... very scary stuff,... 'transparency'... a word with a prolific profile, enjoying ambivalent prominence eversince the newly elected south african ANC proclaimed the word as an integral part of their structure, policy and goverment... with disastrous effect... oder?
wikileaks has been in the press for weeks internationally and i recently checked out their swiss-based site... to still my curiosity and out of general interest... one day later... i received a mail that the usembassycables now followed me on twitter! Coincidence!? The stuff that conspiracy theory novels are based on...? I have been blogging for about 2 months... basically verbal diarrhea... on food related subjects... feeding my humble aspirations of becoming an author... nothing more or less, no religion, no politics.
what surprises me is the 'mechanism' in place which moniters potential wikileaks support... aborting the clandestine character usually associated with surveilance ... 'transparency'? (wow!)
yes, we do think along other lines here in europe, as i have experienced firsthand since leaving south africa in 1990... how we 'justified' apartheid for decades... how suseptable we were and still are to the power, the influence of the ruling party... ideology is one thing, as is religion... associated with truth, equality, love... it is the basis of human nature to, unfortunately, 'shape' the idea into a subjective truth... almost always to the advantage of the 'one who has the gold... or the gun in the hand...'
my perception of truth and transparency has taken the long way home... to put it mildly. my progress has to be partially allotted to the environment i inhabit now, the apartheid past... but the core of my sense of fairness is based on my inborn, hereditory 'empathy'... my activity as a creative has additionally shaped the way i think, read... and do things... still a long way to go and forever from the buddhist ideals of attaining harmony.
but, anyway... have a great weekend... and remember that life happens on your feet not in your head!
Freitag, 17. Dezember 2010
Montag, 29. November 2010
kitchensafari: biobio - the food show... business!
kitchensafari: biobio - the food show... business!: "Is'nt it unbelieveble that Mozart never made it at home... not in Salzburg, neither in Wien! At this time he was a star in Prague and in Mo..."
biobio - the food show... business!
Is'nt it unbelieveble that Mozart never made it at home... not in Salzburg, neither in Wien!
At this time he was a star in Prague and in Moskow... but at home he was a 'Hofkomponist'... a piano teacher... a freelancer, earning up to €300 000 a year... as a performer...
'Gedankenflucht'!?
Back to bio... the question is not whether 'we are what we eat'... rather we eat what we are..!?'.
A recent peep ( more a penetrating stare!?) into the 'we serve only bio jungle' gastronomy brought the ugly truth to the surface... to most the 'bio-Schiene'(track) it is a lable, a mere marketing add-on... nothin more than show... unfortunately putting the real bio people in 'Schatten' (shadow). My apalogies.
yes, it is honorable to grow, prepare and serve organicly grown food... but is it enough to make the 'Rubel to roll'!? (makin a buck). Is't the whole thing a little retro...? I ask myself whether my grandparents grew, prepared anything else but organic fifty years ago...? Back to the future!
Ok... sure my grandparents were proud of their vegatable patch... but they never mentioned the organic heritage of meals to dinner guests... ever... whatever. (get my drift?)
the sales techniques... of the new bio world... are, to put it mildly, embarresing! what we, i think, should remember that the bio clan is subject to the very same rules that dictate the food market anywhere... oder!? I would not shy away from using the very same marketing ploys of Mac D and co. for a better cause though!
I recently worked (as a rent cook...) for a small upstart catering (very bio...) co. at a Xmas market... ( a 3day horror) somewhere in Germany. The experience was... let's say, frustrating... admittantly this exercise was a first attempt by the owner... an ex-marketing 'specialist' now 'Gastronom'...
Unfortunately the 3 day market did not show the expected profit... and it drew a clear line under a chapter I will not like to repeat... the learning curve more a conformation that this is not the way to go.
The location, the weather and yes, the food was perfect... no reason for a flop.
At the end of the day it stands and falls with the people factor... doesn't it? when the bio business employs the marketing strategies of the fastfood sector... it seems legitimate, it's business! But when the
bio sector drops to the level of and employs the methods of fastfood enterprises in the human resource department... it stops making sense for me. The Bio approach, has to be lived... it can be aquired... learned... but it becomes 'cheap' when 'preached'... when presented as an 'alternative' to say the classic hotdog. Markets in Germany have their standard 'usual suspects' on the 'Weihnachtsmarkt' menu... The running system... Bratwurst... a bbq sausage in a roll, Dampfnudeln... a dupling, Engelshaar...candyfloss
and Glühwein... warm red wine punch... you cannot beat more than a centuary of proven market food hits! or... do not try to fart against thunder...
Back to the people factor... if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys!
At this time he was a star in Prague and in Moskow... but at home he was a 'Hofkomponist'... a piano teacher... a freelancer, earning up to €300 000 a year... as a performer...
'Gedankenflucht'!?
Back to bio... the question is not whether 'we are what we eat'... rather we eat what we are..!?'.
