Archive for ‘Markets & Stores’

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May 16, 2007

Grocery Store Advertising

Photo from: Tchibo

There are a few grocery stores in my town, but only two I go to regularly, Edeka and Lidl, each for its own reasons. In Germany grocery stores don’t have the all-in-one shopping arrangement available in the States. While an American “grocery store” will have a jewelers as well as a clothing section and a home improvement department, a German store is much smaller. This doesn’t mean, though, that they don’t offer the same things. They just don’t always have them in stock. Each week grocery stores will advertise “specials” where they sell everything from electronic keyboards and personal computers to grill sets and bathroom cupboards.

These specials are heavily advertised every week in local newspapers and in stores. For example, Edeka (partnering with Tchibo, one of Germany’s biggest coffee companies and also involved in these weekly “specials”) had a series on white and stainless steel kitchen supplies that they cunningly called “Miami Weiß,” (transl. white) pronounced just like “Miami Vice.”

Lidl, although they have home accessories and so on as well, also has a line of food specialties. Throughout the year I have stumbled upon “Mexican Week,” which I loved because I could indulge in cheap, if somewhat liberal, interpretations of salsa, tortillas, and corn chips. I was also excited when “Greek Week” arrived (no, they had no alcohol on sale) because I got to try out what I had to remind myself was not authentic Greek food.

I knew it was just a matter of time until there would be an “American Week.” And today I saw it advertised: in two weeks “America” will hit Lidl shelves. I will be able to buy such products as cranberry juice, peanut butter (crunchy and creamy versions!), maple syrup, microwave popcorn, Pringles, and salad dressing (including Blue Cheese, Ranch, and “Thousand Islands,” which does make more sense grammatically but don’t we call it “Thousand Island?”). Among the more questionably American foods on their list are hamburger sauce (what could that be?), hot dogs in a jar, and a ready-to-heat-up rib burger (can we say Gammelfleisch?). What I’m most eager to try is their “Cayun” marinade. That’s a mispronunciation and misspelling gone completely awry there.

Now, before people get upset that I’m looking down on Germany, let’s remember I’m simply finding this amusing. I also have to admit I am very grateful that “America” has come to Lidl if only so I can finally indulge in some crunchy peanut butter – and some Star-Spangled-Banner napkins to eat it with. No, seriously, I understand Americans have gotten a lot of things wrong along the way – General Zho’s Chicken or Taco Bell “Mexican” food just to name two examples. I guess we can be thankful that it creates some kind of awareness and appreciation for other cultures and foods. I only hope that no German is disappointed when they realize that most Americans wouldn’t even think of eating turkey curry pizza.

Posted in Food Systems & Politics, Gastronomy, Markets & Stores, Media | 2 Comments »

March 17, 2007

High-Brot Diet


When I left the United States in August 2004 on a direct Lufthansa flight from Portland to Frankfurt I exhaled. Not only was I incredibly excited to spend a year in Hamburg, and not at Smith, but I also was leaving the booming no-carb diet behind. Just a couple days before I left, I had stumbled across pasta in the grocery store. Now, this is usually not an abnormal occurrence; however, this pasta said “Low Carb” on it. Let me ask you: what makes pasta (a carbohydrate by nature) low carb?? Key: by nature. This pasta was no longer anything resembling “natural.” The sadder thing was, that this pasta was made by an Italian company. Americans had even convinced foreigners that to make money in our country, they had to cave in.

Not Germany. This is the land of bread, and I trusted that no silly fad would be able to take that identity away from it. And I was right. When I landed, I was wafted with the smell of Brezeln (German pretzels), rolls, and other baked goods from the airport bakery. This was pure happiness, and no one buying the bread was feeling guilty about their choice. Especially not me.

My family has battled the lack of decent bread in the States all of my life (and before). My father’s infamous homemade wood-fired oven is proof to this. My father enjoys his time in Germany for many reasons, but not excluding the fact that he gets to take a vacation from baking. Although he is proud of his work, and finds peace and meditation in it (except when things go wrong), he is a baker forced to do so by the situation of his society, not by his own original desires.

