Food & Tradition

Black Forest Cherry Cake is the best-known dish built around kirsch. Sponge cake with chocolate, cream, and sour cherries form the layers, and the kirsch soaks the sponge, giving the cake its characteristic bite. According to Germany's guidelines for fine baked goods, it's an essential ingredient. Who invented it remains disputed. One popular account credits Josef Keller, said to have baked it in 1915 at Café Agner in Bad Godesberg.

Spring brings asparagus season to the Markgräflerland. White asparagus with butter or ham is traditionally paired with Gutedel, with the brandy following afterward, if at all, in a small measure. In autumn, onion tart and Flammkuchen appear on the table, both along the Upper Rhine and in Alsace. The cake shows exactly how kirsch works in cooking: it heightens the cherry note without ever dominating. Black Forest ham belongs on the snack platter, and afterward a small glass is permitted.

A brandy after a meal is widely regarded as an aid to digestion. The opposite is actually closer to the truth, since alcohol slows gastric emptying. Anyone who drinks a small glass of kirsch after a long meal feels relief, but that's relaxation, not faster digestion. So with asparagus, cake, or a snack platter, the brandy remains a small finishing touch.

Staufen celebrates the Markgräfler Weinfest, where Gutedel takes center stage. Fruit brandies are part of the backdrop there, without being the occasion itself. In the region's taverns, a small glass of Zibärtle or Himbeergeist at the end of a long meal is a familiar, unhurried close.