Al Dente

When The Aisles Are Bare...

Everything in Germany closes on Sunday. That means grocery stores too. Of course restaurants and cafes are open. Some bakeries open for a few hours. Because the shops in the train stations are allowed to stay open open on Sundays, if I were really desperate, I could go to nearby Mannheim and shop at the grocery store in the train station. Otherwise, the closest gas station, which is pretty well equipped with groceries and sundries, is where it's at.

We always make a point to pop into one of our five grocery stores sometime on Saturday, but yesterday we actually went to all five! I was looking for fresh vegetables for Saturday's and Sunday's dinner, but the aisles were bare. I managed to pick up some tomatoes, a cucumber, the last of the string beans and a bunch of radishes, but leafy greens were in short supply. In fact, everything was picked over.

Friday was a holiday, Epiphany, in our neck of the woods, which meant that, yes, everything was closed. I'm not sure if that delayed grocery shipments or if stores just ordered less because they were open one less day during the week. Perhaps everyone was in a cooking mood. Whatever the reason, what a surprise it was to see the aisles bare.

--Tracy Schneider

Mini Shopping Cart

Bread & Butter & More

My daughter and I were walking purposefully, on our way to meet my husband, when we were distracted by a shop on the other side of the street. How could I simply pass by a food store named Brot & Butter?

And I couldn't. I thought we would be in and out in a matter of minutes. But that turned out to be completely incorrect. Instead, we stood mesmerized by the house-made breads, the perfectly ripe cheeses and the refrigerated display of artisanal foodstuffs like this fresh pesto, rich with pine nuts and sealed in one of the cutest reusable glass jars I've seen lately.

If we'd had time, we certainly would have pulled up a stool at one of the half dozen tables and order a couple of the daily lunch specials, but instead we took our roasted red beet quiche to go, along with a half round of truffle cheese from France and a hunk of cheese made with ash from Germany. (Note to self, go back and get the names of these cheeses.) I also couldn't resist some locally made quark and a bottle of rose lemonade.

And the bread? The old-style baguette was everything you might expect from a shop called Brot & Butter, dense and chewy with a crackling, textured crust. Next time I'm buying some butter too. I bet it's terrific.

--Tracy Schneider

Cutting Board
with Crumb Tray 

Galette des Rois

Tomorrow is Epiphany, which means that most everyone in France will serving a Galette des Rois, a King Cake, like this one at the end of the evening meal. This flaky round cake is traditionally stuffed with almond frangipane. 

I broke several "rules" when I bought this Galette de Rois in Metz, a few days before Christmas. First of all, most connoisseurs will tell you that one shouldn't even bake Galettes des Rois before Christmas or even New Year's Day; that it is meant to celebrate the arrival of the Three Kings to Bethlehem, which occurred on January 6th.

The second break with tradition occurred with my choice of cake. Instead of the sweet frangiapane, I opted for a wonderful apple-stuffed version. Next time I want to try the chocolate and pear options too. 

Eating a Galette des Rois offers some of the excitement, at least for me, of opening a box of Cracker Jacks. That's because hidden somewhere inside the cake is a feve, originally a bean, but now a small plastic or porcelain toy. The person who finds the feve becomes the king and gets to wear a golden paper crown that is always sold with the Galette des Rois.

This year my daughter got the coveted feve. For me, there's the hope of finding it next year.

--Tracy Schneider

 

Glass Cake Plate

My New Year's Resolution: Eat More Soup!

I know that you're supposed to drink between 8 and 10 glasses of water every day. I love water, both the still and bubbly version, but I still find it hard to reach either of those magic numbers. So this year I'm taking a different tack. I'm going to eat more soup. 

Soup, especially consommes and bouillons are basically water, so one bowl of soup could potentially be equivalent to two glasses of water, right? What's more, soup is the perfect answer to the cold and rainy days we're having now in Germany. Friends here tell me that I should plan on this weather for many more months, so hot soup will be a welcoming starter to my meals for a good many weeks.  

This evening I stuck to my New Year's resolution by ordering Rinderkraftbruhe mit Pfannekuchenstreifen or beef bouillon with pancake strips for dinner. You can see those pancakes floating in the soup in the photo at left. What you can't see are small chunks of beef that had sunk to the bottom of the bowl. It was hot and filing and a good beginning to the new year.

--Tracy Schneider

Lion Soup Bowl

Searching For The Best (And Easiest) Chicken Pot Pie

Our friend Virginia, a precocious 7-year-old, was visiting us from Italy over the holidays. The one thing that she told me she missed from the U.S. was chicken pot pie.

