They are finally here – those cold and wintry days. I myself am definitely a winter and snow person. This means I have to be ok with frost, cold and wet, which is a bit more difficult to deal with in the city than on a white, pristine piste, where I can indulge in my passion for snowboarding and enjoy snow-capped mountains all around.
It’s been a while since my trip to Iceland and I did want to tell you a little story about elves and trolls and that great island’s culinary highlights – with the most breathtaking backdrop I’ve ever seen (New Zealand coming in at a close second). But that will have to wait. In the meantime, here are a few impressions…
In my last post, I talked a little bit about the Low Carb thing. This time, I’ll focus on the paleo or caveman diet. Around two weeks ago, I was at the Allergy & Free From expo in Berlin and came across the amazing Eat Performance booth, exclusively offering paleo products. As the paleo diet is grain-free, it is naturally gluten-free and mostly low carb, so ideal for my needs. I tasted a heavenly luscious banana-vanilla cake made with tapioca flour and was particularly fascinated by the large variety of flour alternatives and how creative cooking and baking can be.
Bread at the push of a button. Next Generation? – No, already here! How does it work? Just like a capsule-operated espresso maker: Fill up the tank with water, slide the capsule into the compartment, press start and watch the baking programme run its course! It’s not quite as fast as an espresso, but it gives you delicious, crispy bread inside of 2 hours. Isn’t this unbelievable? I was blown away when I first heard about it at the Allergy & Free From expo in Berlin. This concept is just the thing for coeliacs and other gluten-avoiders – fresh, gluten-free bread at the push of a button. A very rare luxury indeed.
No, these aren’t biscuits – but they are still sweet and incredibly delicious: my quinoa rolls, made from red quinoa and dates. They are the ideal healthy between-meal snack for a long workday or for the kids at school. They will keep you feeling fuller longer and provide you with plenty of protein and fibre.
In the press, raw food is already being hailed as the next big trend. Unsurprisingly it comes from the US – from California, to be exact – and the beautiful and eternally youthful as well as those who aspire to be either or both, swear by it. So Hollywood has got itself a new hype, but one that’s actually healthy, low-calorie and more versatile than it seems at first glance! But most importantly: the raw foodies of today have very little in common with the grazers and crudité-nibblers of lore.
Die Zeit von Ende November bis Weihnachten ist für mich einfach magisch. Viele Kindheitserinnerungen sind damit verbunden, wie das Laternenfest oder Nikolofeier im Kindergarten, das Basteln und Kekse Backen zu Hause, der erste Schnee, Weihnachtsmarkt und Adventkalender… Und all das Aufregende und Stimmungsvolle, das Besinnliche und Zauberhafte dieser Wochen.
Salad in the cold season? Of course, particularly if it’s chock-full of superfoods and is warm and really filling at the same time. It’s an ideal lunch that gives you enough energy for a productive afternoon. Contains a ton of proteins, vitamins and minerals.
People from Frankfurt apparently like their green sauce, also called Grie Sos or simply Frankfurt Green Sauce. A visit to Frankfurt immediately confirms my suspicion that this type of sauce dominates menus across the city. Lufthansa Cargo invited three international food bloggers – one from New York, one from Paris and myself – to Frankfurt so we could learn more about regional cuisine in general and their huge and fascinating Perishable Center in particular. While at home, I decided to experiment a little bit myself and cooked one of my Grandma’s favourite dishes – nut roast with green sauce. But before we get into the recipe and Frankfurt’s regional delicacies, I want to tell you a little bit about our visit to the Perishable Center.
What a wonderful autumn we’re having – 20 degrees and plenty of sunshine, and it’s already November! But autumn doesn’t always charm us with its beauty and one of its great disadvantages is the fact that by 4:30pm, it’s already dark out, which makes us all a bit more tired and sluggish. I am someone who functions best at night, so I do most of my work in the evenings. But when it gets dark as early as it does right now, I am noticing my energy levels dip a bit. I’ll tell you what I do about it…
When your Grandma doesn’t exactly live around the corner, which renders her Gugelhupf and milky coffee sadly beyond easy reach, what is there to do but roll up your sleeves and get baking. My own remote-granny dilemma gave rise to a gluten-free afternoon get-together with friends. Our aim: trying out a variety of gluten-free cakes and pastries.
Of course I’m very conscious of where my produce comes from and how it’s farmed. But it’s tricky to continuously be super aware of exactly how your lettuce, pumpkin, meat and all the other ingredients that go into a dish are handled from seed to harvest every time you shop at the supermarket. So I was delighted when Ja!Natürlich started the project “Aus Bauernhand” (directly from the farm) which gives interested consumers who want to shop sustainably the opportunity to look behind the curtains. This means being able to get a 360° view of food production via portraits, videos, stories and a huge feast with 4 to 5 courses featuring sustainably farmed products.
