the remaining few New York places that can call them-
selves restaurants, Liichow's triumphs in Gemutlichkeit. This
quality, strong as the handshake of an old friend and a slap
on the shoulder, is nowhere more honest. It enfolds you as you
enter into the agreeable paneled halls.
A fragrance, delicate, but not weak, and slightly male, rides
the air. It composes itself of the aromas of solid cooking, of
roast geese and ducks, of game and Huhn im Topf , of various
things, sour and spicy, and tender cutlets simmering among
Steinpilze.
Through it is wafted the bouquet of good wines, and above
this hangs the blue cloud of the smoke of rare cigars. This ob-
scures the stag and moose heads that are part of the decor,
along with samples of the ironmonger's art.
Prosit! 13
The mood is supported by music equally enduring. The or-
chestra plays such aids to digestion as "Die Forelle" von
Schubert, "The Tales of Hoffman," "William Tell," and "Silvia/'
and such romantic fare as "The Evening Star." Occasionally a
belly laugh echoes through the "Nibelungen Ring," for Liichow's
clientele for the most part are an uninhibited and happy lot.
Every kind of restaurant finds its own public. Several of the
best in New York have a patronage so select that they are
checked into the premises with elaborate and embarrassing care,
and seated according to a rigid protocol.
Mr. Seute, now vice-president of Liichow's, but still func-
tioning as the Herr Ober, is free of all the pretentiousness of his
colleagues. He runs the restaurant, he directs traffic, and he
places people with simple logic, where there is room. The doors
are open and anyone is welcome. In the words of the venerable
Mr. Seute: "You don't need a gestarchte shirt front to get in
here. The only way you cannot come is mitaus a necktie."
It is as simple and as sound as this.
Along with the food, the authenticity of its atmosphere, it
gives me restful ease, and has ever since I have been in America.
I find it one of those places in which the mind hums in harmony
with its surroundings. I have spent many pleasant hours there,
engaged in leaning back and looking at the assemblage of people.
There are the large parties who call themselves "Our Bunch'*
and from whom most of the belly laughs issue.
At other tables sit priests, students, national figures (the late
Jules Bache was a regular Sunday-night client) , diplomats, poli-
ticians with Italian friends in race-track suits with pearl stick-
pins in their neckties, theatrical folk with broad-shouldered
blondes who have brought along Mama and Papa. It is alive
with children and with dogs. It is the most kaleidoscopic restau-
rant in New York. Its waiters are the last of their kind, upstand-
ing citizens, without a trace of servility in their make-up.
They are very busy people and sometimes serve you mitaus
a napkin. Also, they are apt to hand you the menu upside down,
14 Prosit!
and a moment after handing it to you, take it back again,
mumbling, "Der Sauerbraten is aus" and dramatically eliminate
this delicacy from the menu with a bold stroke of a pencil stub,
never longer than a smoked-out cigarette. They will then advise
you about what's left in the kitchen, and also on anything else
you want to know. It's a solid body of men, trustworthy and
sound in the head. Their opinions are as definite as those of
another race of philosophers, the New York taxi driver.
The only being, as yet, not in complete harmony with the
establishment is Mr. Jan Mitchell, the new proprietor. He runs
about the place with cautionary solicitude, worried lest he dis-
turb anyone, much like a man whose wife lost a glove in a
movie theater and forgotten where she sat. It is most curious
that a modern man who looks as if he were in training for the
winter Olympics should find his happiness in being the curator
of a Goulash and Wiener Schnitzel Emporium, worrying about
the consistency of Nudel Soup.
It is to be hoped that this one flaw will be corrected, that a
steady diet of Kartoffelknodel, of Wienerschnitzel, and the
greatest of the delights of Liichow's, the Pfannkuchen mit
Preisselbeeren, together with the proper amounts of the various
beers and good wines, will pad his cheeks, round out his
stomach, and put the roses on his nose.
We shall then no longer look at him with pity and suspicion,
and, as we did recently, ask Mr. Seute, a man of proper weight,
"Who is that man there?"
And Mr. Seute will not have to answer ashamedly behind his
menu, as he did, "Oh, that one, mitaus der stomach, das ist der
Boss."
Ludwig Bemelmans
THE
STORY
OF
ttichoto's
"In a changing world, nothing changes at Liichow's."
O. O. Mclntyre, the beloved columnist, wrote these
words twenty years ago, but they are as true today. Liichow's has
survived three wars, a major depression, Prohibition, and the
complete transformation of its surroundings, and still it is a
synonym for that gracious, generous, and leisurely hospitality
which has all but disappeared from the harassed modern world.
For seventy years Liichow's has imparted this hospitality,
offering not only food and drink but the inner contentment that
comes from enjoying such pleasures in an atmosphere of con-
tentment, warm, friendly, satisfying both mind and body.
You may enter Liichow's by either of the two doors in its
baroque, dark brown exterior, which gazes with old-fashioned
dignity upon the realities of Fourteenth Street. Once beyond
these doors, the visitor enters into another world, where he will
be as welcome as once were his father and grandfather.
The door on the right, toward Broadway and Union Square,
leads into one of the few male refuges remaining in New York.
In more prosaic circles it would be called the bar; at Liichow's
it has always been known as the Gentlemen's Grill. A man may
The Story of Luchow's 21
eat or drink there, safe from the company of women, if that is
his pleasure. If it is a seidel of Wiirzburger that pleases him, he
will find himself confronting a vast mahogany stretch of bar,
its mirrored expanse surmounted by hand carving brought to
this country from Germany in the eighties, flanked by the crests
of those Bavarian townships from which our beer is imported.
At one end stands the knightly figure of Lohengrin, and at the
other, on the wall, broods a shaggy buffalo head obtained at the
St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. An oil painting of Bacchus ap-
propriately surveys this scene from the opposite wall.
Luchow's other entrance, for the family trade, leads directly
into a small reception room, where a plaque advises you,
''Through the doors of Luchow's pass all the famous people of
the world," a sentiment first expressed by James Montgomery
Flagg, the artist. But these doors have also welcomed, as they
always will, men and women from everywhere in the world who
seek our hospitality.
They find it at once in the first room they enter, which parallels
the bar but is completely walled from it. This front room, called
simply "the restaurant," pre-dates August Llichow, the founder
himself. It has that nineteenth-century serenity, that air of high-
ceilinged spaciousness which sets the tone of Luchow's. To see
its dark woods, the gas fixtures whose electric bulbs are a single
concession to progress, and the leisurely diners is to witness a
scene from the gracious past. Everywhere on the walls are re-
minders of it: oils by German and Dutch artists, a porcelain
statue of Frederick the Great, and the first installment of an
admirable collection of steins which line the walls of all the
rooms. The intricate carving on these steins scenes of hunting,
battle, and religion are reminders of the Liichow heritage,
which goes beyond its American beginnings to the spacious eat-
ing and drinking places of Munich and Hamburg, and the glories
of the Rhine Valley.
One of these steins, a tall, graceful piece which holds six
quarts, was presented to Luchow's by the town of Wiirzburg,
22 Liichow's German Cookbook
whose beer is our pride. It rests on the ledge which divides the
"restaurant" room from the main rooms inside. The small space
between, an anteroom with a narrow passage for customers, is
decorated on one wall with photographs of the celebrities and
their parties who have enjoyed our hospitality for so many years.
This anteroom is also the headquarters of a vast, autocratic, yet
genial gentleman, Ernst Seute, our maitre d'hotel.
Mr. Seute has a desk at the left, and from it he can see the
pictures of those personages whom he has welcomed in his dec-
ades of service, or he can look out into those rooms where he
presides at luncheon and dinner. He sits at the desk only a few
hours out of the day, however. Most often he is waiting for you,
beaming and benevolent, as you emerge into the main rooms. He
has been at this post since 1912 the unofficial host of Four-
teenth Street.
The ceilings are higher in these inner, main rooms, and the
vistas are expansive. The anteroom, which we call the Hall of
Fame, leads directly to the Garden through a fine hand-carved
entrance. In the nineties, the Garden was literally that an out-
door drinking salon in the German manner. Now its huge sky-
lights suggest an indoor garden, and a mirror which nearly
covers the east wall reflects its perennial gaiety. A large painting
of Wiirzburg looks down upon the May wine bowls, a collection
of Mettlach wine pitchers graces one shelf, and the steins are
everywhere.
Only a lattice arrangement separates the Garden from the
parallel Cafe, into which one comes from the street by way of the
Gentlemen's Grill. Here, too, the scene is illuminated by the glass
skylights done in the fifteenth-century style of Hans Sachs. Be-
sides its stein collection, the Cafe is noted for its models of two
of Columbus's ships, and an oil portrait of August Liichow, in.
apparent satisfied contemplation of what has been done with Ms
life's work.
The Cafe leads into, by means of a two-step elevation, the
Hunt Room, where twenty-one mounted deer heads gaze in
The Story of Luchow's 23
blank nonchalance upon the pleasant spectacle of their de-
scendants being eaten with considerable satisfaction, and still
further onward, toward Thirteenth Street, the Hunt Room opens
into the Nibelungen Room, where Wagner's heroic figures float
majestically about the upper borders in lush murals.
Similarly, on the other side, one moves from the Garden by
the same two steps into the largest room of all, running parallel
to the Nibelungen and Hunt rooms. We call this the New Room.
It is only a little more than fifty years old.
The New Room is perhaps the most remarkable for several
reasons. There at the entrance, for example, stands a splendid
model of the four-masted Great Republic, launched by Donald
McKay at East Boston on October 4, 1853, and burned a few
weeks later at the pier in New York, where she was taking on
cargo for her maiden voyage.
Art dominates the New Room. Small masterpieces of the
Dutch, Austrian, and Flemish schools illuminate the walls, in-
cluding an oil by Frans Snyders, one of Rubens' students, de-
picting a man with a bag of game. At the far end of the room is
the prize of the collection, an enormous oil completely covering
one wall, Auguste Hagborg's "October The Potato Gathering."
It covers the wall because August Liichow bought it to fit the
space; only later did he discover that the amorous eyes of
museum curators were upon it.
Another reminder of Herr August is at the Garden end of the
New Room a mirror tipped between ceiling and entrance so
that the proprietor, from his office upstairs, could see what
customers were enjoying his food and awaiting his presence.
Oddly enough, if anything has changed at Luchow's it is this
same New Room. Once it was the stable attached to the place,
and out of it rolled the heavy beer wagons, drawn by splendid
horses, carrying barrels of Wiirzburger to other thirsty portions
of the city. August Liichow was its authorized New York dis-
tributor.
The site of our present kitchens was formerly occupied by
24 Luchow's German Cookbook
the Hubert Museum, which housed an assortment of wax figures
and a few cages of wild animals. When the museum was vacating
these premises to allow for the building of our new kitchens a
lion escaped and stalked into the dining room, which was filled
with patrons dining in a leisurely and sedate manner. Instantly
the room was in a state of panic. Hoop skirts, which were the
fashion of the day, did not deter the ladies from mounting the
table nearest them. The sound of screams, accompanied by the
crashing of china and glassware, and the sight of the flying hoop
skirts so startled the lion that he turned, tail between his legs,
and ran back into the museum. Some of the terror of the patrons
could have been averted had they only known that the lion was
so aged he had no teeth and had been fed for so many years on
scraps from the Liichow kitchen that a meal of human flesh was
of no interest to him.
II
Liichow's is more than a restaurant; it is a way of life. August
Guido Liichow, who created it, and whose mirror and portrait
are now the only visible reminders of his expansive, happy
personality, is still present in the spirit of the restaurant he
founded, in its devotion to good living and good friends.
August was a Hanoverian who came to America in 1879,
when he was in his early twenties, and went to work at once in
Stewart's Saloon on Duane Street, where domestic beer and
imported wines were the libations, and expensive oil paintings
were the principal decoration.
He was there only a year before he came uptown to work as
bartender and waiter for the Baron von Mehlbach, who operated
a place dealing exclusively in beer. The future Liichow's was
then only an eighth of its present size. It ended far short of
Thirteenth Street, where women of low repute congregated on
the fringes of gay Fourteenth.
The Story of Luchow's 25
Young August had the ancient German virtue of thrift, and
with the help of William Steinway, he was able within two years
to buy out the Baron. He was only twenty-six. Almost at once
his restaurant became the warmhearted, convivial capital of a
Fourteenth Street world that is no more.
Union Square was the center of that world. It was not the
crowded Square of proletarian oratory and Bowery backwash
that we know today, but a quiet park with a great fountain at
its center, lofty elms and maples shading it, and gas lamps
illuminating its borders. On its west side were the fashionable
shops of Tiffany, the Le Boutillier Brothers, Vantine's, Hearn's,
Macy's, and Brentano's. On the east side was Dead Man's Curve,
notorious as the worst traffic spot in America. There the cable
cars came charging around the curve from Broadway into the
Square, forced to travel at full speed and with the brakes re-
leased, or the cable grip would fail and the cars stop.
Fourteenth Street east of the Square was a happy succession of
German beer halls and Italian wine gardens. August Liichow was
in good company with Lienau's, a beer house kept by a venerable
German couple, and with Brubacher's Wine Garden, the Cafe
Hungaria, the Alhambra Gardens, and all the other German,
Austrian, and Hungarian places where beer was a nickel and a
free lunch of pretzels, cheese, sausage, and pickles went with it.
Luchow's place faced the five-block thoroughfare of Irving
Place, where there were more luminaries of the theater, art, and
literary worlds in residence than in any other neighborhood in
the nation, perhaps in the world. Nearby was the Academy of
Music, where Adelina Patti had made her debut in 1859, and
Steinway Hall, where Rubinstein and Wieniawski were perform-
ing joint recitals in 1872. Around the corner was Tony Pastor's
Theatre, in which Fritzi Scheff played "Mile. Modiste" and had
herself advertised on Luchow's menus.
They all came to Luchow's. There was gentle irony in James
Huneker's famous line, "I took a walk and got as far as
Luchow's," remembering that on the day he wrote it he had
26 Luchow's German Cookbook
taken up residence in the Morton House, at the corner of Broad-
way and Fourteenth Street. Huneker and Rafael Joseffy organ-
ized the Bohemian Club in a second-floor room of Ltichow's, and
later the American Society of Composers, Authors and Pub-
lishers was formed in another room nearby.
Always Liichow's was a favorite of musicians, long after Four-
teenth Street ceased to be the center of New York's musical life.
