Eating Berlin.

Last week I returned to somewhere that I left 17 years ago and holds strong memories for me - Berlin. And quelle surprise most of the memories relate to the food there! As a child I lived there for 3 years and saw the wall fall down. I also own piece of the wall I chiselled off with my own fair hands. I admit I was nervous about returning and worried it wasn’t going to be anything like I remembered. Although, yes, Berlin had changed, it didn’t disappoint. Prewarning - not the best of photos as we didn’t take our DSLR out with us.



Monday

After a bumpy landing at Schönefeld Airport we headed to our Meliá hotel on Friedrichstraße by the Spree. I had read good reports of it on Trip Advisor, hence why I booked it and our rooms were fantastic with lovely views of the Spree. We soon headed to some of the side streets by the hotel and settled on eating at Machiavelli as the menu was extensive and had many interesting dishes, which in turn challenged my knowledge of the German language. Who knew there could be so many words for mushroom. I went for a feta & broccoli pizza, odd sounding (hence why I tried it!) but surprisingly nice. I’ve only ever seen broccoli on pizza in Germany. I also tasted my first Malzbier a non-alcoholic beer that me tastes like cola & Guinness. After dinner we went on a short sunset walk to Brandenburg Gate and the Jewish Memorial which was very peaceful in the last light of the day.

Tuesday

Now, I had heard about the buffet breakfasts at the Meliá hotel, but nothing could prepare me for the extensive choice on offer. Churros, pancakes, various bread, fruit, yogurt, cereals, cheese, cold meats, pastries, eggs to order, fried potatoes, sausages, grilled tomatoes with pesto, rollmops, big selection of teas & coffee, champagne… you name it and it was probably there. Obligingly we all ate as much as possible for breakfast to ward off lunchtime hunger pangs. We spent the day walking around the Zoo then walking on to Charlottenberg to look for the Egyptian Museum which it turns out is no longer there and is in the process of being moved to Museum Island. All in all we ended up walking 15 miles that day, and most of that was looking for a museum that no longer exists. Lunch was grabbed on the move and for me was in the form of a delicious pretzel. During our mammoth walking trip we also took in Siegessäule and Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskitche.



For dinner that night we chose a place called Kartoffel Keller (English translation being Potato Cellar) - random but hearty. Certainly helped to fill a gap. One thing I learnt in Berlin is that they love sausages, potato & bread. If you don’t like these your stuffed. Thankfully I like all three, however I did find the odd true veggie option on their menu and decided to sidestep the meat for a change. Most restaurants don’t serve veggie meals or the “veggie” alternative was a fish dish. I chose a large kartoffelpuffer (aka latkes or potato pancake). Although they are traditionally served with applesauce I decided to top mine with vegetables, cheese and a herb butter. Surprisingly nice. Hubby ate pan potatoes with shrimps and leek.

Wednesday



The main aim for Wednesday was to visit KaDeWe. A famous department store in Berlin, much like London’s Harrods. As a child we used to go on school trips just to look at what’s called the Gourmet Floor. I can still remember walking around the floor in awe of all the counters stacked with the most amazing food and tanks full of lobsters and other sea creatures. Even with 17 years on I was still in awe of all the counters and shocked to say we couldn’t decide on anything to buy. Everything we fancied like some of the cheeses wouldn’t have travelled back to the UK well. This was a sneaky shot of one of the cake counters. Sneaky as little bro got told off for taking photos in there. After leaving KaDeWe we headed back to Gedächtniskitche where I promised Hubby he could taste the famous German street food that is Currywurst. I wouldn’t dream of eating anything like this in the UK, but for some reason here in Berlin it felt right and tasted good! We walked back to the hotel via Tiergarten in which Hubby got quite a shock considering I forgot to mention Germanys liberal attitude toward naturism.



For Dinner we headed down Schiffbauerdamm and liked the look of an Austrian restaurant called Brechts . Now rule 1 of looking for a restaurant to eat, look at the menu & prices before sitting down. Poor Dad got a bit of a shock when we sat down and the charming waiter handed out the menus. With 6 of us sitting down for dinner this wasn’t going to be cheap, However I have to say it was one of the best and most memorable meals we had in Berlin. Between us we had Wiener Schnitzel with cranberries and sautéed potatoes; pink lamb with risotto, ratatouille and asparagus and the final dish being ox cheeks with dumplings. I was thinking of dipping out of pudding, but I’m so glad I didn’t as the Crème Bruleè taster platter I had was amazing. Well worth the 10 EUR.