A recent peep ( more a penetrating stare!?) into the 'we serve only bio jungle' gastronomy brought the ugly truth to the surface... to most the 'bio-Schiene'(track) it is a lable, a mere marketing add-on... nothin more than show... unfortunately putting the real bio people in 'Schatten' (shadow). My apalogies.
yes, it is honorable to grow, prepare and serve organicly grown food... but is it enough to make the 'Rubel to roll'!? (makin a buck). Is't the whole thing a little retro...? I ask myself whether my grandparents grew, prepared anything else but organic fifty years ago...? Back to the future!
Ok... sure my grandparents were proud of their vegatable patch... but they never mentioned the organic heritage of meals to dinner guests... ever... whatever. (get my drift?)
the sales techniques... of the new bio world... are, to put it mildly, embarresing! what we, i think, should remember that the bio clan is subject to the very same rules that dictate the food market anywhere... oder!? I would not shy away from using the very same marketing ploys of Mac D and co. for a better cause though!
I recently worked (as a rent cook...) for a small upstart catering (very bio...) co. at a Xmas market... ( a 3day horror) somewhere in Germany. The experience was... let's say, frustrating... admittantly this exercise was a first attempt by the owner... an ex-marketing 'specialist' now 'Gastronom'...
Unfortunately the 3 day market did not show the expected profit... and it drew a clear line under a chapter I will not like to repeat... the learning curve more a conformation that this is not the way to go.
The location, the weather and yes, the food was perfect... no reason for a flop.
At the end of the day it stands and falls with the people factor... doesn't it? when the bio business employs the marketing strategies of the fastfood sector... it seems legitimate, it's business! But when the
bio sector drops to the level of and employs the methods of fastfood enterprises in the human resource department... it stops making sense for me. The Bio approach, has to be lived... it can be aquired... learned... but it becomes 'cheap' when 'preached'... when presented as an 'alternative' to say the classic hotdog. Markets in Germany have their standard 'usual suspects' on the 'Weihnachtsmarkt' menu... The running system... Bratwurst... a bbq sausage in a roll, Dampfnudeln... a dupling, Engelshaar...candyfloss
and Glühwein... warm red wine punch... you cannot beat more than a centuary of proven market food hits! or... do not try to fart against thunder...
Back to the people factor... if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys!
Samstag, 20. November 2010
kitchensafari: fuckget it!? (or alternatively: 'Why not!?')
kitchensafari: fuckget it!? (or alternatively: 'Why not!?'): "there is no safety in numbers... no need to even consider it. i, for one, know... if that is all i know, it's something... a drop of 'Hoffn..."
Donnerstag, 18. November 2010
kitchensafari: fuckget it!? (or alternatively: 'Why not!?')
kitchensafari: fuckget it!? (or alternatively: 'Why not!?'): "there is no safety in numbers... no need to even consider it. i, for one, know... if that is all i know, it's something... a drop of 'Hoffn..."
fuckget it!? (or alternatively: 'Why not!?')
there is no safety in numbers...
no need to even consider it. i, for one, know... if that is all i know, it's something... a drop of 'Hoffnung' on the hot stone of aspirations... a wave of 'Selbstverwirklichung'... (translated: egomania?)
what it seems to boil down to... is that yours sincerely, digitally that is, will rather forfeit the attempts to harvest the fruits of 'grandeur...' Oder... 'auf Erfolg ist er nicht vorbereitet!' Sad but true...
more later...
this is later, a day later, in fact, but rather later than dead...
NOW: REPORT SPELLINGK ERRORS AND WIN A TRIP TO HAITI!!!
So, unlikely as it may sound, koalas can run as fast as rabbits... but they, for obvious reasons, don't. Ask me why. Down tempo is a 'yes we can if we wanna' attitude the americans have little time to fathom out excactly why... it's understatement pure. Tongue in cheek. Ever heard of 'dog in the fog' beer!? (neither have i!?) Order it when in Warsaw (that's somewhere in Europe... East of Eden. Cheers Queers!!!
the other thing that still eludes me... i mean i djust don't get it! why do companies put 'people' in €79,90 suits, ill-fitting... not tomention €29,50 shoes, when they spend €50 000 -€100 000 on a tv commercial... are we in a recession again... or do american businessmen look like that!?
yes, it can be a long way down!
no need to even consider it. i, for one, know... if that is all i know, it's something... a drop of 'Hoffnung' on the hot stone of aspirations... a wave of 'Selbstverwirklichung'... (translated: egomania?)
what it seems to boil down to... is that yours sincerely, digitally that is, will rather forfeit the attempts to harvest the fruits of 'grandeur...' Oder... 'auf Erfolg ist er nicht vorbereitet!' Sad but true...
more later...
this is later, a day later, in fact, but rather later than dead...
NOW: REPORT SPELLINGK ERRORS AND WIN A TRIP TO HAITI!!!
