Page 52 - Neutrons for Sciences and Society

Neutrons for Science
have no recollection of this, nor has Andreas Freund, his student
at the ILL. Silvia Brügelmann, then his secretary cannot recall
it, though she could certainly imagine such a thing. Professor Csikszentmilhalyi told me in an e-mail that he knew Maier-Leibnitz and his second wife well, and had spent several weeks with him
in the early 1990s, when Maier-Leibnitz had spoken of this. The fact I have no recollection of this may come from my lack of observational skills; perhaps he was not bored with Freund and me. I imagine he would have performed this activity very discreetly.
Despite his great height (about 1m90, 6ft 3in) he was shy and modest. He avoided showing his sensitivity in public. There was
an area where his shyness faded; this was in the kitchen. He was undoubtedly an excellent chef and he knew it. He used this skill to establish informal links and friendships with those he liked. These meals, at least the ones I had the pleasure to join in, took place following a specific ritual: one dish, salad, and cheese (which he bought himself), and after the meal a wine-tasting of a good bottle
of wine, most often a Burgundy. For many years we used the same supplier, a winemaker in Volnay. At that time I believed that wine served after the meal, as in Oxford and Cambridge colleges, was also usual in Germany; but nothing of the sort. I can testify that Maier-Leibnitz had a real interest in fine wine. During a journey in Bavaria he made us discover excellent German wines. His passion for cooking led him to write three cookery books. I cite his first book “Kochbuch für Füchse: Grosse Kűche – schnell und gastlich” (The Crafty Cookbook Grande Cuisine - quick and homely) published
by Piper in 1980. He intersperses his recipes with memories of meetings with world leaders.
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