Rubinstein, Paderewski, and Caruso were often there, and De
Pachrnann, Richard Strauss, the De Reszkes, Ysaye, Zimbalist,
Victor Herbert, and in later years, Toscanini. They listened with
approval to the Vienna Art Quartette, an ageless ensemble whose
personnel and number have changed with the years but which
still plays, at the entrance of the New Room, everything from the
lightest of classics to Wagner. Only jazz has never been heard in
Liichow's.
It was the temperamental musicians who created what may
have been the only unpleasant incident in the history of the place.
Huneker was sitting one night with August himself, Joseffy, De
Pachmann, and others, when that tempestuous master of Chopin,
De Pachmann, who admired no artist more than himself, called
Josefiy an unprintable name, at which Huneker threw a seidel
of beer in the pianist's face. Later in the evening, when the
quarrel had been settled and the men were drinking again, Joseffy
remarked reproachfully to Huneker, "And you, of all men, wast-
ing such a lot of good beer!"
William Steinway was the restaurant's patron saint. He and
his noted family entertained the great musicians of the world
there, both in the downstairs room and in the private rooms up-
stairs, one of which is named for him. They were elegant affairs,
not like the robust banquets given at Liichow's by Diamond Jim
Brady, where twenty ladies of the chorus, engaged as dinner
companions for the guests, might find $500 and a diamond sun-
burst tucked under their napkins.
Mr. Steinway ate regularly at noon upstairs with Ms senior
executives, where they consumed August's famed forty-five-cent
The Story of Luchow's 27
luncheon. One day, on his way through the restaurant, he ob-
served a very junior executive busily attacking his food, and
coldly inquired, "How can you afford to eat here on your salary?"
The interloper blushed, gulped, and never returned to Liichow's
until he was in the proper financial bracket.
As the distinguished head of an eminent firm, Mr. Steinway
was not accustomed to being crossed, consequently he viewed
with disapproval the day that August, endeavoring to keep up
with rising costs, began the forty-five-cent luncheon with six
oysters instead of the customary dozen. He announced that he
would take his trade elsewhere, and for a few days he did not
appear. August was not worried. Mr. Steinway came back within
a week and made no further complaints. Six or a dozen, there
was still no place like Liichow's.
They came year after year to enjoy it, generation after genera-
tion, the musicians, writers, artists, actors and actresses, the
politicians and the financiers O. Henry, H. L. Mencken,
George Jean Nathan, Lillian Russell, Anna Held, Al Smith,
Dudley Field Malone, Theodore Dreiser, Charles F. Murphy and
the sachems of Tammany Hall, Theodore Roosevelt (from
Police Commissioner of New York to President) , Mack Sennett,
who originated the name of his Keystone Comedies there one
summer day at luncheon in 1912; and Gus Kahn, who penned,
"Yes, Sir, That's My Baby" on a tablecloth.
Every evening was a gala occasion, every Sunday night a
festival. Victor Herbert brought back an eight-piece orchestra
from Vienna, which he conducted for nearly four years. Brady's
Parties were more than matched by the dinners of Jules Bache,
Andrew Carnegie, and J. P. Morgan, which made culinary
history. The three-hour lunch was commonplace, and the whole
evening was devoted to dining.
Liichow's became the American agent for Wurzburger beer in
1885, and for Pilsner soon after. August was not the first man
to serve these fine imported beers in America, but he was first
to make them popular, a fact attested by the popular classic
28 Luchow's German Cookbook
Harry von Tilzer wrote to honor August and his restaurant,
"Down Where the Wiirzburger Flows," whose lyrics by Vincent
Bryan proclaimed:
Rhine wine it is fine,
But a big stein for mine,
Down where the Wiirzburger flows!*
The song traveled from Fourteenth Street to the beer gardens
of Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, and far beyond,
and attained such popularity that August declared in some be-
wilderment: "I feel like a kind of beer Columbus!"
But Liichow also was a connoisseur of wines, and from Europe
he brought back a .cellar to be proud of, from Forster Jesuiten-
garten, Rudesheimer Berg and Niersteiner; from Laubenheimer
at $1.50 a quart, to Steinberger Trockenbeer at $25 a quart.
August never permitted hard liquor to be served at the tables,
although it could be had at the bar. Brandy after dinner was an
exception. August liked it.
Of the trenchermen who ate and drank at Luchow's, the
Baron Ferdinand Sinzig, of the House of Steinway, established
a record which still stands by downing thirty-six seidels of
Wiirzburger without rising. Envious competitors observed that
he was a native of Cologne and therefore presumably without
kidneys.
Sometimes the gaiety and good will of the place overflowed its
boundaries. On March 11, 1902, when the younger brother of
the last Kaiser, Prince Henry of Prussia, and his entourage had
completed a sentimental tour of the country and were ready to
sail, August Ltichow was reluctant to let him go without a
gesture of farewell. The gesture consisted of chartering a river
steamer, which took on an impressive cargo of beer and wine,
* Copyright 1902 by Harry Von Tilzer Music Pub. Co. Copyright re-
newed 1929 and assigned to Harry Von Tilzer Music Pub. Co. Used by
permission of copyright proprietor*
The Story of Liichow's 29
bales of frankfurters, gallons of sauerkraut, a German band, and
everybody who wanted to see the Prince off. In a fine glow of
gastronomy and alcohol, the little ship clung to the stern of
Henry's liner as she sailed eastward, its passengers shrieking bon
voyages into her wake long after she had disappeared. No one
who was present ever forgot the voyage, but no one could recall
how it ended.
Beer, wine, food, music, and atmosphere all these con-
tributed to the success of Liichow's, but without August it would
have had no meaning. The stories of this big, good-natured,
handle-bar-mustachioed man are innumerable. One of the most
characteristic concerns the day long ago when Liichow's had its
only labor trouble, a brief strike of waiters. The walkout en-
raged August, who had always treated his waiters as though they
were his children. On the day of the strike he stalked about the
restaurant, serving the customers himself and giving everyone
a pancake loaded with caviar as one who saw it remarked,
"a gesture of generosity born of rage."
Often I imagine I see him now, moving amiably from table to
table, greeting his friends, his laugh resounding in the rooms,
eating and drinking with a zeal unequaled by any of his cus-
tomers. No one enjoyed Liichow's more than August Liichow.
Early in the morning, when the last guests had departed, he
was sometimes so heavy with food and beer that four busboys
had to assist him up the stairway to the rooms where he lived
with his sister.
August never married. His loves were Ms restaurant and his
friends.
Ill
It is a tribute to Liichow's that it survived Prohibition. The
drought had settled firmly by 1923, when August died, and Victor
Eckstein, a nephew-in-law of Mr. Liichow, who succeeded him
30 Luchow's German Cookbook
as proprietor, had to rely upon food and tradition to carry him
over the dry years.
No one pretends that this was a happy period in the restau-
rant's existence, but the faithful returned night after night for the
excellent dinners, and possibly to mourn the Wiirzburger which
flowed no more. The orchestra still played its nostalgic reper-
toire, an island in a sea of jazz, and the atmosphere of dignified
pleasure remained unchanged.
During the last four or five years of Prohibition, Liichow's did
not celebrate New Year's. For a time it had tried to keep up this
tradition, which had always been such a gay time, but the cus-
tomers who brought their flasks so desecrated the atmosphere
that Mr. Eckstein concluded it would be wiser to wait for repeal.
His reward was cafe license number one in New York City,
given to Liichow's for its "excellent record/' when beer started
flowing again.
On that joyous May day in 1933, a thousand people came to
dinner, and during the festivities consumed eight half barrels of
Wiirzburger, which is equivalent to a thousand seidels. It was
by no means a record. In the old days, Liichow's imported
seventy thousand half barrels of German beer annually, equal
to a consumption of twenty-four thousand seidels a day.
It is this same Wiirzburger which remains as one of the un-
changing delights of Liichow's. It is perhaps the most reliable
accompaniment to the glories of the German cuisine which were
and are our stock in trade. The details of that cuisine are
abundantly reviewed in the pages that follow. It ranges from
the reliables, like pig's knuckles and sauerkraut, the various
kinds of schnitzel, and the things our chefs do with veal and
potato dumplings, to goose and duck and game. We can provide
such delicacies as turtle flippers la Maryland, or a staple like a
beefsteak dinner, which at Liichow's begins with oysters Rocke-
feller, goes on with onion soup, continues with a double lamb
chop, a delectable prelude to the steak itself, and concludes with
Swiss cheese.
The Story of Luchow's 31
The customers, like the menu, have changed very little in
seventy years. Composers like Victor Herbert have been suc-
ceeded by Irving Berlin and Richard Rodgers; the singers of the
Golden Age by such opera stars of today as Helen Traubel;
literary figures of the twenties like Theodore Dreiser by best-sell-
ing authors of today Thomas B. Costain, Bob Considine,
Kenneth Roberts, John P. Marquand, and a host of others.
Always these celebrities have their favorite Liichow stories.
Ted Husing, the noted sports announcer and disk jockey, has one
that goes all the way back to his father's memories of Luchow's.
Of course this memory was a very special one, not easily for-
gotten. Husing, Sr., his son recalls, knew that if a young man
invited a girl to Sunday dinner at Luchow's it was virtually a
declaration of his intentions, consequently it was a serious day
in his life when he arrived in a rented hack to take the girl he
married to the restaurant that was even then famous, more than
a half century ago. He waited until dessert to make his proposal,
because that was the proper etiquette. Then, red-faced in his
high, stiff collar, he blurted: "I hope you enjoyed the dinner, and
I hope you don't mind my not kneeling, but if you've finished
your pancake would you marry me?"
Much more recently, a tour of our resplendent beer list was
conducted one hot summer night by Charles Morton, the author
of numerous civilized essays, who is also the Atlantic Monthly's
perceptive associate editor.
The evening began in Boston, where a few hours earlier Mr.
Morton and a friend had decided to drive down to New York in
a supercharged Ford, of which the editor was exceedingly fond.
They departed about five in the afternoon, and an equal number
of hours later found themselves bowling along the West Side
Highway into a city that appeared deserted and from whose
still streets the heat shimmered even at that hour.
Luchow's was cool and wonderfully tranquil, a veritable oasis.
At the time there were a dozen or so draught German beers on
the card, and the Bostonians decided that the only fair thing
32 Luchow's German Cookbook
would be to tour right through the list. Mr. Morton's beer-drink-
ing philosophy is that the only way to make a decent comparison
of beer is to sample one brew while the full sense of another has
just been attained. He was astonished at the delicate variations
which were so unmistakably transmitted to the palate all differ-
ent and all excellent.
Morton and his friend made two complete trips through our
list and were comfortably engaged on a third when they merci-
fully permitted the bartender to go home. It was, says the
Atlantic's man, the most satisfactory beer-tasting he ever
attended.
On occasion the Liichow cuisine has been known to impress
even a Hollywood agent. One of this breed, who fancied himself
as a gourmet of formidable standards, once took Jerome Weid-
man, the best-selling novelist, for lunch at the restaurant. It was
Weidman's first experience, and his host had spent some time
describing its wonders. "But I insist on ordering for both of us,"
said the Hollywood Escoffier.
The first dish came in a large tureen* The host ladled some into
his plate, tasted it, and expressions of violent rapture soared into
Liichow's serene noontime air. It was an extraordinary perform-
ance, worthy of an Academy Award. He waved his hands, kissed
his fingertips to the ceiling, gurgled happily, and went on sipping.
At last he insisted on sending for the chef, who appeared and
witnessed a reprise of the performance with some astonishment.
The chef took the compliment gracefully and retired to the
kitchen. Weidman's host insisted on walking him back, as a mark
of gratitude. When they had gone, the writer ladled a bit of the
tureen's contents into his own plate and took a tentative sip. It
was good. Looking up, he saw a waiter standing at his elbow.
Weidman didn't know whether he was expected to repeat his
host's performance or not, but obviously the waiter was expect-
ing something.
He took another sip and asked, "What is it?"
"Soup," the waiter remarked succinctly, and walked away.
The Story of Luchow's 33
Luchow's chefs have always been accustomed to dealing
directly with the customers on occasion, but no one except
Diamond Jim Brady would have thought to bring his own cook
to the restaurant with a request that the chef give her his recipe
for a favorite Brady dish. Obligingly he wrote it out and, handing
it to the cook, explained, "This recipe does for fifty servings/'
"Thank you," the cook responded, and added approvingly,
"Then I won't have to change it for Mr. Brady."
To return to modern instances, Sigmund Spaeth, widely
known as the "Tune Detective," who writes, lectures, and broad-
casts about music, enjoys another activity not so well publicized.
He has the habit of eating off other people's plates. It is, he
asserts, a real mark of affection on his part.
One night at Luchow's, Dr. Spaeth was sitting beside the late
Beatrice Kaufman, wife of the playwright George S. Kaufman.
When the waiter brought her vanilla ice cream for dessert, Dr.
Spaeth inquired indignantly, "How can you order vanilla when
you know I like chocolate?"
Mrs. Spaeth recalls another time at Luchow's when she was
eating an artichoke, while her husband kept pace with her in
pulling off the leaves. He interrupted himself to ask politely, "I'm
not hurrying you, am I?"
To me Luchow's is like home. The kitchen and its workings
have had a compelling magic for me since I was a little boy. My
first memory is being in our vast kitchen, observing the huge
stove and even larger bake oven. Always the preparation and
service of food at our homes in Sweden and on the Baltic, often
for large hunting parties, fascinated me. Many times I used my
piggy-bank savings to buy presents for our cooks, in gratitude for
letting me help prepare roasts, sauces, pastries, and breads.
Nevertheless, I was headed for a country squire's life until
1932, when I saw Luchow's on my first visit to the United States.
I fell in love with its atmosphere, tradition, and fine food it
all reminded me of home. From that day, my chief desire was to
own this famous old hostelry.
34 Luchow's German Cookbook
Back home again, I told my family that I desired to learn the
restaurant business, and so, after completing my studies at the
University of Stockholm, I attended a school of hotel manage-
ment in Zurich. Returning to America in 1940, determined to
make this country my home, I bought an old established restau-
rant in Washington, D.C. It was successful, but still I longed for
Luchow's. For five years I traveled frequently to New York,
trying to persuade Mr. Eckstein to sell it to me. When I had
convinced him that I would preserve the atmosphere and tradi-
tions of the place, he consented.
