Elcerdo, nose to tail eating

Sometimes I am lucky to have chances to dine with my superior and clients where usually we go to some fancy or famous restaurants.

Last month I went to lunch with my superior at Elcerdo. Before that I had no idea what kind of restaurant is that. I read some blogs from internet and found that the restaurant specializes in pork and their foods are delicious, the restaurant looks great as well. I didn’t have my camera with me; otherwise I could post some photos here. However my superior said he will pretend he doesn’t know me if I really take photos there.

Once we got in the restaurant, there is a wine cellar at the right side. Besides wines, there are chunks of marinated meat and sausages hanging inside the cellar. I first sat down and pretend lady-like for a little while, and then immediately read the menu to see what to order later. The pork here is cooked in western style. The menu consists of pork chop, sausage, bacon, suckling pig, all parts of pig (that’s why it is called “Nose To Tail Eating”). There are also some selections of chicken, beef, seafood, and some items written in German.

Everything seems to be delicious and I was desirous to test everything, as clients were late and I’ve been waiting until too hungry. I was thinking to order the German Style Pork Knuckle, it looked great in people’s blog. But the portion is too big for me and all the foods are not cheap. I feel embarrass to order costly food and then end up unable to finish them. My superior ordered a Salad for each, a Roasted Suckling Pig and a bottle of Red Wine. At that moment I thought, “What? Would one salad and one pig be enough for four persons?”

But when I was taking the Salad, I figured out that if my face is thick enough to take as much food as possible, a Salad is definitely enough to fill my stomach. Their salad bar serves not only fresh vegetables, but various kinds of bacons, sausages, and ham. I took one or two slices of each. They are all well marinated and tasty, except that is one with very strong smell that I don’t like. I had the salad with cheese and red wine. That was so great!

Roasted Suckling Pig is served with baby potatoes and fresh garden salad. The suckling pig here is not much different from those we eaten in Chinese restaurant, except the pig was not cut when it is served. The waiter gave us a ceramic plate, and we chopped the pig using the edge of plate. The waiter then instructed us to throw the plate into a wooden pail to break it. This is a sign of celebration, fortune and love. The pig was crispy; the dressing was slightly sweet with taste of peanut. I preferred to eat with Tabasco.

Our dessert is served. Chocolate ice-cream, banana slices and some sour fruit jam are mixed in a champagne glass. I can’t remember what the name is, because I started feeling dizzy. I guess I drank 5 or 6 glasses of red wine. I wonder why everyone said that I can drink a lot, while actually I can’t. It was raining heavily outside, the sky was dark, and lighting in the restaurant seems to become darker also. I felt a bit drunk at 2 o’clock  noon.

有时觉得自己比较幸运，时常有机会跟着上司去和CLIENT吃饭。通常去的餐厅都还有点排场或出名的。

那天和上司到Elcerdo吃午餐。去之前根本不知道那是一间怎么样的餐厅，从网上找到些BLOG，发现那间餐厅专卖猪肉，食物都很好吃，而且餐厅看起来感觉还不错。相机没有带在身边，不然还可以拍些照片放在这里。可是我上司说，如果我拍照，他就装做不认识我。

踩进餐厅，右边是一间酒窖，里面除了放葡萄酒，还挂着一大块一大块的腌肉和串串的香肠。馋嘴的我，首先坐下来假装淑女一下，然后就翻开菜单开始研究等下要点什么食物。这里的猪肉都是西式料理，有猪扒、香肠、培根、乳猪、猪的各部份(所以才叫作NOSE TO TAIL EATING)，也有几样鸡肉、牛肉和海鲜料理。还有一些项目以德文书写的，我根本不知道那是什么东西。

每一样对我来说都好像很好吃很想尝试(因为CLIENT迟到，我等得实在太饿了)。本来想叫个德国猪手，在人家的BLOG里面看到好像很好吃，可是份量太大了，而且所有的食物价钱都不便宜，我不好意思点贵的食物，最后吃不完浪费掉。我上司点了每人一份SALAD，一只烤乳猪，还有一瓶红酒。我当时在想：“什么？一份SALAD和一只烤乳猪够四个人吃吗？”

当我在拿SALAD时，我觉得如果我脸皮够厚拼命拿食物的话，一份SALAD就可以吃到饱了。他们的SALAD BAR不止备了一般的新鲜蔬菜，还有各式各样的培根、香肠和火腿。我每一种都拿一两片，发现除了其中一个骚味很重之外，全部都腌制得很好吃，配上乳酪还有红酒，正啊。

烤乳猪来了，配菜有小马铃薯和新鲜沙拉。这里的烤乳猪和我们一般在中餐厅吃的烤乳猪分别不大，不过，当服务员端上来时，乳猪并没有被切开。服务员交给我们一个瓷碟子，我们就用碟子的边缘当刀子，把乳猪“斩”开。切完乳猪后，服务员拖来一个木桶，教我们把碟子丢进去砸碎。后来才知道这是德国的婚礼习俗，砸碗碟代表着喜庆、好运、恩爱。乳猪烤得很香脆，沾汁带点甜味，好像还有花生的味道，我比较喜欢沾TABASCO来吃。

我们的甜点是一个香槟杯里装了巧克力雪糕、香蕉片、还有一些酸酸的不知道是什么果酱。我不记得是什么名堂，因为我已经开始晕头转向。我想，我大概喝了5、6杯红酒。我很奇怪为什么大家都说我很能喝酒，其实我很快就不胜酒力。外面下着倾盆大雨，天色有点暗，灯光也好像变得昏黄。下午2点多钟，我觉得有点醉眼昏花。