So, unlikely as it may sound, koalas can run as fast as rabbits... but they, for obvious reasons, don't. Ask me why. Down tempo is a 'yes we can if we wanna' attitude the americans have little time to fathom out excactly why... it's understatement pure. Tongue in cheek. Ever heard of 'dog in the fog' beer!? (neither have i!?) Order it when in Warsaw (that's somewhere in Europe... East of Eden. Cheers Queers!!!
the other thing that still eludes me... i mean i djust don't get it! why do companies put 'people' in €79,90 suits, ill-fitting... not tomention €29,50 shoes, when they spend €50 000 -€100 000 on a tv commercial... are we in a recession again... or do american businessmen look like that!?
yes, it can be a long way down!
Dienstag, 16. November 2010
kitchensafari: no news is good news...
kitchensafari: no news is good news...: "ok. I'm back,... for now. I took some time to jack up my guitar technique... youtube tutorials! What seemed impossible at first... became a..."
no news is good news...
ok. I'm back,... for now.
I took some time to jack up my guitar technique... youtube tutorials! What seemed impossible at first... became almost do-able... Yes, there's a lot of talent out there... thanx to all the great musicians for giving it away for free. Thanx to you I can almost play 'tears in heaven' (not everyone's cup of tea... but a beautiful guitar number!) by eric clapton with all the frills... but I'm still not quite home and dry with it yet... see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvstmmJ_pEk
Technology is the answer in making sharing on this level possible. I am taking lessons from musicians somewhere in Korea, California... Lisbon... some professional, some not. Some of whom are 40 years younger than me! (see youtube clip!) I suppose the technology could additionally (some good news!) be held responsible for nurturing talent!? It works for me.
anyway, we will all find a way, where there is a will!
I haven't much to say... nothing at all... trying to live the 'Spruch' 'Das Leben passiert auf die Füßen... und nicht im Kopf!'
ps. look at this talent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IXa2pNGVj8
now or never!!!
I took some time to jack up my guitar technique... youtube tutorials! What seemed impossible at first... became almost do-able... Yes, there's a lot of talent out there... thanx to all the great musicians for giving it away for free. Thanx to you I can almost play 'tears in heaven' (not everyone's cup of tea... but a beautiful guitar number!) by eric clapton with all the frills... but I'm still not quite home and dry with it yet... see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvstmmJ_pEk
Technology is the answer in making sharing on this level possible. I am taking lessons from musicians somewhere in Korea, California... Lisbon... some professional, some not. Some of whom are 40 years younger than me! (see youtube clip!) I suppose the technology could additionally (some good news!) be held responsible for nurturing talent!? It works for me.
anyway, we will all find a way, where there is a will!
I haven't much to say... nothing at all... trying to live the 'Spruch' 'Das Leben passiert auf die Füßen... und nicht im Kopf!'
ps. look at this talent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IXa2pNGVj8
now or never!!!
Donnerstag, 11. November 2010
kitchensafari: growing pains... organic eggs... and other food re...
kitchensafari: growing pains... organic eggs... and other food re...: "if not now,... when!? i haven't become a disciple overnight... no! it took a while... The Germans have an incredible arsenal of 'sayings' a..."
growing pains... organic eggs... and other food realities.
if not now,... when!?
i haven't become a disciple overnight... no!
it took a while...
The Germans have an incredible arsenal of 'sayings' as we call it at home... 'Sprüche' i think is the correct word... no f.... wonder (!) just check this out... not only is this (or was?) the country of poets and 'thinkers', translated directly from 'Dichter & Denker' but .... wait!!!
one second i must cut my million dollar fudge...(with pistatian nuts...and vanilla!!!)
I'm back! just got there in time, otherwise i would have needed surgical equiptment... if you have ever made fudge, you will know what i mean!
That's the 'Leitfaden'... getting the point! But before I continue... the 'Spruch'!: 'Dumm fickt gut!' I can imagine you maybe knowing one word from this quote... the f-word!? The meaning behind the saying, directly translated... 'Stupid fucks well!' is another story...
To come to the point; I had been ignorent to the whole organic thing... venturing into the homegrown territory only by accident... but eventually even the blind shall see and the deaf... what can one expect from someone who had grown up on Coke, Slapchips (Pommes!), Burgers, Braai (Barbeque)... Simba Chips, Bar One's ( a chocolate!)... Crunchies (a better chocolate)... Flake (another chocolate) in a Soft Serve.... ect. Real Food were 'Koeksusters' (sehr süss Hefeteig fritierte Zucker Guss Yum-Yum )... or 'Vetkoek' (Dough Dumplings (fried in a lotta oil...) Whatever, anyway!!!
After starting to cook on a semi-professional level I realised the presence of good, bad and ugly quality available in products... it initially seemed to be a price profit issue which determined the ingredients i worked with... but it wasn't... it was just being stupid, ignorent...
'Soooooooo...?', as most waitresses say when delivering an item... any item, including the bill... I had to take the long road home... but i have arrived. I'm not quite home yet... but I'm at the frontdoor, I've rung the bell... and I hear footsteps...
Where did eggs come into the equation?
Oh, right... it something from youtube, check it out, I'm a recognised cynic, but it put a smile on my dial... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWad76Ipyuw
What I actually wanted to say... was...
