Unlike the Germans or other French cooking styles, however, Alsatians use pork or goose fat as their primarily cooking oil. Red and white cabbage are the most popular regional vegetable, potatoes are served with nearly every meal and asparagus are considered a necessity of life when they are in season. Carp, trout and pike are the most popular fish, the sausages and hams made here are superb and the foie gras is legion. Even though there are restaurants that draw on classic and nouvelle cuisines, the most popular dishes are those that have evolved locally. Choucroute garni, a Gargantuan feast of cooked sauerkraut, pork, goose and potatoes is almost always appreciated as are dishes of poultry and fish that have been cooked in Riesling wine.
Alsatians also take pleasure in dining on a wide variety of confectionaries and cakes.
The local macaroons, pastries and chocolates are excellent, and the best known cake of the region is Gugelhopf, a circular cake with sculpted sides and a hole in the center that is dusted with confectioners' sugar. No less admirable are a number of original and delicious regional breads made from different types of flour and flavored with cumin, cinnamon and nutmeg. The brandy and my thoughts on food had triggered a raging appetite and I made my way by foot to the Maison des Tanneurs, one of the prettiest and most traditional Alsatian establishments. Dating from 1572 and in the heart of the petite France district the quiet rustic dining, paneled in dark wood from top to bottom has never failed to please me. Nor have I ever been disappointed by the traditional cuisine served here.