Duvel

Disclaimer: the following narrative features a completely sunny and pleasantly warm day. Do not expect any of this during your upcoming Ireland trip. Indeed it was a sunny day. Thanks to the 1h time shift between Germany and Ireland I got up pretty early to do what I like best (think of a full Irish breakfast picture here)… after yesterdays „rest day“ we packed up and headed to the Dingle peninsula, a bit northwest of the Killarney national park. Dingle peninsula features pristine beaches, that were full of tiny little crabs trying not to get eaten by the flogs of seagulls patrolling around. Well … A rare picture of the full Irish food chain … All closely supervised by the head of the herd … Some 1200 years ago, stone forts were all the rage and Dingle seemed to be prime real estate. The structures are just piled up, no concrete whatsoever … and still stand to this day. With a view of the Skelligs (of 7th century monk or 21st century Star Wars fame) … „Stone on stone“ construction principles applied also to this roadside cafe, where my parents needed to consume a caffeinated beverage … Luckily, just next to the cafe this little road stall sold freshly picked crab meat in brioche rolls. They use lille brown crabs for that, and only the claw meat is used. It was very delicate and sweet … Worthwhile ! After stopping at the peak … … we visited the Gallarus Oratory. Again - just piled up stones, no concrete. 1200 years old. No surprise with that wall thickness … Finally arriving at Dingle, there was one shop I needed to see. So while all the others went for another coffee, I headed to the Little Cheese Shop, that has a great selection of Irish cheeses: I also got two pounds of fresh mussels in the port and a little souvenir … We arrived pretty tired, so I put together some dinner: Cheeses, salmon paté and a Galway dry cured sausage … Followed by beer-steamed Dingle mussels … I love how my father always discovers his enthusiasm for foods I make 😎 Fruity beer to go with … And then there was a serving of the beef & Guinness stew - gratinated with some garlicky mash (yes, I am thrifty with leftovers). Unfortunately, not such a good picture. Despite what you think, we were still hungry … And finally a dessert - from my Dingle souvenir bottle !

Trip is done, let me check what I have on pictures … Yes, I brought one medium Global knife (plus spices, bay leaf & yeast) 🤗

Both - there was about one pint of Guinness in the stew, and I drank 2 x a half pint and added the rest in portions to the stew …

The transfer day (with flight and drive) and yesterdays sightseeing took a bit of a toll on my parents, so we decided for an easy day in town … One might argue that no hearty breakfast was needed, but … Killarney town is nice, but somewhat unremarkable. There is a castle … … and some other „sights“. Souvenir shops are aplenty as well … We found a seafood place for late lumch and enjoyed the fresh produce: Haddock and chips … excellent ! My fathers chowder … Little ones fresh squid … And the suggestion of the day: fresh brill. They put slices of chorizo, which weren’t necessary, but the fish itself was great. You could watch the cook filet the fish (as well as the squid before) … Local IPA … In the afternoon we stayed at home, playing games. I baked a brown soda bread for next day’s breakfast and/or dinner … And started some beef & Guinness stew … Without much calorie expenditure we had a light dinner … And reclined early after may be one or two episodes of Shawn the Sheep and an equal number of Redbreast 🤗

Fair enough - I was under the impression that those cubes are ubiquitous.

Yes, there is a 1.5 day Dublin epilogue 🤗 Ulysses is a tough read (at least for a non-native speaker). I read it while studying in Dublin - and I managed to participate im Bloomsday in 1999 (which we missed by two weeks this time …).

Or you simply get this 😉 …

Only in China 😎

It‘s mild tasting, even the fat. We do have good lamb here in Germany (especially at the Turkish butchers), but the Irish seems to be smaller (younger) and thus the fat is not yet infused with too much of the „goaty“ acid esters …

The next day started with rain, so a proper breakfast to maintain the insulation layer of my body was in order … We headed out to the lovely Muckross abbey, just on the banks of the lower lake of Killarney … Impressive combinations of architecture & flora … With the odd Leprechaun sprinkled in for good measure. A short one mile walk led past the lake itself … … with almost Japanese sights … … to Muckross house. Where we enjoyed a second breakfast … Driving on further south we passed by the famous „ladies view“ (of course when it rained the most). From here you can see all lakes of Killarney … The weather was very Irish. Some 10 min later we had „sunshine“ again … And then again … We drove on to Kildare, made a round and headed home again … My parents were a bit done and didn’t wanted to go out again, so I drove to town, picked up some local lamb chops and ribeyes and made garlicky mash and a salad … Lazy dinner … No complaints. Especially not after another Redbreast 🤗