Top row (L-R) - rich chocolate Crème Bruleè, summer fruits in chocolate sauce, Plum sorbet
Middle row - apple compote, vanilla Crème Bruleè, blackberry sherbet (texture of cooked beetroot, but sizzled in the mouth.
Bottom row - vanilla ice cream, morello cherries, strong coffee Crème Bruleè

Thursday

The final full day in Berlin was probably the hottest day. While the men headed out of town us women headed towards Alexanderplatz. The initial intention was to go to Museum Island, but the queues were too long so continued towards Alexanderplatz tower, however not before stopping off at the Radisson Blu hotel for Kaffee & Kuchen and at 5.50 EUR it was a bargain considering I was getting used to seeing a basic cup of tea selling for as much as 4 EUR in some places. They serve coffee & cake in their Atrium Bar. It was an impressive space with a stunning aquarium leading up the middle. Never before have I been served such fancy tea with a little tea timer to ensure the tea leaves steeped for exactly the right amount of time. We must have spent over an hour there taking advantage of their air-con and posh loos you don’t have to pay for (a novelty). After making a brief visit to Alexanderplatz for old times sake started to head back to the hotel when I saw a place advertising iced bubble tea. I’d seen bubble tea many a times on Tastespotting and decided to give it a try. Well all I can say is that it is not my taste in the slightest and the tapioca pearls…euch.



While in Berlin I also managed to introduce Hubby to some food I used eat as a child there including Bifi Rolls, Erdnuss flips (think peanut butter flavoured Wotsits) & Kinder milk slice. Junk food maybe, but the German junk food of my childhood!

I was pleased as to how quickly all the German I learnt as a child came flooding back. As I learnt it in Germany I speak German with an authentic German accent, however this did cause problems when speaking to some people as they didn’t believe that I didn’t always understand them! I admit I’m far better at reading and listening to it than speaking it. Thanks to the lack of English channels on the hotel TV (there is only so many times you can watch BBC News 24) I soon got learning the lyrics to some woeful Europop and realised we are not the only country to have the I-know-it’s-dire-TV-but-I-like-it Snog, Marry, Avoid?

All in all it was a fantastic trip and I would recommend Berlin to everyone. I don’t understand why it isn’t more popular. I was warned before I went that German food isn’t exactly renowned, but if you know where to look there is some real gems…as long as you avoid the bubble tea.

River Cottage Adventure - part 2

Sunday morning we awoke still full from the Valentine Feast and headed into Lyme Regis. Okay that is a slight lie we originally went somewhere else, but it was so dire we headed back to Lyme Regis.



After eating the essential fish & chips along the sea front, while dodging nose-diving seagulls, we decided to find The Town Mill Bakery where our Bread Making course would start on the Monday. Well what a gem. With two long benches and feel-good music pumping from the stereo we picked up a slab of wood and helped ourselves to the glorious cakes; cups of tea were then served at the table. Their brownies are one of the best I've ever tasted. I could have happily spent all day here drinking, eating and reading the cookbooks that adorn the bookshelves. If I was to run a bakery it would be exactly like this.

For the last 2 nights of our trip we stayed at Hedgehog Corner, a B&B just down the road from RCHQ. Joy, the owner of the B&B, was a fantastic host and had thought of everything down to the salt & vinegar for your fish and chips to the torch and high-vis jacket for the walk to the pub. She also cooked a great breakfast and is very passionate about where the ingredients come from. More or less all of the ingredients were locally sourced. I can highly recommend her muesli.



Monday morning we were back to Lyme Regis for 8.30 start at Town Mill Bakery. As we arrived we were met by Steve Lamb who recognised Hubby from Pig in a Day. In total there were 18 of us on the course and while waiting for everyone to arrived we tucked into tea and toast.



