Hungry in Berlin

A heads-up for more berry picking in the Brandenburg area — blueberries and raspberries are apparently ready to be self-picked, as per the Berliner Beerengarten team. The HIB team really has to get out and do this one of these days…if you have, let us know in the comments below.

And on a random thought, one of the Berliner Beerengarten fields is out in Hoppegarten, which is also a cool old horse racing stadium.  A gaggle of us (led by the very knowledgeable Ms. Bowleserised) had a visit a month or so ago, bet on a couple of ponies, and actually came away richer! Wouldn’t be a terrible double-feature, ponies and berry-pflucking…

Just got a friendly reminder from those in the fields that berry picking season is set to officially open. We did a bit of berry reporting last year, with a couple suggestions for locations to boot.

Berliner Beerengarten is a good place to start.  Here’s their schedule; looks like most of their fields (we’re talking mostly strawberries, it’s still early) will be open as of tomorrow.   And I just saw a bunch of rhubarb at the market the other day…who’s ready for some pie?

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.

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.

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!

You’d never expect a good micro-brewery and ersatz biergarten to be tucked away behind a few looming Neubauen in Wedding. But it’s there, the Eschenbräu, big brass tanks gleaming in an Innenhof window, and kegs of tasty wheat beer, dark and light on tap. Aimee and I visited earlier this week, and their seasonal Maibock was out, so we stuck with the regulars.

I’m not one of those beer guys who can talk brew for hours. But I have good friends who are, and a brother who is, and so I’ve picked up a pretty good beer palate. These were good, and fresh, something that’s hard to come by this far north, as good as much of the beer is.

The light, a pils style, was rich and live-tasting, creamier than most bottled beers here, though not quite like what you’d get in München. The dark was very nice, I think an amber ale style rather than a real German Dunkel, malt-heavy and a little sweet. Rich and complex, and like the light, fresh.

This Friday, they’re kicking off the new seasonal brew, a Bayerisch Hell, by offering Weißwürste und Brez´n, and beer in the traditional Ma­ß. Yum.  Find it at Triftstr. 67. And thanks to Gridskipper, and their plug for Wedding, for the tip.

To follow up a previous post (and a nice reminder by the Tagespiegel this morning), here’s a couple more links to berry pastures in and around the greater Berlin area.

A list of pick-it-yerself berry patches: Selbstpflücke Erdbeeren

And for those who want berries closer to home, here’s info for Berliner Beerengarten. Click on the links for the individual gardens to get per-kilo prices; the map is handy, too!

As a native Californian, I speak culinary Spanish (with an emphasis on the Mexican dialect). Four years of college in San Diego proved that a person can gladly and happily live on rice and beans (and salsa and tortillas) alone. And although my Heimstadt gave birth what has come to be known as the “San Francisco burrito” (see Dolores in Mitte for an up-market, but not totally authentic, version), nothing beats a homemade feast of carnitas, frijoles refritos, handmade tortillas and smoky, spicy salsa. Us gringos celebrate Cinco de Mayo (Mexican military victory over the French, 1862; gradually morphed into a “hooray for all things Mexican” celebration in the U.S., sponsored by Corona) with food. I’m going to focus on the proteins in this post — how to make carnitas, or boiled-then-fried pork shoulder, and refried beans. See “part dos” for a how-to on flour tortillas and chipotle salsa — with ingredients that can be found all here in Berlin. Read the rest of this entry »

The fact that ice balls have been falling from the sky for the last week only makes me hungrier for food that implies sun. Cheeses, olives, pasta, tomatoes… you know. Mediterranean. Italian.

I’m not a bad hand at fresh pasta, but having grown up in a household decidedly short on Italian mothers, I can always use a little help. I’m guessing a lot of the rest of you are in the same boat. So if you’re looking to brush up on your Italian cooking skills, tomorrow’s class at Goldhawn and Sampson in Prenzlauer might be worth looking into.

It’s being run by former Hazelwood co-owner Suzy Fracassa, focusing on the creation of a simple top-to-bottom home-cooked meal, and based on her own family’s recipes. She’ll run through an entire menu: Piedmontese garlic-anchovy veggie dip, roasted bell peppers and fresh ricotta for starters; a polenta with salsiccia ragu for a middle course, veal scallopini with sautéed zucchini blossoms for the main course, and naturally, homemade biscotti for desert).

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