What do Germans eat?
That was the first question that popped on my mind when this month theme #GermanPotluck
was announced. I have never been to Germany and from the little that I knew I
thought that the German eat only breads, cakes, sausages, potatoes and drink
lots of beer.. But over the month of discussions with my foodie friends, foodbloggers and homechefs- and
some virtual research on the net, I began to understand that the Germans appreciate
food that is healthy, well prepared and served with care. Its cuisine is
influenced by its neighboring cities like France and Italy and it is a culinary
delight waiting to be explored.
My foodie friends are
also very adventurous. They were willing to research the food culture and try
out new dishes.The dishes that were prepared were outstanding and such large variety
food is difficult to find even in an authentic German restaurant.
Don’t believe me???
This was the variety of
dishes prepared at our #WildAsperagusTable that was held at #Gymkhana91 last
Saturday lunch.
Name:Shital Kakad
Insta: ShitalKakad
Dish: KartoffelWaffleln, German Potato
Waffles (Eggfree)
Name:Aruna Shetty
Insta:@kitchenshetty
Dish: German Sourdough bread
Name: Mahrukh Noshir
Mogrelia
Dish: Sauerbraten (Mutton Roast)
Name: Pratiba
Dish: Cheese platter
Name:Salloni Malkani
Insta:@Sallonim2
Dish: Baked cauliflower
Name: Anjali Bhargava
Insta:Anjbhargava
Dish: Paprika sahane Hähnchen ( Paprika Cream
Chicken )
Name: Renuka Nadkarni
Insta: just.a.pinchofsalt
Dish: Kartoffelsalat / German potato salad
Insta: moumita0904
Dish: Pan fried sweet potato with eggs &
chicken sausage)
Name: Aarthi Basrur
Insta:
aarthi.b.gastronomic_flight
Dish: Krautwickel / Kohlrouladen (German
Cabbage Roll) veg
Name: Binal Valand
Insta: binal_valand
Dish: käse spätzle (contains egg)
Name: Indrani Sen
Insta:indraniwillteach
Dish: schupfnudel (potato gnocchi)
maultaschen(flour dumplings stuffed with minced lamp and spinach)
Name: Shilpa Seth Bhambri
Insta:@shilpasethbhambri
Dishes: Gurkensalat - German Cucumber Salad and
Herrencreme-Sweetened
mousse
Name: Ananya
Banerjee
Insta:
chefananyabanerjee
Dishes: Konigsberger Klopse(German Meatballs)
and Butterkuchen
Name: Bimba Nayak
Insta:@BimbaNayak
Dish: German Cookies
Name: Shivani Vakil Savant
Insta:
@TheOddHourKitchen
Dish: Marmorkuchen (marble cake)
Name:Ketaki Likhite
Insta: @whiskandvanilla
Dish: Apple Cake (versunkener apfelkuchen)
Name:Manisha Talim
Insta: @sugarsnapmumbai
Dish: Linsen Eintopf ...German Lentil Soup
with Chicken Broth and Pork Sausages
The first word I learnt
was Eintoph (meat and vegetable
stew). Dr Manisha Talim takes me down to ‘The forgotten Nazi history of ‘One pot meal where “Cooking in ‘one pot’ (ein
Topf) was supposed to symbolize the Nazi creation of ‘one people’ (ein
Volk), the crafting of a delicious casserole by combining diverse
ingredients analogous to the uniting of the various native German peoples into
a single and self-sustaining whole.”
I was confused for days
debating on what should I learn first?...The pronunciation (the long and
difficult words) or the recipes.
And then I stumbled
upon #GermanPizza called #flammkeuchen pronounced as flam.cook..in or flame
bread. This has the thin crispy crust with cheese as base (unlike tomato salsa
that is used in Italian pizza). I used unsalted crackers (instead of pizza
base) and coated with the mixture of hung curd and cream cheese . For topping i
used caramalized onion (goodness...it took so much time to cook the onions to
perfection..had added salt and vinegar too ro give a bit of flavor) added
grilled vegetarian meat and covered with
grated gruyere cheese.. baked it for 10 minutes.
Although I reached the
venue an hour later.(crazy traffic light and insensitive traffic policeman
).but the pizza remained fresh and was enjoyed even though it was cold.
Our thirst quencher: #BluePine Artesian Water had sent bottles of
their alkaline water. Love their glass bottles.
We had several pints of Fuller's London Pride, #londonspride an original ale , smooth , rich
and wonderfully balanced. I didn’t have any at the venue but took a bottle of
beer for my nephew to taste.
“London Pride is an
interesting beer. It has a nice blend of a little bitter yet light and smooth.
So its extremely well balanced almost like it was crafted carefully to tickle
your flavor like a wine yet the large gulps quite enjoyable.” Says my nephew
Rajeev, whom I ask the feedback for tasting this beer.
London Pride is known
for its balance of malt and hops, giving rise to a well-rounded flavour. Crystal
malts combine with spring-harvested Pale Ale varieties Concerto and Propino, to
give Pride its inimitable depth and balance.
A big thanks to Saloni
Sameer Malkani and Ananya Banerjee for
creating such a plaform of #WildAsperagusTable where we get an opportunity to
explore the cuisine and culture from different parts of the world without a
travel ticket or Visa and still learn to understand the different ways of
cooking the same common ingredients in diverse ways.
You can read the French
Chapter of #WildAsperagusTable HERE