Not only my family enjoys the bread here. My boyfriend thrives on it – he loves carbs to begin with, and when he lived here, he would frequently take advantage of his local bakery’s year-long special: three Brezeln for a euro twenty-five. This, along with a banana, would be his lunch. Other friends from high school who traveled to Germany on school trips also commented on the tasty bread. I remember one of my friends responding to my mother’s inquiries with: “It tastes so good! But I can’t get over the crust – it’s so hard!” Unfortunately, Americans have grown up with Wonder Bread and the only slightly better Oroweat “crusts” and have to take some time to acclimate themselves to breads that live up to the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition:

crust (n.) – The hard outer part of a loaf or roll of bread.

Overall, as I have mentioned before, bakeries specialize usually in either pastries or bread. My parents have good friends in Friedrichshafen, the Rieser family, who own a bakery and make what my family claims to be the best Brezeln in Germany. This is proven by the use of sound logic:

1. The further south you go in Germany, the better the Brezeln.
2. Friedrichshafen is on the southern border to Austria and Switzerland (pretty much as far south as you can get in Germany).
3. Riesers makes the best Brezeln in Friedrichshafen.

Therefore:

4. Riesers makes the best Brezeln in Germany.

A good Brezel is one that has a crunchy crust, and X, but has a soft interior perfect for butter (Butterbrezel) or a soft French cheese like Camembert or Brie (or Germany’s fantastic Geramot, a commercialized knock-off of French cheeses that just might be one of my favorites…).

This whole somewhat disjointed “ode” to German bread is simply to say this: Germans understand that bread is essential. Everyone has their favorite bread, sold at their favorite bakery, and eaten in their favorite way. And let me tell you, there are many different kinds. So if you try one kind of bread here in Germany and dislike it, just try a different one. Or go to a different bakery. Overall, carbohydrates in Germany are delicious. And for those of you expats looking for a blog niche, here it is: travel Germany and write about your experiences in German bakeries. Now wouldn’t that be a tasty read?

Posted in Baking, Breads, & Pastries, Food Systems & Politics, Gastronomy, Markets & Stores | 1 Comment »

March 4, 2007

Seattle

So here’s finally a post about my recent trip back to the States. I won’t go into the surprising homesickness I felt upon having to return to Germany, other than to say that this trip has reconfirmed that for me, home is so incredibly relative that it can refer not only to a place, but almost more importantly to a person. I had known this before, but this time it really hit home (no pun intended) that I will spend another five months away from that home. This is a difficult prospect to face.

However, the trip you ask, no mushy-mushy please: it was fantastic. David and I spent a wonderful two weeks together. The first week he had to work in Beaverton, so three of those days I hitched a ride with him and spent time in my old summer stomping grounds: the GSP and my boss’ house. The GSP is the German-American School of Portland, and my boss’ house is home to one of the most inspiring families I have encountered in my life. The first day I was at Susan’s we spent the whole day chatting over coffee in her kitchen, catching up on each others’ lives. The second day I went I was able to actually help her prepare lesson materials for the German Saturday School of Portland. The first week was actually quite nice, although halfway through I caught a cold which lasted through the beginning of my second week.

Friday night, at the end of a long day of work for David, we drove his family’s hybrid from Portland up to Seattle. I drove most of the way, which we’d agreed on, as long as he drove through Seattle to our friends’ apartment. Dan and Max, two of our good friends from high school, were waiting for our arrival and we enjoyed a pleasant evening catching up with each other.

Saturday Max had to work, he’s an intern/box office worker for the Seattle Children’s Theater, so Dan, David, and I went down to the International District to enjoy the Chinese New Year celebrations. We met up with a friend of Dan’s from his graduate program in Japanese studies at the University of Washington and enjoyed watching the Japanese drumming performance. Then, after being thoroughly fascinated (and at the same time scared) by the fireworks that the dragons set off in front of each shop in the district to scare away the evil spirits, we said goodbye to Steve and his girlfriend Chica and walked through Pioneer Square to the Pike Place Market where they make fish talk and then throw them. After buying some mediocre apples at the market, seeing (but not buying) the donuts that the Amateur Gourmet wrote about, pushing through crowds of tourists, we finally made it to what I thought was the same shop the AG recommended: the spice shop. It smelled heavenly in there! They had all kinds of spices and teas, and although we didn’t buy anything, it was a great shop to browse. In retrospect, I don’t think it was the same (at least his picture doesn’t look like the shop I was in at the market). So it’s probably good I didn’t make a purchase and just continued on.

