Weihnachten 2011

Christmas Tree with lighted candles

The candles on the Christmas tree were lit last night in accordance with the Christmas Eve tradition in this part of the world. We did make a small compromise to tradition this year. While Magda's family tradition holds that the tree is not even put up until Christmas Eve, this year we put the tree up 5 days before. But it was not decorated until Christmas Eve. That was done just to eliminate the need to go out on the streets on the last shopping day before Christmas.

Homemade presents for 2011

Homemade Liqueur

 We did make some homemade gifts for friends and family this year. Three types of liqueur were bottled. These were made from red vineyard peaches, black currants and pears. We were particularly happy with the pear liqueur, probably because were did not have high expectations. But it turned out with a very nice pear flavor.

As mentioned in the previous blog, we made Christstollen according to the recipe out of the 1939 cookbook. But that was not the only baking we did. We put together packages containing 8 types  of cookies. These included Tollhouse cookies because, as every knows, they are Santa's favorite (although they are not seen here in Germany much).

Tollhouse

Snickerdoodles

I also did Snickerdoodles this year as another example of a traditional American cookie. Yes, I know that the Wikipedia page for Snickerdoodles claim a German origin for these cookies, but I don't buy it. I have never seen Snickerdoodles in a German cookbook, nor are they easy to find on Germany cooking web sites. When I have found something call Snickdoodles, they are quite different, containing walnuts and raisins, than the simple sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon and sugar that is typical in the USA.

Magda is a big fan of shortbread, so those had to be included. And what would Christmas be without some cut out butter cookies?.

Add the these some traditional German cookies. Lebkuchen almost defines this time of year in Germany. The ones we made are, like our stollen, based of a recipe from a 1939 Dr. Oetker cookbook. Honigkuchen uses the same spices as Lebkuchen, but uses honey as the sweetener and does not use much ground almonds. Heidesand is a personal favorite. It is a butter cookie with a little marzipan mixed in. They are formed by rolling the dough into a log, covering the outside of the log with sugar and slicing off the cookies. And Schmaltznüsse are a shortbread cookie where half the butter is replaced by lard. In this case, coca powder was added to half the recipe to create the "black and white" Schmalrznüsse.

Frohe Weihnachten!

Butter cookies and Shortbread

Homigküchen

Heidesand

Lebküchen

Black and White Schmalzmüsse

Making Christstollen, a November Tradition

Despite the increasing number and size of the Christmas displays that have been appearing in stores since the beginning of September, I have managed to avoid thinking too much about the coming Christmas season. However, Mid-November is time to start thinking about Christmas baking. While Stollen, the German sweetened bread with nuts, raisins and citron that is very popular at Christmas, can be eaten fresh, it actually is better when stored for a few weeks. The general rule of thumb is to bake Stollen at least 4-6 weeks before it is to be served. So now is the right time to start baking it.

I use a recipe that I have adapted from the Dr. Oetker's Schulkochbuch (School Cookbook) from 1939. Dr. Oetker is sort of the Betty Crocker of Germany. Maybe even bigger in Germany than Betty Crocker is in America since in addition to a historic line of cookbooks, the company also sells cooking ingredients. This year, the Schulkochbuch is celebrating 100 years of publication with its 10th edition. Each edition is a bit different, reflecting the tastes of its time. I like using the 1939 edition (the 3rd edition) because the amounts of sugar and fat used in its recipes are much less than a recipe from current cookbooks. I suspect this is because these ingredients were much more expensive at that time.

The recipe is called "Simple Christstollen". I'll first give the recipe from the book (not a literal translation) and then provide additional insights to the recipe as well as some of the variations that I've used.

Simple Christsrollen

100g Schmaltz

100g Butter

125g Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 container of Dr. Oetker's Lemon Backoil (Backoil is explained below)

500g Flour

1 package Dr. Oetker's Backin

1/4 cup Milk at room temperature

125g Raisins

50g Currants

50g Citron

50g chopped Almonds or Walnuts

• In one bowl, mix the fat, sugar, egg and backoil until creamy.
• In another bowl, mix the flour and the backin.
• To the fat/sugar mixture mix in 3/4 of the flour mixture and the milk to form a wet dough.
• Knead in the raisins, currants, citron, nuts and remaining flour until the dough accepts the remaining flour.
• Form a stollen and place on a flour covered baking sheet.
• Optionally after baking, drizzle with a little additional butter and sprinkle with powder sugar.
• Backing time: 1-1.5 hours in middle hot oven.

