Hungry in Berlin

You don’t need us to tell you that there’s winter happening out there, which means you also don’t need reminding that it’s Christmas carnival season.  I know I’ve read plenty of times that this or that German city claims the oldest, or the largest and oldest, Weinachtsmärkte — but Berlin, ever its own master, methinks is looking to claim the prize of Germany’s “largest number of nearly identical Christmas markets and vomit-inducing swirly rides”? You can’t throw a quarkball without hitting one, and this is a big city.  But speaking of quarkbällchen…

Yes, I know we ranted about the joys of fried foods (and the perils of grunkohl) last year. But since we’re already in the holiday mood, we thought we’d get a head start and warm ourselves up with at least a few samples of doughy goodness before the crowds build up.  But lo!  Perhaps it’s a sign of the global economic slowdown, but the quarkballs we’ve had — and we do love them when they’re good — are decidedly lacking quark this year.  Pancake dough fried in Biskin?  Ick.  That’s a big lump of coal in the stocking for you, Alexanderplatz market.  You know who you are.

Save yourself from disappointment.  If you find yourself at the Prenzlauer Allee S-Bahn station, and are hankering for some fried dough, check out the small white truck usually parked on the south side of the exit.  The gentleman stirring the batter is kind, jolly (yes, believe it) and makes a damn good quarkball.  With quark. It is rich, slightly gooey inside and perfectly fried. And covered in powdered sugar.

Here’s a list (brought to you by the Berliner Morgenpost) of the Hauptstadt’s Christmas markets; if you hit a good one (especially if the food is interesting/good/or something to avoid), let us know below.

Apropos of nothing much but what’s in my inbox this morning. The kids over at Goldhahn and Sampson (Dunckerstr. 9, Heimholtzplatz) have a newsletter that’s sent out about as often as it snows in this town, but just like that snow, it’s guaranteed to make you giggle a bit. This morning the team is struggling with a pack of imported samosas, which like so many imported products to the EU (or anywhere, I suppose) has operating instructions garbled in at least five languages. It’s Engrish goes to Deutschland, by way of Italy.  Makes you want to be a fly on the wall in the marketing department in Kerala. Check it out.

(Above: “Steinpilze,” aka porcini mushrooms; thanks treegrow)

(This post was generously contributed by Rebecca F. Miller.)

I’ve been looking for any excuse to be outside for the last few weeks, and my favorite places have always been where there are few people and lots of natural landscape. As November waxes, there are precious few days to enjoy one of Germany’s most popular fall pastimes: mushroom hunting. While it’s easy to head to market to find fresh-picked ’shrooms trucked in from Brandenburg, if you’re craving a daytrip to the outdoors – as I and my fellow hunters were a few weekends ago – the woods outside of Berlin are rife with culinary fungus.

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Seen at Bonanza Coffee Heroes, where they make a rich, flavorful brew with geopolitical relevance.

And as a side note, they’re roasting their own beans now. Two hearty thumbs up, even without the political commentary.

Americans: If you haven’t voted already, send that ballot in now!

It’s a tad disturbing to be out of town for a good month and return to find our Hauptstadt trees in little but their birthday suits.  I guess it’s full-throttle fall, which means us kids at HIB get to indulge our secret love of all things stewed and slowly simmered, generally warming and certainly rib-sticking. (There will be Quarkbällchen, but not quite yet. Have to wait at least until after Halloween, I keep repeating to myself.)

So if you find yourself in Pankow this weekend, you can start the season off right by getting your Wild on–that’s wild boar, venison and the like–at the Berliner Fischmarkt on Rothenbachstrasse 48-50. Yes, it’s a fish market too, but this weekend they’re celebrating game meat by roasting two (two!) wild boar on a spit, cooking up some mean wild goulash and offering other autumn treats. According to our local free paper, there will also be fish at the fest.

Personally, I’ve been curious about this fish market for a while, so this sounds like a great opportunity to check it out. Here’s how to get there; the fest rages from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 25 (Saturday). See you there!

UPDATE: So we did attend the Wildfest, and I have to say it wasn’t terribly impressive. Apologies to any of you who may have dragged yourself out to Pankow on a drizzly day. The wild selection was OK — we walked away with a piece of venison tenderloin at 3.25 Euro/100g (no, not cheap) but that was very delicious, and a small hunk of venison salami that was tasty, but as expected, pretty dry.