Our next stop was heaven: Gelatiamo. This was the best gelato place I have been to outside of Italy. The staff there was really nice (they gave each of us as many samples as we wanted while we figured out which flavors would fit together best). The chocolate noisette was probably the best frozen chocolate I have ever eaten: it had such a rich, complex flavor and was scattered with small hazelnuts that made it taste like a luxury, frozen nutella. The pear, which Dan had, was a very light gelato, with a subtle, delicate pear aftertaste that made you want to appreciate it all by itself. The raspberry and the tiramisu were the only slightly disappointing ones. The raspberry was your traditional smack-you-in-the-face acidic raspberry flavor, and the tiramisu had too much espresso. However, the straciatella made up for it, and so did the frozen metal dishes our gelato was served in, which developed a white frost while we devoured our treats.

Our next stop was the Seattle public library, which I have to say just might have been the coolest attraction while I was there! Prepare to go and be dazzled by the architecture and weird quirky building. However, I have to admit, the building almost seemed to say: we can’t lure you here simply because of the books, so let’s make it a funky building for you to explore and perhaps you’ll stumble upon some books while you’re at it. We didn’t stumble upon books, but we did accidentally stumble upon Steve and Chica again. What are the chances? They had mentioned a Japanese 100-Yen store that had recently opened as a dollar-fifty store, and so we all decided to treck together to see what wonderful treasures it might behold. It was in the big, ritzy mall right that is the other end of the disappointing and expensive monorail. We had a fun time digging through the stuff, and I thought that it was good I don’t live in Seattle and can’t waste too much money pretending to buy useful things for my apartment there.

After a bit, we met up with Max because by that time it was evening, and went to the Japaenese restaurant Dan used to work at. We had a delicious meal – I had teriyaki salmon that was to die for. All of their salmon, Dan said, is cooked incredibly well. I have to agree that this was probably some of the best salmon I’ve ever eaten. Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture. Everyone was happy about their food – David had udon noodles, Dan also had salmon, and Max put together a vegetarian meal with a deep-fried tofu appetizer and vegetarian sushi. We had wanted to check out Tula’s, a jazz bar, but were so exhausted we ended up going home and indulging in the geeky pleasures of watching four episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

I won’t bore you with the details of the rest of the trip – this post is long enough. Suffice to say that we had a wonderful time exploring Seattle, catching up with friends, and discovering its beautiful different parts of town. On our way back, David and I hopped on a ferry to Bremertown and drove down the Olympic Peninusla, which was a beautiful drive. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a bit of extra time on their hands and wants to experience one reason why the Pacific Northwest is so special.

The rest of my trip went by much too quickly, and too soon I was saying goodbye to David at the airport, the security agents were confiscating my priceless Tom’s of Maine toothpaste (and giving it to David who was waiting to wave one last time to me), and I was protected by the powers that be and made it through Chicago and Boston during a weekend of heavy snowstorms. The best part of the two-day trip back to Germany: seeing Kait and my other college friends during a super-long layover in Boston. Overall, I had strong mixed feelings coming back to Radeberg and while I enjoy my work, and I enjoy my friends here, I am excited about what events may unfold in the upcoming summer and next year.

Gelatiamo can be found on the corner of Union and 3rd streets in downtown Seattle, across from Benaroya Hall. Also on the web at http://www.gelatiamo.com/

Posted in Beverages Bars & Cafes, Chocolate, Food Systems & Politics, Gastronomy, Markets & Stores, Travel | Leave a Comment »

January 10, 2007

Berlin Berlin


Despite the fact that I’ve never seen the TV series Berlin Berlin from ARD (one of Germany’s three public television stations), I have been to the city quite a few times.My most recent trip was with my aunt, Inge, who stars with the rest of my family in my Christmas Comic strip.