Schmaltz is rendered pork fat. It is cheaper than butter and doesn't have a distinct taste. So mixing with butter is quite frugal. Using all butter is fine, as would using margarine.

Backoil is flavoring that is used in baking in Germany. Personally, I find it artificial tasting, especially the lemon and orange flavors. So I prefer using the zest of one lemon.

Backin is German baking powder. It is sold in packages containing 5 teaspoons. This is different than the American baking powder and should not be substituted for each other. Some specialty grocery stores will have packets of Dr. Oetker's Backin (the Andersons in Columbus carries them, or you can find it on Amazon). If not, a reasonable substitute is a 2 to 1 mixture of cream of tartar and backing soda.

A lot of people prefer yeast as the rising agent (Magda is one of these). I've used both fresh and dried yeast in place of the backin quite often in this recipe, but doing so means giving the yeast some time to work. I give the yeast a good start by mixing it with the warm (but not hot) milk, and a little bit of the sugar and flour from the recipe about an hour before getting started. This mixture is added with the 3/4 of the flour mixture to form the initial dough. Once fruit and remaining flour is kneaded together, I leave the ball of dough to rise in a bowl covered with a towel for about 2 hours. Then after forming the Stollen, I cover them with a towel and let rise for an additional hour before baking.

Most any dried fruit can be used in place or in addition to the raisins and currants.For example, I've used dried cranberries several times. I do like to soften the fruit a little by soaking in a liquid for a couple of hours. Rum or orange liqueur would be traditional liquids. Orange juice would also be OK, if staying away from alcohol is important. 

Forming a stollen simply means rolling the dough in to a thick oval, the length of the loaf that you want, and lengthwise folding one side of the oval over the other. Let the bottom part hang out a little bit, you don't quite want the top part to cover it completely.

The recipe makes a 1 kg (a little over 2 lbs) Stollen, which is a pretty good size loaf. 2 half kilogram (1 lb) Stollen may make more sense if you are planning to serve groups of 3 to 5. In the pictures below, I made 4 small Stollen that would be just right as a gift to a single person or a couple.

For a number of reasons, bake temperature and time are always a problem when using old recipes. The idea is to bake until the Stollen are golden brown. I use the over and under heat setting on our oven. What I do is pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees C, and then turn the oven down to 175 C when I put the Stollen in. Bake time for the 1 kg Stollen is 40 to 45 minutes. If you make 2 or 4 smaller Stollen, the bake time will be a little less. Obviously, if you use convection, you should reduce temperatures.

Germany's November Bird

Although it is a relative recent addition to the German menu, Germans do like turkey. It is however not often roasted as a whole bird. Happily, we are able to buy whole turkeys in the groceries this time of year. Also everything that is needed for the trimmings, including the dreaded cranberry. But I think this is because there are enough Americans (and curious Germans) living here to create a market at this time of year.

For Germans when it comes to roasted poultry in November, the bird of choice is goose. From the end of October you see frozen goose being offered in the grocery stores. Butcher shops ofter the ability to order a fresh goose. Restaurants have been advertising goose dinners. This reaches a climax each year on November 11th, put does continue through the end of the month.

One reason for this tradition dates back to the 4th century B.C. St. Martin day is November 11th. Legend has it, that upon hearing that he was to become the Bishop of Tours, St. Martin hid in a goose barn because he felt himself unworthy of the honor. However the honking of the geese gave St. Martin away. So the goose has been associated with St. Martin. There is an alternate legend to explain the association of the goose to St. Martin. According to this legend, a goose made so much noise during a service that St. Martin held that it annoyed the saint. As a result, that goose ended up on the table that evening.