Now Virginia is a fiend for tortellini in brodo. She loves her Nonna's pastas and everything her Babbo does with porco, but when she thinks of her life in the U.S., she begins to reminisce about chicken pot pie. 

Truth be told, chicken pot pie is terrific kid food, without being kiddie at all. It is a perfect present of chicken and veggies all wrapped in pastry, but if you're making it yourself, there's no reason for it not to be as healthy as it is flavorful and filling. 

I don't think Virginia has a whole lot of cooking under her belt, but she asked me for an easy chicken pot pie recipe that she could make, (or at least convince her mother to make), so how could I refuse? Except that I've never made chicken pot pie. Have you?

If you have a fool-proof recipe, won't you send it our way? Virginia says "Grazie!"

--Tracy Schneider

Starting The New Year With A Festive Breakfast

My friend Terry said that the things you do on January 1st are the things you will do all year long. So to start the new year out right, I began the day, not with just a healthy breakfast, but with a festive one to boot. Kaffeehaus is my favorite spot in town for breakfast, and what a meal it is. There are almost a dozen themed breakfast options, but today I decided on the Sylter.

Sylt is an island in the north of Germany, described to me as the Monaco of the country. So it's no surprise that the Sylter breakfast would be deluxe: eggs scrambled with shrimp, smoked salmon with horseradish sauce, prosciutto, fruit salad, butter, jam and a basket of bread and rolls. To drink: Prosecco and a latte macchiato.

I can't imagine a better way to start out the year! How did you begin 2012?

--Tracy Schneider

Happy Mitternachtssuppe Year!

The Mitternachtssuppe is boiling on the stove as we speak. It's actually a Goulashsuppe made with onions and garlic, carrots, chunks of beef and pork, red wine, beef stock, tomato paste, ketchup, potatoes, red kidney beans, peppers, bay leaves and lots of paprika. It should to be ready to eat, right before midnight. 

But we've been eating all evening long. A full array of German cold cuts and cheeses. Paprika potato chips. Spiced pecans. Olives and stuffed peppers. Herring. Roasted Brussels Sprouts. Bacon-wrapped white asparagus. A huge salad. 

There's been Feuerzangenbowle. Hugos. Sparkling water. Orangina. Sekt. 

In between cooking, we saw the cult New Year's sketch, watched all over Germany, Dinner for One. Here's to a delicious New Year!

--Tracy Schneider

What Will You Be Eating In 2012?

My sister sent me an email asking if I would join her on a 5-week cleanse. Does that sound like a great way to start off the new year?

But that got me thinking about the food trends of 2012, and in warp speed I was reading the 2012 food trend predictions from epicurious.com. 

I've been reading these juicy prognostications from Epicurious for a few years now, and it's always fun to see their take on what will be hot and not in the coming year.

Are you ready to say "bye-bye" to pop-up restaurants and Brooklyn? Or perhaps more importantly, are you game for whole fish and moonshine?

Won't you take a gander at the Epicurious predictions yourself and then let us know if you have any predictions or resolutions yourself? Where will you be shopping? What will you be cooking? What about take-out? Eating out? Dutch treat? Potlucks? Juicing?

Will you be counting carbs or calories? Abstaining from gluten or lactose? Increasing fiber? Decreasing fats? How about sugar, caffeine and carbonation? What will you be eating in the new year?

--Tracy Schneider

Salmon, Let Me Count The Ways

For some reason, smoked salmon seems to be easier to purchase than ever before. At specialty gourmet shops and big box stores alike. But it doesn't matter. Salmon is still a marvelous party dish. As an hors d'oeuvre. As an appetizer. It dresses up a salad. Fancies up a potato. Look what it's done for the bagel! 

At my local grocery store, you can find smoked salmon, gravlox, even a salmon cured in espresso. I must be old-fashioned, but just plain, perfectly smoked and sliced salmon is all I need to make a feast for two or more.

And if you don't want to fashion salmon bites yourself, there are fancy food stores that will do it for you. This appetizing open-face salmon sandwich boasts a roll of salmon on top of a layer of salmon. Talk about decadent!

What's on your menu this New Year's Eve? Will you be serving salmon? 

--Tracy Schneider

For Cocktails, I'm Goin' With Hugo

We're gearing up for Sylvester, or New Year's Eve, here in Germany, and I have been busy asking anyone in the vicinity what the traditions are here in Baden-Wurttemberg, the southwest part of the country.

