News from the Cordon Noir Anniversary
22.10.1998
10th Birthday Extravaganza in Beijing
69 Cordon Noirian meet at Swissotel in
Beijing
from 14th -18th August 1998
by Executive Gourmet for China Elmar Pichorner
Cordon Noirian from all the world enjoyed the Friendship build over the past decate
Robert Fierz Deligation from
Jordan , Paolo E. Fill from Bali , Richard Monaghan Group from Malaysia , Rolf Kanning
from Russia, Thomas Kassemek Group from Germany ,
Peter Armitage Group from Australia , my Group from Singapore and the Chinese deligation,
Heinz Kohler from Saudi Arabia
the Vice Chairman Dieter Abele and Elmar Pichorner
prepared an unbeatable program in and out of the hotel
with Highlights
Like a welcome Cocktail at the
boats on the summer palace
Gala Buffet with a marble Opera Performance at the Summer Palace Villa
the great wall excursion with champagne at
the top of an
old great wall tower and delishes picknick lunch
cordon noir at the great wall
Chinese Fusion Dinner in Emerors Dresses
for that Gala Night with the largest Bottle of champagne ever served in China , a 9 Ltr.
Moet Chandon, 7 Induction , 58 pcs.
10 Year Diploma Distribution and a 20 Person Chineses Orchestra.
a spectacular Caviar Brunch with
Sevruga Russian , Beluga Chinese
and Norwegian Keta Caviar
The Forbidden City of the last emperror excursion
Thomas Kassemek in mao look at the forbidden
city
Tritsha Drive through the oldest part of Beijing the wu tong
Followed by an Traditional Chinese Dinner at the imperial restaurant at Beihai Park
our group here Fritz, David and Peter at the Beijing Station
the whole terain of China follows the great
wall, the gigantic landmark !
after this mountain , wheel change and in to the Mongolei
Dolly and myself at the Chinese Boarder / Change of wheels -see the wohle carrage is
lifted up !
the first lovely Mongolian Faces
The Train rite from beijing - moscow looses fun after 3 of our friends including my wife were stopped at the russian boarder Town of Naushki, I followed them with our cordon noir $ in the pocket , handphone and my passport only.
After pay that armie , gangsters and translaters I was
nearly blanko with an inventoury of loosing
US$ 4000.00 , my handphone and my beloved Rolex watch
Joachim Textor got local just after purchase a Mongolian doghead
but neverless after three days our friends were free ,
the russian Andrew after all made at least that conection for me , money is not the most
importend if you think that our three singaporean was looked up in a cell without water ,
food or toilet.
i was rubbed by drunk russian with wooden and steal wapen who try to kill me blank point
for my dollarie, no help from any peoples that night - even my scream of help gave non
response
from militare behind the iron door 20 cm away ( My resting place , the steps to jail )
Joachim Textor , Mamutshka , Peter Armitage and Tony Rogalski at the
Lunch Purchaise
1 bread , 3 tomato , 1 cucumber , smitane , dry fish and so on...
It is
long time ago since I fight for my survival, but tere were only the full kongfu fighting
choice in that town without shelter..
next day after been sure that our friends would be free
and deportet back to mongolia
I purchased a ticket to Irkutsk witch was only 22 Hours and 61 station away!
And meet finaly the so missing other 4 cordon Noirian.
Peter Armitage farmost Tomato-cucumber sandwich
Tony Rogalski and Fritz Erhard cooking the first meal at the
trans Sibiria train
we proceed to moscow - a just three day train rite- and
were welcome by cordon Noirian Sonja Lorberg
who already aranged the whole three day stop to perfecktion , but first we meet the
Singapore Embassador and reported that spoiling or bether spoken distroing incident at the
russian boarder.
the red square with catedrale at the kremlin in Moscow
A fax from Ulan Batur gave me the satisfaction of my wifes, david cheong and peter lams safty arrival in Mongolia.
