Kjosk, Mini Street Food Market, Kreuzberg

This was a Sugarhigh tip: a mini street food market in front of Kjosk.  Kjosk operates out of a white double-decker bus on a corner plot which used to be a garbage dump.  Presiding over the scene are graphic black and white depictions of hanging animals, 3 stories high, painted on the outside of the adjacent apartment building.

Entirely surreal and to me a so typical “only in Berlin” scenario.  Sure, big companies all over the world are trying to thrill us with pop ups, props and oddities of all sorts.  But this place felt uncontrived, authentically odd if you will.I read in this article in the New York Times that the Kjosk is the brainchild of Rosmarie Köckenberger and is simply a convenience store housed in a bus.  There are picnic tables, buckets of straggly plants, dirt - lots of it and a ping-pong table.

I didn’t expect much of the mini street food market.  I’ve been to a few of these Facebook food events this summer in Berlin and it’s usually not much more that a guy with a stack of Tupperware boxes serving food that has sat around for too long in the heat.  I’ve also been to the fancy ones, like Pret at Diner and have considered myself lucky to come back with my wallet even if the contents had been thoroughly emptied. Read more of this post

Blueberry Picking at Buschmann & Winkelmann in Klaistow

Two days of torrential rain in Berlin really and truly put the fear of winter into me. I had flashbacks of being trapped in doors for weeks. So on Saturday morning I resolved two things:1. To go on-line and look for flights to Miami.

2. Get out of the flat and out of Berlin for the day.Off we went to a pick your own (selbst pflücken) place Luisa had recommended in Klaistow.

What a place!  I’ve never seen anything quite like this in Europe.  They’ve made an amusement park out of it.  With giant bouncy domes; enough sand pits to shoot the next Pirates of the Caribbean; a petting zoo; boars; rams; a tree climbing area, complete with hard hats and ropes (Climb Up).

I didn’t find any blueberry toys or asparagus pens but there were strawberry bear statues and strawberry seats.  In their store, they sold blueberry everything: jams, jellies, liqueurs and candies.Buschmann-Winkelmann runs events from April through to December.  White asparagus, strawberries, blueberries, corn and pumpkins feature as highlights throughout the year.

On the 27th of August there is even a Line Dancing workshop (15:30 - 17:30 taught Enrico Adler, the 2007 Line Dancing Champion, yes, apparently there is such a thing.) followed by a Country Feast of barbecue with spare ribs and all the fixings.  I can’t even conceive how such an event, organized by some German folk from the country would go…but I can imagine it being a good laugh. Read more of this post

Foraging in Lobetal, Bernau Berlin

My friend Sylee organized for us to go on a foraging walk last saturday.

Wild plants have to fight to survive, so they pack a much heftier nutritional punch than commercially grown vegetables that are mollycoddled with fertilizers and the like.  Apparently, chimpanzees, our closest relative in the wild, eat a diet of fruit and foraged greens.  While the bulk of our diet is made up of grains, flours and meat.  This was generally the gist of the opening talk given to us by our foraging guide, Elisabeth Westphal.

Then we set out on the dirt paths in the forest around Lobetal Dorf.

After spending about half an hour trying to swallow, dry sometimes hairy leaves that tasted mostly identical and promised to fight “der Schleim” or phlegm.  I started to think “Don’t we live twice as long as chimpanzees, anyway?” and “Well, I’m sure if chimpanzees had a choice between hairy green leaf and say salad nicoise, they would probably choose the latter.” Let’s face it, they would probably eat toothpaste right out of the tube, given the choice.  And if slime is really such a problem, maybe we should call the ghostbusters?

But then we moved on to some more interesting edible greens.  Wood sorrel; a small, clover like plant, made up of three heart-shaped leaves, tender and sour.  I had visions of it on strawberry tarts.  The young shoots of pines, succulent, with a strong resin taste, I could imagine them in a salad of olives, capers and tomatoes.  Wild garlic flowers, a whisper of garlic, which I scattered straight onto the pasta salad I had brought along for lunch. Read more of this post

Marheineke, Market Hall, Kreuzberg

I walked down Mittenwalder Str, wondering if this street really led to the market hall?  It all seemed too residential; a fat cat in a window here an old woman smoking a cigarette there…and then I walked into the bright square, glaring sunshine bouncing up off the cobblestones, a cacophony of  squealing
children, water falling from a great height and general buzz of people soaking up the early summer.

How come no one ever talks about this place?  It’s cute as a button! All urban planned with trees offering shade, fountains and a playground for the children.

Read more of this post

Berliner Staudenmarkt, Plant sale at the Botanical Gardens, Dahlem

I didn’t want to flake out and not go to the special plant sale at the botanical gardens.  I was not dissuaded when after 30 minutes of trying to drive my car across Unter den Linden I realized it just wasn’t going to happen (Marathon day today), although I was ready to put my fist through the stupid navigation system and her insistent “turn right, turn right, turn right”.  I drove back home, dumped the car in front of the flat, did not heed the call of nature (number 1) and walked to Hauptbahnhof.  There I was directed to go to Friedrichstrasse and change once onto the S1, if I wasn’t such an underground moron, I would have realized that the Brandenburger Tor is on the S1 and is the closest station to my flat!