If you had to ask me why one should tune a guitar string up and never down... I wouldn't be surprised...
and if you had to google the following text:
'I heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the Lord
but you don't really care for music,... do you?
It goes like this the fourth, the fith
the minor fall, the major lift...
The baffled king composing hallelujah'
... to determine the author... I wouldn't flinch... (if you did not know...)
but if you had to ask me why I buy 99.9% organic... the answer would be:
1. I haven't a clue...
2. It's about respect...
3. It's better quality...
4. It's honest... and the only way to go!
5. I taste and feel the difference...
6. I wouldn't want to make a living in the food business any other way...
Sooooo, take your time... come in and find out! It is another world... a better one! Believe me, I'm a Food Junkie...
i haven't become a disciple overnight... no!
it took a while...
The Germans have an incredible arsenal of 'sayings' as we call it at home... 'Sprüche' i think is the correct word... no f.... wonder (!) just check this out... not only is this (or was?) the country of poets and 'thinkers', translated directly from 'Dichter & Denker' but .... wait!!!
one second i must cut my million dollar fudge...(with pistatian nuts...and vanilla!!!)
I'm back! just got there in time, otherwise i would have needed surgical equiptment... if you have ever made fudge, you will know what i mean!
That's the 'Leitfaden'... getting the point! But before I continue... the 'Spruch'!: 'Dumm fickt gut!' I can imagine you maybe knowing one word from this quote... the f-word!? The meaning behind the saying, directly translated... 'Stupid fucks well!' is another story...
To come to the point; I had been ignorent to the whole organic thing... venturing into the homegrown territory only by accident... but eventually even the blind shall see and the deaf... what can one expect from someone who had grown up on Coke, Slapchips (Pommes!), Burgers, Braai (Barbeque)... Simba Chips, Bar One's ( a chocolate!)... Crunchies (a better chocolate)... Flake (another chocolate) in a Soft Serve.... ect. Real Food were 'Koeksusters' (sehr süss Hefeteig fritierte Zucker Guss Yum-Yum )... or 'Vetkoek' (Dough Dumplings (fried in a lotta oil...) Whatever, anyway!!!
After starting to cook on a semi-professional level I realised the presence of good, bad and ugly quality available in products... it initially seemed to be a price profit issue which determined the ingredients i worked with... but it wasn't... it was just being stupid, ignorent...
'Soooooooo...?', as most waitresses say when delivering an item... any item, including the bill... I had to take the long road home... but i have arrived. I'm not quite home yet... but I'm at the frontdoor, I've rung the bell... and I hear footsteps...
Where did eggs come into the equation?
Oh, right... it something from youtube, check it out, I'm a recognised cynic, but it put a smile on my dial... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWad76Ipyuw
What I actually wanted to say... was...
If you had to ask me why one should tune a guitar string up and never down... I wouldn't be surprised...
and if you had to google the following text:
'I heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the Lord
but you don't really care for music,... do you?
It goes like this the fourth, the fith
the minor fall, the major lift...
The baffled king composing hallelujah'
... to determine the author... I wouldn't flinch... (if you did not know...)
but if you had to ask me why I buy 99.9% organic... the answer would be:
1. I haven't a clue...
2. It's about respect...
3. It's better quality...
4. It's honest... and the only way to go!
5. I taste and feel the difference...
6. I wouldn't want to make a living in the food business any other way...
Sooooo, take your time... come in and find out! It is another world... a better one! Believe me, I'm a Food Junkie...
Montag, 8. November 2010
kitchensafari: kleine Alltagsverzweivelungen... or what the f-ck ...
kitchensafari: kleine Alltagsverzweivelungen... or what the f-ck ...: "no, i am most definately not funny. sometimes, however, i've surprised even myself... i've actually brought rather (i thought... but who a..."
Freitag, 5. November 2010
kleine Alltagsverzweivelungen... or what the f-ck am i doing here!?
no, i am most definately not funny.
sometimes, however, i've surprised even myself... i've actually brought rather (i thought... but who am i to judge...!?) intelligent people... that is, people that/who do not squint or expose their gums while reading the 'Bunte' (it's german...) horoscope (except for an exceptional exception... Steven Hawkins!?)... how i did it... i am not excactly sure... and who cares, it was a moment...whatever!?
i will be back later... much later!!!
later: back in the country, sitting at tom's cafe in landau... (where?) nursing my fourth coffee... it's 11:30 in ze morning...still trying to figure out twitter... twit/idiot remember? have they, the marketing dept. run out of words...!? rhetoric question...
this is, i can smell, going absolutely nowhere... i was in the process... flow of writing something on my recent trip to berlin... but was rudely interrupted... by life. instead of trying to 'fix' a 'bad' tea... we will simply start from scratch... ok?
but just to round it off with a little content: the little boy, aged seven, sitting with his parents opposite me in the 'Bordrestaurant' on the ICE (1 hour late!!!) could'nt find anything 'fastfoodish' enough on the menu... so i suggested the worst of all evils... the baked potato... for €7, something!!! but looking at the dish photographed... a sorry potato drowned in something white... sahne/cream? he pulled up his nose... supported his chin with both hands... two elbows on the table... and sighed....almost a whisper extended...'pommes/chips/french fries.......'