Moscow was that different russia , good looking compared
to the brokenVillages and factories we seen the past 690 km at the train.
we slept at the art sport hotel , seen the city including kremel , armourie , local market
street , huge moscow super market , metropol hotel , farmost sub train, the monastry ,1000
of broken mercedes , the zaar buildings and Chirches , the biggest cannon who never shoot
and the bell who never rings.
eaten at the zaars hunting lodge , sitting on life styrgeon by enjoy caviarf , smoked
sturgeon and sashlik , inducted 4 cordon noirian at a grand gala with 25 partissipating
person and enjoyed the dring in executiev gourmet rolf kannings haus.
just great.
now read the story from
Joachim Textor
A Culinary journey from the Middle Kingdom over Mongolia to Siberia and Moscow
Dear Culinary friends and aficionados,
There is a saying in my mother language " Wenn einer eine Reise tut kann er was erzaehlen. " After my last journey, which was another big adventure in my life, I definitely can tell some story.
Seven other fellow colleagues were adventurous enough in joining me for a quite unique culinary expedition (emphasized a bit on all about caviar)! With the Trans – Mongolian and Trans – Siberian Train (which became exactly 100 years old whilst we were travelling on these trains through 7 time zones) .
The route went from Beijing over Mongolia to Irkutsk / Siberia towards Moscow and Berlin. It was a nearly 10.000 Km train ride within 11 days.
It all started in Beijing on August 14 , 1998 with a cruise on the lake at the Summer Palace and moonlight dinner with Chinese singing Pavarotti in the background ( all arranged from our good friend Elmar Pichhorner in the Swissotel ) .
We furthermore had also an Induction dinner with a Chinese acrobats for new members of the " Cordon Noir Gourmet Club " whereby 60 persons gathered from all parts of the world.
Having also enjoyed a 14 course Dinner menu at the Imperial Palace with Camel ‘s Paw as a highlight, we had also a mythical Rickshaw ride through the old traditional part of Beijing which is called Hutongs.
Our final evening in Beijing before departing towards Gobi Desert we enjoyed in one of the best " Beijing Duck " restaurants in town. They ‘ ve
served us all kind of ways from the Duck it can be served. I think it were about 8 different courses from the Duckliver to the filled Duck kneck , Duck Soup and so on.
Than after a day and a half on the rail leaving the great wall many Kilometers of sunflowers, wheat, cornfields and dusty bustling Beijing behind us passing through the wideness of Mongolia we approached the
Station " Erlyan " ( China ).
It is there were also the Bogie – changing takes place. This is quite a unique thing to watch.
The Chinese railway system operates on standard gauges ( like in Europe and North America ) .And this is 3.5 inches narrower than five foot gauge.
used in CIS and Mongolia. It was interesting to see like giant hydraulic lifts
raise the carriages and the bogies are rolled out and replaced, which took about 2 hours.
Finally we continued our ride again through the wilderness of The Gobi Dessert. As a matter of fact most of the part crossed by the railway is not desert of the sandy Saharan type but rolling grassy steppes. It is impressive for its emptiness: a very few town and just the occasional collection of yurts herds of stocky Mongolian Horses and small groups of camels or gazelles.
It was also up there in the nowhere land from where we have transmitted via e –mail our first picture > one of the first Digital picture which ever has been send to Singapore and friends around the globe from that part of the world.
Joachim Textor & David Cheong / the first electgronic mobile
office e mail from a train just before the Russia entry !
After another 500 km on wheels we stopped for 30. Min in
Ulan Bator. From there another 8 hours and we reached the Border station to Russia at a
village called Naushki . By that time it was about midnight .It was a pretty weird place
in the middle of nowhere where the locals still have a kind of own law like in the good
old Wild West movies.
Mongolian Herdsman Fun
a fast rite through the Goby Desert
But for us it became reality. Here the trouble started: The Russian border guards and secret service took 3 companions with Singapore passport into custody claiming " faked passport problems ". My friend Jochen Kern who is also the husband of one of the Singaporeans decided to leave the train, to search for his wife and assist from outside the goal. This turned out to be not such a good idea as while outside the jail at the first night he where beaten and robbed of from his handy and Rolex from drunken vodka bodies and was bashed with fence palings. No help from the warders.
