Visiting the Auchan Hypermarket

In Kirchberg, there is a mall and grocery store called Auchan. Today I visited there for lunch just to have a look around. The mall is nothing particularly special. You can find any of these brands anywhere else in the world. H&M, Zara, nothing local or noteworthy. However, the mall is decorated for Christmas and it’s a nice festive atmosphere inside, away from the dreary winter weather. 

I decided to have lunch at the food court, though I was a bit surprised at what constitutes a food court here. Most of the food available was actually at nicer, sit-down style restaurants. There is a Quickly burger, and a bagel place, but most everything is eat-in. This is actually really cool, as all the tables stretch out into the hallway like outdoor cafes. It feels cozy and festive, and there are tons of people having lunch when I arrive at 12:30. I walk the mall for half an hour and let things clear out a bit. There is a cool looking Moroccan restaurant, sushi, the obligatory pasta places, both a takeaway booth and a full sit-down restaurant). There’s a fancy place called K-Beef, which has a beef tasting menu for 2 with Luxembourgish, Argentinian and Austrailian filet to sample.

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I, however, decided to eat at the pub in the center of the square. There is a round bar-restaurant shaped like a giant mash-tun with international flags all around it and 5(!) beers on tap. It serves the food from the Italian restaurant…. but I was not feeling pasta. I ordered the Wiener Schnitzel and a Bofferding. The waitress returns with like a million dishes. There’s a salad and a bowl of fries and a little bread basket and of course, the plate with the schnitzel. It was quite the production. I relaxed and enjoyed some fried food. 

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After lunch, I made my way to the Auchan. Auchan is a chain of supermarkets, but this market is called the “Hypermarket”, indicating that it is far superior to those markets that are just ‘super’. I enter on the second floor, which is where all of the clothing, housewares, appliances, etc. can be found. It’s interesting enough, essentially the Luxembourgish equivalent of a Target. It’s huge and clean, and the variety of brands of everything far surpasses what I’ve seen in the city. But overall, it’s just a Target-type store. Not wowed. 

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Then I went downstairs. To the grocery section. Now. This is where the magic is. I tried not to get kicked out of the store for taking photos, so I’ll just tell you. Holy cow it was awesome. They have like, a million things. And they’re all interesting and tasty looking. They really have tons of varieties of little pre-packaged appetizers and dinner party treats. And these people are not here to joke around when it comes to celebrating the holidays and hosting a dinner party. They have entire Iberico ham legs, hoof and all, with the wooden holder so you can impress your holiday guests. There is an entire aisle of foie gras products…. both pates and whole livers, as well as everything you could ever want to serve with it. Fancy little jams and accompaniments. 

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And, because it’s Christmastime, they have a stand in the middle of the store.  A guy is making Bamkuchen, Tree Cakes. These are special Christmas cakes that are made by taking a 4-foot-long tube and dipping it in batter, then baking it while rotating, like a rotisserie. Then dipping it in batter, then baking that layer. On and on and on. And finally, it gets dipped into a frosting. Then it’s sliced and the inside looks like the rings of a tree.  I’ve seen them in youtube videos, but never in real life. Definitely a highlight of the day. Of course, I picked one up to take home. (More info here)

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After my awesome adventures, I was never hungry again. So around 9 p.m. I decided I needed to eat something. I didn’t go out tonight, but instead I opened my can of Kachkéis, smeared it on some toast, and had a slice of my bamkuch. Kachkéis is a famous Luxembourgish dairy product, a form of cheese. It features prominently in the Superjhemp film, as it’s what our hero eats to become super. It’s kind of the Luxembourgish version of Popeye eating his spinach. It comes in a little tub and it’s essentially…. like the center of a wheel of brie without any of the rind. It’s salty, a little pungent, but I enjoyed it. It could definitely pair well with either something sharp like onions/radishes/dill or something kind of sweet, like a dried apricots and honey drizzle.  The Bamkuch was also delicious, though it seems that the frosting has some marzipan in it. Maybe also the cake. It’s not overwhelming, but I don’t care for marzipan flavor so it’s mildly off-putting. The texture and the visual beauty of the layers are super cool.

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