The first day was rather unexciting. We had a smooth flight to Dublin and picked up the rental car … The guys at the rental were very „concerned“ whether I would be able to drive with a manual transmission or could manage to drive on the left side with a slighly larger SUV. After ensuring them that a) in Germany 90% of the cars have manual transmission (although mine doesn‘t 😎) and b) that I own driving licenses from Japan and Hong Kong, with both driving on left, they stopped trying to sell me any extras … A leisurely 3h drive later we arrived at our cottage in Killarney. Little one found his spot while we were unloading … Unfortunately the nearby pub didn‘t had the kitchen open, so we headed into town. My parents asked for live music, and that’s what we got … First: that’s what I came for ! Food was nice, too - Pulled lamb burger … Cottage pie - very good. Definitely have to put sage into mine at home, too … Fish & chips (for both my father & little one - two portions, of course …) And a braised lamb shank for yours truly … We enjoyed the live music - a very lovely evening ensued 🤗 Finally, at home I had another „local“ specialty (and a good nights sleep afterwards) …

Prologue With little one having almost two weeks of „Pentecost“ (Pfingsten) school holidays and last years hiatus from major holidays due to a new job, we decided to start up our holiday season already in May. My idea was to go to Ireland, because of the lovely nature, the food (of course) and also because I studied at UCD Dublin some 25 years ago … As my parents are not up to holidays on their own anymore, but my mom really wanted to see Ireland again, we took then along as well. So, here we go …

Fully with you. In fact, the Wagamama recipe does start by making a roux in situ. While it’s not difficult to do, usually this is where the lack of flavor is stemming from, as using curry powder (that usually doesn’t keep its potency for long) can be a hit and miss affair. The vacuum sealed kare cubes will eliminate that source of error. But if you are versed cook, making your own cubes it’s a great way to introduce variety …

I assume you are looking for a decent kare („curry“) sauce recipe, to serve with a breaded meat item … in which case I‘d wholeheartedly recommend a Japanese Kare cube (start with the medium spicy S&B or House brand one, both are readily available), dissolved in a weak dashi stock.

That is … interesting. Can you outline the recipe a bit ?

It’s a professional method, used by an authentic German …

You’ll need to beat the eggs with the sugar and a pinch of salt until stiff peaks, then very carefully fold in the cocoa, flour, starch and baking powder. Finally you add melted butter.

Damn straight ✊

It's been done ... A novel beer fermented by kefir enhances anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcerogenic activities found isolated in its constituents - ScienceDirect

Me too. Then I pour it in the sink and drink a beer ...

We‘ve spend the sunny Saturday in the nearby town of Strasbourg, just across the border. Haven’t been there for a while … Brought back a lot of food, including some stuff for tonight’s BBQ … Soooo, we had: lamb, some Merguez, some sausages with herbs & garlic, some saucisse de Toulouse and a kind veal & milk sausage, that was sinply excellent … Plus a horse rumpsteak and a marinated rabbit skewer … To match the French theme, a very garlicky potato grstin instead of Kartoffelsalat … And - because it’s the season - Spargel en papilotte 🤗 All accompanied and finished with a sweet white wine from the Jura … No complaints 🥳

I think the S&B is the way to go. I know the Karashi you are stocking very well and while it is much sharper and hotter than the S&B it lacks the complexity you are looking for. You may consider adding a tiny pinch of sugar (to harmonize the taste, not to sweeten) and a more generous pinch of MSG. Other than that you are golden … (Come to think of it: of course, one could use a different vinegar to add additional depth)

I found this current article on the matter informative … Quote: Researchers estimate that one in six U.S. food preparation and service workers have signed a noncompete agreement as have one in five workers in the agriculture or hunting industry, based on a survey of nearly 67,000 workers. This means as many as 1.4 million food workers are potentially bound by a noncompete agreement, affecting low- and high-wage food workers alike. They’re particularly pernicious across fast food chains, but they also impact chefs, white-collar food service managers, food safety specialists, and many more.

You can use a 1:1 mixture of sugar (e.g. icing sugar, but regular will do as well) and starch (e.g. corn starch).

Spitzkohl, right ?