In the 6th century, several things came together to secure the goose a place on the table for November 11. First it had become the beginning of 7 weeks of fasting between St.Martins day and Christmas. So a good meal was important. Second and perhaps related, November 11th had become the end of both the financial and farming year. So at this time of year, livestock that would not make it through the year was slaughtered and preserved. Geese would never be so plump as at this time of year. Peasants had to pay 10% of their production to the landlord. What they ate beforehand would not be counted. Still the landlords were receiving an abundance of geese that would not survive the winter. But as it was the end of the financial year as well, the laborers and handmaidens were dismissed on this day and new ones hired for the next year. Landlords would give the dismissed employees a goose as a gift. All this conspired to make a lot of geese available for the November 11th table.

We did have goose one evening at a restaurant in Badenweiler. The traditional trimmings served in Germany with the goose are rotkohl (red cabbage). klöse (potato dumplings), apple sauce and roasted chestnuts. The spätburgunder (pinot noir) was a nice accompaniment.

German Breakfast

Magda has been home from her school's exchange for about a week. Although the German students are getting together later this week to discuss there experiences, I've heard a few of the things that the German students thought about their stay in the Chillicothe, Illinois. One oft-commented impression was that their American families rarely took time to lay out a breakfast. Everyone seemed to be on their own to grab something quick, or to skip breakfast entirely. It is not that the German students expected the family to sit down together every morning to eat. What was generally surprising was that no one took the time to lay out the meal, if for no other reason than to make sure the kids are eating something and eating healthy.

The picture here gives an idea of a typical breakfast for these German students. There is usually some sort of meat or cheese. In this case, there are cheese slices, two types of salami and some schinken (smoked ham). Just about any kind of sliced meat is possible, but the meat is thinly sliced. Germans will talk about a "window pane" slice especially with highly flavored meats like schinken. This refers slicing of meat that is thin enough that you can see through it. This way, you really don't eat much meat or cheese.

The meat, cheese or jam is placed on a slice of bread or a half of bread roll, often buttered, to make an open faced sandwich. There are so many bread choices in Germany that it is hard to fathom. In this picture are a couple of rye rolls and a pumpkin seed roll. Darker breads based on rye are more traditional, but white rolls, which use to be reserved for special occasions, have become more common.

This picture also shows yogurt and quark. Quark is a bit like cottage cheese, but it is in the form of a single cake, rather than small curds. For breakfast, it is used like yogurt, mixed with jam. But quark is also used to make cheese cake, dips, fillings for pasta or sweet rolls. It is really an inexpensive staple of the German pantry.

Finally there is some sort of fresh fruit available.

There are some variations possible. For instance, a lot of people like to mix muesli with yogurt or milk for breakfast. Milk and corn flakes (or some other breakfast cereal) is an American contribution to a "typical" German breakfast. And yes, sometimes a sweet roll can be found, although donuts are very rare.

But that leads to another surprise for the German students. Things like sweet rolls, cakes, cookies and other pastries were too sweet in the USA for them to enjoy. Certainly we have found that in adapting a American recipe for use here, we often cut out at least half the sugar (and often two thirds) to get something that our German friends and family can enjoy.

Rite of Fall: Collecting Walnuts

One of the rites of fall here is collecting walnuts. Usually we will do this on our hikes around Badenweiler in southern Germany. In this area, there are many walnut and fruit trees that are left unharvested. We actually end up returning with heavier packs than we started with, plus our pockets are full as well.

Unfortunately Magda was forced in participating in the exchange between her school and the high school in Chillicothe, Illinois, due to the "illness" of one of the teachers who had originally signed on for the exchange (excuse my skepticism, but it is hard to understand why the success of an English language exchange depends on a part-time teacher who only part-time teaches English. Where are the teachers who teach English full-time?). So I have been picking up some walnuts under a couple of trees in the park that Frannie and I often walk. Usually we find a handful of nuts on each walk, but over time, as you can see, that can grow to a reasonable amount.

The walnut trees here are not the black walnuts that we typically see in Columbus, Ohio. Rather they are English walnut trees. One big difference is that as the nut ripen, they separate from their green cover. Sometimes they seem to spring from their covering and landing a fair distance from the tree. This makes them much easier to collect and make use of.

Around Koblenz, the walnut trees seem to grow best in the micro-climate of Rhine and Moselle valleys. It is usually just too cold and windy in the fields of the Eifel and Hunsruck (there is often a 5-8 degree C difference between Koblenz and the Eifel). The occasional tree that you find there are mostly in the villages where they are protected some from the climate. Further south, around Badenweiler, they can be found every where.

