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Has ever there been a comfort food so loved and disdained as sauerkraut? The lowly cabbage preserved with salt, elevated to cult- like status by those who love food like pigs feet and snails and livers.

During the Depression, many American families survived the winter by eating nothing but sauerkraut because it was easy to grow and preserve. Being both pickled and canned, it was safe from mice, rot and mildew. It keeps for several months in a sealed container at 15 degrees centigrade and even longer if refrigerated or pasteurized.
Sauerkraut is made by a process of pickling called lacto- fermentation, the same way that traditional traditional cucumber pickles are made, without heat. You don't need to introduce lactic acid bacteria to start the chemical reaction because these bacteria are already present on raw cabbage. Yeasts are also present, which cause soft sauerkraut of poor flavor when the fermentation temperature is too high. Because of the vagaries of temperature control, USDA guidelines for making sauerkraut call for far more salt than is traditional in Alsace, which makes many of the commercial sauerkrauts unpalateable unless they are rinsed.

"The sauerkraut will be well rinsed, and I'll use wine to cut the acidity of the vinegar, "Paul said. "We have pork jowls, so we'll use some of that, and some pork loin and probably some sausage and of course, juniper, caraway and other spices. I might throw some goose in."

The Pink Plate is a weekly prix fixe special we offer on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. For $30 per person, you get your choice of soup or salad, the featured entree, two selections from our cheese board or one of a couple of featured desserts and coffee, tea or espresso.

Valentine's Day falls on a Wednesday this year. We will be offering an elegant, five-course, $70 per person prix fixe menu, and jazz pianist Cole Broderick has agreed to entertain our patrons that night. Paul wants to do a chocolate mole, filet mignon, lobster, asparagus, oysters, capsicum and other foods that he finds sexy and romantic. "We had some other bizarre ideas which we won't do," he added mysteriously.

Diane Lachtrupp and Johnny Martinez will offer free tango lessons to
Chez Sophie customers Wednesday, February 7, at 8:30. After the lesson, we'll turned the music up a little and let the newbies and more experienced dancers enjoy the wood floor in front of the fireplace. The next tango night will be Wednesday, February 7. For those who would like to dine first before dancing, our regular menu is offered until 9 p.m. The bar menu is available until 10 p.m. and the bar will be open for at least a couple of hours after that.
For more information about local classes by Diane and Johnny, see the Saratoga Savoy website at http://www.saratogasavoy.com/files/instructors.html
Cost: No cover charge

Our Sunday Jazz Brunch this week will feature spicy cocoa braised
beef over fettucine ($14); coconut waffle with poached apricot
($12); crabmeat, bay scallop and crawfish crèpes with Mornay sauce
($16); smoked duck and sausage gumbo over white rice ($12).

The brunch specials run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The complete menu,
offered from 7 to 2 p.m., includes a Continental assortment of
muffins, pastries, fruit, yogurt, quiche etcetera for $9; omelettes
($9 to $11); pancakes du jour ($9); the All in One, which includes 2
eggs any style, homefries, toast and sausage or bacon ($10); waffles
with sweet cream butter and local maple syrup ($10); and Irish steel- cut oatmeal ($8).
Jazz pianist Cole Broderick plays from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Live Piano Jazz
Jazz pianist Cole Broderick plays the baby grand Tuesday through
Friday night, and during Sunday brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
(barring special events that preclude live music.)
Cost: No cover charge

Tasting menus
Chef's Choice seven-course tasting menu available each night. The
menus are designed based on the best and most creative dishes Chef
Paul K. Parker is serving each evening. We will pair wines for you or you can order from our extensive wine list.
Cost: $75 per person, plus tax and tip. Everyone at the table must
partake in the tasting menu

If you're feeling less impromptu, you can call ahead to arrange a
special tasting menu with the number of courses and wine pairings
designed to suit your capacity, dietary restrictions and budget.
Tasting menus arranged in advance will be printed on commemorative
vellum scrolls personalized with the name of the host or the reason
for the event.
Cost: $50 to $200, depending on the number of courses and the wines
selected; available for two to 75 guests. Call Cheryl to make
arrangements 518.583.3538

The Pink Plate Special
offered Monday, February 5 through Thursday, February 8

$30 per person
includes your choice of soup or salad, a special entree, selected
desserts or a cheese course and coffee, tea or espresso.

This week's special entree:

choucroute garni
Alsatian sauerkraut served with sausages and pork

Notes on Nico and Léo:

Cheryl and Paul were talking, as the parents of multiple children will inevitably do, about the similarities and differences between the two children. We looked back at our weekly notes about Nico three years ago, when he was exactly the same age as his little sister, and remembered that he was at an omnivorous stage. In that week, three years ago today, he sampled butternut squash raviolis with lobster, smoked eel, pickled radish, jellyfish salad, chicken claws, congee, preserved goose eggs, taro root cakes, tripe, pho, sticky rice, cous cous with apricots and almonds. Cheryl thought it must be genetics or a side effect of superior upbringing, but Paul kept mentioning that year when he was small when he would eat only oranges.
Well, Léo is at that omnivorous stage. There is practically nothing that you offer her that she won't chew and taste and work at until it's consumed or too difficult to hold on to. Nico, on the other hand, has begun to reject foods that he hasn't tried before. "I don't like it," he says stubbornly.
"How can you not like something you've never tried?" his mother counters stupidly, holding a spoon out towards his tight, thin, obstinate lips.
"You're approaching this wrong," Paul intervenes. "Just tell him it's something he's already had and liked."

At just over a year, Nico was more mobile and mischievous than his sister, who really loves to be held. Nico was an expert at appropriating inappropriate toys, such as toilet bowl brushes and boning knives and broom handles. Léo is far more likely to have a 20- minute conversation with one of her father's shoes. Neither of them was ready to be weaned at just over a year, although Nico's nipping was far more violent than Léo's. You couldn't take your eyes off Nico for a second or he'd get into something dangerous. You can't let Léo take her eyes off you for a second or she'll howl with distress.

Both children have had a cold this week. Léo cries constantly when she feels poorly. Nico seems normal, but sleeps more than usual.
He'll wake up suddenly with a yelp and say things like, "No Daddy! I want to change the bus!"
"The what?" his Dad will ask soothingly. "The school bus! Now!" Nico will reply before falling back into sleep.

The Parker family
at Chez Sophie
518.583.3538

Chez Sophie was founded in 1969 by sculptor Joseph Parker and his French-born wife, the late Sophie. The business moved to a vintage stainless steel diner in Malta Ridge, New York, in 1995. It is owned today by Sophie and Joseph's son, Paul Parker, and his wife, Cheryl Clark. In June of 2006, they moved the restaurant into their current location in The Saratoga Hotel on Broadway..

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P.S. Each month we draw a name at random from our database of customers and send them a $50 gift certificate to Chez Sophie. If you would like to be added to this promotions database, which is owned by Chez Sophie, please send us an email with your name, address, telephone number, birthday and anniversary. People on the list will also receive a gift certificate by mail or email for a free glass of champagne or dessert on their birthdays or anniversaries. (You only need to enter once to be eligible every month.)

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