Duvel

I have never really understood the “upside” of veal, that elevates it over - let’s say pork. It is a rather neutral tasting protein, pretty much like the lean pork is nowadays. It has a lot of collagen, which makes long cooked cuts juicy and tender. But then there is the significantly cheaper suckling pig, which amplifies that trait. Don’t get me wrong: I do like veal, especially in its medium-rare state, like a SV veal Tafelspitz. But I only buy it on offer, when the premium it usually fetches is gone …

But does this imply that there is a real bias towards eating veal, or is it simply lack of customer demand ?

Staff note: This post and the repsonses to it were split from the Dinner 2023 topic, to maintain focus. When did that happen ?

For the “homogeneous” part you’ll need to treat the meat mixture like a dough. Kneading it for a prolonged time (10 min+) while keeping it cold (below 12 oC) will emulgate the fat and create that homogeneous & “springy” mouthfeel. You’ll see that the color of the mixture will turn from reddish to a more mellow pink - that’s what you are looking for.

You could try this recipe from the RecipeGullet, which I find quite tasty* … —- *though I might be biased 😜

Seems German flour is different 😜

It sure is green 💚

And a bit of dolled up leftovers: Cold SV tri-tip, sliced thinly and dressed with anchovynaise, capers, parmesan shavings and parsley. According to my wife this dish is perfectly camouflaging on our tablecloth …

There is no way one can make this look good, but it sure is tasty: Pork neck, braised with onions, cream and peaches, served with Schupfnudeln, broccoli and hazelnuts.

That’s correct. These are vines and will produce leaves in 6 weeks and some more shadow, and later in the year grapes.

Spring has finally sprung, and I took an outing with some long-time friends from my research time … Heading out to the Palatinate and hiking through the (still austere looking) vineyards, we finally arrived at a Hütte (lit. “hut”). An inexpensive place for local wines and local food, we were happy enough to get two tables, as the sun was coming out and the place filled with day trip seekers like us … The terrace … My first Riesling-Schorle of the year. An unsuspecting guest would assume 50% wine and 50% sparkling water, but in the Palatinate the mixture is usually 85% to 15%. Smallest serving is 0.5L. Food was basic and nice. Schnitzel with forest mushrooms … This one was new to me: Bratkartoffeln, fried with blood sausage, liver sausage and brawn. It was hearty and delicious (and veeeery filling). Weisser Käse (lit. “white cheese”): quark, mixed with buttermilk and some sparkling water, which makes it very smooth. Served with herbs and boiled potatoes … Flammkuchen (probably the most popular item with the younger folk). Wurstsalat, my choice 🤗 Kids had a blast with UNO (while munching Flammkuchen, except little one in the middle, who prefers Wurstsalat).

Absolutely. I have been to places in Shanghai after joint venture negotiations where probably I wouldn’t be prosperous enough to dine alone, where members of the Chinese delegation (discretely) got supplied with the (numerous) leftovers and left with a fancy hotel bag full of nicely wrapped dishes. I was offered once, but you can’t really travel back to Hong Kong with a luggage filled with plastic containers from a 8 dish banquet plus all the miscellaneous around it. As it is (or technically used to be*) a sign of respect to offer far more food than the guests can consume, I think it makes a lot of sense. During my trips to Xinjiang, where meat dishes rule, the leftovers from our meals (think legs of lamb, piles of braised beef, veggies to boot, flatbreads and polo) were offered to the diners, but at their request given to the drivers and maybe secretaries that were dining in a separate room. My counterpart explained to me that the driver job is hugely popular, because the meat alone would be enough for their families for a week or so. I know for sure that the restaurant also gave (new) bottles of drinks with the meals to them, which I liked. — * as per official guidance by the party, especially for state companies.

Bürgermeisterstück (tri-tip), cooked SV 7h@54oC, then seared in beef tallow and served with Schupfnudeln with tomato, garlic, goat cheese, herbs and olives, plus some mushroom compound butter …

Just lovely, @Kim Shook 💕

Everytime I see this I think Döner skewer: stack, roast, shave off, roast more, shave off more … Would that be doable ?

YEEEES !!!

Lovely 🤗 Would you like to share your marinade and cooking technique ?

I will make a personal comment first (without trying to convince anyone, just to give you my angle), and then move to the actual question. I do not believe in the mantra that saturated fat is necessarily bad for you, nor do I believe that controlling your blood lipid levels (which I believe to be dominated by ones genes) is 1:1 linked to cardiovascular events and lastly I do not subscribe to taking e.g. statins to modulate the outcome of my bloodwork. As for the actual food question: I started with the intro that „This is what Germans eat everyday“, and it has been like this for ages. I don’t think that traditional food necessarily means „most healthy“, it’s merely a reflection of availability and custom. What makes it suitable for everyday consumption is undoubtedly the ability to balance it with your lifestyle, and that is for me a question of calories in versus calories out. One possible misconception I thought of is that what you see on the table is actually all eaten in one dinner - it is not. The term Abendbrot describes it pretty well: we‘ll eat bread - two slices if rye bread, or maybe a rye roll with some flaxseed, or whole wheat plus cold cuts or cheeses on top of it. All the rest of the spread goes neatly back into the fridge for tomorrow’s breakfast or dinner (whch are basically the same, except the former has maybe a marmalade or two). The Mett on the table is a 200 g portion, for four people (and there were leftovers). Yes, Mett is pork meat, but it is also a raw, seasoned salty sausage. You can’t really eat a lot of that - it is a topping for bread, not a main dish. Same holds true for the salami, the cured ham, the cheese. And that combined with „heavy“ breads is enough for two out of three daily meals. So, there is not a lot of meat per se. Veggies are served at every meal depending on seasonal availability. In spring this means for example ramps and the first herbs of the year (that my parents and little one had pureed in a sour cream based sauce over potatoes and hard boiled eggs for lunch, while I was on the highway and enjoyed a bottle of sparkling water). At yesterdays dinner we had french radishes (not on the picture), pickled cucumbers (in the glass) and onions. A salad or some tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, paprika etc. could be served as well, but usually not more, and no warm vegetables. That usually covers your vitamins requirements, together with the bread toppings, while the bread takes care of your fiber needs. If you haven’t had German bread, your gastrointestinal system is in for a treat 🤗

Germans eat a lot of pork. When we say „Fleisch“ (meat) it is usually understood that it means pork. That being said, every slaughtered animal will undergo the Fleischbeschau by a veterinarian, where selected organs and cuts will be examined for potential diseases. For pork this examination includes a test for trichinosis. The last reported case of trichinosis in Germany as a food-borne illness was in 1970.

Mett !!!

Yeap … so fresh that you can still hear the pig squeaking 🤗

Picking up the little one after a week at my parents … this is what Germans have pretty much everyday for dinner: Abendbrot. Usually with a rye bread instead of the rye rolls, and maybe with one or two cold cuts less. But that’s essentially what I grew up with …

Eaten in the car - I appro🤗ve

It might help to up the doneness. Once you get to the „contraction“ phase (temperature-wise) of the meat fibers, juices start to appear …

I don't think it's necessarily only the fat. I usually go for medium rare, and with that doneness there should be plenty of meat juices leaking, even with leaner species. Sometimes I buy "lean beef" (aka 10% fat percentage), and that's messy, too ☺️