Archive for ‘Beverages Bars & Cafes’

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February 18, 2008

The Egg Cream Conundrum

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This post came out of a reading assignment for my food writing class. The topic was memoirs, and one article we had to read told the story of a boy’s experience making egg creams on Wall Street one summer. Many things about the article made me want to throw it across the room, but one aspect in particular disturbed me: he never explained what an egg cream was.

In class during the discussion, I critiqued, “He never says where the eggs or cream come into this recipe.” Many students looked at me surprised and several all at once said “It doesn’t have eggs or cream.”

Needless to say, my Pacific-Northwest/European upbringing had successfully flown over the Northeast, specifically New York, and landed gracefully in ignorant egg-cream-free country.

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Posted in Beverages Bars & Cafes, Chocolate | Leave a Comment »

October 12, 2007

Darwin’s Limited: Cambridge’s Living Room

There are some places that are an institution. They’re cozy and comfy and people return day after day because they know they’ll be recognized, they like the food and drink, or they think the chairs are cozy. At Darwin’s Ltd. it seems it’s a little bit of everything, despite its draw-backs.*

People are lured in by the promise of good sandwiches, and they often wait upwards of half an hour in line to order their ten minutes of bliss. After they have ordered they arrive at the register and realize (until last week) – what? No credit cards?** After they’ve paid with trusty greens, they turn around and go to the other side of the store to find a seat. If they are lucky they will get one of the benches along the coffee bar or outside the store, leaving the chairs, tables, and soft seating for the extra lucky ones.

So why, you ask, do people still come back? Because once you’ve had a bite of a Darwin’s sandwich, you have to go back for more. On each subsequent visit you will find other treasures in the store – the beer and wine selection is great, and you’ll make it to the coffee side and find their coffee and espresso to rival if not beat out most other joints in town. Someday you’ll discover the Lakota sandwich cookies and macaroons, $1.25 to extend those ten minutes of bliss by one too-short minute, but totally worth it. If you return often enough, you will one day be recognized. Finally, the big moment will come when you get one of those comfy soft chairs to sit in and you’ll realize that the chairs really are cozy, the music is good, the food and drink splendid, the service as speedy and helpful as they can be, and the ambiance perfect for an afternoon of studying, good conversation, or a pleasant little nap – or all three.

Darwin’s is quirky. Its sandwiches aren’t named the traditional way by using their ingredients. They’re named using street names around the store (with the second store open now each store has the same sandwiches, but different names). We don’t have a BLT or a grilled cheese but there are amazing other options: one with hummus and vegetables; a sandwich of prosciutto, tomatoes, pesto, and mozzarella; a roast beef with boursin cheese sandwich; a turkey sandwich with avocado and an herb vinaigrette; a smoked salmon, cream cheese, caper, cucumber and red onion sandwich; and countless more concoctions to choose from. As if that weren’t enough, daily sandwich specials (with a vegetarian option) and soup specials are also available, along with countless salads and some to-go dinner choices.

Some people at Darwin’s come not only once a day, but they’ll be there throughout the day several times. One customer comes in in the morning for a large dark blend in a double cup, only to return at least two more times in the day ordering subsequently smaller cups. A dog walker comes in every evening to order coffee, and one architecture firm’s employees came in so often that a sandwich was named after them. One wonderful customer stops by every evening and calls Darwin’s the perfect living room and Darwin’s a great big family. I have to say, there are definitely days when I wish I could be in the living room and enjoy the scenery around me. However, it’s also fun and rewarding being behind the scenes at Dawrin’s, making the living room as pleasing for everyone as possible.

You can find Darwin’s Ltd. at 148 Mt Auburn Street or 1629 Cambridge street, both in Cambridge, MA near Harvard Square. Hours are 6:30-9pm Mon-Sat and 7-9pm Sun. Mt. Auburn’s phone number is (617) 354-5233 and Cambridge Street’s number is (617) 491-2999. Both stores accept sandwich orders over the phone but must be picked up in person at the store.

* Disclaimer: I work here, so this “review” may be a bit biased. But I have tried to be as fair as possible and am aiming to capture all aspects of Darwin’s, including the food as well as the atmosphere and culture surrounding it.

**Darwin’s has recently started accepting Visa and MasterCards but with a ten dollar minimum. This is due to the exorbitant fees credit card companies charge on each sale.

Posted in Beverages Bars & Cafes, Food Systems & Politics, Gastronomy, Markets & Stores, Travel | 4 Comments »

September 21, 2007

Flammkuchen


Flammkuchen (Fr. Tarte Flambée) is something I remember eating for the first time with my family on a trip, fourteen years ago, to Strasburg in the Alsace region of France. Strasburg is a bilingual, though mostly French-speaking, city on the border between Germany and France, and is best known for its importance in European politics, hosting among other things the European Union’s Council of Europe. We were there as a family stopping over from a trip back from the Cevennes area (just north of the Provence) and wanted dinner badly. On family trips, dinner has always been a problem for us. Normally the process goes something like this: our blood sugar goes down, our pickiness goes up, we end up not being able to decide on anything to eat, and commonly someone ends up in tears.