The fish market, however, was a bummer — the majority of the fishies were obviously past their due date (and yah, maybe it was Saturday, but com’on! It’s a festival! Get some fresh fish!) The selection was fairly standard, and what you’d find at any Extra with a fish counter (both fresh, semi-fresh and smoked.) Bottom line: You’re better off sticking to Frische Paradies, or Kaufhof, or KaDeWe or Rogacki if you’re looking for something fresh. That said, any successful fish buyers out there? Where do you go?

A funny thing happened on the way to breakfast the other morning. John, fellow HIB contributor and connisseur of all things crunchy, was digging in for his usual early-morning granola. We go back and forth between various bio brands (not necessarily for the fact that the product is bio, really, but that there are just few choices for crunchy granola. Muesli has a sog-factor worse than corn flakes) but this morning’s selection was “Gut und Gerne,” strawberry-flavored. All good so far.

John tips the bag over into his small bowl and out hops a grasshopper. Seriously. Violently green, very alive, and a little hysterical. We watched it run around the rim of the bowl for about a minute. Deciding it wasn’t a hang-over hallucination or the special surprise treat that the Gut und Gerne folk forgot to mention on the packaging, we cupped the grasshopper gently in hands and tossed him outside.

The moral of the story? Bio is not for the squeamish. Examine that package closely before you, erm, hop in.

Since the last visit to the Dong Xuan Center, the mammoth Vietnamese shopping mall/wholesale outlet/grocery center, was culinarily unsatisfactory, and since we found several other places to eat after we’d had a rather disappointing meal, we were anxious to get back and see what else the place offered. K, our intrepid researcher/photographer, had gone out on a weekend with his family and reported a fantastic meal in one of the larger restaurants, so we decided to drive out there again and see what was what.

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It started when they ran out of merguez at our local market stand. The surly sausage flipper gave the last sandwich to the person right in front of us, and that decided it: we would hit up Le Cous Cous for dinner and get our own.

This tiny place, run out of a hut on Amtsgerichtsplatz, is what every restaurant find should be: hidden in plain sight, in a former flower shop designated as a historic monument. The Denkmalschutz regulations mean that there isn’t even a sign on the front, just an open side door and some blackboards showing the specials. Inside you’ll find a neighborhood hangout with an upright piano, a few tables, and an open kitchen, all in a cheery yellow and white-tiled space smaller than your living room. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, it’s not Oktoberfest — yet that’s probably a good thing. Starting Friday, 1 August and running through Sunday, 3 August is the “Internationale Berliner Bierfestival,” the self-proclaimed “longest biergarten in the world.” Some 240 breweries from over 80 countries serving up some 1,800 types of brew will be lining the “biermeile” along Karl-Marx-Allee in Friedrichshein. The good news (for those of us who have a preference that we often, given the present surroundings and fear of the small print in the Reinheitsgebot, keep to ourselves) is that this year’s theme is Czech beer — with 32 Czech breweries, big and small, in attendance. But never fear, as this is still very much a German festival, with breweries grouped by region (with freaky groups such as “Middle Ages beer“? Beats me.) And for Americans missing a taste of home, of course, the U.S. Belgian concern Budweiser will be there.

Entrance is free; the beer will cost you. Here’s a list of participants. Zum Wohl!

And no, it’s not the misspelled name of a northern Berlin kiez. Danielle, a recent transplant from Seattle, writes:

I had a question. Can one find panko anywhere in Germany? I looked in the asianmarkt near my house in Charlottenburg but didn’t see it. I have not tried KaDeWe because I am worried about the expense.

A brief primer: Panko is Japanese for breadcrumbs, often used for dishes such as tonkatsu (breaded and fried pork cutlets). Panko is lighter and flakier than the typical “western” breadcrumb and fries up super-crunchy.

I’m bummed to hear that your local Asiamarkt didn’t have panko; most of the outlets I’ve been to have it. Try our favorite Asiamarkt Vinh Loi in Wedding (or try the Charlottenburg outlet at Ansbacher Str. 16, if you’re not feeling like a long day on the U-bahn) or perhaps even the Asiamarkt at Alexanderplatz, across from the Galleria Kaufhof (which also carries it, I’ve been told). It will usually be grouped with other Japanese items (look for the unrefrigerated mayonnaise with the funny picture of a kewpie doll, that’s a sure give-away). When in doubt, try asking for “japansiche Semmelbrösel” (that’s breadcrumbs) and see where it gets you.

And wise choice with KaDeWe — fun, but always pricey.