Welcome to the prairie!

Yes, meat&chocolate is still alive. It just went through a hibernation and metamorphosis process.
New home, new plans, new name!

A little more than one month ago Wil, my pet rabbit Beule and I moved from Berlin to the Canadian prairies. We traded our little tiny apartment in the vibrant capital city of Germany for a life on the countryside south of Calgary.

As you can probably imagine, this is a huge change for us, and quite an adventure.

There are tons of things we need to learn and have to get used to.

For example, we are now completely dependent on a car. The town of Okotoks is 5km away and it takes us about 45 minutes to get to downtown Calgary. I didn't drive for over 12 years  because I always lived in big cities with a good public transport system. Now I have to drive in order to buy groceries or to get to work, and I have to practice being a hoarder buying enough food in advance.

So that's definitely a little challenge, because I'm used to just popping downstairs to the grocery store next door for some spontaneous wine, chocolate etc.

But there are also a lot of good things about living on the countryside. Rather than listening to drunk party folks yelling in front of our house at 4am in the morning, we get to fall asleep to coyotes howling in the fields, and wake up to deer eating the crabapples in our garden. And then there is wide-open space, beautiful sunsets and a breathtaking view of the Rocky Mountains.

Here are some impressions of our new home:

Our little house on the prairies, including our temporary
but mandatory pick-up truck. 

Our property with the big red barn!

Our future vegetable garden - photo taken from our kitchen window

The view we wake up to every morning. I love the rockies!

We even got a little barn cat. We named her Schröder, after my maiden name.
She is still a kitten, but very hungry and growing quickly.

 Schröder, the kitten

And yes, before you ask, my rabbit Beule arrived safe and sound and is enjoying his Canadian home....

The rabbit loves Canada!

...especially his new favourite spot in front of the fireplace.

With so much space and freedom we made tons of (food-) related plans. 

But first of all we need to build up our lives here. 

A few days after our arrival I took on a part-time position at the Kensington Wine Market to learn more about wine, beer and whisky. I've also been helping out as a production assistant at photo shootings for HeroImages. The last time I worked for them I was asked to do some spontaneous food styling for one of their "Christmas"-shoots.

Food styling for HeroImages...The Christmas Ham

So two jobs within the first two weeks of being here...I guess that's not that bad!

You see, I've been quite busy the last couple of weeks and I'm still pretty overwhelmed. Therefore cooking and blogging didn't really happen, also because we didn't have well-functioning internet.

Well, we cooked, but not really anything new...

One of our standard meals for the past four weeks:
scrambled eggs from hutterite eggs with tomatoes, chive from our garden
and maple bacon.

This is going to change very soon! I'm so excited and motivated to try out new recipes and get to know our new kitchen a bit better. But I also want to focus more on the self-sufficient aspect of living on the country side. Wil and I want grow our own fruits and vegetables, hunt, forage, make cheese, smoke meat and maybe have livestock of some sort.

Hibernation is over, my friends. I'm awake and ready to throw myself into new food adventures!

Welcome to Our Little House On the Prairie!

ZULA Hummus Café

The best hummus in Berlin for good and reasonable prices.

Authentic Israeli cuisine served by super friendly folks who, if you wish, will explain how to best enjoy the different dishes.

Everything is fresh and homemade. 

The pita bread is warm and soft and the garlic lemon dressing rounds out the hummus' flavors perfectly.

Also try the homemade lemonade with fresh red beets. It's very refreshing!

That was our late breakfast...

ZULA Hummus Café, located on Husemannstr. 10 in 10435 Berlin.

Restaurant: Bandol Sur Mer (Berlin)

A couple of days ago we went for dinner at Bandol on Torstraße in Berlin-Mitte. 

photo source:Tip Berlin, Essen Und Trinken

Bandol is a strange little place. It is tiny with only a few small tables and an open kitchen that is almost as big as the service area. You definitely need to make a reservation for either 6 or 9pm.

First I thought this is another 'Berlin-bullshit-we are better than you' thing. But it actually makes sense, and I was positively surprised by how nicely it effected the atmosphere in this small space. Every table was served almost at the same time.

photo source: http://www.mitteschoen.com

There are usually only two set menus each night which, when we were there, were 49€ and 59€ each. They contained four to five different French cuisine inspired courses, of which each was written down on the giant chalkboards that cover most of the restaurant's walls. For those who were not able to read the quite questionable handwriting on the boards (me), they handed out printed menu cards. 

The waiters were very friendly and helpful. Ok, one of them was a little grumpy, but you know, more in a cute way. Not arrogant or anything. He just needed a few moments to get used to us, and then in the end he was adorable!

