Potato hunter

In late summer and autumn, customers can choose between 20 and 24 different potato varieties in a sea of golden-beige and purple colors; at other times of the year, there are over a dozen varieties. "The Laura is my favorite," enthuses Heinrich Friedrich Mauß. "It's nice and golden on the inside, and when I pre-cook it, it makes the best roast potatoes," says the greengrocer.

Mauß and his team also stock other delicacies: from finger-length "Bamberger Hörnchen" and precious "La Ratte d' Ardèche" from Brittany to fine onion and garlic varieties, such as red-golden garlic refined in smoke and pitch-black, fermented garlic, which is considered a rare delicacy.

Whether potato or garlic - once you have found the bulb of your choice, Mauß also knows the perfect preparation tip for it. If only the regular customers knew: the fourth-generation potato merchant used to be a professional at the stove. For 15 years, he cooked in the best gourmet temples in the country - in the "Kronenschlösschen" in Eltville-Hattenheim am Rhein, in the "Schwarzer Adler" with Franz Keller in Oberbergen in Baden and in the "Traube Tonbach" in the Black Forest, whose restaurant "Schwarzwaldstube" has three Michelin stars.

Mauß completed his apprenticeship as a chef just around the corner - in Dudenhofen in Rodgau, in his mother's restaurant. By chance, the bright youngster landed a job at the Kronenschlösschen, where he became the youngest head chef to date. It was a "damn hard but instructive time". It still shapes Mauß today, long after he has taken over his father's vegetable business: "You know, I like the sophistication with which you can refine simple dishes. I always have an exquisite tip for my customers - they can just ask me."

Tip: Roast potatoes such as Laura or triplets become a delicacy if they are dusted with powdered sugar and lightly caramelized in the pan.

Potatoes are ideally stored at 7 degrees Celsius on a bed and a feather-light "blanket" of kitchen paper in the vegetable compartment of the fridge. This is the best anti-ageing treatment for Heinrich Mauß's "tuber ladies".

Recipe idea: Salmon carpaccio on tomato and basil foam

Ingredients:

• One approx. 20 - 25 cm piece of fresh salmon with skin
• 4 - 6 beef tomatoes
• A few sprigs of fresh basil (or frozen herbs)
• 2 small onions (finely diced)
• organic lemon
• 1 small cup of sweet cream
• 3 tbsp double cream
• sparkling wine + Noilly Prat
• 1 - 2 tsp flour
• 2 - 3 tbsp butter
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

For the sauce, sauté the onions in a high-sided pan over a medium heat, dust with flour, add a little cream and double cream, stir well and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil briefly, then remove the pan from the heat. Peel the tomatoes and remove the seeds, cut the flesh into fine cubes. Wash the basil, pat dry with kitchen paper and cut into fine strips.

Remove the skin from the salmon, remove any bones and slice as thinly as possible. This is best done with a special salmon knife. Place the salmon slices on a buttered baking tray and season with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven or grill to 200 degrees (grill function), cook the baking tray with the salmon on the middle shelf for a very short time (maximum 60 - 90 seconds!). Whip the liquid cream, about a coffee cup full, until stiff.

Mix the cream sauce with a dash of sparkling wine and Noilly Prat, add a squeeze of lemon juice. Add the diced tomatoes and basil, season with salt and pepper and fold in a little whipped cream. Divide the sauce between plates and serve with slices of salmon. Serve with freshly toasted country bread or toast with salted butter.