A couple of weeks ago, when the nuts started to ripen, there was quite a bit of competition for them. Every day there would be older couples and younger families out collecting the nuts from the trees in the park. Some would just pick up the nuts from the ground, but others were impatient and threw prices of wood into the the trees to try to knock the nut down. Now that we are at the end of the harvest, the competition has lessened. But still there are enough that I'm able to collect a new handful with each walk.

By the way, the green decoration on the nuts are hops. Hops grow wild here as well. I have noticed them on the banks of the Rhine and along the trail in the Eifel.

Jam from Red Vineyard Peaches

One of the unusual fruits that ripen this time of year is the "roter Weinbergpfirsich" or red vineyard peach. This is a red flesh peach that is grown in vineyards along the Moselle. It is not a particularly sweet peach, but is highly prized  by some for its use in jams, liqueurs and compotes. We picked up a couple of kilo and made a really tasty jam with them and in the process learned a thing or two.

First is the juice from these peaches is a really intense red. Peeling these peaches results in red hands, and if not careful ruined clothes. The hands can be cleaned with the use of lemon juice. But use of the clothes will be limited to working around the house (voice of experience here). But this is also what gives you this ruby colored result.

The other interesting thing is learning how homemade jams are done here in German. It seems a more popular hobby there than in the USA, at least it appears that more shelf space in the grocery stores seem to be devoted to it than in Columbus. We used one product that I haven't seen in the USA. This is a sugar that already has the pectin mixed in called Gelierzucker. Gelierzucker is offered in two strengths, 2:1 and 3:1. 3:1 Gelierzucker would require a 3 to 1 ratio by weight of fruit to sugar to make jam.  It only requires 3 minutes of boil for the jam to set. Cannot get much simpler than this. Peel and stone the peaches, weigh the resulting flesh, divide by three, add that much Gelierzucker, bring to boil for 3 minutes, put the jam in your jars.

These peaches should be available for a couple more weeks. I would still like to try making a peach liqueur before the season ends. Magda claims that once you have a fruit compote made with these peaches, you won't want to use any other fruit. So we will have to try that too. But more on that later.

In Search of Edible Stones

This week we had an opportunity to connect with our common hunter-gatherer past in doing a activity that while it is not common, it is practiced more widely here in Germany than in the USA. That wold be mushroom hunting.

The idea started at the 70th birthday party of Ulrich, one of Magda's friends. As we were talking,  Ulrich mentioned that on a walk the previous week he had started to collect Steinpilz in the last week and that there were few things better than Steinpilz in a cream sauce over pasta. Before I had a chance to say anything, Magda jumped in saying how she would love to go with him one day to learn about collecting. And so, a few days later, we arranged to do just that.

Steinpilz (literally translated as "stone mushroom") is perhaps the most desirable of Germany's  edible wild mushrooms. They are a large, meaty mushroom. The best comparison in terms of consistency and taste that would be common to Americans would be the porcini. However, they are different mushrooms. Steinpilz is only one of the many varieties of mushroom than one can find in the German forest, some of which of course are poisonous. But there are a wealth of edible ones and until recently it was common practice for Germans to go out to collect then.  Magda actually showed me the text of a biology book from the 1970's. The book taught mushroom identification so that people could learn how to safely collect them. Some of the mushrooms mentioned include the following:

• Ziegenbart which looks, as its name suggest, like the beard (Bart) of a goat (Ziegen) sticking out of the ground. However, ziegenbart is a "giftig" which has nothing to do the the English false friend "gift". "Giftig" means toxic.
• Parosolpilz is a pretty mushroom that grows taller than most on a slender stem with a dome-shaped cap. Ir looks like an umbrella sticking in the ground.
• Pfifferling are what we call chanterelles. It is also one of the most sought after edible mushrooms in Germany.
• The red skin of the cap of the Täudling would make you think it is toxic, but it is not. According to the biology book, it tastes like a potato.

