Restaurant
At the Koehler restaurant at the Auberge du Cheval Blanc, this wild plant inaugurates the spring menu every year. Raw or cooked, it brings a nice garlicky note. Chef David Hoffer picks it himself with his team.
Latest edition : 26 April 2020
As you stroll through the undergrowth in early spring, you can't help but smell it: a faint scent of garlic wafts through the air. It's the season for wild garlic, so appreciated by fine gourmets.
David Hoffer, chef at the Cheval Blanc inn in Westhalten, went to collect some with his team. For three mornings, they were in the field picking leaves, buds and flowers. “It's also nice to find ourselves in another setting, to do something together,” says the chef.
What does he like about this wild spring plant? “It is easy to find, easy to work with, both raw and cooked. It brings a touch of freshness and its taste is less penetrating than cultivated garlic. »
David Hoffer uses all parts of wild garlic, apart from the bulb of course. Chopped raw leaves can spice up a salad or bring a slightly spicy note to a stuffing. The buds, therefore the flower buds, are preserved in vinegar with sugar and herbs. They will enhance a pizza, a charcuterie platter or a fish. “I use the flowers as a decoration or lightly fried and at the last moment, with asparagus”.
David Hoffer passed his vocational baccalaureate at the Lycée Storck in Guebwiller before working at the Maréchal in Colmar. “Mostly to improve my skills in pastry, but I discovered the different positions there”. A few years ago, he joined the kitchens of Cheval Blanc in Westhalten. First as a pastry chef, but increasingly involved in other positions, depending on the needs of the small team.
Gilbert Koehler, talented and generous chef of this beautiful family establishment which has existed since the 18th century, introduced him little by little to its secrets in order to be able to entrust him with the smooth running of the kitchen. And to retire. “Make way for young people! But I'm always there when needed. And to lend a hand like peeling asparagus, he laughs.
The succession in the kitchen was therefore made quite naturally and David, while keeping the style of the house, gently brings his own brand. “In the presentation of the vegetables, by refining the traditional dishes a little, but I keep the sauces from Gilbert Koehler, they are so good! »
David also knows he can count on his team in the kitchen, in particular Sébastien, his second in command, Julia in charge of pastry, and trainees who come from all over the world, such as the Argentinian Diego and the Brazilian Carolina. Currently, the inn's menu obviously gives pride of place to asparagus. With a touch of wild garlic.
Auberge du Cheval Blanc/Restaurant Koehler
20, rue de Rouffach,
68 250 Westhalten.
Open Wednesday to Sunday.
Phone. 03 89 47 01 16