In buying Luchow's it was my object to bring back the splen-
dor of the old days, as well as to preserve what remained of
them. Especially I wanted to bring back the festivals the Veni-
son Festival, the Goose Feast, the Bock Beer Festival, and the
May Wine Festival, with beer served in the old beer mugs,
replicas of the menus of 1900, German bands playing, and all
the rest that memory recalls. One of my rewards has been the
heartwarming appreciation of the patrons who have thanked
me for preserving one of the few New York landmarks that
survive.
But a more personal satisfaction comes especially at Christmas
time, when the largest indoor tree in the city towers twenty-five
feet or more in the Cafe, aglow with five hundred electric candles
and original nineteenth-century toys imported from Germany.
The holy village is beneath, with the church bells chiming hymns
and the Apostles revolving in the tower, all hand-carved by
famous woodcarvers in Oberammergau, Bavaria, and the or-
chestra plays carols while the diners sing. Some of these diners
have been coming for a half century, and the waiters who serve
them did so when they both were young. Nor has the Christmas
menu changed, with its oxtail soup, boiled carp, roast goose with
chestnut stuffing, creamed onions, pumpernickel, plum pudding
with brandy sauce, and ice cream Santa Clauses.
And when the lights are turned down at six o'clock on Christ-
mas Eve, the orchestra plays "Silent Night," and the tree blazes
The Story of Liichow's 35
suddenly with its own special glory, the true reward comes to
me. The old friends of August Liichow shake my hand, often
with the tears on their cheeks, and they say to me, "If August
should come in tonight, he would feel at home. Nothing has
been changed."
J. M.
HOW WE
COOK
AT
tuchoto's
1
APPETIZERS
Old hands who have been eating at Liichow's for more
years than they can readily remember have developed
a capacity which does not shrink at the generosity of the res-
taurant's appetizers. The uninitiated, however, thinking to nibble
at a modest beginning to a hearty meal are likely to find them-
selves overwhelmed by a small mountain of herring salad, a sub-
stantial plate of head cheese covered with a special vinaigrette
s.auce, or some other dish which dampens their enthusiasm for
whatever follows. Be warned, then. Unless you are a trencher-
man of proved capacity, deal humbly with the appetizers.
What is true of the appetizers is true also of the entire menu.
Mr. Seute's philosophy is that old customers should have the best
and new ones the same, consequently everyone gets the ample
portions which have filled and satisfied Liichow's patrons for
seventy years.
It takes twenty-eight cooks, masters from Austria and South
Germany, some of them in Liichow service for thirty-five years,
to produce the Liichow cuisine. None of these cooks would
dream of modifying or changing the traditional European
recipes which are as much a part of the restaurant as Mr. Seute
himself.
40 Luchow's German Cookbook
PICKLED BEEF HEAD SALAD
OCHSENMAUL SALAT
10 pounds fresh boned beef heads
1 fresh veal knuckle
3 onions
5 bay leaves
1 dozen cloves
1 bunch fresh thyme
(Put bay leaves, cloves, and thyme in cheese-
cloth, tie. Remove when cooked.)
Marinate beef heads in water, salt, and saltpeter for one week.
Place corned beef heads with fresh veal knuckle in water. Add
remaining ingredients and boil about 4 hours. Remove veal
bones. Press beef heads between two pans. Cool; cut in julienne.
Marinate in olive oil, wine vinegar, chopped onions, freshly
ground pepper.
Serve chilled on crisp lettuce with finely cut chives. Serves
8-10.
PIG'S HEAD CHEESE VINAIGRETTE
1 pig's head (without cheeks), boned
1 cup salt
l /2 cup sugar
2 tablespoon saltpeter
2 quarts water
Bag of spice (4 or 5 peppercorns, bay leaf, sprig of
thyme, teaspoon allspice)
1 teaspoon paprika
*/2 teaspoon cayenne
How We Cook at Luchow's 41
Scrub pig's head thoroughly. Rinse, drain, and cover with cold
water to which 2 or 3 tablespoons salt have been added. Cover;
let stand in refrigerator overnight.
Drain, rinse, cover with fresh water, and let stand 1 hour.
Drain again. Place pig's head in an enamel kettle; add 2 cup
salt, the sugar, saltpeter, and 2 quarts water. Cover kettle and
let stand 5 days in refrigerator.
Remove pig's head from liquid; rinse. Place in a kettle; cover
with fresh water; add spice bag. Bring to a boil, then lower heat
and let cook slowly until meat drops from the bones. Remove
spice bag; take kettle from heat. Remove all bones from meat;
dice meat; add paprika and cayenne. Before meat is cold, press
it into mold or pan 2 or 3 inches deep. Barely cover it with broth
in which meat cooked. Let cool thoroughly. Slice and serve with
special Liichow Vinaigrette Sauce. (See recipe.) Serves 8.
CALF'S HEAD CHEESE VINAIGRETTE
1 calfs head
1 beef head
2 gallons water
2 pound salt
1 tablespoon saltpeter
1 bay leaf
6 cloves
6 peppercorns
2 teaspoon dried sage
1 cup wine vinegar
4 cup oil
2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 onions, chopped
2 tablespoons minced chives
Have butcher bone heads, remove eyes, brains, ears, snout,
42 Luchow's German Cookbook
and most of fat. Soak heads in cold water to extract blood.
Wash, drain, and place in a large crock. Cover with 2 l /2 gallons
water; add salt and saltpeter. Let stand in cold place 10 days.
Drain, rinse, cover with cold water, and bring to boil. Lower
heat; add bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns, and sage. Let simmer
about 5 hours. Pour meat and stock into mold or pan; let cool.
When stock has jelled firmly, cut in narrow strips.
Mix vinegar, oil, pepper, and onions; pour over head cheese.
Garnish with chives. Serves 6 or more.
HERRING APPETIZER
BERING SALAT
4 salt herrings
6 boiled potatoes
3 apples
4 sour dill pickles
2 cooked beets
Boiled veal knuckle
1 green pepper
2 onion
Dash of black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 cup olive oil
2 cup wine vinegar
1 cup stock or bouillon
6 fresh lettuce leaves
3 tablespoons capers
3 hard-cooked eggs
Rinse herrings; drain; cover with cold water and let soak over-
night Drain; remove skin; cut fillets from bones. Dice fillets
fine.
How We Cook at LUchow's 43
Peel and dice potatoes; peel, core, and dice apples; dice
pickles, beets, meat, green pepper, and onion. Combine all with
fish in a shallow dish. Sprinkle with pepper, sugar, and mustard.
Pour oil, vinegar, and stock over all. Cover and let chill in
refrigerator.
Serve on crisp lettuce garnished with capers and hard-cooked
egg quarters or slices. Serves 6.
MARINATED HERRING
24 herring fillets
1 quart sour cream
1 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 medium-size onions, sliced
3 sour apples, peeled and cut in thin strips
1 ounce peppercorns
1 ounce bay leaves
2 lemon, sliced thin
Wash fillets; drain; arrange in bowl. Mix all other ingredients;
pour over herring. Cover and place in refrigerator. Let chill and
marinate 24 hours. Serves 24.
HERRINGS IN WINE SAUCE
8 salt herrings
1 cup prepared mustard
1 cup olive oil
Juice 1 lemon
x /2 cup dry white wine
Dash ground black pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
Crisp lettuce
44 Luchow's German Cookbook
Rinse herrings; drain; cover with cold water and let soak over-
night. Drain; remove skin; cut fillets from bones; discard skin
and bones. Cut fillets in 2-inch lengths, or serving-size pieces.
Combine all other ingredients and pour over herrings in a
bowl. Cover bowl and let stand in refrigerator to chill and
marinate. Serve with garnish of crisp lettuce. Serves 10 or more.
Herrings in Mustard Sauce: Use 2 cup prepared mustard;
omit wine; add 4 tablespoons wine vinegar. Combine and use
with other ingredients as described.
HERRING IN DILL SAUCE
8 fresh herrings (6 to the pound)
Salt
1 cup prepared mustard
1 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons vinegar
Juice 1 lemon
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill
l /2 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 /4 tablespoon white pepper
l /2 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoon whole allspice
2 tablespoons sugar
Clean herrings; remove skin and cut fillets from bones; discard
bones. Rinse fillets; pat dry; sprinkle with salt.
Combine mustard and oil and beat smoothly until mixture
has the consistency of mayonnaise; add vinegar gradually, beat-
ing well, then lemoa juice and remaining ingredients. If neces-
sary, thin with a little water; or if vinegar is mild, thin mixture
with additional vinegar.
Place herring fillets in a deep platter or dish; pour mixture
over them and let stand, covered, in refrigerator 3 or 4 days, or
How We Cook at Luchow's 45
until fish is well flavored with the sauce. Garnish with thinly
sliced red onions and sprig of fresh dill. Serves 8 or more.
This was the favorite appetizer of Frederick Augus-
tus III, the last King of Saxony. Oscar Hojmann was
his chef. August Luchow, on a trip to Germany, was
entertained at the royal household. He liked the cook-
ing so much that, with the King's consent, he per-
suaded Hofmann to come to America with him and
made him the chef at his restaurant. The Herring in
Dill Sauce is one of the recipes he brought with him.
LUCHOW'S SPECIAL APPETIZER
DELIKATESSE KALTER AUFSCHNITT
Sliced cold assorted wursts
Sliced head cheese
Fancy bolognas
Cervelat
Homemade liverwurst
Dill pickles
Olives
Celery hearts
Radishes
Sardines
Herring in Sour Cream
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Vinaigrette Sauce
An assortment of cold sausages or wursts Is served garnished
with pickles, olives, sliced radishes, and celery hearts. If head
cheese is in the assortment, one of Liichow's special vinaigrette
sauces for head cheese (see recipes) is served with the condi-
ments.
46 Luchow's German Cookbook
HOMEMADE CfflCKEN LIVER PATE
l /2 pound onions, sliced
1/2 cup goose or chicken jot
2 cup chicken stock or bouillon
1 pound fresh pork liver
2 pounds chicken livers
% pound jat salt pork cut in thin strips
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon pepper
3 cloves
Vs teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf, crumbled
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sherry wine
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter
Cook onions in goose or chicken fat with, stock until they are
transparent and tender.
Wash liver; drain; lard with strips of salt pork, then slice liver
into saucepan. Add onions, the fat they cooked in, salt, pepper,
cloves, thyme, and bay leaf. Cover with cold water. Cook slowly
(simmer) in covered pan until all blood is withdrawn and liver
is very tender, about 2 hours. Drain.
Grind liver and cooked onions fine. Mix with eggs, cream,
and most of the wine. Moisten cornstarch smoothly with remain-
ing wine and beat into the liver mixture. Beat and mix to a
smooth paste. Pack into a crock or mold; pour 2 tablespoons
melted butter over the top. Keep covered in the refrigerator. To
serve, cut in slices. Serves 10 or more.
Variation: Add 2 or 3 chopped anchovies or finely minced
truffles to the pate for variations in flavor.
Famous patrons of Luchow's, in the days when good dining
How We Cook at Luchow's 47
was more important than a waistline, ordered a superb wine
with this pate. The recommended wine is a white, still wine, a
Josephshofer Auslese, a select dry Moselle from the hills outside
Trier. It is served expertly chilled.
WCKLED MUSHROOMS
This is a Luchow favorite as a first course, with
other appetizers such as pate, head cheese, or smoked
eel.
To make Pickled Mushrooms in the traditional Ger-
man way, buy fresh button mushrooms; use only firm t
white ones.
1 pound small button mushrooms
1 tablespoon salt
1 medium-size onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup chopped -fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
4 coarsely ground peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried thyme or chopped
fresh thyme
2 cups dry white wine
2 cups cider vinegar
V2 cup olive oil
Juice Vz lemon
Wash mushrooms thoroughly in cold water containing 1 table-
spoon salt. Drain.
Mix all other ingredients; pour over mushrooms in an enam-
eled saucepan. Bring to a boil, then let simmer 8 to 10 minutes
or until tender. Let cool. Keep covered in refrigerator, seal while
hot in sterile glass jars. Makes 6 large servings. Serves 8 or more
small servings.
2.
SOUPS
It was a wise gourmet who first propounded the old
gastronomic axiom that a fine restaurant may best be
judged by its soups. For the chef who is charged with preparing
soup has assumed a grave responsibility. His creation must be
weighty enough to satisfy but light enough not to diminish en-
thusiasm for what follows. It must be a graceful salute to the
diner's appetite, a subtle compliment to his taste.
Here at Liichow's we treat the making of soup with the respect
it deserves. Naturally, the ingredients must be of the finest. The
beef, for example, which goes into Kraft Suppe, the Double
Consomme with Beef and Vegetables, and similar concoctions,
is purchased with as much care as we devote to steaks, fish, or
game. The vegetables, too, must be of a quality as high as though
they were to be offered by themselves.
The small miracle of excellent soup is not accomplished with
ingredients alone, however, since one must suppose that any
good chef begins with the proper equipment. What distinguishes
soup is the skill of mixture, the delicate and difficult addition of
seasonings, until the chefs experienced palate tells him at last
that the point of perfection has been reached. Then, and only
then, does he pronounce it ready for Liichow's tables.
How We Cook at Luchow's 49
DOUBLE CONSOMME WITH BEEF AND VEGETABLES
SUPPENTOPF
5 pounds beef
1 pound soup bones
1V2 teaspoons salt
4 quarts water
2 small onion
2 small carrot
1 stalk celery
1 small piece kohlrabi
1 small piece parsley
1 tomato, quartered
Boiled vegetables such as 3 or 4 small potatoes,
6 small carrots, and 3 or 4 small turnips
Wipe meat with wet cloth. Rinse bones and place in kettle with
salt, vegetables, and water. Bring slowly to a boil, then boil 1
hour. Skim top. Add beef. Cover and let boil slowly 2Vi to 3
hours. Lift meat out and place in deep tureen; keep meat warm.
Strain stock, reheat. Pour over meat and cooked hot vegetables.
Serves 6.
LENTILS WITH BAUERNWURST
LINSEN SUPPE
2 cups dried lentils
3 quarts bouillon or stock
Ham knuckle, or V* pound salt pork (1 piece)
3 small potatoes, diced
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon flour
1 bauernwurst
50 Luchow's German Cookbook
Wash lentils; drain. Cover with cold water and let soak 1 hour.
Drain. Cover with cold water again and bring to a boil. Boil 10
minutes. Drain again. Add bouillon or stock and ham knuckle
or piece of salt pork. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook
slowly 2 l /2 to 3 hours.
