Tag: foooood

nöt-crème

in my head, netherlands has always been the holy grail of sweet temptations, the anti-diet country: they had vla! oliebollen! stroopwaffles! chocolate letters! hagelslag! speculaas!

but here in sweden… just, wow. i feel like we’ve entered a whole new saccharine dimension. we’re in a constant sugar high, giddy from all the treats and the excitement of discovering a new country. sweden is refreshing, clean, organised… and sweet, like you wouldn’t believe it!

case in point: nöt-crème.
these little things were invented by a family who started a company to produce one health product based on honey, herbs and all that good stuff… but that didn’t go very well with the customers.
so they thought “hey, how about we do something that resembles cake filling instead?”
they grabbed some hazelnuts and did just that, and suddenly they had kids queuing to buy the stuff and eat it straight from the package!

how cool is that? :D

Post author By ana
Post date October 8, 2011
1 Comment on nöt-crème

traveling

a rainy day in copenhagen

clean streets and soaked socks, this is how i’ll remember our day in copenhagen. :)

foooood in germany

berlin burger international

it’s this tiny place in the corner of sonnenallee with pannierstr. you order on the counter and wait for them to howl your name while trying to secure a place in the few biergarten tables outside on the sidewalk. your eyes wander hungrily up and down the table, to the neighbour’s plates. these are grown-up burgers, they slip from their hands and squirt ketchup everywhere as they try to eat them, an inevitable mess in the making. you smile in anticipation and wait some more while you watch the passers-by and briefly consider moving to this street. there’s that croissant place, the cakes place, the paleo place, the turkish market around the corner… pretty neat street, not bad at all.

you’re pulled out of your reverie when a strange sounding version of your name is shouted from inside. a few heads turn, eyebrows knitted. was it their name? nah, you’ve been here long enough, it’s probably yours. so you stride in, grab the bounty and plenty of napkins. just look, aren’t they a beauty? so you pull back your sleeves, press the bun into the burger with both hands, close your eyes and dig in.
every bite is like a blast of flavours in your mouth. the veggies, the meat, the sauces. it’s… really intense, and you’re torn between enjoying it slowly or inhaling it with superhuman speed.

after the first couple of times you’ve learned to drop the fries and soda… tempting as they might be, your taste buds can’t handle that much stimulation in a meal. just the burger is just right, and it ends all too quickly. now where did you put those napkins?

berlin burger international

berlin burger international
pannierstr. 5
12043 berlin – neukölln

open monday through saturday, 13h-23h

Post author By ana
Post date September 26, 2011
2 Comments on berlin burger international

foooood in germany

ökokiste – our organic vegetable box

i’ve always liked the concept of the “vegetable box“: once a week, a box stuffed with seasonal vegetables from a local farm is delivered to your doorstep. the veggies that get included are chosen by the farm and the selection is different every week.

so when i learned that they had it here in berlin as well, it was love at first sight. the maerkischekiste.de website is all in german, but with some help i was able to navigate it, and order our first box. it arrived this wednesday, bright and early:

it included tomatoes, cauliflower, lettuce, peppers, dill and cucumber, all fresh and luscious. we’ve already done some asian cauliflower fried rice, used the peppers and tomatoes on ratatouille and sprinkled the dill on grilled salmon. come to think of it, i don’t think i ever bought fresh dill on a supermarket before, so in a way it’s nice to don’t have so much control over the grocery shopping. the surprise vegetables are a good motivator to learn new recipes! :)

i wonder what next week will bring?

Post author By ana
Post date September 16, 2011
9 Comments on ökokiste – our organic vegetable box

foooood in germany

madame zucker

it feels like it hasn’t stopped raining since we came back from portugal, in the end of june. gloomy days, cold and wet, as if it was back to school weather already. it makes us shy away from summer foods and turn to warmer comforts instead… like hot chocolates, cappuccinos and pancakes!

madame zucker is a breath of fresh air in these parts of neukölln. berlin cafés tend towards the shabby side, but not here. the mismatched white & red furniture is fun and light, there are wooden floors, red polka dot table cloths, a fresh flower in every table, low-volume music… it all seems to say “you’re too tense, relax here for a bit, have fun”. the word gezellig comes to mind :)

and then… we might have a slight obsession with pancakes, crêpes and the likes – it’s one of the first things we look for when we move. nothing beats a good breakfast for comfort, right? it’s my favourite meal of the day.

we’ve had other pancakes in berlin, but they were “cakey”, or drenched in cheap chocolate… do people really think they can replace nutella?! fools!! so it took a few tries until we found madame zucker’s pancakes, which were hiding just around the corner from our house, tucked away on the middle of an unexplored menu. behold this banana beauty:

it’s perfection! :) yes yes, they also have cakes, croissants and the typical german brunch fare – although why anyone would settle for less than exquisite pancakes on a cheat day is beyond me, but apparently some people (*cof* boyfriend *cof*) like variety. bah!

madame zucker, on wildenbruchplatz 5, is open everyday from 10am to 8pm. now you know :)