his mother suggested that pommes/fries were actually made from potatos... still no cigar...
he contemplated, looking past me into the past... putting potato... pommes/fries.... together and said: 'I know... I've made Pommes/fries with my mother... but they were still very cold in the center...'
glory, glory halleluja... or ike my youngest used to say: hallo julia!
sometimes, however, i've surprised even myself... i've actually brought rather (i thought... but who am i to judge...!?) intelligent people... that is, people that/who do not squint or expose their gums while reading the 'Bunte' (it's german...) horoscope (except for an exceptional exception... Steven Hawkins!?)... how i did it... i am not excactly sure... and who cares, it was a moment...whatever!?
i will be back later... much later!!!
later: back in the country, sitting at tom's cafe in landau... (where?) nursing my fourth coffee... it's 11:30 in ze morning...still trying to figure out twitter... twit/idiot remember? have they, the marketing dept. run out of words...!? rhetoric question...
this is, i can smell, going absolutely nowhere... i was in the process... flow of writing something on my recent trip to berlin... but was rudely interrupted... by life. instead of trying to 'fix' a 'bad' tea... we will simply start from scratch... ok?
but just to round it off with a little content: the little boy, aged seven, sitting with his parents opposite me in the 'Bordrestaurant' on the ICE (1 hour late!!!) could'nt find anything 'fastfoodish' enough on the menu... so i suggested the worst of all evils... the baked potato... for €7, something!!! but looking at the dish photographed... a sorry potato drowned in something white... sahne/cream? he pulled up his nose... supported his chin with both hands... two elbows on the table... and sighed....almost a whisper extended...'pommes/chips/french fries.......'
his mother suggested that pommes/fries were actually made from potatos... still no cigar...
he contemplated, looking past me into the past... putting potato... pommes/fries.... together and said: 'I know... I've made Pommes/fries with my mother... but they were still very cold in the center...'
glory, glory halleluja... or ike my youngest used to say: hallo julia!
Samstag, 30. Oktober 2010
kitchensafari: ossowhat!?
kitchensafari: ossowhat!?: "the diminuative chef at a prominent berlin restaurant belonging to an even more prominent restauranteur... (a coke-head with an affected at..."
berlin confidentional... or ossowhat!?
the diminuative chef at a prominent berlin restaurant belonging to an even more prominent yet socially inept restauranteur... (a coke-head with an affected attitude including a sort of twitch (curable in africa i am sure!)...) attempted to stage a traincrash... involving me... a false accusation... (booze.... theft... whatever it takes to get fired!) i was frontshop... and a sort of armanish (wishful thinking!) reception girl... you know, almost like a maître d'... but probably not connected to the redlite district enough to qualify... a poor attempt, anyway... the cook had a german name... Detlef? or something...but apparently an italian surname... not Batelli!? i suppose i would have believed him if he hadn't repeated his italianess on a daily basis... or if he had been bigger than me!? he was afraid of the stairwell down to the mosaic tiled toilets... especially after the 'accident'... a drugdealer had slipped and almost broke his neck in my immediate company... yes those stairs were slippery...and Detlef knew it! how i love the decadence of the gastronomy!
anyway... his cooking was ok... he got the job cause the kitchen was so small, actually unbelievable that something like 6 or 8 juvenile delinquents fitted physically into that narrow, wet, hot hole... oh i forgot to mention the 2 giant and obviously... black dishwashers... male! not to mention the inflated egos...
but what i actually wanted to say... was...? my grandmother said... if you forget what you wanted to say... you're actually about to lie!?
ossobuco... wasn't excatly Detlef's signature dish... but he, like most choleric cooks...did not take critisism very well... but hey... a big fat paycheck for a while is a comfort for a while... oder?
how to make a great ossobuco!?
one thing i can tell you... the controlling department budget...didn't excactly allow for quality purchases... and no cook alive, with good intentions... or ambition... can cook with shit quality... and no cook with respect for his products and guests would stay in an establishment thta did not promote natural quality produce... preferably organic, and from the area... and in season...
the shorter the way from garden to the table... the better... it's a golden rule.. to some... even to some with a fast-food background! (like moi!)
a great ossobuco takes time.
and if you don't have time, don't even start cooking!
i've seen a few kitchens from here to berlin... to cape town... to jerusalem... and back... must add that i have also spent time in the army... in other words... but some of the conditions made me want to call the health department... on the spot... but instead, i walked.
time, time, time... not the recipe... the ingredients yes... love and time...
and by the way, time is a luxury... and most cooks don't have luxury... do they!?
that's why mamma's cooking is still best... isn't it?
cheers from the deep forest... close to the black forest... in the palitinate forest... and bon appetit!