Twenty minutes before lentils are done, add potatoes. Mix
butter and flour. Stir this into the mixture. Continue to boil a
few minutes.
Simmer wurst 10 minutes in barely enough water to cover.
Drain. Slice into tureen or soup plates. Pour hot lentils over
sausage and serve. Serves 6.
BEEF SOUP WITH MARROW
KRAFT SUPPE
1 pound short rib beef
3 quarts water
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon pepper
1 leek
1 stalk celery
2 medium-size carrots, diced
*/2 potato, diced
16 small slices raw beef marrow
4 cup minced chives
Cover meat with water and bring to a boil. Skim the top, then
drain the meat. Cover with 3 quarts water; add seasonings and
all vegetables except potato. Bring to a boil. Lower heat; cover;
simmer l l /2 hours. Add potato; boil 1 hour longer. Serve with
2 slices raw beef marrow, garnished with a few chives, in each
soup plate. Serves 8.
Kraft Suppe was a favorite with Arthur Brisbane,
for many years famous editor and columnist of the
Hearst papers. He ate it from the large silver cups in
How We Cook at Luchow's 51
-which it was carried from the kitchen, rather than have
it served into soup plates at the table. A man of strong
ideas, he was adamant about eating his soup hot.
BARLEY SOUP WITH GIBLETS
GRAUPENSUPPE MIT HUHNERKLEIN
1 cup pearl barley
Boiling water
1 tablespoon butter
2 quarts beef or chicken bouillon
2 cups broth in which giblets cooked
V4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Chopped chicken giblets
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Wash barley; drain. Pour boiling water over it twice and drain.
Heat butter; cook barley 2 or 3 minutes. Place barley, boullion,
broth from giblets, and nutmeg in soup kettle. Boil slowly l l /2
hours. Add giblets for last 20 minutes of cooking. If seasoning
is needed, add salt and pepper. Add parsley before serving.
Serves 6.
COOKED GIBLETS:
Chicken giblets
1 cup white wine
1 1 /2 cups chicken stock or bouillon
1/2 teaspoon salt
l /4 teaspoon pepper
l /4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Wash giblets; drain; split and clean gizzard. Add wine, stock,
and seasonings. Cover and cook slowly until all are tender, 20
minutes or longer. Drain; chop giblets. Save liquid and use as
described above.
52 Liichow's German Cookbook
VENISON SOUP
ST. HUBERTUS OR WILDBRET SUPPE
1 shoulder venison, boned
Salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
V4 cup sausage meat
1 partridge, cleaned, dressed, and boned
2 slices lean bacon
4 carrots, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 leeks, chopped
2 sprigs parsley
2 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups water
2 or 3 cups stock or bouillon
Toast triangles
Seasoning
Cut venison in large pieces, season with salt, and dredge with
flour. Brown meat in butter on all sides. Place venison in soup
kettle or soup casserole. Add water to cover. Cook slowly for
about 50 minutes.
Rinse partridge inside and out; pat dry. Fill with sausage
meat; skewer opening tightly with toothpicks. Cut bacon in
small pieces and heat in frying pan. Cook partridge and vege-
tables in fat until golden and tender. Add herbs and water. Cover
pan; simmer 10 minutes.
Add vegetables, partridge, and liquid in which they cooked to
venison kettle. Cover and let boil gently 25 minutes. Skim top.
Lower heat and let simmer 2 hours.
When venison is done, place in a warmed soup tureen and
How We Cook at Luchow's 53
keep hot. Remove partridge and take sausage stuffing out of it
Chop or grind partridge. Mix stuffing and partridge; season with
salt and pepper if needed; spread on toast triangles to serve with
soup.
Strain soup. Add bouillon as needed to make 6 large serv-
ings. Reheat. Pour over venison in tureen. Serves 6.
CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP
SUPPE, HEIDELBERGER ART
1 quart beef stock or bouillon
2 cups water
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons rice or barley
3_ to 4-pound chicken, cleaned and dressed
1 tablespoon salt
1V2 tablespoons butter or chicken fat
1 tablespoon flour
1 y* cups cream
3 egg yolks, beaten
Combine stock or bouillon and water in large kettle; add sugar
and rice or barley.
Rinse chicken; drain; pat dry. Rub lightly with salt. Place
chicken in bouillon kettle. Cover; bring to a boil. Lower heat
and cook slowly until chicken is tender, 1V2 to 2 hours. Remove
chicken.
Strain broth through colander, mashing rice or barley through
with liquid. Melt butter or chicken fat in soup kettle; blend
flour smoothly with it. Stir strained soup into fat and floux mix-
ture. Let cook 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 1 cup cream;
stir and bring to a boil, but do not let boil. Beat yolks with re-
maining 1 A cup cream and stir into soup. Add salt and pepper
if needed.
54 Luchow's German Cookbook
In each soup plate put a few even strips of breast of the
hotted chicken. Pour hot soup over. Soup should be creamy, pale
yellow, but not too thick. Serves 6.
GOOSE GEBLET SOUP A LA OFFENBACH
Goose heart, gizzard, wings, ieet, and neck
3 tablespoons butter
2 small onions, sliced
IVi quarts stock or bouillon
1 small carrot, sliced thin
1 small turnip j sliced thin
3 tablespoons uncooked rice
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
1 small tomato
3 tablespoons heavy cream
4 truffles, chopped fine
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Wash and drain goose parts. Slit gizzard and cut away tough
section. Saute all in soup kettle with butter and onions 5 min-
utes. Add stock or bouillon, vegetables, rice, and seasoning. Boil
30 minutes. Remove wings, feet, and neck with slotted spoon
and discard. Wash, peel, and chop tomato; add to soup. Boil 5
minutes.
Mix cream, truffles, and lemon juice. Stir into soup and serve.
Serves 4.
LIVER BISCUITS
Rich biscuit dough or puff pastry
Melted butter
Cooked chicken livers, chopped
How We Cook at Lilchow's 55
Roll dough V* inch thick; cut with small round cutter. Brush
with butter; add 1 teaspoon livers. Cover with another round of
dough; crimp edges together. Bake in hot oven (450 F.) until
biscuits are light and browned, about 12 minutes. Serve with
soup.
FRESH EEL SOUP
3-pound fresh eel, skinned and cleaned
4 ounces dried mushrooms
1 teaspoon salt
1 pint sour cream
VA- teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
V4 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons rye flour
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Cut eel in 2-inch pieces. Wash mushrooms; drain; cover with
cold water; let stand 24 hours. Drain water and pour it over eel;
add additional cold water to cover, about IVz quarts of liquid
all together; add salt. Cover. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and
cook slowly until eel is tender, 25 to 35 minutes. Add mush-
rooms and stir. Remove eel from soup.
Add sour cream slowly to soup, stirring steadily. Add pepper
and paprika. Mix flour with a spoonful of hot soup and stir into
the kettle. Stir until soup boils. Add eel; bring to a boil again.
Serve with chopped dill sprinkled on top. Serves 6.
Two New York gourmets, Crosby Gaige and G.
Selmer Fougner t both writers, both connoisseurs of the
bottled sunshine from the Rhine Valley, often argued
about the relative merits of our eels matelots, and eels
vinaigrette. But they were in harmonious and rap-
turous agreement on our Fresh Eel Soup.
A dish easily made at home when your fish market advertises
a catch of eels.
56 Luchow's German Cookbook
FRESH EEL SOUP, BERLIN STYLE
AAL BERLINER
2 -pound fresh eel, skinned and cleaned
1 pint May Wine (see recipe)
1 quart light beer
2 slices pumpernickel, grated
Sprig parsley
1 bay leaf
l /2 teaspoon thyme
4 tablespoons butter
Cut eel in small pieces. Place in a kettle with wine, beer, pum-
pernickel, and herbs. (May wine may be bought in some wine
stores.) Bring slowly to a boil, then simmer gently until fish is
done, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove eel to a deep soup tureen. Add
butter to soup in kettle. Stir until steaming hot. Pour over eel.
Serves 4.
We serve this with new boiled potatoes.
CLAM CHOWDER
MANHATTAN STYLE
2 to 3 dozen fresh clams
2 /2 cup boiling water
2 or 3 stalks celery, diced
3 medium-size onions, sliced
4 green peppers, sliced thin
4 slices salt pork, cubed
2 /s cup flour
3 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon minced thyme
1 bay leaf, crumbled
How We Cook at LUchow's 57
1 clove garlic, chopped
6 medium-size potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 quarts chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
V4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons minced parsley
Scrub clams; rinse and drain; put in large kettle with l /2 cup boil-
ing water. Cover kettle; set it over heat until the steam opens the
clams. Remove clams from shells; save all broth; chop clams.
Saute celery, onions, and peppers with salt pork until the fat
is melted and browning; sprinkle flour over this and mix
smoothly. Add the broth from the clam kettle, tomatoes, thyme,
bay leaf, garlic, and potatoes. Add chicken broth; stir. Cover
and let simmer until vegetables are thoroughly cooked, 30 to 45
minutes. Season; add clams and parsley; stir and serve. Makes 2
quarts. Serves 6 to 8.
LOBSTER BISQUE
1 onion, sliced
1 leek, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
Vz teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
Meat 2 small boiled lobsters
2 cup cognac
2 cups white wine or hot water
1 cup cooked rice
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons cream
2 egg yolks, beaten
58 Luchow's German Cookbook
Heat 2 tablespoons butter in 2-quart kettle. Add onion, leek, car-
rot, and celery and brown lightly 3 minutes. Add herbs, season-
ing, and lobster meat. Stir lightly over heat 5 minutes. Add 1 A
cup cognac and the wine or water. Cover. Cook over low heat
15 minutes. Remove lobster meat; put through grinder, using
finest knife, and return to kettle. Add rice; mix. Cover and boil
5 minutes. Strain mixture, then cook over low heat about 45
minutes, until thickened like cream.
Remove from heat. Add butter, cream, egg yolks, and remain-
ing cognac. Reheat, but do not boil. Serve at once. Serves 4 to 6.
COLD FRUIT SOUPS
KALTE SCHALE
1 pound peaches
1 pound plums
1 quart water
1 quart red wine
1 pound sugar
1 2-inch piece stick cinnamon
2 teaspoons powdered arrowroot
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
Wash fruit; cut in half; remove seeds. Cover with water and wine
in an enameled kettle. Add sugar and cinnamon. Cook until
fruit is soft. Put through sieve. Reheat. Mix a little cold fruit
mixture with arrowroot, stir into rest of juice, and boil 1 or 2
minutes. Chill. Serve in large soup plates, garnish with whipped
cream. Serves 6.
Variations: Other fruits such as apples, cherries, raspberries,
grapes, rhubarb, and currants may be used. Vary amount of
sugar as needed; use more or less arrowroot, as needed to make
smooth soup.
FISH AND SHELLFISH
A thousand things, all complimentary, are said about
our fish specialties by Liichow's patrons, but if some-
one asked me to sum up the reasons for their popularity, taking
skilled cookery for granted, I would say, "It is because they are
fresh."
Every pound of prime fish that comes into our kitchens is
fresh, not frozen, Salmon arrives by air express from Gaspe,
Canada. Brook trout is flown in ice from Colorado, while red
snapper and pompano are whisked up from Florida in the same
manner.
If the menu says "English sole," it means just that the very
special kind of sole that comes only from the coast of the English
Channel and, like the others, arrives here by air.
Once a week I go to New Jersey and select the fresh-water
eels to be smoked for our specialties. When we buy Nova Scotia
salmon and sturgeon, only center cuts from young fish are
chosen. At the Fulton Fish Market we pick out the fresh local
fish, shad in season, and other favorites.
Every lobster shipment is checked when it arrives to make
certain they are all alive. Crabs arrive kicking from Maryland.
Shrimp, oysters, mussels, and other shellfish come to our kitchen
fresh every day from the fishing beds.
60 Liichow's German Cookbook
FILLETS OF SEA BASS SAUTEED
WITH WHITE GRAPES
4 small (1Y2 pounds each) sea bass or
4 pounds sea bass fillets
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup -fresh or canned seedless grapes
Juice 1 lemon
Wash, scale, and clean fish. Remove heads, tails, and skin. Cut
fillets from bones. Season fillets with salt and pepper. Cook in 2
tablespoons butter until tender and delicately golden, about 5 to
8 minutes.
If fresh grapes are used, wash, drain, and peel them. Drain
canned grapes. Saute grapes in remaining butter with lemon
juice 2 or 3 minutes, until hot and steaming. Pour over fish.
Serves 4 or more.
BOILED LIVE CARP, HORSERADISH SAUCE
6-pound carp
1V2 teaspoons salt
1 cup white wine
2 cups water
2 onion, minced
% pound mushrooms, chopped
V4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 tablespoons grated fresh horseradish
1 cup sour cream or heavy sweet cream
Our chef says, "Buy live carp." Have it cleaned and cut in serv-
How We Cook at Luchow's 61
ing-size pieces. Rinse; pat dry. Rub salt lightly on each piece.
Place in saucepan. Add wine, water, onion, mushrooms, pepper,
and parsley. Bring to a boil. Cover; lower heat and cook gently
20 minutes, or until fish flakes when tested with a fork. Drain.
Place on warmed serving dish. Cook pan juices rapidly to reduce
them. Pour over fish.
Mix horseradish and cream; serve with fish. Serves 6.
COLD GASPE SALMON
SALM VOM GASPE
At Luchow's this delicacy is prepared with a whole
fresh salmon especially imported from the Gaspe
Peninsula.
2- to 3-pound fresh Gaspe salmon
1 bay leaf
3 cloves
4 tablespoons vinegar
Juice 1 lemon
4 peppercorns
l 2 /2 teaspoons salt
l l /2 tablespoons plain granulated gelatin
2 egg whites
Cooked peas, asparagus, or string beans
Parsley
Lemon, sliced
Wash, scale, and clean salmon. Place in shallow pan. Add 3%
cups cold water, or enough to cover. Add bay leaf, cloves, vine-
gar, lemon juice, peppercorns, and salt. Bring to a boil, then
lower heat and let simmer 15 minutes, or until fish is done. Care-
fully remove fish to a platter or mold.
To 3 cups of the hot stock in which the fish cooked, add the
gelatin. Stir to dissolve. Beat egg whites lightly and stir into
62 Luchow's German Cookbook
stock. Cook slowly just to boiling, then let stand in warm place
(double boiler over hot water) 30 minutes, or until broth clears
and thickens slightly. Strain through cheesecloth. Pour over fish.