Inge lives in Australia and is a German teacher at Sydney Grammar School, an elite boy’s preparatory school.Every two years she gets homesick and brings a group of her students on a month-long “summer vacation” exchange to Germany.On this trip, which involves home stays in Freiburg in southern Germany, she takes the students up to Berlin for a 5-day trip.For the last three trips I’ve been lucky enough to attend the Berlin section, last time for only a day in which I hardly saw my aunt at all; however, her daughter (my cousin Sophie) and her boyfriend Adam and I took an amazing walking tour of the city.It was four hours long but invaluable in terms of the information (our guide covered everything from history to architecture to pop culture).We enjoyed it so much that my aunt decided to do the tour this time around with her boys, and although they had a different tour guide they all found it just as interesting (even the 12-year-old made it through the entire tour!).

This year my mom was able to come along for the ride as well, and the three of us had a great time roaming Berlin.We stayed in the hostel we usually stay in, Hotel Transit, which is a hotel located quite centrally in Kreuzberg.It is close to Bergmannstraße, which has a lot of little alternative boutiques and tasty restaurants with cuisines from all over the world.The hostel is clean and safe, and the workers are friendly.Breakfast is included in the price of the room, and they have dorms for larger groups as well as double and single rooms.

On our way from the hostel to the subway station, we always passed several imbisse.An imbiss is a street-front store that sells food to go, or to stand at high tables and eat on the sidewalk.You can’t say it’s fast food in the American sense, even though usually the nutritional value isn’t much higher than that of McDonald’s.Often times they sell things like döner, a tasty “Turkish” sandwich that I promise to write more about later.Other food sold at an imbiss, and more importantly for this post, is wurst.Now, many of you may be raising your eyebrows now, and looking at my blog’s title.But no fear, I won’t be talking about bratwurst in this post.No, I’ll be talking about something that, in my opinion, is much more tasty: the curry wurst.

The origin of the curry wurst is a highly debated topic.Many people, especially Berliners, will tell you it was invented in Berlin.However, the German author Uwe Timm (Hamburg native) has written a lovely novel called Die Entdeckung der Curry Wurst aimed at explaining the “discovery” of the curry wurst.No matter where it was invented, I’m happy it was.It’s a very simple idea, though many people are skeptical of it until they’ve tried it.Trust me, it’s worth it.Basically, you take a white sausage (traditionally without casings and not too strongly seasoned) and smother it with a curry ketchup.The key is in the ketchup:there’s always lots of it, so if it doesn’t taste any good, the wurst isn’t pleasing.You can buy pre-made “Curry-Ketchup” at grocery stores, the brand name is Hela (which can be purchased from Ketchupworld.com, and you should keep your eye out for it at specialty/international grocery stores).While the store-bought kind is not bad, it’s best to have a homemade curry ketchup, which is what sets Curry 36 apart.This is one of Berlin’s best curry wurst stands, according to Germans as well as Lonely Planet.Though what makes me happy is that we discovered it not through a book or review, but by walking by it and seeing the crowds around it at all hours of the day (whether it was ten in the morning or ten at night).When I saw the masses, I knew I’d found the excuse to blog about curry wurst.I even took the picture of the imbiss a day before I got the chance to eat there!And the crowds did not disappoint: it was the best curry wurst I’ve eaten, hands down.

Now, you might be thinking “If homemade curry ketchup is the best way to enjoy a curry wurst, how can I make it?” Well, I’d tell you how if I knew how.However, there are a couple things keeping me from this: 1) People like the owners of Curry 36 keep their recipes secret, and 2) The ketchup sold in Germany, even Heinz ketchup, is made with a different (I think sweeter) recipe than what is sold in the US.This leads me to assume that ketchup worldwide is different, so I first have to experiment with making ketchup so everyone has the same base to go off of.This will take a while, so please be patient.

While you’re waiting, go ahead and drool over this picture.On our last day, Inge, my mother, and I went to KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens, Berlin’s biggest and most famous department store).On the top floor they have a gourmet food section – fresh seafood, a chocolatier, a patisserie, and rows and rows of shelves filled with gourmet ingredients.Here you can see the tarts and cakes they make fresh every day.Mmm!

Curry 36 is located on Mehringdamm 36, 10961 Berlin in the Kreuzberg neighborhood. They are open almost 24 hours a day.

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December 4, 2006

Hamburg Euphoria

Upon my latest visit to Hamburg this weekend, I fell in love all over again. The Christmas markets have started up (there are five just in the downtown area), and the city has adopted its colder maritime winter weather. Although daylight lasts for only a few short, precious hours* the city comes alive with lights and holiday spirit. Nevertheless, the wonderful thing about the holiday season in Hamburg is that you can (to a certain extent) escape it if you need to.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m no grinch. However, sometimes I just have to get away from the hustle-and-bustle of the Christmas market and the smell of Glühwein (or the threat of someone spilling the contents of their mug down the back of my coat). One morning during my stay I woke up nice and early and visited my favorite baker, just down the street from the dorm I used to live in. Bäckerei Horn, taken over in 1996 and now owned by Thomas Horn, is a wonderful little gem in Lokstedt. Their small shop is filled to the brim with pastries, bread, cakes, rolls, marzipan, truffles, and so much more I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of it and I lived there for a whole year. Often times bakers tend to specialize in either bread or rolls or pastries, but this baker has managed to master all three. Purchasing a couple of tasty confections and rolls, I munched on them as I walked to the bus stop to catch a bus to the subway stop Hoheluftbrücke.

Here, on Tuesday and Friday mornings, is Europe’s longest open-air market. It runs underneath the subway bridge (one of many that keep Hamburg’s subways safely out of the flood waters that arise in winter due to the high water table) from line U3 stop Hoheluftbrücke to Eppendorfer Baum. It’s wonderfully colorful and lively to walk through the stands selling vegetables, fruits, cheese, meats, fish, clothes, crafts, flowers, honey, herbs and spices, and more. One of my favorite stands for lunch is the stand expressively titled Vegetarische Spezialitäten, which makes excellent vegetarian baked dishes like lasagna, pizza, and quiche. They also serve an amazing fruit juice made fresh upon order. Made from apples, carrots, red beets, and celery root, it has a wonderful tangy, almost spicy flavor. The juice-mixer puts in a bit of lemon juice and oil (!) at the end to release the vitamins. A truly refreshing drink, and fun to enjoy and people-watch a bit at the same time.

At the end of the market, at Eppendorfer Baum, is a small café called Savory which serves excellent light-fare soups and salads and also known for its tasty breakfast menu. It’s an excellent place to rest your feet after the market and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea (okay, it’s not that long, but how long you take to go through it depends on how many stops you make along the way). The area around the subway stop is known for its cute, though pricey, boutique shops. A walk down the street Eppendorfer Baum will take you past many of these boutiques and get you, after a block, to a roundabout by the U1 stop Klosterstern. From there you can easily access downtown Hamburg (as I did), or continue walking down the Rothenbaumchaussee and enjoy the architecture of old merchant homes. It will also take you past the university district and the large, new controversial law library (when it opened, residents complained of light pollution).

As I got off the subway downtown and walked up the steps to the Jungfernstieg, a street musician was playing upbeat music and I had one of those euphoric moments that make me so happy to still have connections to such an amazing city.

*The average amount of sunshine in a Hamburg December day lasts for only about an hour, which means although there are seven and a half hours from sunrise to sunset, it’s pretty much dusk all day.

______

Bäckerei Horn is located on Grelckstrasse 11, 22529 Hamburg. Tel (040) 587 410 and (040) 583 232. Fax (040) 583 235. On the web at http://www.konditorei-horn.com/

For more pictures of the Isemarkt, see Matthias von Schramm’s gallery at http://www.vonschramm.de/2003/galerie6_27.htm.

Savory is located at Hochallee 127, 20149 Hamburg. Tel (040) 467 77 345

Posted in Beverages Bars & Cafes, Food Systems & Politics, Gastronomy, Markets & Stores, Travel | 2 Comments »

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