anyway... his cooking was ok... he got the job cause the kitchen was so small, actually unbelievable that something like 6 or 8 juvenile delinquents fitted physically into that narrow, wet, hot hole... oh i forgot to mention the 2 giant and obviously... black dishwashers... male! not to mention the inflated egos...
but what i actually wanted to say... was...? my grandmother said... if you forget what you wanted to say... you're actually about to lie!?
ossobuco... wasn't excatly Detlef's signature dish... but he, like most choleric cooks...did not take critisism very well... but hey... a big fat paycheck for a while is a comfort for a while... oder?
how to make a great ossobuco!?
one thing i can tell you... the controlling department budget...didn't excactly allow for quality purchases... and no cook alive, with good intentions... or ambition... can cook with shit quality... and no cook with respect for his products and guests would stay in an establishment thta did not promote natural quality produce... preferably organic, and from the area... and in season...
the shorter the way from garden to the table... the better... it's a golden rule.. to some... even to some with a fast-food background! (like moi!)
a great ossobuco takes time.
and if you don't have time, don't even start cooking!
i've seen a few kitchens from here to berlin... to cape town... to jerusalem... and back... must add that i have also spent time in the army... in other words... but some of the conditions made me want to call the health department... on the spot... but instead, i walked.
time, time, time... not the recipe... the ingredients yes... love and time...
and by the way, time is a luxury... and most cooks don't have luxury... do they!?
that's why mamma's cooking is still best... isn't it?
cheers from the deep forest... close to the black forest... in the palitinate forest... and bon appetit!
Freitag, 29. Oktober 2010
kitchensafari: kitchensafari... a test of wits
kitchensafari: kitchensafari... a test of wits: "ps. before i start: forgive my spelling... i have no excuses... pps. this is a recipe for south african 'vetkoek'... almost, but not quite a..."
kitchensafari: now or never... ever
kitchensafari: now or never... ever: "since i can remember... time is money, said orson welles... in a nashua copier tv spot... but time is also a luxury... a luxury worthwhile ..."
kitchensafari: eat this...
kitchensafari: eat this...: "yes it is gross... what some people eat... not only in asia! but marmite is not only worth spreading thick... it has a reputation of being ..."
eat this...
yes it is gross... what some people eat... not only in asia!
but marmite is not only worth spreading thick... it has a reputation of being healthy!
i suppose almost black liquad yeast cannot be promoted to absolue beginners... without using every marketing/sales gimmick in the book...
needless to say, i haven't had much success in pursuading new-comers to this culinary delight... 'motor oil', someone called my beloved black spread... motor oil! i suppose i chuckled at this remark, purely for the sake of the moment... the harmony... 'forgive them father, for they know not what they do...'
but could i walk away from a direct, no matter how unintentional insult on my and millions of other south africans staple diet... not excactly, not now... but i had to.
the alternative would have been...
1. immediate and sudden retaliation... an 'amoklauf'...or...
2. abruptly departing from the scene of the wannabe crime...but,
3. reminding myself that i was slightly annebriated, 50 miles from home...and,
4. had a warm bed reserved in the guest room...
and then the shrill melody of a 70's musical underscored the blöde tatsache... 'why don't you stay... stay just a little longer...'
marmite: now available in a pvc squirt tube... and not quite as black and 'fest' as i recall the 'black oil'...
i used to bring the stuff with me after visiting home... before 9/11!!!
i think it's about time to sidetrack... what they call 'gedankenflucht' here where i am right now.
'where were you on november 11?'... i was trying to shoot a birdy on the 8th par 4 somewhere in germany (a relatively safe place to be at that time...)... or am i 'exaggerating'... was i attempting to save a double bogey... who knows, who cares... what i am trying to get to, is that it became a mission to bring the stuff here... and then i found it hidden in the backrow of a topshelf of an indian store just around the block/corner from where i lived!!!
after all the effort... and ludicrously even harvesting thoughts of importing it... i have suffered since, not returning to the store... ever again... it had become too easy to get what you wanted... even here, 12 000 km away from home... i could sidetrack into 9/11... or globalisation... i suppose.
from now on i will enjoy my 'black oil' at home in south africa... or when available by accident... 'zufällig'... as the locals would say. and besides, 'blutwurst' is not a worthy substitute, why should it be!?
i am here now... and i eat what i get here and now.
yes, this an advertorial... so support your local tribe and eat from wher you are... right now... an exception would be 'gestattet' to those in the dark and mysterious depths of transeylvania... oder not!?
lights out, goodbite... and remember... there is no safety in nembers!
but i suppose there are exception to this statement too.
but marmite is not only worth spreading thick... it has a reputation of being healthy!
i suppose almost black liquad yeast cannot be promoted to absolue beginners... without using every marketing/sales gimmick in the book...
needless to say, i haven't had much success in pursuading new-comers to this culinary delight... 'motor oil', someone called my beloved black spread... motor oil! i suppose i chuckled at this remark, purely for the sake of the moment... the harmony... 'forgive them father, for they know not what they do...'
but could i walk away from a direct, no matter how unintentional insult on my and millions of other south africans staple diet... not excactly, not now... but i had to.
the alternative would have been...