Chill. Decorate with chilled cooked vegetables, parsley, and
lemon slices. Serves 4 to 6.
NOTE: This can be done with shad; a delicious and very satis-
factory variation because the shad bones are dissolved by the
marinade.
SMOKED SALMON IN COCOTTE
GERAUCHERTER LACKS MIT TRUFFELN
This may be served as a hot hors d*oeuvre or, when
baked in a larger casserole, as a luncheon dish. French
cooks line the cocotte or casserole with short-crust
pastry. The Luchow dish omits the pastry. It is one of
the gourmet specialties of the huge menu card which
has confronted the famous and the hungry in this
Fourteenth Street restaurant for seventy years.
4 thin slices smoked salmon cut in 1-inch pieces
1 or 2 truffles, chopped
4 whole eggs and 2 yolks, beaten
1 1 /2 cups light cream
l l /2 cups milk
Dash of pepper
Dash of grated nutmeg
Divide pieces of salmon in 4 individual casseroles. Sprinkle with
truffles.
Mix eggs, cream, milk, and seasonings and pour over salmon
and truffles, almost filling casseroles. Set them carefully in a
shallow pan containing a little hot water. Place in a moderate
oven (325 F.) and bake 30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot. Serves 4,
PLANKED BONED SHAD
4 fillets boned shad, about 2 pound each
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Olive oil
8 slices bacon
4 tablespoons butter, melted and mixed with
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 planks for individual service, or 1 large plank
4 cups hot mashed potatoes
4 hot broiled tomato halves
2 or 3 cups hot cooked string beans
16 hot cooked asparagus tips
4 slices lemon
Season fillets with salt and pepper. Brush lightly with oil. Broil
64 Luchow's German Cookbook
under moderate heat until golden on both sides, 15 to 20 min<.
utes.
Broil bacon until crisp.
Warm planks and place a cooked fillet on each; pour a little
of the mixed lemon butter over, then top with 2 pieces cooked
bacon. Use pastry tube or spoon and make a border of hot
mashed potatoes around the plank. Place broiled tomato, string
beans, and asparagus tips attractively around the fish. Garnish
with lemon slice. Serve at once. Or omit lemon, set plank under
broiler heat until potatoes are delicately brown. Remove plank,
add lemon, and serve. Serves 4.
STUFFED SHAB ROE
2 good-size shad roes
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped fine
V* teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 or 3 tablespoons Bechamel Sauce (see recipe)
1 tablespoon chives
2 teaspoon salt
s teaspoon pepper
1 cup boiling broth or bouillon
V4 cup VeloutS Sauce (see recipe)
2 tablespoons Hollandaise Sauce (see recipe)
2 tablespoons whipped cream
Rinse roes; pat dry. Place each on a square of waxed paper.
Make a cut lengthwise in the roe to form a pocket for staffing.
Mix the chopped eggs, nutmeg, Bechamel Sauce, chives, salt,
and pepper. Stuff the roes with mixture. Fold the waxed paper
over each; close tightly at both ends by turning it under twice.
Place in boiling broth, cover, and boil 10 minutes. Remove roes
from paper to a wanned serving dish. Cover with sauce made
by mixing the Velout6, Hollandaise, and whipped cream. Place
under broiler heat a few seconds until lightly brown. Serves 2,
How We Cook at Luchow's 65
With this you should sip Schloss Johannisberger Cabinet, the
aristocrat of Rhine wines, from the estate of Prince Metternich.
FILLET OF SOLE A LA FRIESLANB
4 filets sole
1 shallot, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
l /4 teaspoon -white pepper
l /4 cup -white wine
4 cup fish stock or bouillon
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg yolk
V4 cup cream
! /4 cup Lobster Butter
Rich puff Pastry Crescents
Place fish and shallot in saucepan; season with salt and pepper;
add wine and stock or bouillon. Cook uncovered 10 to 12 min-
utes, or until fish is tender and liquid is reduced to about hah 5
the original amount. Remove fish to shallow baking dish and
keep it warm. Beat butter and flour together; stir into pan liquid
and cook until slightly thickened. Beat egg and cream together;
stir into sauce. Heat a moment, but do not boil.
Spread Lobster Butter over fish; pour hot sauce over. Garnish
with crisp Pastry Crescents and set under broiler 2 or 3 minutes.
Serves 4.
LOBSTER BUTTER:
X A cup butter
1 teaspoon lobster paste (bought)
*A teaspoon onion juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
66 Luchow's German Cookbook
Let butter soften at room temperature. Beat other ingredients
into it until smooth and evenly mixed. Makes about 1 A cup.
Pastry Crescents: See Pastry for Pies recipe. Roll pastry about
*/4 inch thick. Cut with small fancy crescent cutter. Place cres-
cents on baking sheet; brush lightly with butter. Bake in hot oven
(450 F.) 11 to 15 minutes, until puffed and browned. Use as
described.
ENGLISH SOLE, PROVENCALS
4 small English sole
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
Juice 1 lemon
l /4 cup flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove j chopped fine
2 large tomatoes
Ask fish dealer to clean the sole for cooking whole. If you have
to do it yourself, cut off head diagonally and trim end of tail.
Turn back skin either at head or tail and strip it off with a sharp
pull. Scrape surface of fish. Trim fins; clean inside. Rinse, drain,
and pat dry.
Season with salt and pepper; sprinkle with lemon juice; dip
lightly in flour. Heat olive oil in skillet and cook fish until golden
brown on both sides and done, about 10 minutes. Remove to
hot platter and keep hot.
Cook shallot, butter, and garlic 2 minutes. Skin tomatoes,
chop, drain off juice, and add pulp to garlic mixture. Stir and
cook 5 minutes. Pour over fish. Serves 4.
How We Cook at Luchow's 67
SHELLFISH
DEVILED CRABS
6 crab shells or ramekins
1 2 cups fresh crab meat
5 tablespoons butter
l l /2 tablespoons flour
% cup cream
2 eggs, beaten
l /2 teaspoon salt
1V2 teaspoons prepared mustard
2 teaspoon paprika
Ys teaspoon cayenne
Wash crab shells. Flake crab meat; remove any cartilage. Melt
1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan. Add flour and cream; boil
until thick. Remove from heat. Add eggs, salt, mustard, paprika,
and cayenne. Stir. Add crab meat. Mix well. Pack into shells or
ramekins. Melt remaining butter and pour over filled shells.
Brown quickly under broiler or in hot oven (400 F.) Serves 6.
Leonard Lyons told this story about opera singer
and baseball fan, Helen TraubeL Miss Traubel dined
at Luchow's one evening and ordered a large lobster.
"How large?" 1 the waiter asked. Miss Traubel indicated
the lobsters being served at the next table and said:
"The lobster I want eats those." So this recipe might
be just right for her, with maybe a little left over for
Lyons.
68 Luchow's German Cookbook
CURRY OF LOBSTER A LTNDEENNE
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 tablespoon minced carrot
1 stalk celery, minced fine
l /4 teaspoon mace
V4 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf, crumbled
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 tablespoons butter
2 bouillon cubes, moistened in
2 tablespoons hot water
1 tablespoon flour
1 2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup lobster stock (water in which lobsters boiled)
l /4 cup cream
Meat from 2 -freshly boiled lobsters
3 cups hot boiled rice
Indian condiments
Cook onion, carrot, celery, herbs, and parsley in heated butter
until onion is transparent and browning. Stir in bouillon cubes,
then flour. Mix smoothly. Stir in curry powder and paprika. Add
stock and continue cooking and stirring until boiling. Add
cream; stir until thoroughly blended, but do not let cream boil.
Remove from heat.
Cut lobster meat in generous pieces. Add to sauce.
Serve with hot boiled rice and Indian condiments such as
Major Grey's chutney, grated fresh coconut, ground nuts,
smoked dried fish (Bombay duck), grated green pepper,
chopped onions and chives. Serves 4.
How We Cook at Luchow's 69
STUFFED LOBSTER 1 LA MITCHELL
As a result of my childhood training in Sweden and
later with many famous chefs, I have what has been
called a superb collection of gourmet dishes. This is
one of my favorite lobster recipes.
2 gallons water
1 onion
1 carrot
1 stalk celery f sliced
l /2 pound dill
2 /2 pound parsley, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 teaspoons salt
Few peppercorns
4 medium-sized live lobsters
2 cup olive oil
l /2 cup tarragon vinegar
1 teaspoon English mustard
Vz pound cut chives
Juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
V2 cup olive-oil mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh Beluga caviar
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine
Add vegetables, spices, and seasoning to water. Bring to boil
and add the live lobsters. Cook for about 20 minutes. Drain and
cool. Cut lobsters in half lengthwise. Remove meat from body
and claws. Dice the lobster meat. Rinse the shells.
Blend oil, vinegar, mustard, chives, lemon juice. Add salt and
pepper. Pour over lobster meat. Put hi refrigerator one hour. FiJl
shells; top with olive-oil mayonnaise. Decorate with caviar and
chopped eggs. Serve with cucumber salad. Serves 4.
70 Luchow's German Cookbook
LOBSTER NEWBURGH
6 lobsters, about 2 pounds each
Boiling water
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup sherry
2 2 /2 cups heavy cream
l /2 cup light Cream Sauce {see recipe)
6 egg yolks, beaten
Extra sherry
Plunge lobsters into kettle of boiling water. Cover; cook until
shells are bright red, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool. Remove shells
and cut meat in 1-inch pieces.
"Saute lobster pieces in skillet with butter. Season with salt and
paprika. Add sherry and simmer slowly until wine is absorbed.
Add 2 cups cream and the Cream Sauce; stir and let simmer
about l /2 minute. Beat egg yolks with remaining Vi cup cream
and stir into pan. Pour into chafing dish and heat. Add 4 table-
spoons sherry wine to sauce. Stir 1 minute and serve. Serves
6 to 8.
LOBSTER THERMIDOR
2 2-pound live lobsters
Boiling water
4 tablespoons butter
1 small onion or shallot, diced
6 mushroom caps, diced
2 /2 teaspoon salt
l /4 teaspoon paprika
How We Cook at Luchow's 71
V4 cup sherry
l /2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon English mustard
*/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
V4 cup Cream Sauce (see recipe)
1 egg yolk, beaten
2 tablespoons whipped cream
Plunge lobsters into boiling water and boil 20 minutes. Drain.
Cut off heads and claws. Cut lobster open lengthwise on under-
side. Reserve back half of shells. Remove meat from shell and
claws.
Cut meat in small pieces. Saut6 in butter with onion or shallot
and mushrooms. Season with salt and paprika. Cook 6 minutes.
Add sherry and cream. Simmer until thickened and reduced. Mix
mustard and Worcestershire and stir into lobster. The mixture
should be very thick.
Fill shells. Beat egg yolk into Cream Sauce and spoon over
lobsters. Top with whipped cream. Brown under broiler until
golden. Serves 2.
OYSTERS CASINO A LA LUCHOW
24 large oysters in the shell
1 cup butter
Small clove garlic
2 tablespoons minced chives
1 green pepper, minced fine
1 canned pimiento, minced fine
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Juice 16 lemon
8 slices bacon
72 Liichow's German Cookbook
Scrub oysters; open and remove from shells; drain. Return oys-
ters to largest half of shells. Arrange in shallow baking pans.
Soften butter. Mash garlic and add. Add rest of ingredients
except bacon and mix smoothly. Spread spoonful on each oyster.
Cut each piece of bacon in 3 pieces and garnish each oyster with
*/3 slice. Set pan under moderate broiler heat until bacon cooks
lightly. Then set pan in a hot oven (425 R) 5 minutes. Serves
4 to 6.
CfflCKEN FRIED SHRIMPS WITH TARTARE SAUCE
2 pounds fresh raw shrimps
1 cup sifted flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup milk
Fat or oil for deep frying
Tartare Sauce (see recipe)
Wash shrimps; drain. To clean, clip shell with kitchen scissors,
following black line. Remove shell, leaving last section and tail
intact. Cut slit down center of back and remove black line (in-
testine). Rinse, drain, and dry thoroughly.
To make batter, sift dry ingredients; stir in eggs, butter, and
milk. Beat lightly.
Dip shrimps in batter 1 at a time, holding by tail. Fry in deep
hot fat (375 F.) until golden brown. Drain on thick paper
toweling. Serve hot with Tartare Sauce. Serves 6.
NOTE: Use this same batter for fried chicken, oysters, fish.
POULTRY AND GAME BIRDS
It takes a good part of the United States to supply
Liichow's with ducks, chickens, and turkeys, because,
as everyone knows, the best fowl depend on the seasons as well
as the seasonings.
Consider the humble chicken, for example. The best of them
come from the farms about Schroon Lake in the Adirondacks.
They are wire-mesh-raised broilers, hens, and capons, and their
great virtue is a predominance of white meat, sweet and tender s
in their well-fleshed bodies.
No one disputes the pre-eminence of the ducklings raised on
the farms of Long Island. We buy ducks weighing about five and
a half pounds each when the weight is not due to excess fat at
the expense of meat.
Our guinea hens, no matter where their home may be, are
selected by the color of the meat. If it looks bluish, the hen is
usually tough.
Wisconsin produces the select geese we buy. They must be
stall-fed, a special process well known to the German-Scandi-
navian population which inhabits that rich state. The liver from
these geese, for which there is no- substitute, is used for our
homemade pate de foie gras.
74 LUchow's German Cookbook
We buy game birds from several different sections of the
country, depending on which produces the best supply in a given
season. Domestic partridge is better than the English variety and
is much more in demand by American gourmets.
ROAST STUFFED PHILADELPHIA CAPON
1 plump 3- to 4-pound capon> cleaned and dressed
Salt
Heart, liver > gizzard
1 cup bread crumbs
4 pound butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon minced parsley
Pepper to taste
4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cup chopped mushrooms
3 truffles, chopped
2 slices bacon
2 tablespoon flour
2 cup milk
1 cup hot water
Rinse capon inside and out and pat dry. Rub salt inside and out.
Chop heart, liver, and gizzard (remove tough membrane of
gizzard). Mix with crumbs, 1 tablespoon butter, eggs, parsley,
pepper, nutmeg, lemon juice, mushrooms, and truffles. Stuff
capon; close opening with skewers or sew up.
