The German Cuisine On #WildAsparagusTable- Version Three

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

 Name: Moumita

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