In the meantime the remaining 4 of us continued on the
train for another 18 hours to Irkutsk / Siberia.( which is the second biggest city in
Siberia with a population of 650.000 habitants ) .
David at one of the Mongolian station
It is here in the vicinity where the local Butyat and Tungus tribes of Siberia settled already many thousands of years earlier before later in 1652 it was founded as a military outpost which was followed by Cossacks and even many exiled nobles from Western Russia.
Tea caravans from China passed through, fur-traders sold their pelts here and the town quickly developed even more in the early 1800s, with the discovery of gold in the area into a cosmopolitan city ( the Paris of Siberia > it was also called ! ? ) .
About 500 km from Irkutsk lies also one of the largest dams in the world. The enormous hydro – electric power station at Bratsk.
We had then 2 nights booked homestay in a small tiny
village called Listvyanka located direct at the Lake Baikal about 70 km south of Irkutsk.
It was a kind of relief for all of us after the past few days on the train enjoying a
natural kind of shower and a real Siberian Sauna with a blooming pure nature around us.
Fritz cooking a fantastic Sibirian Mushroom stew with Swiss Roesti
at the Trans Sibiria Train
The Lake Baikal world ‘ s deepest lake with 1637 m. Located at the Selanga Delta. 6oo km long and up to 90 km wide. It is estimated to contain more than 20 % of the world’ s fresh water supplies. If all the rest of the world ‘s drinking water ran out tomorrow, Lake Baikal could supply the entire
Population of the planet for the next 40 years .It is completely safe to drink owing to the filtering action of numerous types of sponge, algae and mosses which live its depths, along with hundreds of other species found nowhere else. Another thing, which was also to hear of, is a tiny unique Baikal fish the " golomyanka " composed almost entirely of transparent fat, and lives at depths up to 1.5 km.
If mankind hold it in his hand, the fish is melting away within minutes and leaves only the bone carcass behind!
The Lake is also mostly frozen from December to Mai and the traffic is re scheduled than as a short cut over the frozen Lake.
Having BBQ style and Freshly smoked Omul (which is a kind of Salmon trout and only available at the Baikal Lake) and its own caviar as well for a Dinner picnic in a Siberian wooden holiday house located direct at the Lake with typical other Russian specialties like Bortsch , Pelminies and Phiroskies and for Dessert even handpicked wild strawberries and raspberries from behind the garden > macerated with a lot of vodka and topped with home made smetana was definitely an unforgettable evening under the thousands of stars > which I have not seen in any of my earlier endeavors travelling through more than 100 countries in the past. Truly to say just assume.
Our newly found friends in Siberia made sure that we were also not running out of Drinks which was of course Russian Vodka, local Beer, Crimes Sparkling Wine and Moldavian Red Wine.
We visited also the Eco - Limnolocical museum and learned
about the history of the Lake and its nature around.
a typical view of a Town we passed through Russia
tons of iron garbage !
The day before we were due to continue to Moscow our friend Jochen arrived by local train in a not good conditional shape, but we were terribly relieved to see him even so when I ‘ve seen his dozens of mosquito bits (which had apparently the size nearly like butterflies.)
He informed us that the Singaporeans were deported back to Mongolia and were safe and that they would fly back to Singapore as soon as the flights are available. (We later heard that this took 6 days.)
After we had brought by now 3800 km behind us, we continued from Irkutsk for another 3 days (and 5191 Km) now on the best train called " The Baikal " first class towards Moscow . Again we were passing by 100 and 100 for miles on mainly Birch Trees and young Pine wood through the wideness of the Taiga and Tundra.
Passing by at towns and cities like well-known Ekaterinburg located on the eastern slope of the Ural Mountains. It is the Birthplace of Boris Jelzin and was founded in 1721 by Tsar Peter 1. The Great Siberian Highway is also passing through. Also it was in this city where the later Czar family were murdered in 1912.
