It doesn't always have to be caviar

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It doesn't always have to be caviar is a novel by the Austrian writer Johannes Mario Simmel , published in 1960 . The work bears the subtitle The daredevil adventures and exquisite cooking recipes of the unwilling secret agent Thomas Lieven .

content

The book is about the German banker Thomas Lieven, who tried to evade the secret services of those involved during World War II and the subsequent Cold War . It begins with Lieven, who was living in London at the time , had to travel to Germany in 1939, which he hated. There he is arrested by the Gestapo because he was tricked by his business partner in London .

The only way to get out is to work as a defense agent . He apparently agrees, just to be able to leave Germany. Back in London, the British secret service does not want to let him into the country - it is known that Lieven is now a German agent - unless he works as a double agent for England. This time he does not agree and goes to France. But there, too, he was recruited, surrendered to his fate and became an agent of the Deuxième Bureau .

In the course of the novel he moves on from one secret service to the next, always making sure to save as many lives as possible. He travels all over Europe, from France to Spain and Portugal and shortly to Italy , then back to Germany . On his travels or adventures, as the author calls them in the book, he gets to know different women whom he always seduces with a delicious meal. However, he also defuses other sensitive situations with the help of his excellent cooking skills, the recipes of which are actually included in the book. In the course of the plot he meets various personalities such as Jacques Cousteau , Josephine Baker , Wilhelm Canaris , Heinrich Himmler and J. Edgar Hoover . He was able to persuade him to do one last job, the capture of the Soviet spy Abel . Thomas agrees, on condition that he can "finally die" after this mission. After he succeeds in convicting Abel, Thomas' death is staged and he can finally live in peace.

The main person

The main character is a German banker named Thomas Lieven who lives and works in London. He is extraordinarily intelligent, attractive, and speaks English, French, and German without an accent, which will come in very handy as a secret agent throughout the book. The problem for all military and secret services is that he is a staunch pacifist and uses his intelligence to pursue his own goals.

He also has a soft spot for women and cooking. A cookbook of the recipes used in the novel has been published.

Recipes

Recipes and a. for the following dishes are described in the book:

Film adaptations

There are two movies and a television series from the novel. In the films that only loosely adhered to the novel, OW Fischer played the leading role of Thomas Lieven , in the 13-part television series Siegfried Rauch . Both cinema films were released on VHS video and DVD, the television series on DVD.

  1. Result: How it all began, first broadcast on May 11, 1977, presented recipe: Champagne cabbage
  2. Result: French cuisine, first broadcast on May 25, 1977, presented recipe: curd pancakes
  3. Result: When the polar bears fled, first broadcast on June 8, 1977, presented recipe: Romanian onion salad
  4. Result: My name is Mabel, first broadcast on June 22, 1977, presented recipe: stew made from beans and goose legs
  5. Consequence: the dead cannot be shot, first broadcast: July 6, 1977, presented recipe: American Chop Suey
  6. Result: Grid square 135 Z, first broadcast on July 20, 1977, presented recipe: Stuffed Partridge
  7. Result: Shakespeare sends you out, first broadcast: August 3, 1977, presented recipe: fried potatoes
  8. Episode: Lazarus, first broadcast on August 17, 1977, featured recipe: Matelote (Alsatian fish stew)
  9. Episode: Chantal, first broadcast on August 31, 1977, presented recipe: Bigos
  10. Result: The very fine tour, first broadcast on September 14, 1977, presented recipe: Chili con carne
  11. Result: Number seven, first broadcast on September 28, 1977, presented recipe: Swiss Pork Plätzli
  12. Episode: Nightingale 17 is calling, first broadcast on October 12, 1977, presented recipe: rump steak
  13. Result: Black market shops, first broadcast October 19, 1977 recipe presented: Beef tartare with caviar

expenditure

  • Johannes Mario Simmel: It doesn't always have to be caviar. The cheeky adventures and exquisite cooking recipes of the unwilling secret agent Thomas Lieven . Zurich: Swiss printing and publishing house, 1960, 602 pp.
  • Johannes Mario Simmel: It doesn't always have to be caviar. Droemer Knaur, ISBN 978-3-426-62000-7
  • Johannes Mario Simmel: It doesn't always have to be caviar. The cheeky adventures and exquisite cooking recipes of the unwilling secret agent Thomas Lieven. ISBN 3-7263-6561-3

Audio book

The title was also published as an audio book in full, spoken by Klaus Zwick. ISBN 978-3-865-38496-6

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Film details and recipes for the film