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Food glorious food - What are you eating


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3 hours ago, chattius said:

Kartoffelbrei are boiled potatoe pressed through a sieve and then heated with butter, milk, nutmeg and salt.

Yeah, that's my grandmother's recipe right there. She was an immigrant in Germany so now I'm not sure if her recipe was imported or not. :D Every time I run a translator it gives me "mashed potatoes", but we call it "puré de batata" which is literally "potato puree".

The Stampfkartoffel recipe sounds very nice if not for the fatback dices, but I assume it's more of the meat and less of the fat part? Do you use it like bacon cubes or is it really the fatter part of the cut? If so that's too much for me. I get it that you want to utilise the fat to give it a blend of smoke/salt/sweet but I'd rather have bacon cubes for that as I haven't been able to eat fat like that in years (I had a horrible gastroenteritis, had to change some eating habits).

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5 hours ago, chattius said:

What are mashed potatoe? The dict uses it for Kartoffelbrei and for Stampfkartoffel.

 

Kartoffelbrei are boiled potatoe pressed through a sieve and then heated with butter, milk, nutmeg and salt.

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Stampfkartoffel are boiled potatoe and then using a masher in a pot with roasted onion and smoked fatback dices, adding a bit butter or milk if too dry.

speck-kartoffelpueree.jpg

In difference to the picture I use red onions to give a colourful note. And add fine cut herbs at the last mixing. Our main potatoe variant has a red skin and yellow flesh. So the mix is three: yellow, red and green. A bit curcuma if the potatoe are too white.

 -

Himmel und Erde - basically Stampfkartoffel, replacing half of the potatoe (earth) with apples or pears (heaven).

...

Sadly there are no cooking shows showing the barbarian German countryside cooking ;)

I do not think that your cooking is barbaric Chattius. In my opinion, barbarian cooking and food is the horrendous "food" that companies like Mcdonalds, KFC, and what ever else serves. I would love to cook with you and your family, do a fusion of Germanic and South African cuisine (SA does have a lot of European influences so there will be similarities in our food). 

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Fatback is from the back and is mainly fat and hide. The bacon is from the belly and has muscles = red parts.

The fatback cubes are heated so the fat is released and small crispy cracklings appear. The fat is used to roast the onions and to make the mashed potatoe more creamy. The cracklings are mixed in.

 

You have to consider that plant oil was not always available where I live. Living in small settlements in forests clearings. No olive or sunflower oil. Oil from beechnuts is hard to get. So people used what they had: wool pigs who fed mainly from acorns and mushrooms

small caddle (rotes Höhenvieh, red highland caddle), used for milk, pulling plows and wagons (watch the video), ...

 

it weren't the milk cows of today. They gave perhaps a tenth of the milk of a nowadays milk cow. And a family had rarely more than two.

So if needing fat or oil for roasting, cookies, smearing on bread most often fat released from fatbacks was used. Because the wool pigs lived nearly free in the forest and needed not much work.

The wool pigs and the highland caddle was close to being extinguished after WW2 when people starved. Now breeders try to keep the alive.

 

 

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Yeah, that's what we call "courato" which is the skin+adipose tissue before the actual meat. That was my doubt but I get its use. Here back in my forefathers' time they used mainly pig lard for oil since it was cheap enough when compared to the rest. Though I've grown to be a "modern man" my roots are in the country, we had cattle and did our own crops when I was younger, so I an understand where you're coming from. It's just that from the late eighties onward farming became less of a thing in my country. EU funds for not growing/breeding anything and all that jive. It's complicated, and we had a very young democracy at that time (<15 years old), so I can understand why some things happened. It did leave a stain in most of our generation though. Nowadays only secluded rural areas on the interior/higher zones rely heavily on traditional farming/breeding.