Another 1000 km further towards Moscow we passed the white stone Obelisk just beside the railway. It is the Europe – Asian Border.
Than 289 km before arrival in Moscow we were crossing the longest river in Europe the Volga River .The River is about 1 km wide at this point and flows down to the Caspian Sea.
Finally we reached Moscow Yaroslavski station were we had another few days of interest .Our guide took us to the Kremlin and in The Armoury museum which hold many jewels, gifts, carriages, coronations gowns of the Tsars as well a enigmatic Faberge collection. It was the best I have ever seen. Moscow is beautiful but truly a mess. We saw line ups at antique stores where people wanted to buy to protect their rubles.
Shops were deserted and no one wanted credit cards or Traveler checks, as they were afraid the banks (if they were open) would honor them. Also saw the red square, strolled around in the Arbat street, 2 Art Deco metro stations, the Art gallery and a couple of Cathedrals and monasteries.
We went also to an amazing extraordinary restaurant with a glass floor under which young sturgeons was swimming. Had there a interesting Luncheon with 4 types of caviar and sturgeon shaslick.
Furthermore we also had another " Cordon Noir " formal induction Dinner in the Renaissance Penta Hotel.
Finally we departure towards Berlin another 1873 km. Whilst we were crossing the Bellarus / Poland Border our two Australian passport holders encountered some difficulties with the polish border guards. Apparently they needed some Transit visa for Poland which they did not have, because the travel agent told them no need. Anyhow, They were again taken out of the train and send back to Russia for application purposes. (Where they were also send for 1 day in custody).
Last but not least after our 10.000 km trip behind us and more than 60 train stops by an average speed of 69 km, we finally reached Berlin with 3 persons remaining out of 8 as of the adventurous starting point in the middle kingdom. And it was a real relief for all 3 of us to can say back in a normal reality life
From there I continued my journey to my last stop over to the cosmopolitan city of Paris where I have stayed for another three days and enjoyed a few
great meals in top notch Bistros and at the raved Allan Duchasse Restaurant.
Also visited early in the morning the Rungis market as well have got the possibility to see the Astara caviar food laboratory (which is one of the biggest one in Europe) where I had an interesting tasting which included even the just freshly arrived catch of the Iranian Albino " Golden Caviar " where the tin of 1. 6 Kg in this season is selling for more than 10.000.U.S. Dollar.
From there I made my final flight back to Singapore.
September 19, 1998
Joachim Textor
(The writer of this story was also the organizer for this culinary expedition and can be reached via e – mail > joachim@cyberway.com.sg for further questions pictures or inquiries).
the Colum which devide Asia from Europe
and a summary from
Peter Armitage
To my Friends
Have just had the biggest adventure of my life. Great time in PEK with
tons of caviar. Started with moonlight dinner and cruise on the lake at
the Summer Palace with Chinese singing Pavaroti. Induction dinner for new
members with Chinese acrobats at Swiss Hotel. Rickshaw ride through the
Hutongs and dinner at Imperial Palace etc. On Wed 19, 8 of us set of for
the big ride to Moscow. After a day and a half travelling through the
Gobi Desert we reached the Mongolia/Siberia border at a town called
Naushki. Here the the trouble started!! The Russian border guards took 3
Singaporians into custody claiming "passport problems". The husband of
one of the Singaporians - a German National -decided to leave the train
to be with his wife and assist from outside the gaol. This turn out to be
not such a good idea as while outside the gaol he was robbed of $US3000,
his cellphone and Rolex and was bashed with fence pailings. No help from
the warders. In the meantime the 4 of us continued on the train for
another 18 hours to Irkutsk. At Irkutsk I telephoned the Singapore
Embassy in Moscow and alerted them to "an International Incident" for
which they were grateful but may have been the start of my problem. We
stayed at Irkutsk for 3 nights as planned and swam in Lake Baikal and
generally had a good time. The day before we were due to continue to
