In preperation of the Feast on Thursday.

As Paul the Octopus is on the menu. I tested him panfried with some jiucy chorizo.

I thought eating the dethroned German mascot for a starter of our feast would be very fitting.

• I whole Octopus

• uncooked Chorizo

• Garlic- as many cloves as you can handle

• Olive oil and lemon juice

Fry the Chorizo with the crushed garlic and oil until done, add the Octopus, cut into small bit. Add some saffron strand dilluted in hot water and fry for 5 minutes. Squeeze the lemon over it.

Yum. (I asked him for a wheeterforecast first though before ripping his tentakels out one by one.)

What is it with Valentine’s and hearts?  Have there been any studies done to prove that love is somehow connected to the heart?

The heart is such a prosaic organ if there ever was one. It pumps blood in and out, day in day out.  And if it gets a bit rusty- you get a bypass. If I feel love I feel it in the stomach. In the form of either gentle flutters of butterflies or a full on roller coster that makes your palms sweat like onions on pan. A friend informs me she feels it in the solar plexus. Why not depictions of butterflies, roller coasters and eh..plexi?

What the traditional heart shape actually depicts is another question. It certainly doesn’t look like a human heart. Some people claim that it actually depicts the heart of a cow. Others say it depict parts of the female body (human), such as buttocks or a ”frontbum”. It may also resemble the inverted image of a load of bullocks.

Heart shaped Meringues

• 3 eggwhite
• a pinch of salt
• 100 g caster sugar

Fluff the eggs in a mixer. (Make sure there is no water involved). Add the salt. Gently fold in the sugar. They are ready when you can turn the bowl upside down – without being covered in goo. Shape them into hearts on parchment paper. Bake for 2-3 hours. Carefully remove from the tray without breaking them. Join two similar hearts together with ice-cream inside. I ♥ a good match.

Are we helping or hindering? Why do we give to charity? Because we are good and giving makes us feel good.

Just as the traumatised earthquake victims in Haiti recovered from John Travolta and his Scientologist night fever— ready to help out with billions of tiny, evil aliens. In steps Lindsay, who is going to donate profits from her leggings. Leggings For Haitian Relief.
Ten Americans have just been jailed for trying to illegally take 33 children out of the country—most of whom had parents. Their actions are an example of a very special kind of charity. “God is the one who called us to come here.” was the motivation behind their good deed of child trafficking…
Simon Cowell hasty remake of “Everybody hurts”  includes vocals by Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, Jon Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams, James Morrison, Susan Boyle, and Westlife. It’s obviously not aimed at Haitian ears. To tell the bereaved, injured and homeless to “hang on” and “sing along” when “everything is wrong.” is too much too take or give, even for Simon.
But hey – a good cause seem to excuse a lot these days.
Paul I Corinthinans: “Charity is patient, charity is kind; It does not envy, it does not boast, is not puffed up.” We are human, and to be human is to congratulate ourselves on our righteousness. And I have to say my fritters are delicious.

Haitian Sweet Corn Fritters

• fresh cob kernels
• 150g flour
• 3 eggs
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 25ml milk

Mix the flour, corn, eggs and milk together in a bowl and season.
 Gently fold in the corn. Heat a little oil in a frying pan. Pour in tablespoon measures of the mixture to form individual round fritters. Fry for 1-2 minutes on each side. Drain on a paper towel. Serve and do your bit to help Haiti.

http://www.unicef.org.uk/give/index.asp?page=33&google=haiti_jan10&gclid=COe1j5eW3J8CFdkB4wodAWb5Hg

Twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall came down.

German unification was understood by many as East Germany being taken over by West Germany. West Germany therefore “winning“. Proving that the West German way of life was somehow better…

But more than 40 percent of West Germans have never travelled to the former East. At the same time, Ostalgie – odd nostalgia for the old East Germany – manifested through a yearning for old gherkin jars and generally off tasting culinary goods spread among the former citizens of the most spied-on state in history.

Cut off by the wall two Germanies existed side by side, each developing their own cuisine in parallel worlds.

Gherkin soup with sour cream and dill for the Eastern Sektor.

Lobster soup with Crème fraîche and dill for the West.

One of the poor guys who made it into the soup.

The secret food parcels, rape seed oil for the East,

Butter for the West with homemade poppyseed & carewayseed bread.

Spicy Solyianka for the comrades…

was served with a generous shot of Żubrówka.

Maultaschen on a bed of Sauerkraut in the West.

Sauerbraten, marinated pot roast competed…

against Koenigsberger Kloepse with anchovy and caper sauce.

The West was supported with a little light palette cleanser, cucumber smothered in yoghurt and sumac, a greeting from Turkey.

The East showed off its exotic friends with a vietnamese salad: Green papaya, carrots soybean sprouts sprinkled with roasted sesame and peanuts. I managed to get original Palace of the Republic plates to serve this dish on.

Champagne was served for the grand final standoff:

Homemade Stollen Ice cream vs. the creme de la creme of German culinary heights: Schwarzwaelderkirschtorte made with Fabbri Amarena cherries. After breaking through Rachel’s amazing caramelised barbed wire, each side reached the culinary highlight of the other.

And the wall came tumbling down. We all have been looking for freedom.

David at the wall.

http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/teutonic-plates-berlins-gastro-get-togethers

http://www.zeit.de/lebensart/essen-trinken/2009-11/ost-west-kochen-2

The 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall is approaching fast, Germany’s own 9.11. I’m going to Berlin tomorrow to see how I will manage a pop up restaurant for 3 days in November. In our apartment. (!) My contribution to the festivities. A warming menu for the end of the Cold war.

That’s what I have in mind:

A culinary event with 2 mouthwatering menus will divide your tastebuds.
Cut off by the wall for almost 30 years, two Berlins existed side by side, each developing their own cuisine in parallel worlds.
You will be served either the East or the West menu.
Overcome your food envy by bartering for the best goodies. Gastro politics were never as tantalizing.
This feast will be held for 3 nights only in a beautiful private Berlin apartment, 50 meters from the former wall, transformed into an Underground Restaurant especially for this occasion.
SATURDAY 07.11.09 @ 8pm
SUNDAY 08.11.09 @ 8pm
MONDAY 09.11.09 @ 8pm

Book soon as places are limited. Email caroline.hobkinson@hotmail.co.uk ( moi) to reserve, with your preferred night.

5 course dinner paired with wine and vodka at 30 Euros p.p. Address details will be sent out once your reservation has been confirmed.
The story of a divided city told through Solyianka, Stollen and Sauerbraten.
Hosted by Caroline Hobkinson, assisted by the wonderful Rachel Khoo. www.rachelkhoo.com

…let the testing begin.