- Metaxa and a baked apple. #
- Strawberry rhubarb pie and lots of coffee. #
- BBQ ribs, four sorts of salad. The end of a long weekend full of eating. #
- Light lunch of summer rolls and not-so-hot and sour soup. #
- Oddly gelatinous-fibrous mango smoothie. #
- Free brownie #
- Pork chimichangas in the City Market. My lunch staple for 12 years. #
- Peanut soup and jerk chicken. #
- Delicious trailer sushi from Sushi-A-Go-Go http://www.sushi-a-go-go-austin.com/ #
- Marinated tempeh with shikate mushrooms with basmati rice and fennel coconut curry sauce, balsamic drizzled all around. Tasty. Too little. #
- Grilled trout, portabello mushrooms, green asparagus, potato crab cakes, and zucchini #
- Spicy squid rice bowl. It's becoming a Friday tradition. #
- Schusterjungen with roast chicken, avocado, tomatoes and sweet mustard. Peanuts and ice tea. Eaten on the train near Saarbrücken. #
- Speck and onion Flammkuchen #
- One home made Knödel. It's a trial run. Slightly undercooked. #
Month: May 2010
Inventory
A desire to eat well — well here meaning both healthfully and elevated — inspires me to buy certain ingredients to keep in my pantry. However, when I moved to Berlin I did not know how long I would stay, and so I was reluctant to buy pantry items that I might never use up. Plus I had myself on a no-added-sugar regime. At home, I extended this to no cream. In grocery stores, I shied away from jams and most condiments other than mustard. I did not eliminate cheese (as if I would ever do that!). My cooking at home became sort of dull as I found myself eating raw vegetables for breakfast and tuna with capers on pasta for dinner. I had lost inspiration when I removed my freedom.
Eventually I got beyond my commitment fear and my calorie obsession and started into the buying. Lentils, rices, tins of beans, and the group of things I collectively refer to as Kitchen Liquids. Now it is all starting to feel like clutter. Wasteful clutter.
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Mission: BBQ
Dispatch #1
BBQ acquired. Cookbook scanned. Plans brewing.
Amsterdam
Road trip! On the Autobahn! To Amsterdam! Where is was actually sunny and warm, unlike Berlin!
In brief: if the Germans know pork, then the Dutch know dairy.
The grocery store even had a walk-in milk cooler. All the milk I’ve had in Europe (even the discount milk in tetra paks) has been better than the tasteless slime you get in North America, but the milk in the Netherlands was no less than delicious.
The apartment we rented had a gorgeous terrace that was perfect for enjoying the bright sunny mornings. We ate leisurely breakfasts out there all three days. I zoned in on cheese and butter and crackers and toast. I dabbed on some jam every few bites. Lovely.
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What we’re eating, weekly digest 2010-05-23
- 200g of haricots verts, sautéed with garlic, seasoned with salt and pepper. No accompaniment. #
- fresh salmon on bulgur with olive oil and lemon juice. from the “wellness” bar. #
- I poached eggs in the microwave. They exploded. #
- Bacon and eggs with toast and a glass of grapefruit juice. And ketchup, of course. #
- Buckwheat crêpe with Emmentaler and an espresso. #
- Wood-fired oven pizza with carmelized onions, blue cheese, and walnuts. #
- Belgian chocolate with candied orange peel. #
- duck burger with napa cabbage and stewed red onions. #
- Cheesecake for breakfast. #
- Pork tomatillo tamales. #
Taverne du Passage
Normally I avoid restaurants listed in guide books. The last place I want to be is a restaurant crowded with American tourists. This trip was different. The center of Brussels is incredibly touristy – in the way that French cities often have touristy neighborhoods. I guess I tend to forget that Berlin isn’t as touristy as it sometimes feels.
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What we’re eating, weekly digest 2010-05-16
- Omelet with fiddleheads, trout, dill, shallots, and Boursin. Plus lots of #javamoose coffee. #
- No. 52 with duck on fried noodles at the local Asian place. Sauce that looked like vomit and smelled of cinnamon. Gross. Sad. #Regrettable #
- amazing! terra® swiss roots chips – carrots, red beets and sugar beets with herbed sea salt http://bit.ly/aFjvK8 #
- Bier #
- Noodles. Again. This time curry udon. #
- Five more pounds of scallops. Microbrew named after Abraham Gesner, inventor of kerosene. #
- Cheddar made in 2005 + arugula pesto and crackers. #
Spargelzeit
This post should come as no surprise to those of you who have heard me (and Kristin and Tiffany) make fun of the Germans’ love of white asparagus and serving it up as part of an all-white meal. White asparagus is king here, and the fatter the stems, the better. Slim green asparagus: no way Jose! Continue reading “Spargelzeit”
Yam Yam
Kristin told me about a newish casual Korean place on Alte Schönhauser Straße called Yam Yam. After her rave review, we went there together and we both had the super yummy bulgogi rice bowl. The bulgogi was served with piles of fresh baby spinach on top (a hard to find item in Berlin). I find a lot of white rice too boring to even finish eating, but the rice they serve has personality and nice bite: plump, sticky grains. All mains come with three side dishes: kimchi plus two others. Kristin and I were served different ones so we got to try their whole selection. Some sides were better than others, but all were tasty.
Noto
When I was in Berlin last December, Tiffany, Kristin and I had a lovely four-course meal at Noto, a small, brand-new restaurant in Tiffany’s building. Not only was the food great and the atmosphere cozy, we sat across from the open kitchen and had fun watching the chef, who seemed to be putting on a show just for us (or so we liked to think). Clearly he was pleased that we were excited about the food. There were a few kinks, but we chalked them up to the restaurant having just opened.
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VIVRE POUR MANGER 