As for my eating habits, I stopped eating some types of food entirely after I lost almost 15% of my body weight in around a month due to a brutal gastroenteritis. I spent nearly four years without eating raw greens, eating fried stuff became an on and off thing and all kinds of greasy food were mostly eliminated. Nowadays I can eat in a more balanced manner, mixing "good" with "bad" food, but I retained some habits like not eating boiled meat or very saturated fats. Even when I cook the meat with some fat (barely to none though) I'll still chose it all out on the plate. My stomach just can't digest it properly anymore so I'm careful with what I eat. Hell, I used to drink coca-cola all the time and I barely even touch it nowadays, along with most refrigerants.

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My grandma had her death day and we were eating a 1947 soup in her memoriam. In 1944 she wanted to study medicine. However she had to work as a nurse at the russian frontier. She was fleeing all the way back to home eating just what she found at night in the forests and fields while hiding at daylight.

1946 was a terrible cold winter and the 1947 summer had a draught and a record heat. The care packets never reached the countryside. And most men were still POW. The kids had to pick leaves for the few remaining caddle (which was used for plowing and pulling because no horses survived), the gras was just too dry. So she taught our family what could be eaten. She wrote down a recipe for a nice stew mainly from fodder beets. She wrote papers how to cure wounds and illnesses with local herbs. She cured a non healing wound with a bandage of dices from sugar beets. Today docs use sugar bandages again.

She never studied medicine, she never finished school but all of her 23 grandchildren finished university. And 95% of all I know about nature and animals I know from walks with her as a child.

 

So when cursing the extreme heat of the 2019 summer, we had to remember that the 1947 heat was harder with a destroyed country and no comfort like a clima control or a fridge.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/4/2019 at 1:35 PM, Androdion said:

Yeah, that's what we call "courato" which is the skin+adipose tissue before the actual meat. That was my doubt but I get its use. Here back in my forefathers' time they used mainly pig lard for oil since it was cheap enough when compared to the rest. Though I've grown to be a "modern man" my roots are in the country, we had cattle and did our own crops when I was younger, so I an understand where you're coming from. It's just that from the late eighties onward farming became less of a thing in my country. EU funds for not growing/breeding anything and all that jive. It's complicated, and we had a very young democracy at that time (<15 years old), so I can understand why some things happened. It did leave a stain in most of our generation though. Nowadays only secluded rural areas on the interior/higher zones rely heavily on traditional farming/breeding.

As for my eating habits, I stopped eating some types of food entirely after I lost almost 15% of my body weight in around a month due to a brutal gastroenteritis. I spent nearly four years without eating raw greens, eating fried stuff became an on and off thing and all kinds of greasy food were mostly eliminated. Nowadays I can eat in a more balanced manner, mixing "good" with "bad" food, but I retained some habits like not eating boiled meat or very saturated fats. Even when I cook the meat with some fat (barely to none though) I'll still chose it all out on the plate. My stomach just can't digest it properly anymore so I'm careful with what I eat. Hell, I used to drink coca-cola all the time and I barely even touch it nowadays, along with most refrigerants.

I cant imagine having such a reaction like this to food Androdion... it must be so frustrating but I'm glad that you seem to have a better handle on it... I think I take my predilections for junk food too lightly

:blink:

gogo

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On 9/12/2019 at 11:26 AM, chattius said:

My grandma had her death day and we were eating a 1947 soup in her memoriam. In 1944 she wanted to study medicine. However she had to work as a nurse at the russian frontier. She was fleeing all the way back to home eating just what she found at night in the forests and fields while hiding at daylight.

1946 was a terrible cold winter and the 1947 summer had a draught and a record heat. The care packets never reached the countryside. And most men were still POW. The kids had to pick leaves for the few remaining caddle (which was used for plowing and pulling because no horses survived), the gras was just too dry. So she taught our family what could be eaten. She wrote down a recipe for a nice stew mainly from fodder beets. She wrote papers how to cure wounds and illnesses with local herbs. She cured a non healing wound with a bandage of dices from sugar beets. Today docs use sugar bandages again.

She never studied medicine, she never finished school but all of her 23 grandchildren finished university. And 95% of all I know about nature and animals I know from walks with her as a child.

 

So when cursing the extreme heat of the 2019 summer, we had to remember that the 1947 heat was harder with a destroyed country and no comfort like a clima control or a fridge.

