As a boy, the chef and restaurateur Hans Röckenwagner looked forward to late November, when the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) would open in his home village of Schliengen, in southern Germany.
'Read more: A Taste of German Christmas Markets - NYTimes.com
“Everyone in town went,” he said. “It was a tradition, a sign that Christmas was finally here.”
He remembers munching on gingerbread cookies shaped like Santa, with tiny ceramic pipes baked into them, while his parents toured the red and ivory stalls for local crafts. In 1985, he left Germany to open a restaurant in Venice, Calif., and for 20 years he passed the holidays at work, too busy to return home. As a small consolation, every late November, he changed the menus to include a traditional German dessert.
In 2006, while back at a Weihnachtsmarkt in Berlin, he paused before biting into one of his favorite gingerbread cookies. He didn’t want the experience to be a disappointment, compared with what he remembered as a child. His conclusion: “Some things remain perfect in memory and in fact.”
'Read more: A Taste of German Christmas Markets - NYTimes.com
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