It is said that Tour de France cyclists
consume quantities of food during the event second only to sumo
wrestlers in training: 11,000 calories per day for the former, 14,000
for the latter. But while sumos are famous for their vats of greasy
soup, an innovative new book suggests that pro cyclists are in
reality a pretty sophisticated bunch when it comes to noshing.
2015 marks the appearance of
a new German UCI Pro Continental team, BORA-Argon 18. With new name
sponsors it is actually the successor to the NetApp-Endura squad and
like its predecessor has received a wild card invitation to the Tour
de France, hoping in 2015 to match the results of last year when the
team showed it deserved to be included amongst the elite of the
sport.
Sponsor BORA's link to
cyclesport could be found on broadcaster Eurosport's German
television coverage of major European races through its regular
advertisements. The company, based near Munich, is a manufacturer of
high-end cooktops and extractors. Without a range hood, cooking
odors are drawn out directly from the cooking surface. From one
employee in 2006, the firm has grown to more than 50 today with
subsidiaries in Austria and Australia and won various design awards
along the way. It is a typical example of a German “Mittelstand”
company, producing an innovative, high-quality (and cost!) product
with a great deal of personal attention. It appears that founder
Willi Bruckbauer's personal enthusiasm for cycling has expanded to
encompass this pro team, whose other title sponsor is Canada's Argon
18, provider of the team's bicycles.
With German pro cycling
coming back to life thanks to the performances of the likes of John
Degenkolb, Tony Martin and Marcel Kittel and the return of the Tour
de France to German public television after an absence of some years
due to the fall-out from doping scandals, it is perhaps not a
surprise that a German company would seek to maximize its exposure by
sponsoring a team. What is unusual is how the sponsor aims to link
the sport of pro cycling to its product by producing a very
high-quality cookbook featuring favorite recipes of racers. The
result is the very attractive “Tour de Cuisine,” available in
several language and featuring 53 cyclists and their comfort foods.
It is probably unlikely that
many of these riders are whizzes in the kitchen, given a BORA
cooktop/teppan grill or not, but the book includes their comments
about the various dishes, accompanied by excellent photos of the
riders and a brief summary of their palmares. The contributors are
not limited to Team BORA-Argon 18 but include many of the big names
of the pro peloton, including the aforementioned German trio. It
cannot be overlooked that some of these summaries are a bit peculiar
in their sharing of information. For example, George Hincapie is
described as having ridden in 17 Tours de France, completing 16 and
“he acted as a helper for the likes of Alberto Contador and Cadel
Evans.” For someone else as well, methinks.
Aside from this bit of
historical revision, the book is more entertaining than the usual
cookbook. Many of the recipes reflect a certain nationalism:
Americans Peter Stetina with his Chicken Sandwich and Mr. Hincapie's
T-Bone Steak. For those unfamiliar with Mitteleuropa cuisine,
Michal Golaś'senthusiasm
for Kaiserschmarrn or John Degenkolb's for Beef Olives (better known
as Rouladen) should be no surprise. But it is notable that many
riders eschew their native victuals in favour of foreign (often
Italian or Asian) meals. Pole Sylwester Szmyd goes for Rice Noodles
with Fried Vegetables, Jens Voigt for Moussaka, André
Greipel is keen on Prawns with Green Tagliatelle and Asparagus and
Golden Boy Marcel Kittel keeps up his sprinting strength with Lasagne
al Forno apparently.
As is traditional, the
cookbook is divided into chapters including Soups & Starters,
Vegetarian Dishes, Pasta & More, Fish & Seafood, Meat &
Poultry and Desserts. Cyclists representing Poland, Switzerland,
Germany, the USA, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands,
Austria, Sweden, Portugal, Slovakia, Australia, Norway and Belgium
reflect the United Nations (or at least mainly European Union)
make-up of the pro peloton. Truly a bunch of Feinschmeckers!
A fine book that would be at
home either on your cookbook shelf or in your cycling library, “Tour
de Cuisine” is an excellent effort to unite gourmet cooking and
road racing, two of the great pleasures in life. And in your heart
you know that when Matthias Brändle
(Swiss) broke the One Hour Record on October 30, he rode those 51.850
kms powered by Cheesecake with Strawberry Granita (page 194, 1 hour
preparation time coincidentally).
“Tour de Cusine”
published by BORA in conjunction with Teubner Verlag
200 pp., illus, hardbound
Suggested price: 39.90 Euros
It is available as of now at
Amazon.de in German (ISBN: 978-3-8338-4538-3), English (ISBN:
978-3-8338-4642-7), French (ISBN: 978-3-8338-4643-4), Italian (ISBN:
978-3-8338-4644-1), Spanish (ISBN: 978-3-8338-4646-5) and Dutch
(ISBN: 978-3-8338-4645-8). It will also be available at fancy
cooking equipment stores.
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