However, the other waiter offered us a wine pairing to each course which we happily said yes to, of course.
It was amazing! The wine was so so good, and I made tons of notes. 

To start off right, I had a glass Vilmart et Cie Grand Cellier Premier Cru Brut, Champagne. 

First we got a little Amuse Geule (greeting from the kitchen)
I don't fully remember it. But I think it was:
Chilled Red Pepper Soup and a Baby Scallop with some sort of sauce.

Wil's first course:
Red Mullet and Veil Head, Nettles, Capers and Lemon.
Wine:
2010 Maison Moillard Bourgogne Chardonnay Tradition, Burgundy
(which had a very nice creamy and buttery aroma and texture),

My first course: 
Foie Gras de Maison with Apricots, Cellery and Brioche.
(I actually had promised myself to never eat Foie Gras again...Oh well at least it was delicious)

Wine:
2009 Frank Brohl Marienburg Riesling Spätlese dry.
(unusual to pair Foie Gras with dry wine, but this was an excellent choice)

Second course:
Saddle of Rabbit and Green Lipped Mussels with
Passepierre Algae, Tarragon, Velouté and Violets
Wine: 
2010 Saint Bris Sauvignon Domaine Sorin, Cuvee, France

The waiter also made us try:

2006 Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss Muscat Clos Rebgarten, Alsace, France

This is a biodynamic wine, means it is produced in small quantities by only using natural sources
like the moon and sun rythm/power and homeopathic additives...something like that, and only the natural yeast of the grapes. 
The wine had almost a 'beery' taste to it, yeasty, a bit similar to lambic beer, but very elegant and subtle. 
Quite interesting. I could have drank more of that. 
Oh wait, I was already drunk...well, then maybe not...

So this must have been where the wine kicked in for the first time, 

because I obviously missed taking a photo of our third course: 

Tartare and ham from Schorfheide deer with corn and onions.

Wine: 

2005 Domaine Theulot Juillot Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise, France 

Ah, here we go again!
Fourth Course:
Braised Free Range Beef Tenderloin (served medium)
with Chanterelles, Rosemary, Kohlrabi and Red Currant
Wine:
If I only knew!
I guess I forgot to write that one down, as well...damn it!

Ok, this is embarassing. No dessert photo, either.

Dessert:
Cherry, Praline and Yoghurt
Wine:
2005 Gres Saint Paul Muscat de Lunel Rosanna, Languedoc-Roussillon, France 


To my defense I have to say, that really I was f***ing wasted by the time I walked out of Bandol.
The waiter served us way to much wine. He promised there would be small glasses.
But I guess he lied...a white lie, of course.

Well, it was a wonderful night with wonderful food and wine and really good service in a cosy and intimate atmosphere. 
And we learned so much about very interesting wines. 
 The prices for this kind of food were absolutely moderate and they gave us an incredible deal on the wine.

In my opinion one of the best restaurants I found here in Berlin.
I would definitely go again!

Königsberger Klopse or meatballs in white sauce with capers...

Königsberger Klopse is a Prussian specialty and one of Berlin's national dishes. 

It's meatballs served in a creamy white sauce with capers and usually potatoes on the side, 

and every kid loves them. Except for the capers, maybe. 

But kids can just pick them out of the sauce. I did that, too when I was little.  

Anyway not only being a Berliner, but also having some Prussian blood running through my veins, 

I decided to  introduce my non-German friends to this wonderful meal of my and a lot of German's childhood.

There is some "rules" about how to make proper Königsberger Klopse, though. 

One would think it's adding simply adding capers. 

No, that's far too easy! Let's just take this for granted. 

The rules I'm talking about are a little more subtle and not that obvious at first sight.

I have to admit I never really made Königsberger Klopse myself and do not even know if I have ever eaten the original version. I don't even think there is THE original version to it. But two things seem to be quite important: The original is made with ground veil and anchovy. 

I think no one I know, including my parents or grandparents, ever made them with ground veil. 

I'm not sure of they added anchovy, either. 

Since I cannot afford a baby these days I decided to stick with what I'm familiar with when making meatballs, which is a mix of ground beef and pork. 

I was curious about adding anchovy to the ground meat mass, though. 

Therefore I decided to at least try this.

And hell, were they delicious!

You really won't taste anything fishy. 

I don't think I would like that.

We still have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow, as well...

Here's what you need for the meatballs:

500-600g mix of gound beef and pork, or the gourmet version: ground veil

2-2.5 anchovy filets

1.5 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 onion finely copped

1 tbsp butter

1 stale bun

1 tsp mustard

one egg

salt

pepper

For the sauce:

600ml of beef broth

2 bay leaves

3 black peppercorns

1 tbsp lemon juice

2Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp butter

200g cream

3 Tbsp of capers (small, pickled with pickle juice...)

salt

pepper

Starting with the meatballs, you soak the stale bun in water until soft and fully soaked, 

then press out the surplus water.