But we were after the German king of edible mushrooms, Steinpilz. We meet Ulrich in his village, Lay. Lay is on the Moselle, not far from Koblenz. We took the trail up out of Lay to where the trail entered a old deciduous forest. This would be out hunting grounds. We headed off the trail in search of our prize. Stienpilz is a fairly large mushroom with a skin that starts dark brown and gets lighter as the mushroom ages. Stienpilz does not use gills to release spores, rather a system of tube like structures that give the appearance of a sponge under the cap. Another distinguishing characteristic is the shape of the stem. It become thicker at the base as compared to where it meets the cap.

It wasn't long before we started to find a few, enough for dinners for two families.  Our haul can be seen in the first picture. It was also fascinating to see the great array of mushrooms that you just would miss if you stay on the trail. We saw a number then that were mentioned in Magda's biology book, and a few that weren't. The one that had the most fun off the trail was Frannie. She just seemed in seventh heaven running from place to place and sticking her nose in the leaves for some new smell. It might be a while before we can get her trained to be a mushroom hunter.

Dinner as you would expect consisted of the meal that started this whole adventure, Steinpilz in a cream sauce over pasta. Hardest thing about it is cleaning the mushrooms. Snails also like Steinpilz, so you want to be sure to cut away from around where snails have taken a bite. Saute onions and bacon until the onions begin to soften. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are soft. Then add the cream, season and add a bit of fresh parsley. Serve with pasta. The Spatbugunder (pinot noir) that we had worked great. But a dry Moselle Riesling would also work well. Guten Appetit.

Freiburg, August 2010

Generally speaking, I have a more of a preference for the villages and countryside of Germany than I do the cities. In fact, I think I can say that about most countries that I have visited. I just think that is were you find the soul of the county.

However, Germany is blessed with a number of cities that have a sense of uniqueness to them making a visit worthwhile. One of those cities that we keep going back to is Freiburg. Freiburg, on the western edge of the Black Forest, is the major German city in the southwest corner of Germany. It was established around 1120 as a fortified market town of free citizens. This is the basis for the name of the city ("frei" meaning free and "burg' meaning a fortified citry). The city holds on to its roots as a market town in a couple of ways.

First there is a large market around the Freiburg Munster, Monday through Sunday. When we were there on a Tuesday at the beginning of August, I would estimate 30 framer stands selling fruits and vegetables, 4 selling flowers, another 2 stands selling meat, 4 stands selling cheese, 5-6 selling prepared food, 2 selling carved wooden items (a black forest specialty), and another 5-6 selling other items. Really a good size market, especially for an every day market.

The other connection to the roots as a market town is the availability of department stores and shops in the city. Freiburg has a huge pedestrian area that is lined with such stores. Shopping in Germany can be interesting. The sales people in the major department stores tend to be professionals who have been doing their job for quite a while. Many can look at you and tell you what your size is. Not only that they will know there stock and know if they have something that might be the right cut and color for you. If you try something on that is not a good fit or color, they will tell you and suggest you try something else. If they don't have anything, they will let you know that they have nothing that they can recommend.

The church at the center of Freibug is called referred to the Frieiburg Munster. Munster means that it is a major church but is not the seat of a bishop. However, this church has been the seat of archbishop of Freiburg since 1827 and therefore could be referred to as a cathedral. The church in transitional, having been started in 1200 as a Romanesque church but with construction switching over to the Gothic style about 1230. Although the tower is currently under reconstruction and is covered by scaffolding, I know from past trips that the climb to the top is well worth the effort for it's 360 degree views and the close-up look at the intricate stonework of the belfry.

There are a number of other reasons to like this city from the gutter system that dates back to the middle ages to support the fighting of fires, the remains of the wall that fortified the city,  the late Gothic Merchant's Hall and the City Hall from the 16th century, to the restaurants along Munsterplatz that have outdoor seating allowing you to enjoy a beer or glass of wine in the shadow of the Munster anytime of the year (in winter, each chair has a blanket or a sheepskin that you can wrap up in). Freiburg is also has one of Germany's oldest universities, which adds to the vibrancy of this city.

Spargelzeit

There is a two month period from late April to late June that is known as Spargelzeit. Spargel is German for asparagus. Zeit is time. So Spargelzeit means the time for asparagus. Since asparagus is the first harvest of the year, it is connected with the end of cold temperatures and the coming of summer. Asparagus growing use to be centered in southern German. But with the advent of growing under plastic, the growing asparagus has now extended into the central Germany. So there are a couple of fields not far from us.

