In Good Taste: An Intercontinental Affair

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An Intercontinental Affair

Amy and Roland Zimmer’s Lake Bowen home provides an elegant, eclectic setting for a Southern-inspired, expat-attended oyster roast.

On Lake Bowen, there are those rare midwinter days when the light reflected on the water forms rivulets of gold, and a sharp breeze sends small clouds scudding and a few tenacious oak leaves twirling to the ground. Curves of distant hills stand out in sharp relief on the horizon. The air warms just enough to rouse the sleeping earth along the banks, coaxing it to exhale a rich scent that holds a promise of spring.

In the afternoon of this day, the Zimmers’ shoreside home is abuzz with the rising anticipation of a gathering, a traditional oyster roast for friends with all the trimmings. Roland Zimmer walks the perimeter of the back patio, surveys the air for wind direction, and pulls out a brazier to fill with stout sections of oak to roast the oysters. Soon, tendrils of wood smoke find their way into the wide open door of the great room.

As if lured by the fragrance, his wife, Amy, descends the glossy spiral staircase set close to the bar opposite the door. Clad in a grey turtleneck and lofty fur vest, with slim jeans tucked into forest green boots, the mistress of the house looks as appropriate for an afternoon après-ski in the Austrian Alps as she does for a classic Carolina fête—both settings she enjoys regularly each winter.

Amy cradles a stack of plates, adorned with delicate sepia paintings of trout, to bring out to the buffet table she’s crafting on the patio. Setting the dishes down, the accomplished interior designer and owner of Couture Closets, makes minor adjustments to a lavish decorative arrangement that features a large scalloped shell resting on a fisherman’s net and surrounded by all manner of starfish, sand dollars, and whorled and spotted shells. Champagne is chilling alongside, on ice within a second massive shell that Amy says her design partner snapped up at a Charleston antique market. Scattered about the table and on the patio are Moroccan-style hundi lanterns set with candles.

Roland pokes at the fire to break the wood into slow-glowing embers. Amy briefly consults with her husband in rapid-fire German, a skill she says she perfected in time to say her wedding vows in her husband’s Austrian hometown more than a decade ago. The couple’s two children, Heinrich and Julia, ages eight and eleven, make a brief appearance just then, running between their parents before disappearing around the corner of the house. Amy heads back upstairs to see how Chef Brent Blackwell of Ribault St. Catering in Spartanburg is progressing with the other dishes.

While oysters, both raw and roasted, are the centerpiece for the meal today, the Zimmers are nothing if not generous hosts. As such, they’ve provided their guests with a full complement of global comfort food from Mediterranean-stuffed pinwheels and tortellini and tomato salad to veggie chili (the denizens of Haus Zimmer are pescatarians) and cauliflower gratin. Chef Blackwell is an expert in such straightforward fare, and added his specialty pork “wild wings” to the menu for those of the meat-eating persuasion among the dozen or so guests. In return, those attending were asked to bring a bottle of Champagne as an “entry fee” to the party.

Next, Roland steps over to the beverage table to separate several varieties of beer acquired from the local brewery, RJ Rockers, then gives the Laetitia Cuvee a final twist on the ice before slipping the cork out to pour the first glasses. Amy reappears to take a glass and they clink cheers as their friends Dirk and Catrin Leiber arrive. Hugs and handshakes precede the exchange of another bottle of bubbly. The conversation turns to travel as Amy asks the Leibers, in from Germany less than forty-eight hours ago, about their trip. Looking none the worse for jet-lag, Catrin, a fashion designer, models her own fur vest and proffers a pair of jodphurs as a present for Amy. The gentlemen move to the edge of the patio, contemplating the lake while discussing Roland’s business, at which Dirk is the vice president of sales. Guests continue to arrive in twos and fours, some from a few miles down the road, others from Europe.

