My First Süddeutsches Experience

Although still in northernmost part of Germany - Süddeutschland is apparently not that far. It is Kielerwoche ("Kiel week") for the moment, and besides Latino-, African-, Italian-, Danish- and American influences there is a certain amount of Süddeutsch (read: Bayerischer) influence too. Something that is (off course) of great interest for this blog.

Today I ended up in a Bayerischer tent, drinking a klein (0.5 l) bier and eating a kind of minced meat + cheese + leek burger. The burger was served in a small Rye bread (brötchen). It was early afternoon, but the Stimmung was already high (as is evident from the video...). As an according music lover, the non-stop accordion live music and the spontaneous percussion added to the enjoyable atmosphere.

German Home Cooking II - Oysters + Bananenbier

After last weeks first tentative exploration of German home cooking it's now time to get serious. Currently spending time in the Saint Tropez of Germany - Sylt on the north North Sea coast - and what could then be more appropriate than Oysters?

As all connoisseurs of good food know, good eats need to be matched with good drinks, and to make it extra German we chose Bananen-Bier, which is a 50/50 mix of Hefe-Weißbier and Bananen-Saft (Banana Juice). Look at the picture above how much happiness Bananenbier drinking leads to.

First Exploration in German Home Cooking

After having gained some initial in German Cuisine: ingredients, cooking techniques, dishes etc. I found it was high time for the first exploration of German cuisine zu Hause (at home). I decided for a simple dish, Bratwurst mit Kartoffelpuré und gekochtes weisse Spargel und Spitzkohl. The sausages were of type "Thüringer-Art", fresh, bought in the delicatessen counter in one of the more fancy supermarkets of Kiel. A sailor from New Zealand was invited to the dinner.

So how was it? Not splendid, but rustic and tasty. Next time, I'll try to something more ambitious, for sure.

This dinner was somewhat inspired by a blog college - "The red Chef" - specialist in Swedish trad., hearty cooking. Check him out by clicking here!

Food + Academic titles = ???

Prof. Dr. Oetker does have an extra (probably quite profitable) extra income - but how could he let the designer omit his full title on the package???

Spargelzeit

It is Spargelzeit (Aspargus season) in Germany. Here, one serving suggestion is presented, with some protein addition.

Schmalz - einfach lecker!

Everyone who loves good food knows how important good fat is give the food an extra kick. To carry the good flavours of a well cooked dish, cuisines such as the French use butter and in the Italian cuisine, the good flavours come with the olive oil. So what do Germans use? The answer is "Schmalz". Schmalz exist in a variety versions - the everyday Schweineschmalz to more luxury Gänseschmalz (goose schmalz) and for the weekend: Partyschmalz. So what is schmalz exactly? I'd say it is untranslatable, but if you type it in Google Scholar it is translated to "lard" in English and "flott" in Swedish. I suppose no further explanation is needed.

The schmalz applications seems largely unlimited, some links to a variety of recipes are listed below.

This is serious Schmalz-cooking

For the Gourmet, Goose-Schmalz

Baking with Schmalz, "Italienische Brötchen" (a.k.a. Muffins)

Getting serious - make our own Schmalz

Ein Eier - gericht. (An Egg dish)

This dish was eaten at Mensa Seeburg (Kiel) May 14th. There are boiled potatoes, stowed spinach (possibly with some cream in - rich in taste) and scrambled eggs. Simple but quite tasty.