Schwenking. No really.

Shwenking is going on tour in Portland this summer. No, really.

The schwenker (or schwenk for short) is a special kind of portable grill and technique originating from the Mosel Velly and Saarland region in Germany that cooks meat over an open flame on a swinging grill platform over the fire. This grill platform can be pulled up and down and swiveled or of course, put into a swinging motion over the fire by the “schwenk meister”. No, really.

During the grilling, or schwenking process, you can watch the meat slowly cooking as it moves, like watching a hypnotist swing a watch but this is much more appealing to watch as it is glistening meat that has already been marinated for three days versus some ticking stopwatch, and it spins not just swings.  Yes! Really!

The Tuttles of Teutonic Wine Company are ambassadors of Schwenking and brought this back from their trip. They are taking their coal fired tripod schwenker grills on a Schwenk Portland 2013 tour this summer to 13 Portland restaurants, where each restaurant will create their own schwenk dish, and then pair it with Mosel Riesling imported or produced by Teutonic.

I tried out my first schwenking dish at Raven & Rose yesterday (I missed other tour stops during June).

For their schwenking stop, Raven & Rose were offering 3 schwenk dish options, and also 3 Kabinett style Rieslings or you can get a flight of all three rieslings:

• Trout on fennel fronds, gooseberry conserva, cucumber radish salad
• Pork tenderloin, German potato salad, kolrabi slaw
• Spatchcocked Quail with peaches, green beans, walnut sauce
• 2012 Teutonic Wine Co Crow Valley Vineyard
• 2011 Ackermann Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, Kabinett Feinherb
• 2010 Philips Eckstein Graacher Himmelreich, Kabinett

Ok, first I confess I got temporarily distracted from the schwenking. I love the Rookery, and while I was waiting for a friend to join me I had a flight of single barrel bourbons. But then, it was time! I tried the riesling flight, as well as the pork and quail dishes. The Ackermann Kabinett Feinherb was the most dry of the 3 rieslings, which paired well with the sweetness of the spatchcocked quail. Meanwhile, the pork tenderloin was perfect in its hint of smoke and the oh so tender texture like ahi which I accompanied mostly with sips of the Philips Kabinett which was in the middle between dry and sweet. The Teutonic riesling which was the sweetest of the three I matched up with the kolrabi slaw and the bacon flecked bites of the German potato salad.

Here are more upcoming stops on that tour (you can find more pictures also at the Schwenk Portland Facebook page) or you can also look at the NPR coverage of Tuttle and his schwenker here, including a simple pork recipe!

• Accanto – July 14
• Ned Ludd – July 21
• Olympic Provisions NW – 7/28
• Wildwood – August 1
• Old Salt Marketplace – August 10
• Sauvage – August 11
• Grüner – August 17
• Cheese Bar – August 18

And if you have not visited the Rookery before, get your butt over there! The atmosphere is relaxing and warm in their big open loft with 2 TVs and a pool table, several couches. And, a nice long bar to sidle up to and get an education on whiskeys or whatever you are thirsty for while listening to, if you are lucky, the deep husky voice of Dave Shenaut, bar director / president of the Oregon Bartender’s Guild, or Alan Akwai’s incredibly efficient way of mixing while simultaneously eloquently rolling a whole vocabulary of descriptors of flavors and knowing exactly what bottles or eye droppers or misters to reach for to concoct the perfect drink for your palate, all belying his fresh face. Well, I’m sure Dave is eloquent too but I was lulled by that voice. It doesn’t even matter what he’s saying.

I’ve written previously about how they have special beer events (Beer with the Bird, such as one I attended with Double Mountain and Logsdon and with cheese!!) and whiskey Wednesdays (including special event Raven & Rye Wild Turkey I attended and blogged about) so you can see more wonderfulness of my crush on the Rookery there. Please note the Rookery does not serve the full menu of the restaurant downstairs, though it seems they are experimenting with offering some more than just the bar snacks they have been doing so far (a ploughman’s platter was the most substantial item). There is another bar downstairs though, tended by Angel and she is also great at taking are of you, including one evening providing F an ice cube to put in his too hot soup so we didn’t have to wait so long to enjoy it.