Alexander Herrmann and Tobias Bätz
Book presentation in New York
NEW YORK: The new book "AURA + ANIMA" by Alexander Herrmann and Tobias Bätz has been available in German stores for a few weeks now: this week, the two top chefs and their team presented the impressive work to an international audience of experts in New York.
Herrmann and Bätz made a conscious decision to write the book, published by Matthaes Verlag, in two languages (German/English) in order to bring their philosophy of #borderlesshome into the international spotlight for the first time. Following book launches in Wirsberg, Hamburg and Munich, it was therefore a logical step to present the 512-page work to an English-speaking audience beyond Germany's borders. With the USA being the most important foreign market for travelling to Germany, the decision was quickly made in favour of New York.
At an exclusive dinner in the trendy Loft 29, Herrmann, Bätz, food scout Joshi Osswald and host Anja Kirchpfening presented the new book to almost 30 selected food, travel and lifestyle journalists as part of a 4-course menu. After marinated prawns with bouillabaisse cucumber and salted lemon, the guests enjoyed pickled and fried wild mushrooms with wild mushroom stock, larch oil, cassis berries and spruce extract. For the main course, the top chefs from Franconia served a pink roasted pigeon breast with crispy pepper, pigeon ragout and rehydrated apple. The dessert was a roasted cream ice cream made from cereals with chocolate ganache, tart cherries and cherry balsam. The menu was accompanied by selected wines from the two Franconian wineries Hans Wirsching and Weingut am Stein - sponsored by Frankenwein. High-quality glasses were provided for the evening by the traditional German company Zwiesel Glas, while premium cookware for the preparation of the dinner was supplied by Fissler.
But that wasn't all: after the book presentation, Herrmann and his team continued the next day with catering for the German National Tourist Board (GNTB). At the "Germany Open House Event" as part of the TravMedia International Media Marketplace (IMM), various regions from Germany presented themselves to selected American travel journalists. The menu that day included wild boar meatballs with mashed potato salad, sweet and sour mushroom soup, potato dumplings with Bavarian cabbage and nut butter velouté and Black Forest kirsch in a glass.
Alexander Herrmann is happy after the two eventful days. "Our new book is an expression of our entire personality. In it, we have revealed all of our secrets relentlessly and open-heartedly in order to share our idea of home cooking with others. The opportunity to do this in front of such an experienced professional audience as in New York fills me with great pride. For me, this trip marks the start of a new chapter - because now it's all about leaving our comfort zone, developing new ideas and reaching the next level," says Herrmann.