“When thinking back on my childhood in Schwäbisch Gmünd I once more follow my nose: of mornings, through narrow streets of Sunday roast fragrances that wafted over the pavement like exquisitely impregnated ground fog. My mouth watered and intensified the torture of having to go to church. These were the moments in which I decided to become a cook,” Stuttgart cook Vincent Klink recalls wistfully in a short essay in Cottas kulinarischem Almanach (Cotta’s Culinary Almanac) from 2000/2001.

And he continues: “Such Sunday fragrances are hard to pick up anywhere now. The roast is out. In the age of anonymous meat scraps, quick-fried meat, steaks, medallions, tournedos  and the burnt smell of the neighbour’s barbecue party it is dishonoured and almost forgotten as a culinary monolith. At restaurants it hangs shamefully over the plates and is  covered over in thick sauce to hold its ground against the tilted position of swiftly curving waiters. It is no longer the pride of Sunday, but a brown disgrace of the nation.”

This is exactly what we want to change! Not with the reverential worship of Sunday rituals, but as “a plea for circumspection and patience and in the delicious end as a triumph of slowness” (Vincent Klink). So take your time! Haste and speed are detrimental to any good roast. And when cooking at low temperature a quarter of an hour more doesn’t matter. The roast will stay juicy anyway.

When everything is prepared and the meat is in the oven you can take time to dedicate yourself to preparing the table. Because, as we know, the eyes always “eat” along – whether it’s an appetising roast or a lovingly set table.

In a big table arrangement there is a set of cutlery for each course.  The pieces of cutlery that you use first are normally placed on the outside. For our place setting the meal starts off with a soup so the spoon is placed furthest to the outside. Then an entrée of fish and a main course of meat follows this.  The spoon and fork for the dessert are placed at the top of the plate. Sparkling glasses for water and wine, a white tablecloth with matching cloth serviettes, candles and a bouquet of flowers round off the festive mood. Why go to all this effort? Simply because it encourages the enjoyment and conversation, because it forces us to pause for a moment and it gives the moment something special. Treat yourself to this small luxury now and then, also as a break from everyday life, because no enjoyment can thrive under stress.



The following roast recipes are available in the recipe database: