Gin meets Stollen

The Grüne Woche not only brings food producers together with their customers. Co-operations are often formed between exhibitors who would otherwise not get to know each other so easily. This is shown by an example from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. An experimental bakery and a gin distillery have jointly created a stollen that guests can sample at the trade fair.

Admittedly, the stollen season is just about over. But nobody should miss out on the gin stollen from baker Hannes Behrens from Plau am See. The idea for the pastry came about a year ago at the International Green Week in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Hall.

Courage to experiment

"The flavour of the sloe gin reminded me of Christmas in its spiciness," says Hannes Behrens. He tasted it at his neighbours' stand at Elephant Gin. In late summer, when he was preparing the bakery's Christmas range, he got in touch again. He put sultanas in the sloe gin and started working on a gin stollen, which he sold at Christmas markets and elsewhere.

The baker has often experimented with Christmas cake on the occasion of the Green Week. On behalf of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Minister of Agriculture Till Backhaus, he created a vegan stollen as a gift for Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir.

Gin with a heart

In a large glass jar at the Elephant Gin stand opposite the bakery, the sloe gin, the ingredient that gives the stollen its name and flavour, glows reddish. Bartenders like to use the high-proof distillate to make cocktails. The bottles are decorated with colourful glass bead ribbons made by Maasai women in Kenya. Part of the profits go to African elephant conservation projects.

Tessa and Robin Gerlach founded the company ten years ago, a project close to the hearts of Africa fans. At their production site in Wittenburg, they also offer guided tours of the distillery and personalised bottles.

"In addition to the characteristic spices and juniper berries, apples are an important ingredient," explains event manager Dennis Fittko. "We source these directly from neighbouring plantations. That way we keep distances short." Breweries from MV could be an interesting cooperation partner for him at the Green Week. This is because the alcohol left over from the production of non-alcoholic beer could be used in the production of gin.

Hannes Behrens already worked with Braumanufaktur Ludwigslust last year and produced a spent grain bread. He is already kneading his next cooperation project: he is baking deep green seaweed rolls for the Seeperle fish stall.