A big Thank You to VB for filling me in on Mitternachtssuppe, the tummy-warming, alcohol-absorbing late-night soups that make for traditional late-night nourishment. I still need a recipe! Anyone?

One of the drinks I'll be serving on New Year's is decidedly not German, though I learned about it in my local grocery store flyer. I think I am the last person to hear about the latest "it" cocktail, the Hugo, which hails from northern Italy, but is making its way up the continent. 

Making a Hugo is as simple as 1, 2, 3, 4. Here's what my grocer suggests:

1. Put a shot of Elderflower syrup in a glass.

2. Fill the rest of the glass with Prosecco.

3. Add a slice or two of lime.

4. Finish with a sprig of mint.

Are you with me? What will you be drinking to welcome the New Year?

--Tracy Schneider

 

 

Party Planning 101

I am a sucker for miniatures. Especially when it comes to food. Baby quiches lorraines, vegetable tartelettes, escargot puffs, mini crescent dogs. I found them all in the famed Patisserie Bourguignon in Metz. But these days, you can get adorable miniatures at big box grocery outlets in addition to exclusive gourmet shops.

If you've just begun thinking about what you'll be eating on New Year's Eve, a parade of miniatures can be a whole lot of fun. You can make it a themed evening. For Chinese you might serve dim sum favorites like mini shumai, egg rolls and pork buns. For Greek you might offer tiny spanakopitas and moussaka bites. Or how about an international New Year's Celebration with Swedish meatballs, cream cheese jalapenos, tiny Beef Wellingtons and one-bite gyoza?

My mouth is watering just thinking about it...

--Tracy Schneider

Get Your Vegetables Here!

Zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers, leeks, and plums. Those were the pickings in this gorgeous vegetable aspic that we came across at Patisserie Bourguignon, considered one of the best bakeries in Metz. Isn't it a work of art?

I haven't thought much of aspic over the years. It has always seemed such a throwback to the 'fifties. But this vegetable aspic, in addition to being beautiful, was also delicious. The peppers were pickled. The rest of the vegetables were all perfectly poached. The plums were Mirabelle, a specialty of the Lorraine region.

I can't imagine how much work went into this dish, but wouldn't it make a marvelous addition to a New Year's Eve buffet? Have you ever made an aspic?

--Tracy Schneider

A Gift Of Chocolate

I've been seeking out the best of Germany's Christmas cookies these last few weeks, but nothing could have prepared me for the Aalener Spionle, a gift from one of my husband's new colleagues, Anja, that arrived the day before Christmas.

It wasn't a Christmas cookie she said, but certainly one of the best cookies in Germany. After a single bite, I would certainly agree. An almond cookie layered with chocolate-hazelnut creme and covered in dark chocolate, the Aalener Spionle is a specialty of Konditerei Ammann in the town of Aalen.

But that's not all. The Aalener Spionle or Aalener Spy, comes with its own story. It seems that sometime during the Thirty Years War, (1618-1648). Aaleners feared that their neighbors in Schwabisch Gmund would attack. The Aaleners decided that their only recourse was to send a spy into enemy camp to determine the size of their army. 

Once in hostile territory, the poor spy was quickly stopped and brought to the commander, who laughed when he learned of the spy's purpose and sent him back home with a promise not to invade. The townspeople, thrilled at the news, built a monument in the spy's honor.

And ever since 1929, the Aalener Spionle has been honored with a marvelous cookie, his portrait engraved in chocolate. Vielen Grussen, Anja. 

--Tracy Schneider

Buche de Noel

Wandering around Metz and peering into patisseries or pastry shops, which seem to be on virtually every corner of this charming city, is especially exciting just before Christmas when the Buche de Noel or Yule Log is big business.

The Buche de Noel is traditionally made with a yellow sponge cake that is either layered with or rolled in a chocolate butter cream. When sliced, alternating layers look like the rings of a tree.

Over the years, however, the Yule Log has been reinvented many times over, and every patisserie these days has a variety from which to choose. Made with hazelnuts and gianduia, candied chestnuts and chestnut creme, or covered in meringue to create a snow-covered log, the Buche de Noel is limited only by the imagination of the head baker.

The white Buche de Noel at the left of this photo is decorated with a fresh raspberry and blackberry, jellied strawberries, and a strand of currants that has been dusted with powdered sugar, as well as a perfect French macaron.