Place stuffed capon in baking pan with bacon strips across
breast. Dab with pieces of butter. Bake uncovered in moderate
oven (375 F.) 25 minutes. Lower heat to 325 F. and continue
roasting 45 minutes, or until capon is done.
Baste often with juices in pan and additional melted butter.
How We Cook at Luchow's 75
Add a little hot water to fat in pan so it does not get too brown.
When chicken is done, remove to warmed platter.
To make gravy, stir flour into fat in roasting pan. Add milk,
stirring smoothly. Stir in hot water gradually. Let boil until
smooth. Serve with capon. Serves 4 to 6.
BREAST OF CAPON, MAI ROSE
2 small slices Virginia ham
2 capon breasts
l /2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon chopped shallots
3 fresh mushroom caps
Vs cup May Wine (see recipe)
*/2 cup light cream
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 ripe tomato t peeled
Cook ham in a hot skillet until tender and golden. Remove ham
and keep it warm. Rinse chicken; pat dry. Season with salt and
pepper. Dip lightly in flour. Saute in ham fat until golden and
tender, about 40 minutes.
Place ham on warmed serving dishes. Arrange breast of
chicken on each piece.
Add shallots, mushrooms, and 1 teaspoon flour to the frying
pan. Stir and brown lightly. Add May Wine and cream, alter-
nately. Stir slowly after each addition. Add beaten yolk.
Squeeze juice from tomato; chop and add. Stir and cook 1 min-
ute. Pour over chicken and ham and serve. Serves 2.
76 Luchow's German Cookbook
CHICKEN FRICASSEE, BERLINER ART
This elaborate and delicious chicken fricassee, in the
style of luxurious home dining of Berlin pre-war days,
is one of our specialties.
2 2 2 -pound chickens, cleaned and disjointed
4 tablespoons butter
4 peppercorns
1 A teaspoon thyme
2 or 3 bay leaves
1 leek, sliced fine
1 small onion, sliced thin
1 carrot, sliced thin
12 teaspoons salt
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups soup stock or bouillon
1 pint heavy cream
1 teaspoon flour
6 or 8 small pieces cooked lobster (lobster claw, says
the chef)
2 cup chopped cooked tripe
*/2 cup sliced cooked mushrooms
4 to 6 cups hot cooked rice
Rinse chickens; drain. Remove bones. Melt butter in heavy iron
pot or Dutch oven and saute chickens. Add peppercorns, thyme,
bay leaves, leek, onion, carrot, and salt. Cook chicken until
golden but not browned. Add wine and stock. Cover pan. Bring
to a boil, then cook over lowered heat 20 minutes, or until
tender.
Remove chicken to a warm serving dish. Stir cream into pan
and cook gently. Mix flour with a little of the hot gravy, then
stir it into kettle, cooking and stirring until mixture is the con-
How We Cook at Luchow's 77
sistency of a fricassee or smooth gravy. Strain sauce. Add lob-
ster, tripe, and mushrooms. Reheat a moment and pour over
chicken. Serve with hot rice. Serves 6 or more.
POACHED CHICKEN, KONIG'S GROTTE
2 medium-size (2V2- to 3-pound) chickens, disjointed
4 tablespoons butter
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 small onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced thin
1 bay leaf
l /4 teaspoon thyme
1 cup dry white wine
1 pint light cream
2 cups stock or chicken bouillon
2 or 3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
Garnishes: sliced raw carrot, chopped green pepper,
aspic cubes
Rinse chickens; pat dry. Saute in butter until lightly browned,
20 to 25 minutes. Place in kettle with celery, onion, carrot, bay
leaf, and thyme. Pour wine, cream, and stock over all. Cover,
bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer 20 minutes, or until
meat is thoroughly done.
Remove chicken. Cut meat from bones and place in four in*
dividual serving dishes.
Mix flour smoothly with a few tablespoons of the broth in
which the chicken cooked, then stir the mixture into the remain-*
ing broth. Cook and stir until thickened to the consistency of a
fricassee or cream gravy. Season. Strain this gravy over chicken.
Let cool. When cold, garnish with sliced raw carrot, chopped
pepper, and aspic cubes. Serves 4.
78 Luchow's German Cookbook
FREED CHICKEN A LA VIENNOISE
2V2- to 3-pound young chicken, disjointed
1 teaspoon salt
VA teaspoon pepper
Vz teaspoon paprika
3 /4 cup flour
1 egg, beaten with
2 tablespoons water
1 cup fine cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons butter
Rinse chicken; pat dry. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika.
Roll each piece lightly in flour, then dip in the egg and water
mixture and roll in cracker crumbs. Saute in butter very slowly,
about 35 minutes, or until golden on all sides and tender. Serve
with browned butter from the skillet. Serves 2 to 4.
CfflCKEN PAPRIKA
PAPRIKA HUHN
2 young chickens, about 2 2 pounds each
2 /2 tablespoon salt
*/4 pound butter
1 large onion, diced
2 teaspoons paprika
Vi tablespoon flour
2 cups stock or bouillon
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 cup thick sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Rinse chickens; pat dry. Cut in serving pieces; season with salt
Place in covered bowl in refrigerator 30 minutes.
How We Cook at LUchow's 79
Heat butter in deep pot or Dutch oven until light brown. Add
onion and cook until transparent; stir in paprika. Add chicken.
Cook slowly until pieces are golden, then cover and cook 30
minutes longer, or until tender. Sprinkle with flour. Add stock
or bouillon and heavy cream; stir. Cover and let boil 15 minutes.
Remove chicken to warmed serving dish. Stir sour cream into
pot; stir and boil 5 minutes. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with
dill. Serves 4 to 6.
WHOLE CHICKEN IN CASSEROLE
WITH VEGETABLES AND NOODLES
HUHN IM TOPF, GEMUSE, NUDELN
2V2 -pound chicken, cleaned and drawn
Chicken feet
2 extra chicken wings
2 extra chicken necks
4 carrots
4 small turnips
2 leeks
2 stalks celery
1 teaspoon salt
Few grains pepper
1 bay leaf
l /2 pound noodles
Marrow Balls (or Dumplings)
Rinse chicken, chicken feet, wings, and necks; drain. Put in large
pot; cover with water.
Wash vegetables; scrape carrots; peel turnips and cut in
quarters. Cut leeks and celery in 1-inch lengths. Add vegetables
to pot. Add salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Cover. Bring to a boil,
then lower heat a little and cook 30 to 45 minutes. Remove
chicken and vegetables to a casserole; keep hot.
Strain broth. Cook noodles in broth; drain. Save broth. Add
SO Luchow's German Cookbook
noodles to casserole and keep hot. Cook Marrow Balls in re-
maining broth. Place on chicken and noodles. Serves 4.
MARROW BALLS (OR DUMPLINGS):
4 tablespoons fresh marrow, strained through sieve
2 tablespoons butter
3 eggs, beaten
3/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
1 A teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 cup fine cracker crumbs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth, using enough
cracker crumbs to hold the mixture together. Form small marble-
size balls. Cook in boiling broth 10 to 15 minutes. Lift out on
slotted spoon. Serves 4 or more.
CHAFING DISH OF CHICKEN A LA KING
3V2- to 4-pound fowl, boiled, or
2 large chicken breasts, boiled
4 mushroom caps
1 green pepper
2 tablespoons butter
*/2 cup sherry
2 l /2 cups light cream
2 egg yolks
l /2 tablespoon diced pimiento
2 teaspoon salt
4 slices buttered toast
Cut chicken meat in small pieces. Dice mushrooms and green
pepper and cook in butter in chafing dish until pepper is tender.
Add V* cup sherry; stir and let boil. Add 2 cups cream; stir; let
How We Cook at Luchow's 81
simmer 2 or 3 minutes, until cream thickens. Add chicken; bring
to a boil and boil 1 or 2 minutes.
Mix remaining V4 cup cream with egg yolks. Add to mixture
slowly, stirring gently. Add pimiento and seasoning. Just before
serving, stir remaining sherry into mixture. Cut toast in halves,
diagonally. Serve creamed chicken on toast. Serves 4.
CHICKEN PAPRIKA WITH EGG BARLEY
This is the favorite Lilchow dish of George Mac-
Manus, whose cartoons have made the world a more
amusing place.
First, our chef explains, "egg barley" is the name of
a miniature noodle, a tiny fleck of a noodle, about the
size of a grain of barley. If you can't find this type of
noodle at your grocer's you can cut homemade noodles
very fine and get something of the same effect in this
delicious German-Austrian dish.
2 medium-size onions, chopped
4 slices bacon
2 2 te -pound chickens, disjointed
1 teaspoon flour
1 clove garlic
1Y2 cups white wine
2 quarts chicken stock or bouillon
1 teaspoon paprika
l /2 cup sour cream
2 cups egg barley or finely chopped noodles
2 tablespoons chicken fat
1 bay leaf
Cook 1 onion and bacon together 2 or 3 minutes in heavy kettle
or Dutch oven. Add chicken and saute until golden brown on all
sides, about 25 minutes. Remove chicken.
Stir flour into fat remaining in pan. Add garlic, stir, and cook
82 Liichow's German Cookbook
1 or 2 minutes. Add wine, 1 quart chicken stock, and seasoning.
Put chicken in this mixture. Cover and let cook gently 20 min-
utes, or until chicken is done. Add sour cream; stir. Serve with
egg barley. Serves 6 or more.
TO PREPARE EGGBARJLEY:
Place egg barley or fine noodles in a baking pan. Add chicken
fat, other onion, bay leaf, and remaining stock or broth. Bake
in moderate oven (375 F.) 20 minutes. Serve with Chicken
Paprika. Serves 6 to 8.
FRICASSEE OF CHICKEN GIBLETS WITH RICE
Giblets of 4 plump hens (buy only giblets)
l /2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
3 cups boiling water
2 carrots
1 leek
4 small onions
1 stalk celery
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups stock from giblets
1 cup white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 egg yolks, beaten
2 /2 cup thick cream
1 cup rice, boiled
Wash and drain giblets. Season with salt and pepper; cover
with boiling water. Dice all vegetables and add. Bring to boil,
then lower heat and cook until giblets are tender, 30 to 45
minutes. Strain. Discard vegetables.
Melt butter; stir flour smoothly into it. Add stock, stirring
slowly. Gradually add wine. Stir and boil until slightly thickened.
How We Cook at Luchow's 83
Add lemon juice; mix. Add giblets and, when hot, stir in egg
yolks mixed with cream. Heat to steaming. Pom over rice in
casserole. Serves 4.
CHICKEN LIVERS SAUTEED
WITH APPLES AND ONION RINGS
12 chicken livers
Vz teaspoon salt
4 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons butter
2 Spanish onion sliced in rings
4 apple slices about 2 inch thick
2 tablespoons sugar
Rinse and drain livers. If very large, cut in half. Season lightly
with salt and paprika. Sprinkle lightly with flour. Cook gently in
2 tablespoons butter until browned.
In another small pan cook onion in a little butter; sprinkle
over cooked livers.
In a third pan brown apple slices in remaining butter. Sprin-
kle with sugar to give glaze and flavor. Top liver and onions.
Serves 2.
A very popular dish at Luchow's and a favorite of
Henry Kaiser and Rosalind RusselL
VIENNESE BAKED CHICKEN
WIENER BACKHENDL
3 young chickens {about 2 2 pounds each), cleaned
and drawn
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup flour
3 eggs, beaten with
84 Liichow's German Cookbook
4 cup water
2V2 cups fine bread crumbs
Fat for deep frying
1 lemon, sliced
Rinse chickens; drain. Cut each in half; pat dry. Sprinkle with
salt. Roll each piece in flour. Dip in egg, then in crumbs.
Fry in deep hot fat, lowering each piece carefully into fat to
avoid shaking crumbs off.
When golden brown, place in baking pan and bake in hot oven
(400 F.) until well browned. Lower heat to 325 F. after crust
is firm, and continue baking until done, about 40 minutes in
all. Place on thick paper toweling in a pan; set in oven, but leave
oven door open. Season lightly with salt Garnish with lemon and
serve on warmed platter. Serves 6.
HALF CHICKEN, HUNGARIAN STYLE
HUHN, UNGARISCHE ART
2 young chickens, about 2 l /2 pounds each
2 tablespoon salt
1/4 pound butter
1 large onion, diced
2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup stock or bouillon
1 tablespoon heavy cream
3 cups hot boiled rice
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
Rinse chickens; pat dry. Cut in halves. Season with salt. Place
in covered bowl in refrigerator 30 minutes.
Heat butter in deep pot or Dutch oven until light brown. Cook
onion, until transparent; stir in paprika. Add chicken. Cook
slowly until golden, then cover and continue cooking 45 minutes,
How We Cook at Luchow's 85
or until tender. Sprinkle with flour. Add stock or bouillon and
cream. Cover pot and let boil 15 minutes. Remove chicken to
warmed serving dish. Garnish with mounds of hot rice. Cook
sauce down and pour over chicken. Sprinkle with dill. Serves 4.
DUCKLING IN ASPIC
BERLINER ENTENWEISSAUER
6-pound duckling, cleaned and drawn
2 teaspoons salt
1 small onion
2 or 3 small carrots
Ior2 pieces celery or celery leaves
1 sprig parsley
2 cloves
4 peppercorns
1 boy leaf
2 cups dry white wine
2 tablespoons vinegar
Ior2 pickles, sliced
2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
1V2 tablespoons plain granulated gelatin
2 egg whites
Rinse duckling inside and out. Season with salt. Place in pot with
onion, carrots, celery or celery leaves, parsley, cloves, pepper-
corns, and bay leaf. Add wine and vinegar and enough water to
cover the bird. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and cook
slowly until bird is tender, about 20 minutes per pound. Test
with fork after first 30 minutes.
When duckling is tender, remove and cut in 4 portions. Place
on serving dish; garnish with sliced pickles, hard-cooked eggs,
and sliced carrots from stewing kettle.
Strain stock from kettle. Measure, and add gelatin in the pro-
portion of 1 tablespoon gelatin to 2 cups stock. Let gelatin soften.
86 Luchow's German Cookbook
Beat egg whites slightly; stir into gelatin and stock. Reheat to
boiling; remove from heat. Let stand until clear and slightly
thickened. Pour over duckling. Chill in refrigerator. Serves 4.