I love grammas

created of heroic sentiment 

possessing nigh unlimited skills

:heart:

gogo

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  • 4 weeks later...

My awesome Aunt cooked these home style foods for the family and holidays... not your classic turkey...but still packed with love

 

Chicken cooked in coconut milk and atta flour

653f7c7c-3d85-4a2a-8da4-e9392beae921.jpg

rice noodles with shrimp vegetables and eggs

83ee5580-4516-4a37-9456-cceae5d33261.jpg

 

We be ready for the work week after this... and leftovers to take home

:heart:

 

gogo

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  • 2 weeks later...

You're right, I take my time to do my cooking. But I've become more accustomed with fast preparations instead of long periods of prepping and cooking. The mushrooms are very easy to prepare and it took me like 15 minutes to prepare the fish, then I just put it in the oven and used its heat to cook the mushrooms as well. I'm getting better at doing things fast. :lol:

Still, I admire your tenacity to prepare meals for that many hungry people. It's a skill itself to do such a thing.

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11 hours ago, Androdion said:

So yesterday was a massive cuisine day for me. Massive because I've finally been able to buy some super hot chilli peppers, worldly famous ones even! Other than that I did my best stuffed portobello mushrooms ever and a sea bass to die for. Pictures below. :wow:

20191026_200559.thumb.jpg.0b74ce1a06bf80a25732bf0d59c2b534.jpg

 

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As for the super hotties, I bought yellow and red habaneros plus scorpion, naga and carolina reaper peppers. And I must say that after a year of using dried out ghost pepper I never thought I'd taste anything that'd bite as hard as a reaper. Oh my freaking lord, just liking the tip of the knife after opening one up led me to curse my life for ten minutes. It's like liquid fire! Very very tasty but incredibly hot, and it hits you before you can even utter "this burns like hell" because by the time you think of saying it your mouth has already been blown up by a frag grenade.

Damn, I love spices and hot chilli peppers and I loved using up all my ghost peppers. But daaaaayummmm... that reaper bites!!! :heat:

PS: Extra hotness below.

 

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Holee Molee.. one needs only to say the words portobello and chillies and I'll be there at the door step, invite in hand :4rofl: ... We just got back from holidays after having to walk with trepidation amongst some tepid all you can eat food tables and more than once encountered some fascinatingly lip curdling foods :oooo: 

Androdion, I dont' know how you get this time to put together beautiful food like this and photograph an documents the goodis...but I'm deliciously grateful for this visual morning repast.

Bon apetit.. your wife must be spoiled!

:gogo:

 

gogo

 

p.s. Yah, that reaper is especially deadly eh ^^ I've seen some videos of people daring each other to eat that with some dire consquences... I've  in fact never even seen anything that hot in grocery stores here :blink: 

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She actually had just the mushroom for dinner because "she didn't want to not feel that taste in her mouth". I guess I did it well, ha ha.

I like cooking, I find it relaxing and it's fun. And we got to eat right?! So in the end it's a mixture of daily routine and pleasure.

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7 minutes ago, Androdion said:

She actually had just the mushroom for dinner because "she didn't want to not feel that taste in her mouth". I guess I did it well, ha ha.

I like cooking, I find it relaxing and it's fun. And we got to eat right?! So in the end it's a mixture of daily routine and pleasure.

They are quite expensive here, but I like to indulge when they're on sale.  As a replacement food for meat, they are a delicious stand in

:)

 

gogo

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35 minutes ago, Androdion said:

We bought 1Kg for 4,5€ on Saturday... :woot:

This is a lot, Androdion... are you able to consume that much so quickly, or does it refrigerate well?

 

:)

 

gogo

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Portobello, wonder if it has a german name. It looks like a giant champignon variant which popped up in our forest in the last 3 years. But I never picked when it so much opened that I could fill it. Must be our climate, it would be full of maggots when wide opened. We use half opened Parasol. Mushrooms can be picked while walking with the dogs.