It's said that the concept for the Buche de Noel comes from the Celts, who went in search of giant logs to burn over the winter solstice. Today's version is a decadent successor. Joyeuses Fetes!

--Tracy Schneider

Where The Crowds Are

The Covered Market in Metz is an enormous U-shaped building that houses stalls selling meat and poultry, cheese and dairy products, fresh and dried fruits, breads and pastries. And there's an enormous stall selling fish and shellfish.

There were mussels, clams, snails, oysters--dozens of oysters. Today the fish stall was thick with people getting ready for the holidays. Carp is a traditional Christmas Eve meal in Germany, but in France for le Reveillon, escargots is often on the menu, as well as freshly-shucked oysters. In Italy, everyone's celebrating the Feast of the Seven Fishes which traditionally includes eel.

What about your Christmas Eve? Is fish on the menu?  

--Tracy Schneider

Fish Poacher

It's A Merry Mash-up!

This evening I stopped at a traditional German Weihnachtsmart. Only it was in Metz, a charming town in the Lorraine region of France. And I was eating one of my favorite Spanish foods, churros. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that it was served with Italian Nutella. 

StellaCadente* and I have a thing for churros, crispy, crunchy Spanish doughnuts, and we eat them whenever we can. But never would I have expected to find them here, in France, at a Marche de Noel. It's a mash-up!

Tomorrow night most Weihnachtsmarkts will come to an end. It's been a good run, a full four weeks of eating and drinking out-of-doors in the cold or the damp or the dark. And it has been a great thrill.

I hope you had fun visiting the Christmas Markets in Metz, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Bad Wimpfen with me. Here's what we ate and drank:

Churros in Metz
Maultaschen in Bad Wimpfen
Reibekuchen in Frankfurt
Pofferjes in Frankfurt
Heisse Maronen in Heidelberg
Wildeschwein Bratwurst in Bad Wimpfen
Feuerzangenbowle in Frankfurt 

--Tracy Schneider

German Ravioli: Maultaschen

Italian food is enormously popular in Germany. There are Italian restaurants everywhere. Pasta is tops. Bolognese and Carbonara are almost always on the menu. So too is a mozzarella and tomato Caprese salad or melon wrapped with prosciutto. 

But when it comes to ravioli, Southern Germany has its own iteration: Maultaschen. Maultaschen could be construed as enormous raviolis, pasta stuffed with a meat or vegetable filling.

You'll find Maultaschen at Weihnachtsmarkts all around Baden-Wurttemberg. Boiled and covered with a mushroom sauce, it's then cut into cubes and eaten with a tiny fork. This one, in fact, stuffed with spinach, fed our whole family!

--Tracy Schneider

Pasta Machine

Latkes By Another Name

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, but I've been eating latkes all month long. Latkes by another name, that is. Here in Germany at Weihnachtsmarkts in virtually every town we've visited, there's a stand selling Kartoffelpuffer or Reibekuchen. (And I've tasted them all!)

Made from grated potatoes and onions, just like latkes, these pancakes are cooked in hot grease, (lard is the chosen fat, as seen in the photo here) and served with applesauce, though sometimes you can get them with sour cream and smoked salmon. I've heard tell of other varieties from countries all around the world. Do you have a favorite version?

Kartoffelpuffer or Reibekuchen are typically sold piping hot (the only way to eat them in my estimation) in sets of three. The lines for these hot puffers generally snake around the stand, especially when the chill in the air starts to seep through your many layers of clothing. A plate of potato pancakes and a steaming cup of Feuerzangenbowle, and you've got a fine meal.

Are you making latkes tonight? Happy Hanukkah!

--Tracy Schneider

Electric Fryer

All I Want For Christmas Is An Honest-To-Goodness Taco

My daughter has been making a list of all the foods she has been missing since we moved to Germany. And that list is long and growing. Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers (in every flavor, especially extra cheddar and s'mores). Sour Cream and Onion Dip. Cinnamon Sugar Pop Tarts. Cheetos. Lay's Potato Chips. Cheddar Cheese. Doritos. Bagels. 

But tacos are at the top of her list. Back in the U.S. her favorite neighborhood spot was a taco shop where she would order soft corn tacos with a side of rice and beans. Next on the list are burritos. And then come nachos. In Germany when you order nachos you are served nacho-flavored chips. My daughter is appalled. 

I could never have predicted that tacos would be at the top of her foodie wish list. What's at the top of yours?

--Tracy Schneider