How the Suhring twins plate Germany for the world

The Suhring brothers share their journey of presenting traditional German fare with a modern twist

“A lot of emotion goes into preparing a dish from your childhood — memories of past mealtimes and the joy of sharing it with the people you are cooking for,” says Thomas one of the Suhrings, founders of Suhring, a two-star Michelin restaurant in Thailand. “It is an experience in itself. Plating that same dish for someone who has never tasted it before, only adds to the experience.”

Thomas and his twin brother Mathias were in Bengaluru recently, hosted by Masters of Marriott Bonvoy and Culinary Culture at the Ritz-Carlton Bangalore, to present their take on traditional German fare.

Simplicity, childhood memories and family recipes are how the Suhrings wanted to represent the fare from their homeland. “There is an amazing difference when you cook with passion. We’ve worked in Italy and Holland, we mastered French cuisine — but there was never any sentiment because we did not grow up with it. We were cooking what we had learned. But It is different with German cuisine, there’s so much spirit,” says Thomas.

“Most people outside Germany and even some people in Germany have this notion that our food is mainly sausages, pork knuckles potatoes — heavy food and hearty portions. But there’s so much more to it,” he says.

The twins grew up on simple fare in Berlin — bread, cold cuts, currywurst and the like. “For us, childhood memories of food are not a special dish. Rather, it is about sitting together as a family at the table; sharing not just food, but also our lives.”

They candidly admit that becoming chefs were not part of their plans growing up. “We were just kids in high school with no thought for the future. Back then becoming a chef was not as celebrated a career choice as it is today,” says Thomas.

“Our grandma had a farm where we would spend our holidays and we helped with the harvest and other chores as well as in the preparation of food. It was our mother who nudged us in this direction, saying, ‘You’ve got the feel of handling food and ingredients, why not make a career of it?’”