ROAST WATERTOWN GOOSE WITH STEWED APPLES
MAST GANS MIT APFELN
Stall-fed fat young goose, 12 pounds
Salt
4 cups water
V2 onion,, sliced
6 peppercorns
l /4 pound butter
2 tablespoons flour
Stewed Apples
Have goose cleaned and drawn, the wings, neck, head, and feet
chopped off. Wash goose inside and out; drain. Cover with cold
water and let soak 15 minutes. Drain; pat dry. Rub with salt
inside and out.
Place in baking pan. Add water, onion, and peppercorns.
Roast in moderate oven (325 K). When water has boiled
down, baste frequently with butter which has been browned. A
young goose should be cooked 15-20 minutes per pound.
Remove goose to warmed platter. Place pan on top of range.
Stir flour into fat. Add 2 cups water. Stir and let boil 2 or 3
minutes, until smooth and slightly thickened. Serve with goose.
Serves 6.
STEWED APPLES:
2 pounds apples
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 cup water
2 cup white wine
How We Cook at Luchow's 87
1 small piece lemon peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Wash apples; peel and core. Cat fruit in thick slices. Saute in
butter 2 or 3 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar. Add water, wine,
lemon peel, and lemon juice. Cover; cook slowly until apples are
tender. Serves 6.
GOOSE IN WINE ASPIC
CANS IN GELEE, HAMBURGER ART
8- to 10-pound young goose, cleaned and drawn
Boiling water
2 or 3 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 clove garlic, crushed
Pinch of salt
6 peppercorns
2 cups chopped celery
4 whole allspice
3 cups dry white wine
4 pickles, sliced
4 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
1 carrot > sliced thin
4 tablespoons granulated gelatin
2 egg whites
Mayonnaise or French dressing
Rinse goose inside and out; drain. Place in large pot. Add about
2 quarts boiling water, parsley, bay leaf, onion, thyme, garlic,
salt, peppercorns, celery, allspice, and wine. Bring to a boil, then
lower heat, cover, and cook slowly 2 to 2Vz hours, or until bkd is
tender.
88 Ltichow's German Cookbook
When done, remove goose from liquid. Cut in serving pieces
and arrange in large mold. Garnish with pickles, hard-cooked
eggs, and carrot.
Strain stock (there should be about 8 cups) . Add gelatin and
when softened reheat stock. Beat egg whites slightly and stir
into stock. When at boiling point, remove from heat. Let stand
until clear and slightly thickened. Pour over goose in the mold.
Chill until firm. Serve with mayonnaise or French dressing.
Serves 6.
MEDALLION OF GOOSE LIVER A LA LUCHOW
1 goose liver
1 cup milk
4 cup water
l /2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon madeira
Fried Apples and Onions (see recipe)
Truffles
Carefully remove gall from liver. Rinse liver; drain. Combine
milk and water; add to liver. Let stand covered in refrigerator 2
hours. Drain. Pat liver dry; season with salt and pepper. Dip
in egg, then in flour. Saute in hot butter and madeira about 5
minutes, or until golden; turn liver several times. Remove to a
warmed serving dish.
Serve with Fried Apples and Onions. Garnish with Truffles.
Serves 1.
BREAST OF GUINEA HEN, SOUS CLOCHE
l /2 cup wild rice
2 tablespoons butter
l /2 small onion, chopped
l /2 cup chicken broth
Thin slice Virginia ham for 1 serving
Breast of guinea hen
% teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
2 mushroom caps
Slice of toast
l /2 teaspoon flour
% cup sherry
Wash rice; drain; let dry. Saute with onion in 1 tablespoon butter.
Add chicken broth; stir. Pour into small casserole. Cover and
place in moderate oven (325 R), let simmer 45 minutes, or
until rice is tender and has absorbed liquid.
90 Luchow's German Cookbook
Cook ham in hot pan until browned. Remove ham and keep
hot. Add remaining butter; saute guinea breast. Add salt, pepper,
and mushrooms. Cook about 15 minutes, turning guinea fre-
quently and basting with pan juices.
In serving dish place ham on toast, guinea breast on ham, and
top with mushroom caps.
To remaining pan sauce add flour; stir smoothly and let boil.
Add sherry; stir. When steaming, pour over guinea breast. Cover
with glass cloche or bell. Serve wild rice with this. Individual
serving.
BABY PARTRIDGE WITH WBNEKMAUT
REBHUHN IN WEINKRAUT
Prepare like Pheasant with Pineapple Kraut. Omit fresh pine-
apple; use 2 peeled, cored, and chopped apples in kraut mixture.
PHEASANT WITH PINEAPPLE KRAUT
FASAN MIT ANANAS KRAUT
2 young pheasants, cleaned and drawn
1V2 teaspoons salt
Dash of pepper
2 thin slices bacon
2 tablespoons butter
l x /2 pounds sauerkraut
l /2 cup white wine
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
1 tablespoon flour
Rinse birds. (Heads and feet should be removed.) Season lightly
inside and out with salt and pepper. Place bacon slice on breast
of each bird; tie in place or skewer with toothpicks. Saute birds
in butter 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Place in deep
pot, Dutch oven, or casserole.
How We Cook at Liichow's 91
Drain sauerkraut a little. Mix with wine and pineapple and
surround birds. Cover and cook slowly 1 hour. When birds are
done, remove from sauerkraut; remove skewer or toothpicks.
Place birds on warmed serving dish. Stir flour into sauerkraut;
cook a few minutes. Serve with birds. Serves 2 to 4.
Whenever pheasant is in season, Ed and Pegeen
Fitzgerald choose this dish.
LEFTOVERS
If you have small amounts of leftover cooked goose, duck,
chicken, or other poultry, cut the pieces in narrow strips. Arrange
in individual molds with sliced cooked vegetables, such as
carrots and beets, and raw green peppers. Cover with stock aspic
(as in Goose in Wine Aspic). Chill. Unmold on lettuce; garnish
with sliced tomatoes and cooked green vegetables. Serve with
mayonnaise or French dressing.
5.
MEATS AND GAME
A buyer who purchases supplies for a fine restaurant
knows that the first consideration is to buy food of the
best quality available. It is important in everything, large or
small, but particularly in meats, which axe the core of any
restaurant's buying.
At Liichow's we must make certain that the loins, ribs, and
other beef products are of prime quality and proper age. Three
and a half weeks is considered the right age for beef. Then it has
begun to get tender without acquiring a gamy flavor.
To make the schnitzels and other Austrian dishes for which
Liichow's has always been famous, we require Detroit white veal
from milk-fed baby calves. Lamb must be corn-fed spring lamb
and no other. Pork comes to us from a supplier who has served
us for thirty years and knows our specifications. He remembers
that our pigs' knuckles must weigh one and a half pounds each.
This is a cut slightly more than a knuckle and includes part of
the shoulder, which is the tenderest part. When he sends us
smoked pork loins, our man makes certain they are lean, because
the lean retains more flavor than a fat portion when it is smoked.
The traditional German and Austrian game dishes on our
menu are made with American-caught hare and venison, I find
How We Cook at Luchow's 93
the fresh-killed Canadian hare best for many dishes, but it must
be delivered to us packed in ice, not frozen. We prefer Wisconsin
deer, because they are properly fed and the meat lends itself to
aging, which is most important.
BEEF
BOILED BEEF, BANOVER STYLE
4 pounds beef plate
Boiling water
1 carrot, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 teaspoons salt
4 peppercorns
4 cloves
16 small boiled onions
2 pickles, sliced
2 hard-cooked eggs
1 7 -ounce can tuna fish
1 egg yolk
2 cups olive oil
2 tablespoons capers
Caper vinegar
Stock from Boiled Beef
Wipe meat with damp cloth. Place in pot; cover with boiling
water. Add carrot, onion, salt, peppercorns, and cloves. Bring
to a boil, then lower heat, cover kettle, and simmer about 3
hours. Skim top occasionally.
When beef is done, remove it and slice. Garnish with cooked
onions, pickles, and hard-cooked eggs. Pour over it a special
sauce made as follows:
94 Lilchow's German Cookbook
Hake the tuna fish and press through sieve. In a bowl beat
egg yolk with olive oil, gradually adding fish to make a thick
tuna mayonnaise. Add capers and a very little caper vinegar. To
thin the sauce to gravy consistency, add a little stock from kettle
in which the beef boiled. Serves 8 or more.
Boiled Beef is served with Between the Acts or Home Fried
Potatoes.
Variations: Potatoes are diced, cooked in boiling beef stock
(last 30 minutes) for Rinderbrust, Meerettig Sauce, Briihkar-
toffel.
When vegetables are omitted and noodles are cooked in the
pot with the beef, the dish is called Rinderbrust mit Nudeln im
Topf.
BOILED BEEF
4 pounds iresh beef (about 3 ribs)
l l /2 teaspoons salt
Boiling water
2 or 3 sprigs parsley
4 peppercorns
V2 teaspoon thyme
2 onions, peeled
2 carrots, scraped
1 parsnip, peeled
1 small turnip, peeled
1 bay leaf
Horseradish Sauce (see recipe)
Wipe meat with damp cloth. Rub with salt. Place in pot. Cover
with boiling water; bring to a boil quickly and boil 10 minutes.
Skim top. Add parsley, peppercorns, and thyme. Cover pot, re-
duce heat, and cook slowly 2Yz to 3 hours. For last hour of
cooking add vegetables and bay leaf.
Remove vegetables when done and use them as garnish in
How We Cook at Luchow's 95
Boiled Beef Biirgerlicli. Use the broth from the pot for soup.
Serve Boiled Beef with Horseradish Sauce and plain boiled
vegetables. Serves 2 to 4.
Boiled Beef with Sauerkraut (RINDERBRUST SAUERKRAUT) :
Omit assorted vegetables; serve beef with sauerkraut
The list of famous Luchow patrons of the past and
present who have feasted on the Boiled Beef reads like
a World Who's Who. Caruso preferred this beef dish to
all others in the restaurant. He often began his dinner
with pigs' knuckles, then ate Boiled Beef, and with his
dinner drank a dozen steins of beer. H. L. Mencken
follows the same formula. It is also the favorite
Luchow dish of Ed and Pegeen Fitzgerald.
Flo Ziegfeld was another Boiled Beef devotee.
Herbert Bayard Swope and Irving Berlin order the
Boiled Beef mit sauerkraut. So do Owen D. Young,
Roy Howard and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
BOILED BEEF IN CASSEROLE, BOURGEOISE
RINDERBRUST BURGERLICH
4 large serving-size pieces boiled beef
2 cups Brown Sauce (see recipe)
4 small boiled onions
4 small boiled carrots
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
8 Parisierme Potatoes (see recipe)
iPlace meat in casserole; cover with Brown Sauce. Cook onions
and carrots 3 or 4 minutes in hot butter; season with salt and
sugar. Add to casserole. Cook in hot oven (400 R) 25 minutes.
Baste meat frequently with sauce. Add potatoes; continue cook-
ing 10 minutes. Serves 4.
98 Luchow's German Cookbook
BOILED BEEF IN CASSEROLE, BURGERLICH
1 thick slice boiled beef
1 hot boiled potato
l /2 cup beef broth from pot in which beef boiled
2 tablespoons cooked peas or lima beans
1 small sour gherkin
1 tablespoon Sauerbraten gravy (see Sauerbraten
recipe)
Place slice of boiled beef in small casserole. Add potato, a little
beef broth, small amount of cooked green vegetable, or wine
kraut, the gherkin, and sauerbraten gravy. Set under moderate
broiler. Heat 5 to 6 minutes to heat through. Serve in casserole.
Individual serving.
BEEF A LA MODE
GEDAMPFTE RINDERBRUST
6 pounds fresh brisket of beef
1 tablespoon salt
Dash of pepper
1 quart red wine
2 tablespoons beef suet or butter
Flour
1 calfs foot or veal bone
1 cup chopped f drained tomatoes
1 clove garlic
2 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
1 quart stock or bouillon
6 small carrots
12 small onions
1 tablespoon butter
How We Cook at Luchow's 99
Season beef with salt and pepper. Pour wine over meat; let stand
in covered crock 2 or 3 hours in the refrigerator. Turn beef
several times during this period. When ready to cook, remove
meat from marinade; pat dry. Brown in hot fat in deep iron kettle
or Dutch oven. Sprinkle flour in bottom of pot; mix and stir with
fat. Add call's foot or bone, wine marinade, tomatoes, garlic,
herbs, and enough stock barely to cover meat. Bring to boil.
Lower heat, cover pan, and cook slowly about 2 hours.
Boil carrots. Saut6 onions in a little butter until delicately
browned. Remove meat from pot. Strain gravy. Return meat to
pot; add carrots, onions, and gravy. Bring to boil and cook 30
minutes to 1 hour longer. Test for doneness. Serves 6.
Potato Pancakes are always served with the Rinderbrust
BOILED BEEF HASH OMELET
HOPPEL-POPPEL, KOPFSALAT
2 cups diced boiled beef
1 onion, chopped
1 or 2 slices bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper, if needed
Cook beef, onion, and bacon in butter until hot and bacon is
cooked. Add eggs and spread in pan; season; let bottom brown
like omelet. Fold over and serve. Serves 2 or 3,
Serve with hearts of lettuce salad.
HASH, A LA LUBECK
Rich pie pastry for 1-quart casserole or pie dish
cups chopped cold roast beef
2 teaspoons chopped capers
100 Luchow's German Cookbook
4 anchovies
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons bread crumbs
% teaspoon pepper
*/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
Caper Sauce (see recipe) or
Anchovy Cream Sauce (see recipe)
Line casserole with pie pastry. Mix beef with other ingredients.
Add 1 more beaten egg if necessary for smooth, slightly moist
mixture. Pour in casserole. Cover top with pie pastry; crimp
top and bottom pastry together in a decorative edge; gash top
in simple leaf pattern. Bake in moderate oven (350 F.) 45
minutes to 1 hour, or until crust is golden. Serve with Caper
Sauce or Anchovy Cream Sauce. Serves 6.
GERMAN BEEF RAGOUT
RAGOUT A LA DEUTSCH
3 pounds bottom round of beef
1 pound onions, diced
1 or 2 tablespoons beef fat or shortening
1 veal kidney
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
l /2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon flour
3 cups stock or hot water
1 cup tomato puree or chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon chopped caraway seeds
4 carrots, scraped and diced
4 small turnips, peeled and diced
4 medium-size potatoes, peeled and diced
How We Cook at Luchow's 101
Wipe meat with damp cloth. Dice beef and saute with onions iq
fat until onions are transparent.