1. immediate and sudden retaliation... an 'amoklauf'...or...
2. abruptly departing from the scene of the wannabe crime...but,
3. reminding myself that i was slightly annebriated, 50 miles from home...and,
4. had a warm bed reserved in the guest room...
and then the shrill melody of a 70's musical underscored the blöde tatsache... 'why don't you stay... stay just a little longer...'
marmite: now available in a pvc squirt tube... and not quite as black and 'fest' as i recall the 'black oil'...
i used to bring the stuff with me after visiting home... before 9/11!!!
i think it's about time to sidetrack... what they call 'gedankenflucht' here where i am right now.
'where were you on november 11?'... i was trying to shoot a birdy on the 8th par 4 somewhere in germany (a relatively safe place to be at that time...)... or am i 'exaggerating'... was i attempting to save a double bogey... who knows, who cares... what i am trying to get to, is that it became a mission to bring the stuff here... and then i found it hidden in the backrow of a topshelf of an indian store just around the block/corner from where i lived!!!
after all the effort... and ludicrously even harvesting thoughts of importing it... i have suffered since, not returning to the store... ever again... it had become too easy to get what you wanted... even here, 12 000 km away from home... i could sidetrack into 9/11... or globalisation... i suppose.
from now on i will enjoy my 'black oil' at home in south africa... or when available by accident... 'zufällig'... as the locals would say. and besides, 'blutwurst' is not a worthy substitute, why should it be!?
i am here now... and i eat what i get here and now.
yes, this an advertorial... so support your local tribe and eat from wher you are... right now... an exception would be 'gestattet' to those in the dark and mysterious depths of transeylvania... oder not!?
lights out, goodbite... and remember... there is no safety in nembers!
but i suppose there are exception to this statement too.
now or never... ever
since i can remember... time is money, said orson welles... in a nashua copier tv spot...
but time is also a luxury... a luxury worthwhile having had... or like the bumper-sticker which reads: ''if you don't surf, don't start...!' (get it, got it.... good!)
meantime, back at the ranch... i've had ample time... enough time to recall the unemployed who wondered where in heavens he had the time to do his thing while he was still employed.... another perspective, i suppose. my sister, who had met her husband when they were still at school (at 16!!!) recently said: 'it's so quiet... we wanted to get old together...' he had died, suddenly, at the tender age of 47! in fact he had all the time in the world.... recently having taken a early retirement package... his choice... time to live the creativity he could never employ at work, a lifetime of serious money-business... he had really put it together... from nothing... and i think and i suppose i hope he had really lived before deperting... far too soon... both their sons are creatives... my brother-in-law will smile at me in future, through his sons... as a creative,
i am thankful to have had the time to say 'goodbye'... in a way... who could have guessed that his time had come... almost impossible to believe, having seen the shots taken weeks before his death... standing proudly between his 20-something sons in a pool... goodbye my friend... i owe you a painting (i know!)
will give it to sister and the boys... ps. i think i smoked your last cigarette... i found the packet next to where you passed away... on a stack of bricks on the patio... i smoked them all one aftzer the other in the empty house... in the dark... looking at your chair...
love from all of us... on the other side.
ps. i made bobotie and baked an olive and rosamary bread after your funeral... your wife was everything but hungry... but eventually she too, ate... something.... my mother reckons i made too much.... whatever... see you there... in a while....
but time is also a luxury... a luxury worthwhile having had... or like the bumper-sticker which reads: ''if you don't surf, don't start...!' (get it, got it.... good!)
meantime, back at the ranch... i've had ample time... enough time to recall the unemployed who wondered where in heavens he had the time to do his thing while he was still employed.... another perspective, i suppose. my sister, who had met her husband when they were still at school (at 16!!!) recently said: 'it's so quiet... we wanted to get old together...' he had died, suddenly, at the tender age of 47! in fact he had all the time in the world.... recently having taken a early retirement package... his choice... time to live the creativity he could never employ at work, a lifetime of serious money-business... he had really put it together... from nothing... and i think and i suppose i hope he had really lived before deperting... far too soon... both their sons are creatives... my brother-in-law will smile at me in future, through his sons... as a creative,
i am thankful to have had the time to say 'goodbye'... in a way... who could have guessed that his time had come... almost impossible to believe, having seen the shots taken weeks before his death... standing proudly between his 20-something sons in a pool... goodbye my friend... i owe you a painting (i know!)
will give it to sister and the boys... ps. i think i smoked your last cigarette... i found the packet next to where you passed away... on a stack of bricks on the patio... i smoked them all one aftzer the other in the empty house... in the dark... looking at your chair...
love from all of us... on the other side.
ps. i made bobotie and baked an olive and rosamary bread after your funeral... your wife was everything but hungry... but eventually she too, ate... something.... my mother reckons i made too much.... whatever... see you there... in a while....
