Some swear by oil, others don’t use anything but soup. Some prefer fish-broth, melted cheese or even chocolate sauce. I’m talking about fondue, the communal dish which exists in many variations from savoury to sweet and has had a steadily growing fan base for decades. Sharing food with friends!
The countdown is on – it’s only 6 days ’til Christmas. The last advent candle was lit today and the Christmas spirit is hopefully all upon us by now. Are you feeling festive yet?
The bowl food trend: elegant, delicious and healthy recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Food that works! Super Bowls are luscious and practical at the same time: bowls bursting with all the things that make you healthy, beautiful and fit!
We all have many childhood memories. Beautiful images reminding us of special moments, with special people, eating special food. Fruit loaves always remind me of St. Nicholas, Christmas and visits at my grandma’s.
In these parts, it’s pastries and cakes. In the US, Australia and England, the ubiquitous accessory to your afternoon coffee or tea is a loaf of something or a cake that looks like it’s a loaf of something, like the ever popular banana bread. I like cakes made in loaf tins as they are convenient to cut. I usually slice the entire loaf as soon as it’s cool and freeze it in baggies – well, almost the entire loaf, minus whatever I eat immediately, while it’s still warm. This means that at all times, my freezer contains a bit of happiness, ready to make my day a little better.
For men it’s the pub crawl. For women it’s brunch. That’s how it used to be, at least. In German-speaking countries, the ladies don’t brunch but instead hold something called a “Kaffeekränzchen”, which is essentially like brunch, but with coffee and cake. The name, literally meaning “coffee crown”, stems from a crown bequeathed onto the victors of shooting competitions during Lent. The name lost its original meaning over the 16th and 17th centuries and eventually covered get-togethers of varying kinds, but the one remaining original rule was that the participants, by their mere presence, made a commitment to organise the subsequent meeting.
Dumplings are to Austria like Tapas to Spain and Tacos to Mexico. Unfortunately they are an indulgence I have to avoid for the most part, as it is virtually impossible to get gluten-free dumplings anywhere. Especially not at ski lodges in the Alps.
Autumn has arrived and you can feel it everywhere. The air temperature has dropped, the trees have changed colour and beautiful, bright leaves are dancing through the air – that means it’s time to unpack the winter wardrobe – away go the flimsy blouses and skimpy tops and out come the thick knitwear and coats. Another sign the chilly season is upon us is one very big and very well-known coffee house chain, which shall remain nameless, offering every single thing on their menu in a “pumpkin spice” variety. October/November is pumpkin time – another sign that we have firmly arrived in autumn.
At the beginning of autumn, garden vegetables are ripe and bursting with flavour. Lettuce, peppers, fennel, green beans, zucchini, pumpkin, squash and particularly tomatoes of all varieties. Specifically sweet cocktail, cherry and tomatoes on the vine are available at farmer’s markets until almost the end of October. You can eat them raw, cooked or braised and they can be used for pasta, salads, stew or as the base of a sauce.
It has always been one of my biggest dreams to throw a huge food party with all my readers and blog followers in order to give some of the love back and exchange knowledge and ideas.
I think most people very much identify with one of the four seasons. Most are summer people, others love the winter. But who would want to go without the spring when everything is in bloom or a ripe, mild autumn? You don’t get four seasons in a year everywhere on the planet, unfortunately. Over here in Western Europe, the seasons have a strong influence on us and we love them all. As for me, the autumn is my favourite. Even though I like when the trees are in bloom and I definitely love the sun and the ocean as well as the snow and snowboarding, but a beautiful, magical autumn gives me that cosy, homely feeling I don’t get at any other time of the year.
At the Bi-Rite food market, I found a cookbook. I checked under the term “figs” and found the following: „But when they are allowed to ripen on the tree, they have a creamy, nectary center that’s bursting with luscious sugar. Put simply, a fig’s perfection lies in its excess.”
