Bucket list: food markets

Rotterdamm/Helsinki

I don't really like to go grocerie shopping in a supermaket, because it is not adventurous, it is often not super fresh and you can't ask anybody about the products. For me - and I'm sure for everyone else out there - it is super fun to go to a market square or a market hall where you get fresh products and also in such a variety. It smells good and it is just a more intense experience to go shopping. You can ask the vendors about the products and you get more connected to them. There is also more of an appreciation for the food than in a supermaket. I read about these two market places. The new market hall in Rotterdam and about Finland's oldest market hall which re-opened for business this summer.

So clearly it has to be on my bucket list!

I.

Rotterdamm (Netherlands)

The opening of the new market hall was on 1. October 2014. There are a lot of vendors, delicatessen, restaurants and apparently a culinary school.

https://www.markthal.nl/het-verhaal-van-het-gebouw/

vendors:

https://www.markthal.nl/aanbieders/

https://www.markthal.nl/magazine/instagrammers-in-de-markthal

II.

Helsinki (Finland)

I found this great gide about Helsinki on the internet!

http://helyeah.visithelsinki.fi/en

http://www.visithelsinki.fi/sites/visithelsinki.fi/files/files/Liitteet/food_helsinki_hel_yeah_map.pdf

market squares and halls:

http://www.visithelsinki.fi/en/see-and-experience/shopping-in-helsinki/markets-and-market-halls-in-helsinki

3 events coming up in November

in Solingen/Kühlungsborn/Köln

I.
Solingen (Nordrhein-Westfalen) 8. and 9. November

"Knife-fork-scissors-market"

http://www.messer-gabel-scherenmarkt.de/


II.
Kühlungsborn (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) 7.-30. November

"gourmet days"

http://www.kuehlungsborn.de/events/hoehepunkte/gourmet-tage.html
http://www.gourmettage.com/


III.
Köln (Nordrhein-Westfalen) 14.-16. November

 "Salon du chocolat"

http://www.salonduchocolat.de/accueil.aspx
http://www.salonduchocolat.de/animation.aspx?catanimation_id=91

Bookstores

especially where you can find a lot of cookbooks

Vienna/New York/London/Berlin

I loooove bookstores. They are one of my favorite places to be. I love to open a new book - the feeling and the smell of it. I really appreciate the written word on actual paper, because it gives you that extra good felling that you get when you hold a book or a magazine in your hands.

Usually one can find me in the bookstore in the cookbook section, where I definately spend most of the time. Other sections can be history, economy, culture and design!

Sadly the number of bookstores with a huge range of books is decreasing, because nowadays you can buy everything online. The problem is that I hate to order books online, unless you already know exactly what you want. I want to look into the book and just hold it in my hands and really turn the pages. So I am really excited to visit these shops or more specific cookbook shops, where you can find a huge selection of books. There are also special (culinary) events or workshops that you can look up on their website.

I.

Babette's in Vienna

http://www.babettes.at/de

http://www.babettes.at/de/unsere-geschaefte/impressionen-1040

II.

Kitchen Arts & Letters in New York

http://kitchenartsandletters.com/bookstore/

III.

Foyles in London

http://www.foyles.co.uk/

IV.

Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus in Berlin

http://www.kulturkaufhaus.de/de/

Recipe

Lambfilet with pomegranate-cherry-sauce

and pistachio-rice

As I told you I am currently obsessed with oriental cooking. This recipe is a lebanese one. 

In the picture you can see that this is not lambfilet, but a rack of lamb. I actually cooked this dish twice and the first time I had a filet, but didn't make a photo. So I had to cook it again to make a photo for my blog, but this time the butchery had no filet, so I went with the rack of lamb. 

Personally I like a filet better.

Also I have to say that due to my bad phone camera the meat looks redder as it actually is...it is more of a fine pink color on the inside. But that is the problem with the camera in your phone when it is night time - you can't get a good picture! So sorry for that!

