"EAT WHAT IS COOKED, DRINK WHAT IS CLEAR, SPEAK WHAT IS TRUE."
There are a lot of good reasons to like Martin Luther, and his shrewd and savvy sayings are certainly one of them. The year 2017 marks 500 years since the Reformation, a major anniversary that puts Luther firmly back in the spotlight. Few events have changed the world as much as Luther's translation of the Bible into the vernacular and his use of Gutenberg's printing press to make it more accessible.
Preparations to mark the event are well underway at a hotel and restaurant situated exactly halfway between the Lutheran town of Eisenach and Wartburg Castle, where the great reformer was once banished.Hotel Haus Hainstein will be offering its guests a very special menu to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. "I've looked closely at what was typically served as a side dish with game and fish in the 16th century. Back then they hadn't even heard of potatoes of course!" says Uwe Beyer, laughing.
After careful research, the chef de cuisine of the Haus Hainstein restaurant came up with a vegetable and grain bake and, unsurprisingly, broad beans from the nearby town of Erfurt. Perhaps that's why Luther once asked whether his guests hadn't enjoyed their meal because he couldn't hear any of the noises he typically associated with good digestion...
at the Haus Hainstein
Vegetables still play a key role on the Hainstein restaurant menu, including red cabbage with a good home-style beef roulade. What makes Uwe Beyer's cooking so special is that everything is prepared from scratch using fresh ingredients: "We would never even consider using red cabbage from a tin," says Beyer, who previously spent 20 years working on the high seas for the Arcona Group and then in various Steigenberger hotels.
Sticking to fresh ingredients requires motivation and resources, and with the arrival of new dishwashing technology from MEIKO a few months back, Uwe Beyer and his team now have plenty of both!
"Our dishwasher likes the fact that she can now help us prepare vegetables, salad and fruit, too", says the head chef.
Thanks to the new M-iClean H hood type dishwashing machine, Hano Göldner has cut the amount of time she spends working in the wash-up area by about a third. "It's fantastic," enthuses Uwe Beyer, who immediately saw the potential of the M-iClean H for his business when the machine was presented to him.
"Our kitchen is busy all day long because we have a flourishing conference business in addition to our hotel guests," says Beyer. There are also plenty of day-trippers visiting Wartburg Castle, and locals from the town of Eisenach also appreciate Beyer's focus on fresh ingredients. They like to grab a spot in the Luther Room and enjoy the fantastic location above Germany's biggest area of exclusive residences. "The machine at Haus Hainstein works flat out doing some 140 wash cycles a day," notes Rando Mallow, who supports MEIKO customers in and around Dresden. When he told Uwe Beyer that the cycle time of 210 seconds on the highest setting would fall to 60 seconds on medium setting with the M-iClean H, it quickly became clear that Haus Hainstein wasn't going to miss out on that opportunity! "We also reap the benefits of perfect wash results," says Beyer, who is delighted with the new machine and its automatic hood system. "And the fact that the working conditions in the wash-up area are now much more ergonomic will be a plus point when the trade association carries out the workplace risk assessment during their annual inspection." Beyer is also very impressed by the heat recovery system, which massively reduces the amount of steam and vapour emitted by the machine.
It makes you wonder if you could continue Luther's neat saying along the lines of: "Wash with what is good!"