 

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When stuffing them you break the stem and carve out the mushy inside, so you're left with the head of the mushroom upside down like a bowl. You then use the stem with other stuff to make the stuffing, put it in there and cover with cheese. Take it to the oven with just a tiny bit of olive oil and white wine at the bottom and in 15 to 20 minutes at 180 degrees you're done.

Just put them in the freezer @gogoblender. I wash them and cut them in slices for that effect. Smaller mushrooms I tend to freeze whole.

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LABSKAUS !!!

Was at a meeting at Hamburg and couldn't resist. I learned to hate, eat and like it when I was drafted into a navy air wing. It's a northern german dish and way from what I was used living in the central german mountain ranges.

At the time of the sail ships sailors often suffered from scurvy. Scurvy often results in bad teeth and so they couldn't chew the salted meat which was the main food on the ships at this time. So they chopped it I small pieces. Also on the ships were red beet, eggs, pickled herings, onions, potato,pickled gherkins ... all food which could be stored for some month. And red beet , herings, gherkins were also good to prevent from scurvy - which wasn't known when the recipe was created. But probably sailors and captains noticed that ships with this food suffered less from scurvy and so it stayed and was even demanded by the sailors when on land.

So Labskaus was kind of a cheap sailors food. Chooped meat, roasted onions, red beet and potato mashed, and then a baked egg and a pickled hering on top.

1024px-Hamburger_Labskaus_1.jpg

Nowadays you can get it even at fine restaurants in northern germany. And as allways, you pay for what you see, and a big part of the money you pay is not for the food but for making it to look nice. So part of the red beets is used to paint the potato/meat mash red and it looks more like this:

labskaus_kiekmo_shutterstock_1235124493_

Site which has a recipe in english:

https://www.thespruceeats.com/labskaus-specialty-of-seafaring-town-hamburg-1446932

 

 

 

 

 

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A former classmate choosed to serve in the merchant navy instead military. He had to do 5 years instead 18 month. He spend all the time as a cook on tankers and research ships.

He opened his own restaurant from the money he earned and saved. 'Sailors spend a lot money when at harbour. But the cook has far less spare time to waste money. The crew remaining at board still wants food.'

His menu card has code words for business meeting, hungry wanderers, family with kids.

So at a business meeting you pay far more for less...

But if you order for a family the portions are bigger, less decorated, cheaper, served in a side rooom - but taste the same.

 

When my daughter married he was doing the food - using old field kitchens, mine ,his, the one from diasaster help ;)

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That's all fine and dandy, but here in Portugal gourmet has become an acceptable excuse for paying a premium on your meal, just because it's "gourmet". So a meal that was once, say 10€ everywhere, is now 13 to 15€ everywhere because restaurants have a gourmet twist. But then they serve you canned condiments so where's the gourmet in that. Nowadays it's an excuse for overcharging instead of being a new experience where you do pay premium but it tastes premium.

Eh, sorry for the rant but it's annoying to go out and try to have a regular meal for a decent price when the trend is everything being gourmet and overpriced.

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On vacation we actually met a few people travelling from Portugal... and, one of their biggest feedbacks was how almost all eating out experiences in the country had rocketed up in price with the enormous influx of travellers all wanting to try out "genuine portugal " eating experiences that Youtube has shown for all the up-end restaurants... They say you cant beat its seafood...but the prices...

Thank Andre Silva and JOse AVillez for that...though, *sigh*... I love what they do on TV 

:D

gogo

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49 minutes ago, chattius said:

A former classmate choosed to serve in the merchant navy instead military. He had to do 5 years instead 18 month. He spend all the time as a cook on tankers and research ships.

He opened his own restaurant from the money he earned and saved. 'Sailors spend a lot money when at harbour. But the cook has far less spare time to waste money. The crew remaining at board still wants food.'

His menu card has code words for business meeting, hungry wanderers, family with kids.

So at a business meeting you pay far more for less...

But if you order for a family the portions are bigger, less decorated, cheaper, served in a side rooom - but taste the same.

 

When my daughter married he was doing the food - using old field kitchens, mine ,his, the one from diasaster help ;)

 Love how he leveraged his experience into a job that he loves while helping community!

:bounce:

gogo

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