Asparagus here is not the skinny green shoots that we get in the USA. Rather they are thick, white shoots, the thicker the better. They have a woody outer layer pretty much the whole length of the shoot that must be removed with a vegetable peeler. The shoots are graded according to their thickness, length and roundness. This is basically an indicator of how much work is needed to prepare the shoots. The thicker shoots have more volume per surface area, therefore less peeling and less waste. Also if the shoot is not round (cylindrical is maybe a better word) they are harder to peel. But even the farmers will say, they all the grades taste the same.

We tend to buy the grade II that are a bit thicker than my thumb. Once they are peeled, it is simply a matter of boiling for 20 minutes. The traditional German meal shown in the slide show below would start with a pound of asparagus per person (that is before peeling). and would serve boiled potatoes and slices of ham to go with it. Melted butter would be available to pour over the asparagus and potatoes. We like lighter white wine with low acidity is idea. For this meal, we used sweet potatoes, but a hard potato, like red or Yukon gold, would be more traditional. We also used a  Riesling which is normally little too acidic, but we had just returned from Wehlen and wanted to drink one of the wines that we bought there.

What is it?

I discovered this in Magda's vacation apartment in Badenweiler and had no idea what it was. Do you?

Notice that when the cover is pushed down a sharp point appears.

Hint: Magda says that one of these used to be in every German kitchen.

I'll post the answer in a couple of days.

Weihnachtsmarkt Trier

Trier, is one of my favorite cities in Germany. Although Trier is Germany oldest city, what makes it interesting for me is that it was one of Europe's most important cites north of the Alps early in its history. As a result, there a buildings and ruins from Roman, Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque.

When I heard that Trier's Weihnachtsmarkt was one of the nicest in the area, this was enough reason to hop on a train for another visit.

Nürnberg's Christkindlesmarkt is Germany's oldest and most well known Weinachtsmarkt (Christmas market). This tradition has spread throughout Germany. Now every city of any size or that depends on the tourist trade has such a market. They do provide a bit of light and fun during the dark days of December (remember that we are actually north of Columbus, resulting in darkness earlier here).

Trier's market is not huge, but it has a nice setting in the city's main market place, surrounded by buildings from various periods in the city's long history. In addition, most of the cities pedestrian area is lighted by decorative stars. The market had stands selling hand made Christmas decorations and other articles. Some mass produced articles were on sale as well. There was a merry-go-round for the young kids. And, of course, several booths selling typical foods of Weinachtsmarkts, various wursts, reibekuchen (potato pancakes), and glühwein (mulled wine)

Beers I've Tried: Battin Gambrinus

I was introduced to Battin Gambrinus on our trip to Luxembourg. Battin is a Luxembourg brewery since 1937. The Gambrinus is a pale lager with a rich gold color and a thick fluffy white head that has good staying power and that leaves laces on the glass as the beer is drunk. The taste begins with creamy maltiness that gives way to a finish that is hoppy (prehaps saaz hops) but not overly so. Over all a full flavored, balanced larger that is a pleasure to drink.

However, it is not cheap. 4 euros for 6 .25 liter bottles, or about 1.67 per half liter.

Luxembourg - Nov 2009

We visited a friend of Magda's who lives in Luxembourg and whose husband works for the EU. It was a most "unfriendly" day. Most of the day was spent in conversation. But we decided to take a quick tour of the EU area.

When I worked at FIZ-Karlsuhe in 1991, one of my first trips was to Luxembourg. I remember the fortifications of the city above the deep valleys. I also remember a single building devoted to European government (of course this was pre-EU).

So I was more that surprised to see the city that has been built, all since 1995. Buildings were there for parliament, courts, the symphony, offices, banks and everything required to support the people working there.