The first part of the course was with Aidan Chapman, passionate Master Baker who let us in to some of his baking secrets and the philosophy behind bread making. I found him incredibly inspiring. He also explained the the Chorleywood Process and how supermarket bread is by no means "real" bread. He then demonstrated the sponge & dough method where less yeast and salt used. He also uses wheatgerm in the majority of his bread for depth of flavour and texture. We then had a small masterclass on kneading 1 handed (so you can do 2 loaves at a time) & shaping bread. It took me a while to master the technique but by the afternoon I had it down to a fine are, Hubby was certainly the teacher's pet when it came to this! Aidan also explained how steam and how you slash the bread and significantly change a loaf. The longer and cleaner the slash the better. When putting my loaf into the giant industrial oven I was a bit over enthusiastic and sent my loaf straight to the back of the oven. I needed a bit of help to get it back out again! After our loaves were baked we headed in car convoy to RCHQ for the second half of the course. This was also to allow The Town Mill Bakery to open for customers.



The next part of the course was being lead by Dan Stevens, who had been head chef at the Valentine Feast. The afternoon started with us making our own bread dough. Like usual I made an absolute mess, but in turn produced great bread dough. Dan showed us another method of kneading. We left the dough to rise while Dan explained different doughs and demonstrated how 1 basic dough mix could make lots of different types of bread including flat breads, foccacia and English muffins. The flat breads he made were divine with the beetroot hummus. I could have easily swiped it all up and sat in a corner eating it. Interestingly he said the bread he couldn't master was naan bread. He concluded that the only way you can get naan bread as delicious as from the takeaway was to have a tandoori oven. What was interesting was that both Aidan & Dan recommended stones for cooking your bread on as it keeps it's heat the best.



Before lunch we all prepared a foccacia from the dough Dan had prepared earlier then set about making some pizzas for lunch. Then cooked them in the woodfired oven. The weather was so glorious we did this part of the day outside. The oven was so hot they cooked in less than 90 seconds and tasted so good. To accompany the pizza we also had some ham & purple sprouting broccoli gratin.

After lunch Dan explained the theory behind sourdough and how to make our own. I'm very intrigued by this bread and am planning to start a "mother" this weekend. While our final loaf was baking in the woodfired oven we wondered around the grounds. How I would love to own somewhere like River Cottage. We eventually left with 6 loaves of bread we had cooked between the 2 of us. Thank goodness for freezers!



I'm very thankful for Hubby taking me away to River Cottage to not only experience the Valentine Feast but to learn so much on the bread course. I picked up so many tips and hope I can implement them into my baking. In turn I should produce even better bread. It has made me think completely differently about how I bake. What I did notice on the course that I was probably one of the more experienced in baking there and saying that I still think I have a great deal to learn. I put it down to my food geekyness! The course certainly wasn't for bread beginners but keen home bakers and was the perfect way for expanding my knowledge. I would love to return for another course.

River Cottage Adventure - part 1

My Christmas pressie off Hubby had finally arrived. After me giving him an early Christmas pressie in the shape of Pig in a Day with Hugh F-W he returned the favour by taking me away for 4 nights to experience River Cottage, not once, but twice.

Saturday started with the obligatory trip to River Cottage Local Produce Store & Canteen. We arrived just as lunch service was starting and managed to grab a seat. The menu may be small with around 8 dishes, but the ingredients are seasonal and they are well priced. If I wasn't dining at RCHQ later on I would have tried the fish & chips as it looked delicious, but instead had a hearty bowl of leek & potato soup with pumpkin seed & parsley pesto. The pesto transformed the dish from a delicious soup into an absolutely delicious soup. Hubby had faggots which impressed him as they had been made with the traditional caul fat. As we left there was a significant queue of people waiting for a table.

Saturday evening was the Valentines Feast at River Cottage HQ. It started when we pulled off the country lane into a car park. Everyone was huddling around a fire in an attempt to keep warm while waiting for the tractor trip down to RCHQ. RCHQ is very well hidden and you wouldn't know it was there. Nestled in the valley below with minimal light pollution I just couldn't see it.



Now before I go any further I apologise for the grainy quality of the pics. I was using our compact rather than SLR and the "available light" setting to avoid using flash. No food pics, I'm far too self conscious for that! All I can assure you was that the food looked fantastic.