In a pan melt butter and sauté the finely chopped onion until translucent. 

Finely chop the anchovy filets. 

In a bowl mix ground meat, anchovy filets, soaked bun, egg, mustard, lemon juice, onion, salt and pepper and knead everything with your hands until even.

 Form golf ball sized meatballs from the mix.

meatballs simmering in beef broth with bay leaves, lemon juice and pepper corns

In a wide saucepan heat up the beef broth and add lemon juice, bay leaves and peppercorns.

Carefully place the meatballs in the saucepan. 

The broth should not boil. Otherwise the meatballs might fall apart. 

Cover with a lid and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove the meatballs from the broth and toss the bay leaves.

In a separate pan melt butter. Stir in the flour. 

It will be all crumbly and might look weird. 

But everything is ok. That's how you make a roux!

Now slowly whisk in the broth. 

Don't pour in everything at once and stir really well after every step, 

so lumps dissolve and the sauce gets even.

Add the cream and let the sauce boil slightly for another 10 minutes.

Now add the capers and their pickle juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

The sauce should be creamy and thicker. But if you think it's still too thick, mix more broth or water in it.

Add the meatballs to the caper sauce and heat everything up, in case you need to reheat the meatballs.

Serve with potatoes!

PS: You have to add capers.
Otherwise it won't taste as good.
They and the juice add a very unique flavour and nice acidity to the sauce.

Chanterelles tutorial...

Like almost at every weekend so far, today Wil and I went mushroom picking again. We are getting better and better at it; means we slowly figure out how to look for them and to find where they hide. Especially chanterelles are in season right now. It is so much fun to walk through the forest and search for them. A nice side effect: you get out of the city and get some exercise. Your eyes and legs get, anyway. And if you don't find any mushrooms, the mosquitos will find you for sure! Or you just run into one of the many spiderwebs...argh.

Besides that it's fantastic, I promise. Here is my very short amateur chanterelle video tutorial. You might even get to see a chanterelle in there, if you look closely...

Okay. it's not really a tutorial. 

All I wanted to do is to brag a little bit about our mushroom picking skills...

So, who is in for next weekend?

Wil looking tough-ass, with our harvest...

Wiener Schnitzel @ Prater, Berlin

Yesterday our wonderful friends Anna and Beau decided to throw us an engagement party. 

We thought the best way to start the night would be with four giant Wiener Schnitzel at Prater, 

the oldest Biergarten in Berlin,

and so it came to pass:

Beau excitedly waiting for his Schnitzel,
a giant piece of veil that gets hammered,
then coated with egg and breadcrumbs and deep-fried,
served with lemon and potatoes/potato salad

Anna trying her first Schnitzel

in Schnitzel-Action

On an un-Schnitzel-related side note:
That's the ring Wil got me for our engagement!

Always remember: Only a Wiener Schnitzel made with veil is a real Wiener Schnitzel! 

Everything else would have to be called "Vienna style Schnitzel". 

Our first rasberries! wohoo!

We bought a rasberry and a blackberry plant last year in spring but were not very lucky.
No fruits in 2010.
Even worse: the blackberry didn't make it through the Russian climate influenced winter of Berlin.
The rasberry plant however survived (maybe it fed off the blackberry by sucking out it's life energy...).
It grew strong and is now covered with berries that are now turning red.
We were already able to harvest some and, what can I say, they were delicious!
At this point I feel obliged to say thank you to Wil's enthusiasm when it comes to gardening.
He is taking care of all the plants.
A real plant-dad...
Good to have a gardener in the family.
If I had taken care of them they would probably be dead already.

Anyway, here are some pics:

Tomatoes soon, as well!

Perfect Sunday Breakfast...

...with eggs, bacon,  potato fritters, fruits, nutella and sweet buns and cookies from Hacker!

Hacker is this old-timey bakery on Stargarder Str. 69 in 10437 Berlin.
It has been around since 1970 and survived the fall of the berlin wall and the change from kommunism to capitalism.  Everything is really cheap. Normal buns "Schrippen" are 20Cents a piece. the sweet yeast buns called "Splitterbrötchen" are 35Cents a piece and delicious! I recommend to come early in the morning when they are still soft and warm....hmmm.

CHIPPS and Berlin street food

So I'm back from Provence.
One week of in my opinion the best smelling, best looking and best tasting region of the world.
I made tons of photos, bought and ate plenty of food and drank gallons of incredibly good wine.
But more about that later.