The bottom part of one of the buildings contains a mall, that includes an amazing grocery store called Auchan. This store provides for people from all over Europe that are working at the EU, and are generally well paid and appreciate their food. Here are some of my observations:

• a tenth of the store was devoted to drinks, more than half of that was wines from all over the world. A large part of this was French. There was also a large selections of wines from Luxembourg (the Moselle extends into Luxembourg). The USA was represented by two levels of wines from Gallo.
• Beers from all over Europe were there, Germany, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg. The USA was represented by Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Miller.
• 30-40 meter long and 1 meter deep showcase of cheeses
• 30-40 meter long and 1 meter deep showcase for salamis, wursts and pâtés
• Huge counter of fresh fish, plus a counter of salted cod (which, I'm told is popular with the Portugese contingent to the EU).
• Frozen foods to satisfy any special needs of representatives from any European country.
• Sometime, watching the people shopping was as interesting as the selection offered by the store. I mean there are people from all over the world shopping there.
  

Beers I've Tried: Bitbuger Premium Pils

Bitburger is a classic German pilsner that is brewed int he town of Bitburg, within an hour's drive from Coblenz. Bitburger traces it's history back to 1817. While originally brewing ales, Bitburger brewed its first pilsner in 1883. Today, no ales are brewed, only pilsners. The Bitburger Premium Pils is the foundation of Bitburger's current reputation.

It is one of Germany's national brands. It is the official beer of the German national soccer team. There is probably no bigger sponsorship deal that that in German. It is also one of the German beers that can be found in the USA. It is Germany's no. 1 beer sold in draft.

This is one of the good one. Nice hoppy finish, light yet full-bodied, great foamy head. If you want to understand German pilsners, this would be a good starting place.

Of course, Bitbuger is brewed according to the deutschem Reinheitsgebot, the German beer purity law from 1516 that states that only water, barley and hops can be used in the production of beer.

Cost about .55 to .64 euros per .5 liter bottle.

November 11th, St. Martin's Day

November 11 has several meaning in Germany. From a religious perspective it is St. Martins Day. The day set aside in commemoration of Martin or Tours, the Romain soldier that converted to Christianity in 316 AD and later became the Bishop of Tours.

The most repeated story about Martin occurred at the gates of Amiens when he and his soldiers came a scantly clothed beggar. Taking petty on the man, Martin cut his military cloak in half and gave half to the beggar to keep him warm. Why only half? Roman soldiers owned only half of their clothing. Martin could only give away what belonged to him, thus only half the cloak could be given. The story continues that Jesus came to Martin in his sleep that night wear the half cloak, telling the angels that the cloak had come from Martin.

I suspect there is a relationship between this separation of what belongs to the individual from what belongs to the state in this story of Saint Martin to a secondary, medieval meaning of the November 11. November 11 was when the serfs paid compensation to the nobles whose land they worked. 10 percent of everything produced in the year was payed to the nobility, be it grain, chicken, pigs or geese.

This fact and another story about Martin explains one of the traditional meals served on Saint Martin's day. When Martin learned that he was to be named the Bishop of Tours, he hid himself in a barn full of geese because he did not what such an honor. The noise from the geese gave Martin away and he was installed.

And so the nobles of the time ate geese to celebrate the day, as do a number of people today.

In this part of the middle Rhine, for working folk, the meal to celebrate the day is much more basic.

Magda and I were invited across the river to a part of Lahnstein known as Martins Siedlung (Martins Settlement), named after Saint Martin. This working class community was destroyed in WWII as was much of Lahnstein. It was rebuilt in the 1950s by the inhabitants. The homes that they built with their own hands, are small by today's standards and may not have the straightest walls or perfect corners. But each was on a plot of land big enough for a garden to feed the family (which makes such perfect sense for people coming out of the destruction of war). On Saint Martin's day, the people of this community decorate their fount lawns with candle-lighted paper and glass lanterns, many hand made. As night falls, the community comes out to greet each other and view the display of lights. At around 6:30, a parade begins. At the head of the parage is someone dressed as a Roman soldier riding a horse representing Saint Martin. Following Martin are the children of the community carrying paper lanterns and a band playing religious music. In former times, the children would sing songs praising Martin as they walked in the parade. But that is not true today, much to the chagrin of the older folks remembering their days in the parade.

Children are given sweet bread, sometimes shaped as a pretzel or as a man smoking a pipe.

After the parade, the families retire to there homes to the traditional, working class meal for Saint Martin's Day in this part of tye world, Dippekuchen. This is like a giant German potato pancake that is baked in a cast iron pot. This one contained 5 pound of grated potatoes, bacon, onion, fleischwurst, eggs and spices.