Not this time. We went into a well-visited establishment, sat down outside, and my mother ordered us all Tarte Flambée (normally my mom doesn’t order for us all, but her French skills were the best and she knew what the local specialties were. Besides, my sister and I were probably still bickering due to our low blood sugar). We loved it as soon as we bit into it. The incredibly thin, crisp crust delicately covered with a layer of seasoned sour cream, some onions, and bacon were incredible. I don’t have any idea how many of these we ate, but it was quite a few. At the end of the evening the waitress simply tallied up how many we ate according to hatch marks she had made each time she brought us another “tart.”

Flammkuchen is also common in Germany, which is why it has a German name. It’s called by many other names as well, but most people recognize Flammkuchen even if they’re not from the southwest. Literally translated it means “Flame Cake,” and it is presumed that this comes from its original heritage as something put in to test the heat of the oven before baking bread and other foods.

It’s most popular in Germany just after the grape harvest, when the new wine, most popularly known as Federweißer, hits the market and is drunk. Federweißer is a wine that has just begun its first fermentation. The stage it is served in can vary from grape juice to a “young” white wine. The harvest season is beginning now, so restaurants across the Alsace and southwest Germany are beginning to offer Flammkuchen and Federweißer specials. I think the “new wine” is lighter than regular wine, and since its alcohol content is much lower you can drink a lot more. And of course, each time you have another glass you must have another Flammkuchen!

Flammkuchen

This is a recipe that doesn’t require any yeast, which I find prevents the crust from getting too thick. It’s extremely versatile, and you can put toppings other than the traditional on it. We’ve made it for a dinner party with toppings varying from Greek to Mexican. However, remember that it must be served fresh out of the oven, which may be difficult when serving guests and hosting at the same time. It’s also a nice, quick, thin pizza crust.

For dough:
250g (ca 2 cups) Flour
2.5 Tbsp Canola Oil
150ml (ca 2/3 cup) Water
Pinch of Salt

For toppings:
250g (ca. 1 cup) Crème Frâiche
1 onion (can be red or sweet onions)
1 Tbsp Butter
125g (ca. 1/4lb) Bacon
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 clove Garlic

Combine ingredients for crust. The dough shouldn’t be sticky. Slice onions into rings and sauté in butter until clear (don’t caramelize). Cook bacon until crisp. Finely chop garlic and add it with seasonings to the cream. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. On the highest heat your oven will go (or around 400-450 degrees Fahrenheit) bake for around 10-15 minutes, or until the dough has begun to create bubbles and you see nice browning (you don’t want burnt!). You will have to keep an eye on this, baking it is an art and each oven is different so watch it carefully the first time you make it. Serve with a green salad and Federweißer or a light white wine (it doesn’t need to be sweet, a dry Riesling will do well, as will a Pinot Gris).

Posted in Baking, Breads, & Pastries, Beverages Bars & Cafes | 7 Comments »

June 23, 2007

Wine in Saxony

When I’m alone, I don’t drink alcohol with dinner. However, if I cook a nice meal for guests, it’s always nice to enjoy it with some good wine. In Germany, this is not difficult to find as it’s in the middle of Europe with its thousands of wine regions. One of the smallest, and most northern, wine regions in Europe is right here at my doorstep on the Sächsische Weinstraße.

For our pesto dinner, Sarah and I went to the wine shop in the Kunsthof Passagen in Dresden. We were helped by a very friendly woman, who has visited the local wineries from which her wine comes from. She started by offering us a wine from Baden, but we had just come from that area, and we wanted to try something Sächsisch. She knew we were eating lamb, so she suggested a dry white wine and pointed us in the direction of the Frédéric Fourré Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris).

I love Grauburgunder, so I was sold on that. However, the woman continued to explain to us how small this vintner is, and that it is too expensive for these small vintners to get a certain accreditation from the state. Furthermore, in the process of testing, these vintners would lose a significant portion of their yield. Instead, they have formed an organization of their own, the Weinbauverband Sachsen. Fourré, like many of the other regional vintners, just started rebuilding his vines after the wall came down in 1989, so his land and yield are very small. You all probably know by now that I love supporting the small, local guy – and when it’s something I really like in general all the better!

Due to their small size, it is very difficult for Saxon wineries to compete against the massive wineries from Baden-Württemberg. Thus they have developed a specialty niche, and the prices of their wines show this. While a good Baden-Württemberg wine* can usually be bought under ten Euros, Saxon wines range anywhere from ten to twenty. Our Fourré cost around sixteen. This may seem inexpensive to American eyes (purists might say a decent bottle is cheap when it’s around twenty dollars) but from a discounted European perspective, it’s a hefty ticket.