First of all I'm very proud to present you the two reviews I wrote for the Berlin special of the urbanite section of SOMA magazine (LA, USA).
















I wrote both articles in English which makes me even prouder since English is not my native language.
You probably noticed that already.
I had great help from Wil and Jesi Khadivi who edited my articles.

Here is the first article about street food in Berlin.

And This one is about Berlin's new healthy food
gourmet temple CHIPPS.

Maifest and Jerk Chicken!

Yesterday was May 1st, day of labour and holiday in Germany.

Especially in the cities Berlin and Hamburg on this day there are a lot of riots between punks and police going on at night. Flying stones, burning cars, fights, teargas...everywhere.

But a couple of years ago some people decided to start a counter movement called "Maifest".

Someone even sold cookie monster muffins there!

Therefore stages are set up in Berlin Kreuzberg, the centre of the riots, where different bands and djs perform and along the streets people sell all kinds of street food and drinks.

 

From kids, families and Turkish mamas to Chinese, Africans, Mexicans, caipirinha, beer, wine, orange juice, vegan, meat, cake, ayuveda, organic, meatballs etc...you can find anyone and anything here!

Everyone is happy and acting peaceful.
No matter if families or mums with prams, punks, ravers, metalheads, hipsters or turkish hiphop and beakdancers.

It's a big celebration, at least as long as the sun isn't setting.

As soon as it gets dark I would highly recommend to leave this place.
The best indication is when the stands start packing up hectically or when the special police squads put on their helmets and start grouping  and running around...
Well in the last case it might already be too late.

You can smell and see the smoke from far away.

However, I mainly come there for the food and the atmosphere.
My favorite stand is the one with the jerk chicken of carribean soul food restaurant Ya-Man.
Each year they sell chicken legs that they smoke in their converted metal drums.

Tonight we will eat the leftovers from yesterdays chicken...
I'm already hungry.

SO GOOD!

Pelmeni Imbiss at Ostbahnhof

Every Sunday there is this huge antique market at Berlin Ostbahnhof. 

From furniture, books, jewellery, pottery, records, 

you can find anything there even second world war nazi stuff 

(the swastikas get covered up with stickers). 

Aside from the market there is this weird Russian Imbiss stand that sells all kinds of Russian food: 

Pelmenis, Blini, Borschtsch, Soljanka, Pirogies, Russian beer and liquor etc. 

Vladimir Egozov, the owner, is a Russian original, who, with a significant Russian accent, 

gives you advices and recommendations on food and pieces of wisdom. 

You won't always get what you ordered, Bortsch seems to be out every time we go there, 

and even if you end up not liking the food 

(some dishes can be quite greasy):

it's quite inexpensive and definitely worth the experience!

I highly recommend the Pelmeni and Soljanka.

You can't go wrong with that!

Let me introduce you to Joachim Rong...

www.joachimrong.de

One thing I love about Berlin is that there are so many little wine stores.

You can find one on almost every second street in Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte.

I love wine but I rarely have a clue what wine to drink with what kind of food.

Therefore it's best to just walk into one of those stores and ask the people there.

You tell them what you are planning to cook/eat and how much you are willing  to spend and they'll figure out what wine would be best.

Joachim really likes to drink wine, as well!

One of my favorite wine stores is Joachim Rongs Weingalerie on Gaudystraße 25 in 10437 Berlin (Prenzlauer Berg).

So far every wine he recommended to us was a perfect fit.

Joachim is a super nice guy who not only likes wine but, what's most important, also loves his job.

I remember walking into wine stores before and feeling kind of intimidated because I didn't have a clue and the owners often seemed annoyed. Especially when I told them that I wasn't planning to spend more than 8 or 9 Euros on a bottle.

Joachim is pretty easy and casual about this. Neither does he make a big mystery or science about the different varietals or wine-growing districts, nor will he try to sell you something at any cost or give you the feeling of not being a member of the privileged wine club society.
For him it's more important that the wine tastes good and that he can share his knowledge and new discoveries with you.The prices for a bottle start at around 6 Euros and go up to 60-70 Euros per bottle. He regularly offers wine tastings where he opens a couple of bottles and serves some snacks.
They range between 10 and 20 Euros.
In the back of his store Joachim has a little gallery where he regularly has small exhibitions and shows work of different artists.

My favorite wines at Joachim's 

(so far) are:

Whites

Hammel Sauvignon Blanc collage

Lomond Sauvignon Blanc

Barth Kabinett Riesling, dry

  

Reds

Abadal, Crianza Cabernet

Sauvignon-Merlot-Pla de Bages DO

Taurus Tinto Roble Tinto de Toro

Lomond Conebush Syrah