As a final note, there is an awareness of our celebration of Halloween, that creeps into German celebrations at this time of year. Several of the houses were decorated with carved pumpkins. This is interesting because Martin was known for destroying pagan temples and structure. Here we have this symbol of a pagan celebration that has transcended its original meaning and is being used in the observance of a saint is interesting. But perhaps it is Halloween itself has made this transition into a holiday for kids, with no pagan or religious connotations to it.

Reading the Grapes, Mittle Rhine 2009

We visited a vintner in the village of Spay, just south of Coblenz. They produce mostly Rieslings from their vineyards in Bopparder Hamm.

Her comments echoed those her Baden counterparts. The grapes were of very high quality this year. But, she also noted that quantities were down.

We should begin seeing 2009 wine the first week of April next year

Reading the Grapes, Baden 2009

Talked with two vintners about the Traubenlese (literally Grape Reading, actually refers to harvesting the grapes). Both were very excited about the harvest. Dry July, August and September had provided high levels of sugar. Something to look forward to on trips to Badenweiler next year.

Still need to visit some vintners on middle Rhine and Moselle to see if we can expect some interesting Rieslings.

Zwetschgen

Zwetschgen are the German version of elongated purple plums similar to the varieties that are sometimes seen in US markets called Stanley or Italian plums. These sorts of plums can be eaten as is or stewed with wine. I suspect these are the types of plums that are dried to make prunes. But in Germany, they are especially loved for baking and jam making.

Zwetschgen are smaller and ripen in mid to late October after that other varieties of similar plums. Also they have a distinct flavor that define certain German dishes. Still, Zwetchen because of their smaller size, late harvest and tall trees have fallen out of favor with growers who prefer to produce the larger, earlier, and easier to harvest varieties of purple plums.

We we fortunate enough to receive a bucket of the real thing from one of Magda's relatives. We used them to make the Zwetschenküchen and a batch of Pflaumenmuss.

Zwetschenküchen ( see the second photograph) is a baked pastry made by lining up rows of de-pitted plums that have been laid open over a sweet yeast dough. Some people will sprinkle sugar or Streussel (a mixture of sugar, flour and butter that forms a crumble that can be sprinkled). But we consider that a bit much. We prefer "au naturel".

Pflaumenmuss is sort of like apple butter made with plums. Like apple butter, it can be used like a jam. The ingredients are simple:

• 4 to 1 mix by weight of de-pitted plums and sugar (see the first photo)
  
• heat
• patience

The mixture is allowed to set for 24 hours before cooking. Some say even longer is better. Then the mixture is brought to a boil while constantly stirring. The mixture is allowed to reduce to about two thirds the original volume (or until the desired thickness is reached). This can take awhile, but the result is worth it.

Fleischwurst

October 9th, 2009, the first full day in Germany for Frannie and me. We started the day with a hike in the Koblenzer Stadtwald. There a several nice trails that Magda and I have enjoyed in the past. One in particular is a 6 km loop with one relatively steep uphill section of 1 km. If we are good, we can do this in under an hour. Although we walked Frannie a lot in our neighborhood of Clintonville in Columbus, Ohio, this would be a long walk for her and we wondered about her ability. While it was not a major problem for Frannie, it was noticeable how she started the walk sprinting ahead of us, by the end she was walking with us.

We headed off to a local Metzgerei (butcher shop) to stock up for the week-end. It was a Friday, but Saturday was a German holiday so shops would be closed. And on Sunday, shops are always closed. In getting our meats for the week-end, we were given a piece of Fleischwurst for the dog. Dogs and children traditionally get a piece of sausage at he butcher's. Fleicshwurst is a finely ground sausage pretty similar to what you would find in baloney or hotdogs in the USA. Frannie has experience both hot dogs and baloney as treats, but for her Fleischwurst was a discovery. I cannot tell you why Fleischwurt is more exciting than baloney or a hotdog. But we have never seen Frannie so excited about food. And this is a dog that does not show much excitement about anything. She was doing every trick that we ask, and inventing a few new one. Anything for that next piece of Fleischwurst.

Maybe we shouldn't read too much into it. The 6 km hike we had just finished may have contributed to her excitement for any kind of food. But she did seem to find a reason to be happy about the new digs.