HANS REISETBAUER & ROLAND TRETTL
Markus: Why do you produce your own soy sauce?
Roland: Because soy sauce has been a staple food since my year in Tokyo.that has always haunted me. I see soy sauce as a basic food,that can be used anywhere. It’s also a great challenge to make a soy sauce from regionalregional products.
Hans: Because we can.
Markus: How did you come up with the idea?
Hans: Roland came up with the idea.
Roland: It’s a long-standing friendship. You need 2 people, a lot ofcourage, a lot of crazy ideas, a lot of space (Hans), a lot of know-how, a lot of space forgrowing the basic organic ingredients. It simply takes 2 crazy people whohave the desire to do something new.
Markus: What was the biggest challenge in the production/development?
Roland: The uncertainties at the beginning, not knowing what will really come out. You can only try and trust, and above all, wait for a long time. That was the biggest challenge for me because it’s the biggest difference compared to the kitchen. In the kitchen, I know after a few hours whether it worked or not. In this case, you’re experimenting with a small barrel – even though you already know it can’t be as high-quality as the large one – because Reisetbauer can only be large. With the small one, we already knew after a few months that it could work.That was one step – but the step to the large barrel is a whole different story again.
Roland: For me, the factor of time is something fatal – because for me as a chef, everything always happens quickly. Everything always has to be fast for me. Things like being a winemaker or making 3-year-old Gouda cheese were just never conceivable for me. Because things always have to be done quickly for me, and I always wanted to serve my dishes immediately to the connoisseur. And suddenly, you have a product that needs to ferment and be aged, and probably would be much better in 2 years than after 6 months.
Hans: The taste and, at the beginning, the small scale – we are not set up for small, we normally only produce on a large scale. It’s just so difficult to achieve a consistent taste in small quantities; it only works on a large scale. Time is never an issue for me because we always have it (in schnapps production).
Markus: What’s next? Are there already plans for a new project?
Hans: We won’t reveal that to you now.
Roland: Since the beginning of the production of organic soy sauce, I always had in mind that something more must happen from the fermented and pressed soybeans. They taste so good and unfortunately get discarded after production. Also, in terms of sustainability, something has to happen with them. I dried the beans, finely ground them, and tried different spice blends. Instead of salt, I used the soybeans. Definitely, more will happen than just soy sauce. There is certainly more to it than liquid soy sauce – it will also be available in powder form. It starts with the basic ingredient, soy from our own organic farming.
In mid-April, the sowing takes place at Reisetbauer Organic Farming, and under perfect conditions, the harvest can finally be reaped in late summer. Cultivating on their own fields provides the significant advantage of continuous quality control. After the harvest, the soybeans are taken directly to a mill, where they are gently steamed. Back at the Reisetbauer Quality Distillery, the steamed soybeans are moistened with organic wheat and rye malt. The right mixing ratio and the resulting consistency are crucial for the perfect soy sauce. Subsequently, the fermentation begins, and the future soy sauce is allowed to rest for about 3 days. After fermentation, the mixture is blended with carefully selected Bad Ischler Master Salt. Now, for the next few days, it’s time to stir! For a week straight daily, and then once a week for over seven months. Interestingly, the soy sauce is stored throughout the entire production process in Pichon-Longueville barrels! These barrels come from the famous winery “Château Pichon-Longueville-Baron” in Bordeaux and contribute to a particularly fine aroma. Only after seven months is the mixture allowed to be pressed for the first time. This is done using a basket press. Afterward, it is filtered and filled through a pasteurizer.
