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| - The first time I've had schweinhaxen was in a Hong Kong cafe in the San Gabriel valley. They called it a German style pork knuckle and it was beautiful with crackled pork skin, tender meat and melty tendons.
Since returning to Madison, I've been on the hunt for as amazing a schweinhaxen as I had in LA. After all, we're in Wisconsin where German culture abounds. But schweinhaxen wasn't that easy to find. It wasn't on many menus except for the Essen Haus, which was okay but falls flat compared to what a Hong Kong cafe dished up. When I saw a picture of the schweinhaxen in this week's Isthmus for Freiburg Gastropub, I had to visit and try it out. And well, I'm still thinking about the Hong Kong cafe version. Frieburg's schweinhaxen was tasty and better than the Essen Haus version, but it still didn't have that beautiful crackled pork skin.
We also ordered the Huhn - roast chicken with spaetzle. I've never been a fan of spaetzle, or any little mounds of dough cooked in water for that matter. Never understood the appeal of gnocchi, or the Korean spicy rice cake Ddeokbokki. It seems like what others love about these dishes is the texture of the dough - "soft and pillowy" they say. Okay.
But tonight, Freiburg changed my mind. Their version of spaetzle was delicious. Buttery and well, "soft and pillowy". I was a fan. I also really enjoyed their potato and apple mash. You couldn't quite taste the apple, but it lightened up the mashed potatoes, and gave it a subtle sweetness.
I would come back, but I'm not in love.
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