Moscow our German friend arrived by local train from Naushki in a really
bad state but we were terribly relieved to see him. We had also alerted
our friends in Moscow who were at the Moscow station to meet us with news
that the Singapore Ambassador wanted to see the German and myself
immediately. (Back a bit) After our friends had been taken at Naushki I
had sat down with the other 3 guys and written a cronological list of how
we each remembered the incident. I gave the ambassador a copy and he
informed us that the Singaporians were deported to Mongolia and were safe
and that they would fly to Singapore as soon as flights were available -
we since heard that this took 5 days. He also informed us that he wished
us to give this occurrence wide publicity and that the Singapore Prime
Minister may cancell a planned visit to Moscow. My friend Tony Rogalsky
left Moscow for Italy so now we were 4. Our guide took us to the Kremlin
and The Armoury which holds many jewels, gifts, carriages,coronation
gowns of the Tsars as well as 10 faberge eggs. It was the best I have
ever seen. Moscow is beautiful but truely a mess. We saw line ups at
antique stores where people wanted to buy to protect their roubles. Shops
were deserted and no-one wanted credit cards as their were afraid the
banks would not honour them. Also saw Red Square, 2 Art Deco metro
stations, the Art Gallery and a couple of cathederals. Went to an amazing
restaurant with a glass floor under which sturgeon were swimming. It had
an Italian chef and we ate 3 types of caviar and sturgeon shaslick. Had a
formal induction dinner on Sat for new Moscow members at the Penta Hotel.
Left Moscow on Sunday morning enroute to Berlin. At about 1AM we reached
the Bellarus/Poland border. The Russian border guards took my Russian
Visa and the train proceeded about 2kms to the Polish guards. On
inspection of my passport they requested that I collect my baggage and
alight the train. ( Then there were 3 ) There was also another young guy
from Adelaide who had the same request. So there we are 2 lonely
Australians on the pitch black platform not being able to communicate ( a
guy on the train had interpreted previously) surrounded by guards with
side arms and machine guns. We were escorted to a holding cell for about
30 mins then put on a train back to Bellarus with a guard holding our
passports. We were then given our passports and our Russian visas. By
means of sign language and part English, French, Spanish, German,Polish
and Russian we gathered that we had to attend the Polish Embassy in Brest
to obtain a transit visa. Not an easy ask at 4.30 am on a station full of
drunks. I think we were reasonably conspicuous - maybe because we were
sober - and a middle aged woman sort of understood what we wanted and
changed some $US for me, grabbed a taxi and drove us to the Embassy. She
wanted to ring the bell but I disuaded her as I presumed that an
Ambassador awoken at 5am would not help our plight. Anyway from the dark
an Embassy guard appeared. There was much discussion and the numbers 9-12
were written down. I then made "head on pillow" signs and she took us to
the Intourist Hotel. Asleep at 5.50 and awake at 6.55. We arrived at the
Embassy at 9am but only allowed inside at 11.45 which delay made us quite
nervous. Certain cash changed hands and we had our visas by 1pm. We then
made our way to the station to await the 2am train and purchase our
tickets. You might think that we were a tad early!! but to get a ticket
and work out a station that had 2 platforms No,1 we only had just enough
time. Arrived safely in Berlin met up with the German guy previously
mentioned who was most relieved to see me then took the next plane out.
And here I am in London - What an adventure!!???
In spite of all this I want to thank you for the adventure and all the
fun. Your support and friendship mean a lot to me as I truely believe we
are kindred spirits of the 1st. degree.
I will write about Fritz's lunch, the glass floor and my day in custody
when I am a little bit more settled.
Hope your house was OK in Berlin and that you are safely back in Singapore.
Best regards in adversity and fun p.
Peter Armitage
Joachims exact travel data through Russia by Trans
Mongolia Train
click 
here!!!
finaly we made it to Berlin / the Brandenburg Gate !
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