Now for the ingredients:

4 lambfilets
1 teaspoon ground green pepper
fresh thymine
some pine nuts

1/2 pomegranate
200 ml cherry juice
1 tablespoon starch
1 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons pomegranatesirup
1/2 - 1 teaspoon sugar


instruction:

1) Marinade the filets in some fine chopped thymine, 1/2 teaspoon of ground green pepper and 1 tablespoon of oil for max. 30 minutes.

2) Mix 3 tablespoons of cherry juice with the starch and put it aside. Mix the rest of the cherry juice, the pomegranatesirup, 1/2 teaspoon of the ground green pepper and oregano together and heat it up. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. Then pour the starch-juice-mixture into the pot and let it simmer for 2 minutes. If you think that the sauce is still too runny let it simmer a bit longer. After that strain the sauce through a strainer. Season the sauce with sugar adn add pomegranate seeds and thymine. Just taste it.

3) Roast the filets from every side in oil for 2 minutes. Then let them rest shortly. Cut them at an angle and season them. Arrange it on the plate with the sauce and add some roasted pine nuts.


For the rice you need:

150 gramms of basmati rice
60 gramm pistachios
220 ml vegetable broth
2 tablespoons butter
1 bayleaf


instructions:

1) Put 1 tablespoon of pistachios aside. Grind up the rest of the pistachios.

2) Heat up the butter till it foams, then add the rice and braise it lightly. Pour the vegetable broth into the pot and add half of the grind up pistachios with one bayleaf (break it before you add it!)

3) When the rice is ready remove the bayleaf and add the rest of the pistachios.

Vintage store

Düsseldorf 

I read a small article about this store and have a visit already on my bucket list. It was meant to be a shabby-chic store. Because of the passion for vintage clothes the store owner sells dresses from the 40's and 50's. But you can also find a lot of handbags, tableware, chairs and desks.

From the pictures on the website the store looks like a perfect place to find some hidden vintage treasures and just rummage around. I definately want to check this place out when I'm in Düsseldorf!

http://www.villa-oliva.de/Villa_Oliva/Start.html

http://www.villa-oliva.de/Villa_Oliva/Wohnaccessoires.html#8

http://www.villa-oliva.de/Villa_Oliva/50er_Design.html

http://www.villa-oliva.de/Villa_Oliva/Info.html

Bucket list - "TTCCH"

Vegetarian Slow Food

Berlin

"TTCCH" = Till the cows come home. As we all know restaurants don't always have to be big, like "TTCCH". It is a rebuilt container and has a wooden patio.
 It is a vegetarian restaurant that is participating in the slow food movement.
The "Slow-food-movement" is connected to appreciated, concious eating and local ingredients. It is a countermotion to globalized fastfood.
The "TTCCH"-food is made of organic and local groceries.
The founder Natalie Viaux wants to combine local products with mediterranean flavors and good taste with healthy food. The solang is "Slow, healthy, fuckin' yummy food".

http://www.ttcch.de/

Location:
 SCHÖNHAUSER ALLEE 9
10119 BERLIN

Hours:
Mo-Su 10:00 - 16:00

Bucket list - foodXchange

Berlin

Cathrin Brandes is a lawyer, cookbook author, food blogger and event manager. She founded a private food exchange club, where people can bring their homemade or hand picked food and trade it.

foodXchange website

 

http://foodxchangeberlin.wordpress.com/

the rules for "foodXchange"

The private food exchange club is about every last wednesday of the month. The location is the "market hall nine" in Kreuzberg (http://www.markthalleneun.de/) but it can also vary for special occasions.

It is a prive club for a reason. Nobody is conducting a trade or a store. Everybody is participating just for fun and has a passion for cooking, baking, gardening etc. and not because of financial purposes. It is not a public marketplace because otherwise you would have to follow strict public laws and needed a business registration.

To participate in this food exchange club you have to register under foodxchange@web.de and you will automatically become a member of the club. In addition you just have to pay an amount of 2 € as a contribution towards costs.

http://foodxchangeberlin.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/foodxchange-berlin-the-golden-rules/

you can find also more information on facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/foodxchangeberlin

Cathrin Brandes' food blog

http://berlintidbits.wordpress.com/