I spent another 15 minutes trying to find the right platform and passing the same people over and over, staring at me, probably thinking “Moron!”.  When I finally made it on the train, they asked us all to get off, two stations later, so Layla and I waited for the next one, which was rammed of course (it’s 23ºC in Berlin today)!  The whole time I am bursting and thirsty at the same time.  Get off the train at the Botanischer Garten underground stop (it’s actually called “Botanischer Garten”).  Only to see signs saying Botanischer Garten, 1 km.  I walk as fast as I can possibly go, pushing the buggy, turn the corner and…

.enormous line.  Huge.  Like Michael Jackson was back and giving his last ever concert or something (called: This is really it!”)

I wait…

It strikes me that I should check how much money I have. €16 exactly.

My turn at the window, no cards, no EC, just cash.  €6 ‘bitte’

I have €10.

After a blissfull 2 minutes in the ladies, I realize I am starving.  I get a plate of bratwurst and potato salad from Beumer & Lutum stand.  I have €5.  Layla doesn’t like any of it, so I get her a dinkel vollkorn (wholemeal spelt) waffle from the guys that have the same stand at the Kollwitzplatz market on Thursday.  €2.30 left.  I am so thirsty, I am contemplating drinking the pond water.  I splurge on a €1.40 glass of warm water, 200ml. Down to €0.90. Read more of this post

Domäne Dahlem, Spring Fair, Dahlem

You have to peer very closely and for a very long time at the branches to see any signs of spring.  The weather has been glorious, burst into spontaneous opera songs type of weather, but the trees are not convinced yet.  This weekend we changed to summer time and there was a spring festival at the Domäne Dahlem.  

Read more of this post

Grüne Woche, International Food Fair


It goes without saying that I visited the Grüne Woche (on until the 30th of January) food fair, after all I am the Foodie in Berlin.  Going on a Saturday was insane but less so then going with the pram during the week (thanks to those of you who warned me against it).

The fair is a huge, sprawling affair over 26 Halls.  I had assumed that it would be a professional trade fair that consumers could attend whereas actually it is just aimed at consumers.  As the consumers are in Germany, there was an uncanny amount of cured meats, salmis and cheeses.  

I had one shot at the fair so I resolved to see the entire thing in a time frame of 4 hours. I kept checking my watch to make sure I was on schedule and noticed that time was passing remarkably slowly. Not a good thing if you go by the “time flies when you’re having fun” adage. Read more of this post

KPM, Porcelain Manufacture, Tiergarten

You many not find the best food in Berlin (yet) but you can certainly find the plates.

KPM is a Berlin based manufacturer.  A KPM piece is instantly recognizable by its delicate composition, the blue sceptre logo and prices that will make coffee (or whatever you are drinking) shoot out of your nose.  Yes, to quote the rude blond shop assistant in Pretty Woman “it’s very expensive”.  This is the antithesis of globalization and how everything is made in China (or these days,Vietnam).  German, with a tradition going back 250 years, KPM boasts 7 Kings as proprietors.

I did a double take when I saw the prime piece of real estate the KPM factory was sitting on.  With the development fever that is typical of Berlin, I would have assumed that the whole operation would have been moved to the suburbs and this location been transformed into lofts and penthouses. Read more of this post

Christmas Lunch

Menu

Cocktail: Snowballs (made by my sister)
Turkey stuffed with lemon parsley butter (Gordon Ramsay, BBC Good Food)
Sauces:
Bread Sauce (Delia)
Cranberry Chutney (The British Larder Blog)
Cranberry, apple sauce (Gordon Ramsay, BBC Good Food)
Gravy
Sides:
Stove top carrots (Orangette Blog)
Wok fried Brussel Sprouts with Chestnuts & Mirrin(Got the idea to side step the parboiling and go for searing heat instead from Heston Blumenthal, Waitrose Magazine but my recipe)
Garlic and Rosemary Roast Potatoes
Chestnut and Cranberry Stuffing with Sourdough (tweaked a recipe from Epicurious)
Nut Loaf (made by my mother in law)
Desserts:
Sour Cherry Linzer Tart (Sur la Table)
Chocolate & Pear Clafoutis (Elle a Table)

Proud to say, Christmas lunch went off without a hitch.

I said lunch would be served at 4 pm and everything was on the table at 3:45. And it was all still warm. Read more of this post

Kitchen stuff I can’t live without…

Well, of course I can, it’s just a lack lustre life, filled with curses and longings for my stuff.

If only I could carry them around with me in a toolkit like a doctor or a plumber.  Not sure how the airlines would feel about my hoard?

Here they are, in order of importance;

1. My Japanese knife.  It cuts through most things like a hot knife through butter.  Swoop, straight through, no hanging on or stumbling.  I sharpen it once a week on an electric knife sharpener (yes, that is just how important a sharp knife is to me!).  Mind you, chefs sharpen their knives before every chopping “job” so my once a week routine seems pretty flimsy in comparison. Read more of this post

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 780 other followers