Amy, a South Carolina native, confesses that she loves to host oyster roasts particularly for their friends from abroad. Though the European contingent is no stranger to enjoying the beloved bivalve, they don’t have the tradition that figures so prominently in our local culture, she says. Ribault St. Catering has provided Blue Points from the North Atlantic that Roland is placing on the metal pan over the grate. A wet burlap sack laid over sizzles then exudes a plume of steam. In five minutes they are steamed to perfection, and carried over to the table where anyone can help themselves to a tea towel and shucker.

It’s not long before the entire plate is consumed, but Roland is already working on another batch, in between discussing the various merits of cocktail sauce, lemon juice, or other toppings with his friends. A hush momentarily falls on the gathering as each guest is either working to pry the shells open or loosening the silky, briny meat. Dozens are consumed before the guests move over to partake of the other dishes. Amy, encouraging each friend to fill their plates with more of everything, decides it’s getting chilly and coaxes everyone indoors.

A long table is set opposite the roaring fire in the great room, which Amy decorated with a festive mix of seasonal flowers, berries, and more candles. The room itself is expansive, woodsy, and warm, a perfect setting for the friends to tuck into bowls of spicy chili. Laughter and chatter rings off the wide floorboards and rustic wall paneling hung with delicate paintings and cast bronze replicas of medieval swords and coats of arms.

As the sun slips behind the hills, the children are drawn back outside to dance around the fire pit shouting “Flambe!” and not-so-patiently waiting for the adults to come join them and toast marshmallows. For more sophisticated sweetness, Amy points out the triple chocolate trifle, milky decadence in a combined confection of cake, pudding, and cream, served with pumpkin-spiced coffee. The friends mill around indoors and out as the first stars begin to twinkle. Conversations continue in enthusiastic German and English. Even Lulu, the Zimmers’ Schnauzer-Yorkie mix ambles up to add dogspeak to the company. Amy makes her way across the patio and winds an arm around her husband’s waist. The two exchange a squeeze and clink glasses again in a silent toast to another successful show of Southern hospitality with a continental twist.

Vegetable Chili

Servings: 

12

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup olive oil
1 large onion (chopped)
1/4 cup fresh garlic (finely chopped)
2 medium bell peppers (chopped)
2 medium jalapeños (chopped)
2 packages soy crumbles
1 16 oz. can red kidney beans
1 16 oz. can tomato sauce
1 16 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 Tbs. cumin
1 Tbs. ground coriander
2 Tbs. chili powder
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 tsp. dried oregano or 1 Tbs. fresh oregano
1/2 cup tequila

Directions: 

Sauté first 5 ingredients until tender. Add next 4 ingredients and simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Add all spices and tequila and simmer 30 to 40 minutes.

Ribault’s Triple Chocolate Trifle

Servings: 

10

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla flavoring
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup crème de cacao (or other chocolate liqueur)
2 1/2 cups whipping cream
12 oz. good-quality white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
8 oz. good-quality milk chocolate
2 cups whipping cream
3 large egg yolks

Directions: 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch layer pans. In large bowl, beat butter, shortening, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs; beat well. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add alternately with milk to butter mixture, blending well. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn out and brush with syrup. Alternately, use any chocolate cake recipe or brownie recipe in place of suggested cake recipe.

For syrup: Bring sugar and water to boil in saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Let cool. Add liqueur.

For mousse: In saucepan, heat to simmering 1 cup cream. Add white chocolate and stir until melted. Let cool, stirring occasionally. When completely cooled, whip remaining 1½ cups cream to soft peaks. Fold into cooled cream with white chocolate. Cover and refrigerate.

For pudding: Heat 1 cup whipping cream and melt chocolate in it. Add egg yolks and bring to simmer (do not boil), until quick-read thermometer registers 160 degrees. Strain through sieve. Let cool. Whip remaining 1 cup whipping cream and fold into chocolate mixture. Refrigerate.

To assemble: Cut cake into small ¾-inch cubes. Layer in trifle bowl: 1/3 cake, 1/3 pudding and 1/3 mousse. Repeat layering top with 1½ cups whipping cream that has been whipped with ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar. Can add ¼ crème de cacao to cream, if desired.