The tractor & trailer arrived and we all squished onboard for the bumpy ride down to the farm. I can certainly understand why they don't let you walk or drive down! At the bottom we were met by Peter, our host for the evening, who guided us to a lovely warm yurt where we were served a rhubarb Bellini and possibly the biggest oysters I've ever seen. I admit I chickened out of the oysters, but Hubby really enjoyed them.

We then walked to the barn and found our seats next to a lovely couple from Birmingham. This valentines event was unlike conventional Valentine events. Rather than separate tables for couples we were seated down two long wooden tables. There was a really great atmosphere in the barn. Not long after the next canape was brought out; a rough pâté of belly pork served on a small circular piece of toast. This was soon followed by seared paprika squid.



Once everyone had eaten their canapes Dan Stevens, Head Chef for the night, introduced the rest of the menu to us explaining where all the ingredients came from. I washed all of this beautiful food down with some Tayberry wine.

Roast wild sea bass fillet, artichoke & thyme risotto, crispy air dried ham with winter salad - I'd never eaten sea bass before Saturday and would now have to say it is one of my favourite fish. The risotto was made with spelt rather than traditional rice which gave it a lovely texture. I would love to make this dish again at home.

Crab bisque, sour dough and dressed crab - Probably my least favourite course as I do find crab a bit overpowering, but still a lovely dish. I especially liked the sour dough.

Seared saddle of organic Llyen Hogget, slow roast shoulder with celeriac puree and purple sprouting broccoli - I've been wanting to try hogget for a while so when it appeared on the Valentines menu I was really pleased. As a hogget is older than a lamb and younger than mutton it had a strong lamb taste, almost very slightly gamey. The saddle was cooked to perfection with a hint of pink and the shoulder just melted in my mouth. I would quite happily eat hogget again, just a shame it can be difficult to get hold of.

After the main course they brought out a bottle of Camel Valley Cornwall Brut for every couple. We weren't expecting a bottle of bubbly at all so it was a nice surprise. The hardest bit for me was not drinking it all has Hubby was driving and I wanted to leave some for him once we got back to the hotel. It was very drinkable.

Salad of Sharpham brie, pear and beetroot - Possibly the most interesting and my favourite course. The flavours, along with the digestive biscuits matched perfectly. The brie had been drizzled with a small amount of honey that really set the flavours off. Again another dish I would like to try and replicate at home.

Frozen meringue, orange and rhubarb parfait with ginger tuille - A refreshing end to the meal. I'm not usually a fan of rhubarb but this was delicious.



The evening ended about 11.30 with coffee and superb chocolates that were beautifully dark and just melted in my mouth. A perfect end to a perfect evening.

I would love to return to River Cottage again for an evening like this. It was a perfect place for me to try dishes I wouldn't usually choose in a restaurant. I would highly recommend a trip to eat at River Cottage to anyone.

Click on for - part 2!

Foodie Adventures in York

Hubby & I have just returned from a wonderful few days in York to celebrate our 1st Wedding Anniversary. We stayed in the plush Hotel du Vin just a short walk from the city centre. Usually Hubby and I are the self-catering kind of people, but this time decided to treat our self. We would certainly stay in a Hotel du Vin again as not only were the staff lovely, the bed was huge and comfy, the bath big enough to wallow in and the shower...well enormous!



For the first night, Tuesday, we booked The Tasting Rooms. I had been recommended this place by lots of people and we were both looking forward to it. So it was a bit of a shock when we turned up to find the restaurant closed, void of furniture and a bailiff notice plastered on the door. That night we ended up eating in the Bistro at the hotel. Thankfully Hotel du Vin is renowned for good food and wine and they certainly didn't disappoint. We both started with a beautiful pea and ham soup, I then followed it with supreme of chicken, baby spring vegetables and red wine jus whereas Hubby ate Pork cutlet, fondant potato, swede and carrot purée with a calvados sauce. All washed down with a french white wine (sorry have totally forgotten any more information about it!) that was recommended by the sommelier.




