Behemoth

Yup! Edit: sorry, the tea thing does not sound familiar to me but I'll try to email my dad. Which usually means I'll get like, a kilo of it in the mail next week...

What do you guys do for high quality baking and cooking chocolate? I normaly use Vahlrona or Sharffenberger 62 and 70%, which are pricey but not astronomical when bought in respectable amounts. Tried Dallmayr but they only seem to carry their in-house brand, way pricey and didn't see any bulk quantities. Karstadt & the supermarkets carry mainstream couverture and baking chocolate but I don't know how the quality stacks up. Didn't know where to look in Viktualienmarkt. Oh, I also need to ask about the yeast situation. Used Dr. Oetker dried but I am sure there are better options out there. edit: how beautiful is it today? I keep making up excuses to go outside. In fact, I think we need some bread!

Nice start, but how on earth will you top that first post?

Helen, I just had a chance to sit down and start reading this blog. Before it runs its course, I just wanted to say I love your writing style, and the food looks wonderful.

I guess I should probably take more interest in beer threads. This week I drank: Augustiner Lagerbier Hell Hacker-Pschorr Muenchener Hell Schneider Aventinus Schneider Weisse Original The Aventinus is probably my favorite, but the Helles are more common for those wanting to avoid a painful morning-after.

I've seen it called at least five different things between three stores I find it at here in Dallas: black kale, Tuscan kale, cavolo nero, lacinto kale, dinosaur kale. ← Here is a photo from last year: Great stuff, wonderful texture. Ironically, now that I live in a place where I can get all the ingredients, it is really hard to find specialized cookbooks. Any suggestions for online regional guides? I probably have versions of most recipes in some book or another, just not listed by region. Edit: Okay, I am an idiot -- just saw Nathan's photo and also just realized you guys already listed several online sources. But I did make Bagna Caoda for a party we had last Friday so maybe I am still in the game? (This city has cardoons and white truffles though the latter will wait until I am gainfully employed)

Thanks everyone -- sorry it took a while to respond. We recently moved so I haven't been online much. Sazji, we are now in Germany, so Turkish groceries should be easy to come by I found a great ice cream book: Frozen Desserts by Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir. Lots of unusual recipes, but they also give some formulae for those inclined to make up their own mixtures, plus a list of various fruits and vegetables and their sugar content so you can adjust the other ingredients accordingly. The recipes I've tried so far have been excellent. My next goal is to figure out some new combinations, but given how many interesting ones are already in there, it will probably be a while before I get around to it.

I've gone so far as to bake my own torpedo rolls in the IL. The bread has to be strong enough to stand up to the filling. A word on technique, as picked up from years of semi-inebriated observation. Fry the steak on a griddle, gather it into a slightly elongated pile, layer two slices of provolone (my preference) on top and wait for them to soften. Now put the split bun over said pile wait a second for it to warm up a little, then flip the whole thing over with a spatula so that the cheese ends up under the steak on the sandwich. Add onions and hot peppers if you're using them and that's it. If going wit' wiz, it just gets ladled on once the meat is in the sandwich but you still do the flippy thing with the meat and bun.

In Germany it is supposedly (according to my husband) bad luck to give an even number of flowers. Not that this explains anything...

Thanks guys. Michelle, I would love to get together. I will be travelling a lot back and forth between here and the States this first year -- A is here for good but I am still finishing up my degree. I will certainly be around for an extended period starting in May (our summer break) so that might be a good time, so PM me if you are in town.

Vielen dank und ein frohes Neues Jahr! We took a break from unpacking this morning, went for a walk and then an unhealthy New Year's breakfast: Beautiful city, it is still all a little surreal to us...

Great photos, but now I am very hungry. We've been living on leberkase, pretzels and beer until the stove gets hooked up but munich as a huge italian population with lots of nice food stores for once I get cooking again. Will have to look through the thread again for inspiration. Happy new year!

I question the idea that good food is expensive -- in fact I think food in the US is cheaper than in any other part of the world I've lived in, relative to average income. I am currently living in a tiny midwestern town. People have become so passive about what they eat here they complain about the bad tomatoes in the supermarket when there is a twice a week farmer's market selling beautiful heirlooms at exactly the same price. (I literally had this conversation with my neighbor two nights ago.) They just don't feel like spending the time shopping or cooking, which is perfectly fine, but then to set it up as a yuppies vs. proles thing is disingenuous to me. It's just garden variety American pragmatism -- cheaply constructed monster houses, ugly shopping centers, commute 40 miles to work so you can live in a slightly bigger house that you only see for 3 waking hours on weekdays, buy your groceries, spark plugs and lawn mowers all in the same place. If it is the influential rich in the world saying, we've been to europe, we want to live someplace that loks nice and eat good food, then well, maybe that is not such a bad thing.

That's wonderful news. Congratulations, Mary! Now I need to get my mitts on a bottle somehow...

Oh goodie, I have all those ingredients. (Well, not boodles, but bombay original) I'll do some experimental drinking tomorrow night, and report back.

Thanks. Will have to try that, or some variations thereof (I'm reluctant to buy any new stuff for the time being.)

That was my first thought but whenever I've asked for a Bronx at a bar lately I've been met with blank looks. Okay guys, help me out. What do I do with Cynar?

Oops! Yes, the ue was intended to represent an umlaut, which is missing from my keyboard. I remembered the rechtschreibung for that but obviously commited a wrongschreibung for Zucker! Um...would you seriously like these things? I have two feuerzange and three huete, so there is enough for you and my other friend if you really want to try it.

Zuker huete=plural of Zuker hut. At least I have seen it spelled that way. It is indeed a sugar cone. For feuerzangenbowle it is suspended on a piece of metal over a pot of wine with aromatics, soaked with high proof rum and lit on fire. All the while you must be watching this weird little movie about a grown man who goes back to grade school to play pranks on his teacher. If you think this is weird you should see what Germans do for New Year's eve. Here are some photos for the curious Anyway, the drink has a terrible reputation (deservedly so) but it makes for a fun evening and a skilled host can often manage to make it reasonably tasty.

I have to try the white wine versions -- they sound really nice. Have not yet figured out which of our lucky American friends is inheriting our leftover zukerhuete.

I thought this thread was going to be about old ducks. Can fat be elderly?

How odd, that they use the German term. Are these places not common in France?

Your main concern would be surface bacteria -- in which case searing the outside of the meat before cooking in a very slow oven would do the trick. Check out Paula Wolfert's Slow Mediterranean Kitchen book, she employs this technique quite a bit. (And the ones I have tried out so far have been amazing.)

That's depressing -- I hope it is not the case in Germany, though I suspect it is. As provincial as we have been feeling these past two years, living in the midwest, these vegetables are easily found at our farmer's markets, and will be very hard to give up. edit: mizducky -- try to buy your rutabagas at farmer's markets. They are usually sold unwaxed, and tend to be a lot fresher. Even though they look like a hardy root vegetable, they really don't improve with age. Btw, I find the Oxo peelers do a great job on tough skins, very much worth the small price.

On the other hand, yesterday my (German) husband was lamenting that once we move back he will no longer have cute young female college student waitresses chatting him up at the pubs.