Rinse kidney; cut off any excess fat. Slice kidney into pan
with beef and onions. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika.
Cover and let cook slowly 30 minutes. Stir frequently. Add
flour; stir and mix well. Add stock or water to cover meat mix-
ture well. Add tomato pure or tomatoes. Mk and bring to boil,
then lower heat and cook slowly 30 minutes. Add bay leaf,
caraway seeds, and vegetables. Cover and let simmer 1 hour.
Serves 6 or more.
Tyrolienne Alps Ragout: Omit veal kidney from above recipe.
BRESLAUER STEAK, CASSEROLE
3 pounds porterhouse steak, 1 inch thick
1 slice fat sdt pork
2 cups Brown Sauce (see recipe)
6 small boiled onions
6 small boiled white turnips
4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
12 Parisienne Potatoes (see recipe)
Pound steak well. Cut salt pork in small pieces and heat in fry-
ing pan. Brown meat in the fat, cooking until lightly browned
on all sides.
Place meat in casserole. Pour Brown Sauce over it. Cover;
bake in slow oven (250 F.) until tender, about 2Vz hours.
Turn steak after first hour of cooking; baste frequently with
sauce in casserole.
Brown onions and turnips in butter; season with sugar and
salt. Add to casserole with Parisienne Potatoes. Serves 6.
102 Luchow's German Cookbook
LUCHOW HAMBURGER
3 pounds beef
2 pound veal kidney fat or beef suet
4 or 5 slices white bread soaked in a little water
IVz teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon pepper
V* teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
Mix meat and fat. Squeeze as much water as possible from
bread. Add bread to the meat; mix smoothly. Add seasonings
and eggs. Combine well. Shape in large patties. Broil or cook
in a little fat in a hot pan until browned and done as desired.
Serves 8.
When Fritz Kreisler dines here the Luchow Ham-
burger is one of his favorite dishes. For their dessert,
Mr. and Mrs. Kreisler enjoy one of the great German
Pancakes.
Frank Sullivan, whose humor has delighted thou-
sands of magazine readers for many years, is another
Luchow Hamburger enthusiast. And so are Dorothy
and Lillian Gish, Eddie Cantor, Linda Darnell, Helen
Hayes, and H. L. Mencken.
BROILED DEVILED SHORT RIBS
3 pounds short ribs of beef
Salt and pepper
4 teaspoons English mustard
4 cup olive oil
V* cup bread crumbs
Mustard Sauce (see recipe)
How We Cook at Luchow's 103
Wipe meat with damp cloth. Season with salt and pepper. Place
in roasting pan and roast in moderate oven (325 F.) until
tender, about 27 minutes per pound. Baste frequently with
juices in pan.
Let cool. Cut in serving pieces, each piece containing a bone.
Spread with mustard and oil. Cover with crumbs. Broil under
moderate heat until browned. Serve with Mustard Sauce. Serves
4.
VIENNA STEAK AND POTATOES
WIENER ROSTBRATEN
4 2 -pound Delmonico (or club or sirloin) steaks
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 large onions, sliced
3 tablespoons butter
4 medium-size Idaho potatoes
Fat for deep frying
Few stalks watercress
Small piece fresh horseradish root
Wipe meat with damp cloth. Pound steaks very thin; season with
salt and pepper. Saute onions in butter until transparent; remove
onions. Place steaks in hot fat and cook over high heat until
delicately browned on each side and rare inside, about 10 min-
utes in all.
Peel potatoes; cut crosswise in Vz -inch slices. Fry in deep
hot fat (370 F.) until golden, 15 minutes. Place steaks on hot
platter; cover with cooked onions; surround with fried potatoes.
Garnish with watercress and a few shavings of fresh horseradish.
Serves 4.
This is the favorite dish of Helen Traubel, Cole
Porter, Lord Beaverbrook, and Sarah Churchill.
Walter Damrosch often lunched and dined at
Luchow's with his grandchildren. They ordered one of
the following two dishes. The great conductor's favorite
beverage always was a German red wine, Assmans~
hauser.
LUCHOW'S BEEF STEAK TARTAR
2 pounds fillet of beef
4 slices freshly buttered toast
4 fresh raw eggs
8 sardellen
2 tablespoons capers
Remove all fat from beef. Grind meat fine. Arrange on toast;
serve raw egg on top of each slice. Garnish with sardellen and
capers. Serves 4.
NOTE: If you are dieting to lose weight, this is a satisfying
and effective dish.
How We Cook at Luchow's 105
RAW MEAT LUCULLUS
SCHLEMMERSCHNITTE
2 pounds fillet of beef
4 slices freshly buttered toast
4 tablespoons fresh black caviar
I 1 /* tablespoons chopped onion
Remove all fat from beef. Grind meat fine. Arrange on toast;
garnish with caviar; serve with chopped onions on a side dish.
Serves 4.
NOTE: See diet note above.
This dish was a favorite of the great Pavlova and of
John Barrymore, and still is of many show people.
SLICED BEEF IN BROWN SAUCE
2 pounds beef
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon pepper
6 slices bacon
2 tablespoons beef suet or butter
4 mushroom caps, sliced
2 tablespoons flour
4 slices toast
1 or 2 truffles t diced
1 cup hot Brown Sauce (see recipe)
The best beef for this dish is from the round. Wipe meat with
damp cloth. Cut in slices about *4 inch thick and 2 inches wide.
Pound well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay bacon slice on
each piece.
Saute in hot fat with mushrooms. Sprinkle flour over. Cover
pan and cook until bacon is done and meat tender, about 25
minutes. Place meat on toast; keep hot.
Add truffles to Brown Sauce; spoon over meat. Serves 4.
Serve with Braised Celery and Parisienne Potatoes.
106 Luchow's German Cookbook
POT ROAST WITH POTATO DUMPLING
SAUERBRATEN MIT KARTOFFEL KLOSSE
3 pounds round steak
1 tablespoon salt
V2 teaspoon pepper
2 onions, sliced
1 carrot^ sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
4 cloves
4 peppercorns
2 pint red wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons kidney fat
6 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon sugar
5 gingersnaps, crushed
Potato or Bread Dumplings (see recipe)
Wipe steak with damp cloth; season with salt and pepper. Place
in earthen, glass, or enamelware bowl Combine onions, carrot,
celery, cloves, peppercorns, vinegar, and bay leaves and 2 l /2
pints water, or enough to cover meat Cover and put in refriger-
ator 4 days.
On fifth day remove from refrigerator, drain meat, saute in kid-
ney fat and 1 tablespoon butter in enamelware, glass or earthen-
ware utensil, until seared on all sides. Add marinade liquid and
bring to boil, then lower heat and let simmer about 3 hours.
Melt remaining 5 tablespoons butter in a pan. Stir flour
smoothly into it. Add sugar, blend, and let brown to nice dark
color. Add to simmering meat mixture. Cover and continue
cooking until meat is tender, about 1 hour longer.
Remove meat to a warmed serving platter. Stir crushed
gingersnaps into the pot juices and cook until thickened. Pour
this special sauerbraten gravy over meat. Serves 6 or more.
How We Cook at Luchow's 107
Serve with Potato or Bread Dumplings. A fine full-bodied red
wine is a fitting complement to this well-known dish. A favorite
with our guests is Pommard Burgundy.
COLD SAUERBRATEN A LA MODE IN ASPIC
Leftover Sauerbraten makes a delicious dish in madeira-
flavored aspic. Place a piece of Sauerbraten in a serving dish
or mold. Cover and surround with aspic; decorate with fancy-
cut raw and cooked vegetables; chill and serve.
MADEIRA ASPIC
5 cups beef broth or stock
1 cup madeira wine
2 tablespoons granulated gelatin
Heat most of broth or stock to boiling. Moisten gelatin with a
little cold stock or water and stir into broth. Add any remaining
stock and wine. Let stand until cool and slightly thickened.
Pour over meat as described. Chill in refrigerator until firm.
Makes 1 quart aspic. Serves 6 or more.
ROAST PRIME RIBS OF BEEF
At Luchow's the standing rib roast weighs about 35
pounds. When this great piece of superb beef is half
done, the chef adds whole onions, carrots, and spices
to the pan to flavor the meat a la Luchow. Here is his
recipe for a family-size cut.
2- or 3-rib standing roast (4 to 5 pounds)
Salt
Pepper
2 small onions
4 carrots, quartered
2 tablespoons mixed whole spices
108 Liichow's German Cookbook
Wipe meat with damp cloth. Place, fat side up, in roasting pan.
Mix 1 tablespoon salt and pepper (% salt, 3 pepper) and rub
this well into meat. Place in moderate oven (350 F.) to start.
Do not cover. Do not add water. Baste frequently with drippings
in the pan. When roast is half done, lower heat to 275 F. or
250 F. At this point add onions, carrots, and spices to pan.
Continue basting meat frequently with pan juices.
For rare roast, allow 18 to 20 minutes per pound roasting
time; for medium, 22 to 25 minutes per pound; for well done,
27 to 30 minutes per pound. Serves 8 or more.
Fred Allen, who has told his diet problems to a
radio-listening world, often drools over the dishes
named on our big menu but usually settles for roast
beef, as that is his favorite.
SWEDISH MEAT BALLS
1 pound beef
1 pound pork loin
1 pound veal
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 cloves garlic, mashed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 cup cream, whipped
2 eggs, beaten
2 cup sugar
Salt
Pepper
*/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons butter
Extra cream
Grind together beef, pork, and veal very fine, twice. Mix meat
with shallots, garlic, dill, whipped cream, eggs, and sugar. Add
How We Cook at Luchow's 109
salt and pepper to taste, cayenne, and Worcestershire. Stir and
mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until well blended and
smooth. If necessary, add a little more cream.
Make into small, neat balls about 1 inch in diameter. Saute
in butter very slowly over medium heat. Do not disturb them.
When half cooked, about 20 minutes, set pan in moderate oven
(350 F.) After another 20 to 25 minutes, add cream to make
a thin gravy. Add some chopped dill to gravy. Serves 6 to 8.
Serve with baked red kidney beans and a side dish of lingon-
berries.
ROULADE OF BEEF, AUGUST LUCHOW
2 pounds top round of beef
2 teaspoon salt
V4 teaspoon pepper
1 medium-size onion, chopped fine
1 shallot,, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
V4 pound beef, ground fine
V4 pound veal f ground fine
V4 pound pork, ground fine
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped chives
2 slices bread soaked in milk
2 cup cream
6 thin slices fat salt pork
4 cup flour
2 tablespoons beef fat, butter, or margarine
2 large onions, sliced thin
2 or 3 carrots, sliced thin
2 teaspoon powdered cloves
2 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
110 Liichow's German Cookbook
2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup burgundy wine
1 cup veal stock
Wipe top round with damp cloth. Cut beef in 6 slices about 2 l /2
inches by 4 inches and Vz, inch thick. Place on board and pound
well to about 1 A inch thickness. Season with salt and pepper.
Combine onion, shallots, garlic, ground beef, veal, and pork,
parsley, chives, bread, and cream. Mix well. Spoon generous
amount of mixture onto each piece of beef. Roll, wrap with slice
of salt pork, and tie or skewer with toothpicks. Sprinkle lightly
with flour.
Grease deep heavy pot or Dutch oven with beef fat, butter,
or margarine. Place roulades in this; cover with sliced onions
and carrots. Add cloves, thyme, and bay leaf. Cover pot and
cook over high heat 8 to 10 minutes to brown meat. Turn
roulades to brown on all sides. Add tomatoes, wine, and stock.
Cover pot with waxed paper rubbed with beef fat or butter and
placed fat side down. Set pot in moderate oven (350 F.) and
cook until rolls are done, 30 to 45 minutes.
Remove roulades to a warmed serving dish (remove skewers
or string). Set pot on high heat and boil pot sauce rapidly to
reduce it. Strain, reheat if necessary, and pour over roulades.
Serves 6.
Serve with hot vegetables such as glazed onions, new peas,
and Parisienne Potatoes.
LAMB
LAMB CHOPS CHAMPILLON
6 loin or rib lamb chops
2 tablespoons butter
pounds potatoes
How We Cook at Luchow's 111
1 pound onions, sliced
1 bay leaf
1V2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon pepper
1Y2 cups beef or chicken stock, or bouillon
2 tablespoons minced parsley
4 tablespoons bread crumbs
Saute chops in butter. Cover pan and cook 5 to 10 minutes, or
until meat is delicately browned on both sides.
Wash potatoes; peel and slice thin. Add to meat with onions,
bay leaf, salt, pepper, and enough beef or chicken stock to cover.
Cover pot and let cook until meat is tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove chops to a casserole. Cover with potato and onion
mixture from the pot; sprinkle with parsley and bread crumbs.
Brown in hot oven (400 F.) or under moderate broiler heat
until top is golden. Serves 6.
PORK
BROCHETTE OF PORK TENDERLOIN
WITH WILD RICE AND SOUR SAUCE
1V2 pounds pork tenderloin
4 slices bacon
8 mushroom caps
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons bread crumbs
Wild Rice with Raisins (see recipe)
Sour Cream Sauce (see recipe)
Cut pork in pieces suitable for individual skewers (1%-inch
cubes) . Cut each slice of bacon in 4 pieces. Saute mushrooms
in 2 tablespoons butter. Place all on 4 skewers, starting with
112 Luchow's German Cookbook
mushroom cap, then alternating bacon and pork, using 4 pieces
of each meat on each skewer, and ending with mushroom. Melt
remaining butter and sprinkle over filled skewers; roll each in
crumbs. Place on broiler pan under moderate heat. Cook until
browned on all sides and done, about 15 minutes. Serve on
mound of Wild Rice with Raisins. Serve Sour Cream Sauce with
this. Serves 4.
NOTE: Instead of cooking this on skewers, cut meat in 4 long,
narrow pieces and broil until lightly cooked. Lay bacon on top
and sauteed mushroom caps on top of bacon; sprinkle with
crumbs. Continue broiling until bacon is cooked and all is well
browned. Serve with Wild Rice with Raisins and Sour Cream
Sauce as described.
LOIN OF PORK IN ASPIC
SULZ KOTELETT
3 or 4 pounds loin of pork
1V2 teaspoons salt
1 small ordon
2 or 3 small carrots
1 or 2 pieces celery or celery leaves
1 sprig parsley
4 cloves
4 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 cups dry white wine
4 tables 