Wednesday in between visiting the minster and the museum we decided to treat ourselves to Afternoon Tea at Little Bettys on Stonegate. Little Bettys belongs to the same Bettys chain, but as it is hidden down a little street a lot of people don't realise it is there and the queues are far shorter than the bigger Bettys just around the corner. Nothing prepared us for the glories that the Waitress presented with. A huge pot of tea, ham and chicken finger sandwiches, a giant scone with clotted cream and jam, lemon madeleine, dark chocolate filled profiterole and mini summer fruit tart. It was if I had died and gone to heaven! It was all delicious and next time we're in York we'll be heading straight for Little Bettys for Afternoon Tea.



Wednesday we had booked a table at The Blue Bicycle, thankfully this restaurant turned out to be open! Given it was midweek the restaurant quickly filled up. There was a really nice atmosphere. While we waited we were served bread baked in mini terracotta pots and a whole roast garlic to smother over the freshly baked bread. For starters I had a very enjoyable Tempura mixed Vegetables (including asparagus and sweet potato) with Wasabi and a Soy & Sesame dipping sauce. Hubby ate home-cured Beef Fillet with Straw Potatoes & Horseradish dressing, he commented on how delicious the home-cured beef fillet was. It was cut very thin and had the texture of Parma ham. For mains Hubby had Grain-fed Chicken Breast stuffed with Oyster Mushrooms & wrapped in Parma Ham, with Crème Fraîche Mash & a ratatouille of Vegetables and I had Fillet of Yorkshire Beef with Fondant Potato, Beetroot Purée, Red Wine Jus & a Horseradish Crisp. My steak was cooked perfectly. No pudding as we were still full of Afternoon Tea!



On Thursday we spent the morning touring the foodie haunts of York. A little gem we discovered was The Hairy Fig. A fab little deli down Fossgate. The little shop was packed to the rafters with amazing food. We were drawn to the cheese counter where we ended up buying some peccorino, 2 year matured gouda and intriguing Katys White Lavender, a white cheese made from sheep's milk and rolled in lavender. Another great find of ours was Rafi's Spice Box, where I was able to stock up on great Asian produce, including some Bombay mix that is very different and far better than any you can buy in the supermarket. It was so good it has already all been eaten.

I love York and is the perfect place for a romantic city break.

The Great Outdoors

Hubby and I have a big love of the great outdoors. Although we kept the walking up during the winter we were hankering to get back under canvas. Compared to many we are quite hardcore campers, but I do put my foot down on wild camping!

We've just spent the weekend at Edale, camping at Fieldhead Campsite. The thing I love about camping and walking is that it is pure escapism. I can stand on the top of a mountain/hill/tor and feel a million miles away from things that may be worrying me.

However the one thing that slips when camping is where my foodie halo. Using the equipment we use, minimal storage and no refrigeration plus the need to have a high carb/energy meal to keep us going it isn't the easiest cooking. In the summer we often have BBQ's but may campsites we stay at don't allow BBQ's so we have to use our highly refined, state of the art *tongue in cheek* meths stove. Anyone who has ever done a Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions will have fond/hateful* (*delete as appropriate) memories of meths stoves and how they have the ability to taint everything you eat with meths. On the Friday night after our starter of cider and nuts (don't ask, it's a camping tradition) we had some rehydrated chicken korma and shepherds pie. Delia would be proud as all it required was 300ml of boiling water and 5 mins...voila, a "tasty, nutritious" meal. Friday night was cold, plus the strong winds didn't help. Over night, inside the tent it reached 4oc. A breakfast of porridge was certainly very welcoming.

On the Saturday we decided another evening meal of rehydrated food really wasn't keeping our cockles warm so we headed off to the local pub called The Old Nag's Head in Edale. It turned out to be a fab pub perfect for walkers where you could keep your muddy boots on while being served with big mugs of tea and hearty traditional pub fayre around a roaring fire. I had a very nice broccoli and cheese bake and Hubby had a delicious lamb stew served in a huge Yorkshire Pudding.

Sunday we arranged to meet up with one of my friends and conquer Derwent Edge alongside Ladybower Reservoir. The hike was certainly one of the hardest I've done in a while, but it was very exhilarating. Just as shame for most of the time we were walking above the cloud base and didn't get to see the views over the whole Peak District that are meant to be stunning. Well at least it's another excuse to visit the area on a day where the weather is better!

