Five Stars for Luxembourg

Luxembourg has always been one of those countries I wonder, “How did that get there?” It’s less than a thousand square miles and stuck right between Germany and France, I would have thought that this little territory would have been taken over at some point in history. I mean it has been fought over in the past and one of the reasons why it’s so small is because its size was reduced to at least half to Belgium, not to mention it was invaded and occupied by Germany during WWII. So how on earth did they manage to hold on to the 998 square miles it is today? Somehow it managed to maintain independence throughout the war, despite being occupied, and was one the six founding countries of the European Union. I have to give Luxembourg props for its history.

The cuisine in Luxembourg is not surprisingly a mesh between German and French cuisines with many delicate pastries and smoked meats. Their national dish is smoked pork collar with beans. I did find that it’s currently reported to have the highest alcohol consumption, averaging three beers a day per person (including children). Apparently alcohol is also super cheap here with French wines and German and Belgium beers along with its own array of breweries. So it’s no surprise that the majority of the dishes I found contained some sort of alcohol, mostly wine. So of course I went with one of those, I had to choose something that was very Luxembourgian (actual word). I decided on Hong am Reisleck, which I’m sure you might guess is chicken in Riesling wine.

So equipped with a couple pounds of chicken and a bottle of wine, I made my way to my dorm kitchen where I managed to make the whole first floor smell like a winery. Now I’ll be the first to admit, this dish isn’t exactly a looker. However, like many things in life, and here I’m going to use the overly cliché phrase, it’s important not to judge a book by its cover. We’re all adults here right? We can look past a not so beautiful presentation and see deeper than that. However, what it lacks in aesthetic beauty, it makes up for in smell and taste. If there was a way I could insert what this smells like into this post I would because this stuff is simply mouth watering! Even with a cheapie $5 bottle of Riesling, it’s delicious. Did I mention how tender the chicken was?

I am glad I had leftovers for this one and I know this will wind up in my cookbook. Luxembourg, you have officially wowed me with not only your history, but your food as well. This dish actually reminds me of beef stroganoff, that is if you take away the beef and add wine and chicken. I’m betting if you go to Paris you’ll be overcharged for something similar to this and I am proud that I made it on the cheap, but still got five star results. If you like wine but veer away from French dishes because of all the butter, you should give this one a try. For anyone wondering, I used Campanelle pasta which soaks the sauce right up and adds some frill to this, boy did I feel fancy eating that when the girls around me were munching on taco bell or campus union food! Yes, you can make five star meals in your college dorm.