Donnerstag, 28. Oktober 2010
kitchensafari... a test of wits
ps. before i start: forgive my spelling... i have no excuses...
pps. this is a recipe for south african 'vetkoek'... almost, but not quite a sort of flapjack...
my grandmotther, bless her soul, told me to rather shut up than say something 'bad'...(especially about others... and definately not on a sunday!) i will keep this in mind during my future blog ventures... on the other hand, who cares anyway... anymore? i do sometimes, but not always... anyway... only a tea could save me!
a friend in berlin told me to stay authentic, to undermine and/or my criminal energy in order to guide my karma to a safe haven... she also put me in touch with numerology... again,... (remember israel?). according to my numero profile, based on adding and subtraction the date of birth numerals, i should be investing my time helping others... and in doing so i would find true happiness (and wealth!?). a pretty clear picture of a little less self-indulgance... more team thinking... some greenpeace... and a porsche cayenne... but not from caritas, ok. the thought had occurred to me before... years ago in africa... submerging from time to time... but... i procrastinate for a living.
but i also, some say, have talent... wow! others say, a jack of all trades... master of none... whatever...
yes, this is my very first time... and it hurts... not me though... artists have thick skins...
what i actualy wnnted to talk about was not integration in germany... but food, south african food.
CAPE -STYLE VETKOEK:
ingredients
1 cup of allpurpose flour... any type...
1 cup of milk... please use fresh high fat milk
1 egg... ZE EGGS MUST BE OOOOORGANIC!!!
a pinch of salt
a satchet/packet of Baking powder
making
mix all ingredients well... and let it rest for a while... but for no longer than 15minutes...
heat a cast iron based pan on ze oven... topspeed... until just before it starts smoking... (you will know when!!!)
immediately reduce the heat to half of that before.... and add an inch or more of sunflower oil to the pan...
test the heat of the oil by dropping small drops of the mixture... it must fry immediately!
otherwise your vetkoekke will be toooo soggy...
now add mix with a soupspoon...
fry untill bottom is lightbrown...
turn around...
remove from pan... and rest on kitchen paper...do not overfry!
place vetkoeke in an ovenproof bowl/plate... and bake at +-150° celcius for 10 minutes...
just to make sure that it isn't rough in the centre... (Mrs. Venter!?)
serve: serve hot with farmbutter... even salted butter (in berlin from Brot & Butter in Charlottenburg)...
and do not forget golden syrup... if you're not in SA. and in germany check out Karstadt in Berlin... they have it!!!
then to be ultra decadent... sprinkle cheddar cheese, grated... and enjoy!
from here to you, see you another time with less content and more structure... or maybe not.
pps. this is a recipe for south african 'vetkoek'... almost, but not quite a sort of flapjack...
my grandmotther, bless her soul, told me to rather shut up than say something 'bad'...(especially about others... and definately not on a sunday!) i will keep this in mind during my future blog ventures... on the other hand, who cares anyway... anymore? i do sometimes, but not always... anyway... only a tea could save me!
a friend in berlin told me to stay authentic, to undermine and/or my criminal energy in order to guide my karma to a safe haven... she also put me in touch with numerology... again,... (remember israel?). according to my numero profile, based on adding and subtraction the date of birth numerals, i should be investing my time helping others... and in doing so i would find true happiness (and wealth!?). a pretty clear picture of a little less self-indulgance... more team thinking... some greenpeace... and a porsche cayenne... but not from caritas, ok. the thought had occurred to me before... years ago in africa... submerging from time to time... but... i procrastinate for a living.
but i also, some say, have talent... wow! others say, a jack of all trades... master of none... whatever...
yes, this is my very first time... and it hurts... not me though... artists have thick skins...
what i actualy wnnted to talk about was not integration in germany... but food, south african food.
CAPE -STYLE VETKOEK:
ingredients
1 cup of allpurpose flour... any type...
1 cup of milk... please use fresh high fat milk
1 egg... ZE EGGS MUST BE OOOOORGANIC!!!
a pinch of salt
a satchet/packet of Baking powder
making
mix all ingredients well... and let it rest for a while... but for no longer than 15minutes...
heat a cast iron based pan on ze oven... topspeed... until just before it starts smoking... (you will know when!!!)
immediately reduce the heat to half of that before.... and add an inch or more of sunflower oil to the pan...
test the heat of the oil by dropping small drops of the mixture... it must fry immediately!
otherwise your vetkoekke will be toooo soggy...
now add mix with a soupspoon...
fry untill bottom is lightbrown...
turn around...
remove from pan... and rest on kitchen paper...do not overfry!
place vetkoeke in an ovenproof bowl/plate... and bake at +-150° celcius for 10 minutes...
just to make sure that it isn't rough in the centre... (Mrs. Venter!?)
serve: serve hot with farmbutter... even salted butter (in berlin from Brot & Butter in Charlottenburg)...
and do not forget golden syrup... if you're not in SA. and in germany check out Karstadt in Berlin... they have it!!!
then to be ultra decadent... sprinkle cheddar cheese, grated... and enjoy!
from here to you, see you another time with less content and more structure... or maybe not.
Abonnieren
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