Hungry in Berlin

I’ve had a tough time finding coffee beans I like in Berlin. It’s not that I’m one of the aficionados who can tell an Ethiopian bean from a Colombian shade-grown. But it’s a big part of my day. I drink a lot. And I come from the U.S. west coast, where standards (as with beer) have gotten fairly high in recent years.

I brew my own at home, usually with a french press, but with occasional forays into drip, or stovetop-type espresso. I grind my own whole beans, and keep them in an airtight jar, away from light (the keeping-in-freezer thing is trouble, since it breaks down the coffee oils) , and buy small batches, so they don’t age too much before I use them. I use filtered water.

But without good coffee, none of this matters.

Over the last two years, I’ve tried a number of different purveyors. Impala Coffee (several around the city), occasionally produces a decent dark-roast flavor, but I think overroasted. A large cup often destroys my stomach, and makes me jittery and anxious. Zeezicht, on Gleimstr., is typically a bit acidic. Too green. Don’t even get me started on Balzac.

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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 »

This summer has seen an outpouring of fresh vegetables like I’ve never seen in 14 summers here. Not only that, the “bio” versions in the outdoor markets are no more expensive — and in some cases cheaper — than the same items in the supermarket.

Making a very rare appearance this year are absolutely fresh green peas. In the past, you’ve been able to get these delightful legumes maybe one year in three or four, and by the time they got to Berlin, the pods were beginning to brown and you had to throw out 10% of the peas inside them. The ones I’ve seen this year are shiny and bursting with fat peas.

The other star of the show is a crop of green beans which are unlike any I’ve seen here previously. Also fat and shiny, they are surprising because, despite their heft, they’re not at all fibrous, and, when properly cooked, give up a wonderfully nutty flavor in addition to the green taste.

I’ve adapted two of my favorite pasta recipes for this joyous occasion, so click away and start boiling some water.

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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.

Alphonso mangos have arrived in Berlin.

If you’re from the United States, you may never have tasted an Alphonso mango. A pale yellow papaya color, the mango has a deep orange, pulpy flesh that you can tell will be more appetizing than those Brazilian greens you find in Plus and Aldi. In India it’s used in the mango products exported to Indian restaurants abroad—juice, ice cream, lassi base—that all taste mysteriously better than what you can buy at home. No wonder: there was a ban on all imports of this special variety to America until last year.

Alphonse mangos (in all their spelling variations) hit the markets in India from March through May. Yet a Pakistani variation has suddenly popped up in Berlin during June, under the trade name of Honigmango.

You won’t find them at your weekly local market, at least not the schmancy one I go to in Charlottenburg, but they’re all over the foreign food shops. The picture is from a Persian food store (also selling merguez!) on Kantstrasse just west of the Charlottenburg S-Bahn. I’ve noticed that some Thai shops in West Berlin have boxes at their checkout counters as well (see the Thai-Viet Markt on Wilmersdorferstrasse), almost as an afterthought.

You can spot the mangos easily: they’re the ones packaged like fragile Christmas tree balls, in tinsel and shredded paper. Don’t be discouraged by the high per-box price; I bargained my man at the Persian shop down to 1.50 last week for a perfectly ripe Alfonso clone and 1 euro for a smaller one.

The exotic flavor is worth the splurge. Try it with yogurt or quark: the juices get all over the place when you cut the thing, and you won’t want to let them go to waste.

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!

We’d been hearing about it for years: a huge Vietnamese market somewhere in the deep east, where the freshest herbs and vegetables you could want for your Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese cooking were available, and the space was dotted with lunch-stands serving many kinds of phô, the famous beef-and-noodle soup. The question was, where was it?

Which was exactly the question we found ourselves asking yesterday noon, as four of us, in two cars, in the wilds on the border of Lichtenberg and Marzahn, pored over cell-phones and GPS units, looking for this place one of us had scrupulously researched on the Internet. As it turned out, we’d found where it had been, but where was it now?

Eventually, an answer bubbled out of cyberspace: the word Herzbergstrasse appeared on a cell-phone, and buttons were pressed, speculation was tossed around, and eventually our caravan made its chaotic way towards the Dong Xuan Center, another planet in the Berlin cosmos.

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No, not the classic Homer & Jethro album, but a query from a reader:

I was wondering if you all at Hungry In Berlin know if there are any places
around Berlin to pick wild berries this summer. There are so many woods I was
hoping to get some good picking in. This applies also to wild fruit, veggies,
mushrooms, etc! Thanks in advance, any advice is appreciated.

We immediately forwarded this question to our Far South Berlin correspondent, for no better reason than she lives closer to the woods than any of the rest of us, and sure enough, she had an answer for us:

Spargelhof Kleistow is a good stop for picking strawberries and high bush blueberries (don’t know what else to call them). Thankfully not so much bending involved, although the inside of the berry is white, not blue. But generally very good, big flavorful berries.

You can buy all sorts of fresh local produce and bread in their store, they also have a restaurant and places to play for the kids. They have a lot of festivals, too, which certain short, underaged people in the family enjoy.

Any of our other readers know of pick-your-own places in the vicinity? Tomatoes near Werder? Apples in Brandenburg? And are there any laws regulating mushrooming or wild-berry picking on what might be private land? Because come fall, the woods are filled with mushroomers.

Now that we’re finally cruising in the 20-degree Celsius band and the parks are packed to overflowing on the weekends, summer wines are in order. I like that there’s a decent market in larger-sized wine bottles — and the wine’s often of a quality that’s definitely higher than the swill we guzzled during high school (bring on the Hearty Burgundy!) My idea of a good summer wine is one that’s got some good acidity (like lemonade; juicy and refreshes the palate), light in alcohol and if possible, under 5 Euro a bottle. Here’s two recent finds that we’re enjoying — if you’ve some recommendations, let us know in the comments below.

Veit Gruner Veltliner 2007, Austria: This 1-liter bottle was shoved in John’s hands last weekend, with the insistence from our very favorite wine dude that “It’s the perfect summer wine!” Well, for 4.50 Euro, it was hard to argue. This Qualitatswein offers a good combo of green apple and lychee flavors, and isn’t too heavy (12.5% alcohol). Although the wine’s label claims it’s good with “Wiener Schnitzel” (props to the home team there), I’m pretty sure it will do the job with lighter dishes quite nicely. Find it at Sonnenreich at Arnimplatz, Seelowerstr. 6.

Le Pavot Rosé 2007, Vin de Pays de l’Aude, France: This kills a couple birds with one bottle — it’s crisp and refreshing, it’s cheap (4.95 Euro) and it’s bio. The Aude is a river that runs west-east through the western Languedoc; the vineyards have been organically certified Ecocert (no mean feat in France) since 2002. It’s a gorgeous deep pink and tastes and smells like super-ripe strawberries (blend of Grenache and Mourvédre methinks). Uncomplicated and easy to sip. At the bioladen Kiepert & Kutzner at Schönhauser Allee 65 (in the wine section, very lower shelf.)