chocolatebuddha

For 15 days, while we immersed ourselves daily into cellular biology, physiology, anatomy and touch during the course, we were served the best food I’ve ever tasted in Germany. Five times a day, for 15 days! Also in the course were Germans themselves who also proclaimed that they never had such excellent Bavarian food before. And I thought it was alright to expect only bread rolls, roast pork and boiled potatoes daily.

Berghof is a farmhouse that has turned into a popular residential guesthouse for groups who are looking to conduct courses and seminars by the foot of the Alps in Bavaria. Agatharied is 45 minutes by train south of Munich.

At each morning’s breakfast, laid on the table were freshly baked bread, homemade Birchner muesli, a selection of homemade fruit jams and probably three kinds of tea – blended on their own of course.

These oatcakes were so delicious, nobody believed that oats and barley could taste this good. Later we asked for the recipe, which we always did. The oat and barley were soaked overnight in beef broth and then made into a fried patty with grated cheese and Bärlauch. Bärlauch is a herb that grows wild around the farm and is commonly found in Germany. It tastes like very strong spring onion and mint after is not necessary, but preferred.

Lunch was always the heaviest meal for the day usually and it always ended with dessert. Chocolate mousse, ice cream with fresh blueberry sauce, apple and peach crumble – just like all the main meals, we never had the same dessert twice.

Margaret Hofer, the owner’s wife, was who we all thanked and loved truly for her lovely recipes. We were so well fed and taken care of in Berghof that we really didn’t want to leave. I told her, in our almost daily conversations in the kitchen, “You must write all these recipes down in a cookbook!”

Agatharied | 15 Days of Berghof