We have a very good pub within walking distance (or should that be staggering distance!) from our house. The menu is unlike the traditional pub grub menus that all the other pubs seem to serve around here. It certainly isn't cheap by any means, but it really nice for a treat. Tonight hubby decided to treat me. I more often than not choose the veggie dish when I'm eating out, but tonight the one veggie dish was uninspiring and I didn't fancy any of the run-the-mill dishes so decided to be brave and eat something I've never eaten before, venison.

My dishes:

Homemade tomato soup - Thick, creamy and tasty soup that did appear to be genuinely homemade

Venison on a bed of butternut squash and mustard mash with juniper berry jus. - I was expecting the venison to have a gamey taste, but instead it was like eating a really strong tasting beef steak. The butternut squash and mustard was the perfect accompaniment.

Chocolate and biscuit terrine served with cappuccino mousse - Nice, but I would have made it completely differently. I was expecting the terrine to be crunchier, but instead it had been set in a kind of chocolate jelly.

Hubbies dishes:

Scallops with tomato and garlic salsa and rocket - I had a taste as I've never eaten seafood before (apart from chip shop fish!). The taste was ok, but I really wasn't keen on the texture. To me it was like eating the fat on a pork chop (I'm not a big fat fan to start with). Hubby loved them.

Fillet of pork wrapped in pancetta served with black pudding and braised apples. - I didn't taste taste this, but hubby said it was delicious.

Creme Brulee - You can't go wrong with a traditional creme brulee.

As tomorrow is Stir-up Sunday I've been soaking various fruit in Guinness ready to make the Christmas pud that featured in last months GFM.

Firstly "hello" to everyone who found my blog after my Cinder Toffee post was linked to on the Guardian website. My sister has been down to stay with us for a couple of days. Yesterday we went to Birmingham with the primary aim of eating our way around Selfridges Food Hall. I haven't been feeling well over the last couple of days so we ended up not eating much, it was more window shopping! But when I go back in the next couple of months I will certainly try out the noodle bar and one of their ice cream sundaes. The only things we brought from there were some Krispy Kreme doughnuts (almost as good as ones I tried at a fiesta in Spain) and Lucky Charm cereal for hubby. I was hoping to get some Welch Grape Juice that I have seen there before, but the shop assistant didn't know what I was going on about.

Lunch was at EAT! I really like this place as the food is fresh not doused in mayo and is forever changing depending on the seasons.

The only other foodie purchase of the day was a metal hand whisk. Only recently I replaced my old metal hand whisk with a silicone one, thinking it would be easier to clean. Yes it is easier to clean, but it doesn't whisk very well at all, so decided splash out on a new posh metal whisk from House of Fraser.

Scouse

It's been a crazy weekend at the 24 Hour Race. Hubby & I were helping my brother to run his photography business. Hubby was acting as freelance photographer and I was the woman keeping customers who visited our stall happy and bossing around the boys. The above photo was taken by hubby. The race started at midday Saturday and ran through until midday Sunday. We provided nearly 24 hour photographic coverage of the race which meant not getting to bed until midnight on the Saturday and getting up at 5.30am to catch the sunrise. Although it was tiring I really enjoyed it, plus on the Saturday night we managed to catch a live performance by the fantastic Screaming Citizens who were providing the entertainment.

I never managed to get any baking done for the event, but while I was there managed to taste some Scouse for the first time in years. I had the lamb version. It's delicious with a spoonful of pickled red cabbage and a hunk of crusty white bread. Eventhough Souse is a traditional dish for the Merseyside area it is really difficult to come across. Scouse is now on my "must make in the next few weeks" list!

Yesterday hubby took me out for my belated birthday meal. We went to a fantastic pub/restaurant that is staggering distance from the house. It's not the cheapest place, but the food is superb and we save it for special occasions.

I had:
Wild mushroom risotto
Spinach & ricotta tortellini in a garlic, white wine and cream sauce
Summer pudding served with clotted cream

I did enjoy my choice, but wish I had chosen the vegetable wellington as my main. Both the risotto and tortellini were quite heavy and creamy.

Hubby had:
Quail salad
Crispy belly pork on a bed of celeriac mash with a honey & apple sauce
Lemon & lime tart

I had a taste of the quail and was surprised. I was expecting more of a gamey taste, but to me it tasted of strong chicken.