But it’s worth it. Even Nathan, who usually doesn’t drink, enjoyed sharing this bottle with us. It was delicious next to the lamb: a fruity yet dry, rounded taste which brought out the flavors of the pesto and lamb, yet helped reduce the sweetness of the dates. We had no problems drinking this with our dinner, and it tasted just as good after dinner by itself (or, with a piece of parmesan cheese). I’ve had similar experiences with other wines in this region, most notably the wines, especially the Bacchus, from Schloss Wackerbarth.

To find Saxon wines, try online or in your local wine shop. If they don’t have it, ask if they know about it. I don’t know if it is exported internationally, but it should be!

*Some wines in Baden-Württemberg were produced en-masse in recent years and very cheaply sold to discount grocery stores. This means I can buy a drinkable bottle of wine for one to two Euros, and a quite good wine for three or four, but it also means that Baden-Württemberg’s reputation has unfortunately gone downhill, even though many wineries still produce excellent wines.

Frédéric Fourré can be found on Bennostraße 41, 01445 Radebeul, Tel. 0351-8011345, Fax 0351-8011345, email: fourre [dot] fred [at] t-online [dot] de. Tours of the wine region are also available if you contact the Dresden, Radebeul, or Meissen tourist information offices.

Posted in Beverages Bars & Cafes, Travel | 1 Comment »

June 18, 2007

Beer Tasting

So many things have happened since I last posted. The day after my last post I hopped on a train (again) to return to Tübingen. There I saw my sister Sarah and her husband Nathan as well as my parents. The next day my other sister Hanna arrived, and the weekend was spent cooking for the festivities. What festivities, you ask? Why, my father’s 60th birthday. Last Monday, the eleventh, my father celebrated six decades of a wonderful, inspiring life.

For the party we served a cold buffet, and my donation to the spread was Köttbullar (Swedish meatballs), a fresh salsa, my German cucumber salad (which gets the most hits out of any other post on my blog so it must be good), and a flourless chocolate almond layer cake with a chocolate frosting and shaved Ritter Sport chocolate (from my father’s favorite cookbook).

After the party Sarah and Nathan came to Radeberg and stayed a glorious seven days. It was a lot of fun, despite the fact that last week was probably the most stressful week at work I’ve had all year. During my free time we ventured into Dresden a couple times for sightseeing, shopping, and attending the Bunte Republik Neustadt (BRN), cooked some tasty meals together, and took a day trip to Leipzig with my friend Creed.

Today’s post, however, is dedicated to my father’s birthday, and once more to beer. My father used to drink much more beer when I was younger, but in recent years he’s switched to red wine. Since the rest of us in my family aren’t large beer drinkers either, we had to figure out what beer to offer my parent’s friends at his party. To make this important decision, we decided to have a beer tasting. We invited over my parents’ American neighbor Ben and did a blind taste test similar to the Amateur Gourmet’s olive oil test. First I placed numbers on the bottles and numbers on the bottom of the glasses. Next I poured the corresponding beers into their glasses. My father then carried them out to the table and placed them on sheets of paper marked “A” through “G” (one letter for each glass). By that point things were mixed up enough that no one knew which glass contained which beer and the tasting began.

We had chosen mainly Pils and Pilsner, one Exportbier, a Spezial, and a Hefeweizen (which was too obviously different to really count and is pictured fourth from the back). Many were watery in my opinion, or not very complex. We all agreed that the Fürstenberger Exportbier had absolutely no flavor, though their Premium Pilsner was a bit more flavorful with that signature bitter taste upon swallowing. I liked the Flensburger very much during the taste test – it had a mild, full taste. However, with dinner it was too strong (so, perhaps a better at-the-bar beer). The Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu Pils was not much better than the Fürstenberger Exportbier. Their Spezial though was the best – mildly bitter and delicious with a meal. The Alpirsbacher Spezial and the Dinkel Acker CD Pils, a bit thinner but also a good balance of flavor, won the honor of being served at my father’s party. Overall the experience itself was simply a great time. Organizing a blind taste for all of us was an interesting challenge and became somewhat difficult to distinguish among the beers towards the end of the tasting though. Sharing all that beer together in one night though made for very cheerful conversations!

Tested Beers:

*Dinkel Acker CD Pils
*Alpirsbacher Spezial
Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu
*Flensburger
Fürstenberg Premium Pilsner
Fürstenberg Weizen
Fürstenberger Exportbier

*winning beers

Note: Many of these beers, especially the Alpirsbacher, are local brews and can’t even be easily found outside of southwest Germany. So, take a note of the name and next time you’re there look them up. Or check out your local import store in the States to see if you can find them!

Posted in Beverages Bars & Cafes, Festivals & Holidays | Leave a Comment »

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