It was late at night and we were standing at the bar when Howard leaned over and said “Wolfgang is bringing out some special raw pork for us to try.” What?!

It was sometime in the late ‘80s, probably 1988. Our friend Howard, who I’d known since Kindergarten, came to visit us in Germany. He’d been in England with the Pythons, where I think he was researching his latest book. After finishing with them, he popped over the channel and caught a train to Worms. He had visited us several times before and this was just a low key trip. Maybe go to a weinfest, but otherwise, stay in Rheindurkheim and sample some local food, bier and wein.

On the night in question, Cathy was at the University for a class, so it was just us guys. I put our dog Top on a leash, and Top, Howard I walked to our favorite Gasthaus, Sportheim. Top was always welcome there, and as much of a regular as we were. Cath and I knew the owners, Vroni and Wolfgang, pretty well. In fact, we had travelled to Spain with them the year before.

When we arrived at Sportheim, I reintroduced Howard to Vroni and Wolfgang. They had met Howard a time or two before during his previous visits and welcomed him like a long lost friend. We sat at a table and ordered a couple of biers and dinner. After dinner, we migrated to the small bar where a few of the regulars were standing and I introduced Howard. We joined them and ordered another round of drinks. Howard didn’t really speak much German and most of the locals only spoke limited English, so I acted as translator. It worked out pretty well and the regulars did a good job making Howard feel welcome.

As the night wore on, the crowd thinned. I let Top off his leash and he wandered around and barked “Guten Abend” to Blackie, Wolfgang’s dog. Finally, it was just Howard and I at the bar, with Vroni and Wolfgang standing behind it. It was past closing time, but everyone was enjoying the evening and in no hurry for it to end. We were having Asbachs (German brandy) and Vroni and I were chatting about nothing in particular. Howard and Wolfgang, although neither spoke the other’s language, seemed to communicate with each other just fine. I’ve often noticed that the free flow of alcohol over the course of an evening greatly improves language comprehension. It certainly worked at Sportheim.

About this time, Wolfgang disappeared into the back of the Gasthaus and Howard leaned over and said “Wolfgang is bringing out some special raw pork for us to try – he seasoned it here at the Gasthaus.”

“What!? Howard, I’m sure you misunderstood. He must be bringing out some cooked sausage, or leftover schnitzel to eat.” But no, Howard was insistent that Wolfgang had some raw ground pork that was slightly spiced and he wanted us to try it – it was almost like tartar. Plainly Howard had misunderstood. It was late, we’d been drinking a bit and these things happen.

About then, Wolfgang arrived back at the bar, with a loaf of bread and a small plate of gherkins. And….wait a minute…..what’s that in his other hand?… a plate of raw ground pork. Howard looked at me beaming. “See? I told you he was bringing raw pork.”

Wolfgang put some small plates in front of us and invited us to try the pork. I looked at him and said “Ummmmm, Wolfgang – are you sure this is a good idea? Aren’t you afraid of trichinosis?”.

Wolfgang looked at me like I was stupid. He explained how trichinosis was pretty much gone in Germany, and besides, this pork came from the very best butcher shop in Rheindurkheim (Adolf’s) and from a local farm (Helmut’s). We had nothing to worry about. He was trying a new seasoning blend and wanted our opinion.

We spread some of the pork sausage on the bread and tentatively tried it. Wow! This was good. The pork was seasoned with spices to something near a bratwurst flavor, but slightly different. In fact, it turned out that Wolfgang was going to make sausages (for cooking) the next day, but he wanted to share some with us that evening. We had more sausage with the bread and a couple of Gherkins, and washed it all down with a bit more beer. Now, everyone was talking to everyone and having a good time, and we all complemented Wolfgang on the sausage.

It grew late and finally, it was time to go. We said auf wierdersehen, put Top on his leash and walked back to our house. There, we headed to bed, and a great night’s sleep. Neither of us had any adverse affects from the pork.

To me, the most interesting part of that evening wasn’t that we ate raw pork, or that we didn’t get sick from eating raw pork. What I really loved, was watching two friends find a way to communicate with each other, even though neither knew much of the other’s language. How on earth did Wolfgang communicate “I’m bringing some raw pork for you and Max to try. I think you will like it. The pork is from Adolf’s, but I did the seasoning myself. I’ll be right back.”

It’s amazing how easy it is to communicate, if people are willing to try.

‘Wiedersehen….

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Special thanks to Howard Johnson for clearing up some of the story from that somewhat foggy evening….