Hungry in Berlin

The good Ben Perry reminds HIB that us kids have been remiss in passing along some dim-sum skinny.  You can find the new Asia-inspired grocery Amazing Oriental (yes, that really is the name) on the corner of Kantstr. and Friedrichstr. in Charlottenburg, just a few steps away from the Charlottenburg S-Bahn station. The company apparently has its base in the Netherlands, thus what they’re importing is pretty different than the Thai-centric fare you get in most other Asia laden in the east side of town.  There’s more Chinese ingredients (lots of dried stuff and a mega-selection of noodles), a lot of Indonesian spices, a good selection of fresh Asian vegetables, and best of all, a nice (but small) dim sum counter up front, that does char siu baked buns and a bunch of other goodies. Check it out.

Here’s Hungry’s discovery of the week. While browsing through Mitte Meer and Aqui Espana last weekend (both on Kant Str., though Mitte Meer also has a store behind the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum), we came across bags full of little green peppers that looked and smelled (a bit) like jalapenos. Because we will happily sell our bodies and/or organs for good Mexican food, we got excited, and asked about them, and were told they weren’t jalapenos at all, but Padróns.

We took them home, and researched. Turns out they are the eponymous specialty of the Padrón region in Spain. One eats them lightly fried, in olive oil, sprinkled with a bit of sea salt. There’s a bit of a game of chance with them too, as most are rich and mild, but every 1 in 10 or so is spicy hot. So, fun…

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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.

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!

A few days ago, our local Extra started carrying a type of citrus I’d never seen. Green, the size and shape of a grapefruit, they carried stickers proclaiming them as “Sweeties.”

Turns out this is an Oroblanco (called a Sweetie in Japan and Israel, and now apparently here). A cross between an acidless pomelo and a white grapefruit, created by University of California researchers, it’s apparently becoming something of delicacy in the Japanese market. The idea being that it is (surprise) sweeter than an ordinary grapefruit, and less bitter.

A single-serving review: Interesting, but a tad pricy. Ours was sweet, but not as sweet as a good ruby grapefruit. A decently complex taste, with a sour finish. Which I like. This particular one had very thick pulp walls, giving it a bit more of a crunch than a normal grapefruit. Definitely more intereresting to look at than an ordinary grapefruit, but at 99 cents apiece, I’m not sure they warrant the extra spendiness — unless you’re looking for a striking color for the table, in which case they’re an excellent pick indeed .

One of the better days of my gastronomic life here came when I was complaining about the difficulty of finding good Italian ingredients at my crappy local supermarket and a friend said “Don’t you know about that place on Sophie-Charlotten-Str.?” It sure seemed like a weird location, but he was right: at the other end of it, down by the Westend S-Bahn station, there is a whole bunch of odd businesses, warehouses, and factories (including the one where the Berlin Museums manufacture the sculptural and other 3-D reproductions for their gift-shops).

There, at Sophie-Charlotten-Str. 9-10 is the beating wholesale heart of nearly every Berlin Italian restaurant and deli. Centro Italia is one-stop shopping for Italophiles. Read the rest of this entry »

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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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!