Quite possibly the best German cookbook in the US at the moment. Read my review of New German Cooking, featuring an original recipe for dandelion green salad.
Riesling 101: A Short Trip to the Mosel River
I had been wanting to write about wines for a while. A few weeks ago, I went on a short trip to the Mosel valley in Germany. On the steep slopes leading down to the winding river, some of the best German Riesling wines grow. I figured this would be a great occasion for a post covering some basics about this grape and the wines made from it, especially since there are some misconceptions out there – and to review a few highlights of our trip…
Rhubarb Jam Oddity (Musing among Preserves)
There something odd going on with rhubarb – more than just the weirdness in shape and name I wrote in my last post. It seems to invite creative aberration. An experimental (by German 1980s standards) recipe that my mother makes to this day involves rhubarb. She was mildly bewildered by my detailed inquiries about the topic that I kept on sending her this week. But here it goes…
Rhubarb – A Strange Food Love
This is one of my fondest childhood food memories: as early as May, we’d go and cut the reddest and largest rhubarb stalks in the backyard. The gigantic leaves would go straight to the compost, where they could be flattened out to cover the pile of decaying organic matter. Not that that made a big difference in terms of composting, but it was part of the ritual that ended with one of the greatest summer treats I know. To this day, I still love virtually anything that has rhubarb in it. Like this sorbet (made without an ice cream maker)… Continue reading
Strawberry and Riesling Buchteln: The Adult Version of a Sweet Lunch
Growing up in Germany, I loved the days when had sweet dishes for lunch instead of savory ones. This is by no means considered an uncommon practice (unlike breakfast food for dinner in America), but it still felt special. I think my favorites were rice pudding with apple sauce and pancakes with cinnamon and sugar. Another traditional sweet meal like this are Buchteln, also referred to as Rohrnudeln. I don’t think we ever made those ourselves at home. I was surprised to discover they’re pretty easy to make. And if you fill them with strawberry jam and serve them with a wine sauce, that kids’ favorite can turn into a pretty grown up meal…
In Search of the Perfect Poppy Seed Cake
No country harvests more poppy seeds than the relatively small Czech Republic, satisfying the high demand for poppy seed pastries across the region. In Germany, Mohnkuchen, poppy seed cake, can be found in every bakery. It is also a traditional favorite of the Silesian cuisine, a topic I dove into a couple of posts ago. Whereas the usual German Mohnkuchen isn’t among my favorites – often too try and too bitter – I wanted to find that perfect recipe for the Silesian poppy seed Wedding Cake I had heard about. I went down the rabbit hole of research and several trials, until I was finally able to serve the proper cake last Sunday. It’s quite an impressive one. If you’re still debating what to bake for Easter, look no further! Continue reading
Viennese Goulash from Prague
When we say goulash, we think Hungary. Historians trace the roots of the hearty stew with lots of paprika to medieval Hungarian shepherd culture. But, in keeping with the shepherds’ lifestyle, goulash is an itinerant dish with many versions all over Central Europe. One of my favorites is commonly made in the Czech lands. To add to the confusion, in Prague you will sometimes find it labeled as “Viennese.” I set out to recreate the dish at home. Continue reading
Silesian Paradise and New York Reality (with Dumplings)
No matter where we currently are in the world, food seems to be a reliable way to connect us to where we’ve come from. But sometimes we choose to forget. An exploration of family history through a forgotten dish that begins in a German household in Silesia and ends in “The World’s Borough” of Queens.
The Kraut Diary
Last summer I tried to make sauerkraut – and failed. Which is why I hadn’t written about it so far. When I present something on here, I want to be certain the recipe works and the writing and the photos are as good as they can be given the time and technology I have at my disposal. This post is going to be different. No one needs yet another recipe for fermenting cabbage. There are plenty of fantastic resources on the internet already. Instead, I’ll report from my new fermenting project, as I’m trying out a new crock, a new recipe and, incidentally, also my new DSLR camera. The project might succeed or it might fail… Continue reading
Red Cabbage – Surpassing the Jar
Red cabbage, Rotkohl, is a mandatory part of a winter dinner in Germany. To me, duck, goose, venison or even beef roasts are incomplete without the purple vegetable, fragrantly seasoned with cloves, bay leaves and juniper berries. This side dish is referred to as Blaukraut, blue cabbage, in some regions, where it is prepared with less vinegar that alters the color in this recipe. Continue reading
Auerbach's Kitchen 