Piggy-backing, pun intended. One of the hardest parts about not writing in your native language is to find proper terms for recipes and dishes that are regional specialties. Like today’s recipe. We refer to it as Griebenschmalz or Grammelfett, a typical German and Austrian specialty served as a spread on crisp sourdough or rye bread and oftentimes found in beergardens or as a no-fuss, down-to-earth Brotzeit in Bavarian restaurants. Google Local would be the way to go, but how to find the correct English term for it on a global scale? You still google, but that’s when things start to become complicated: we found apple greaves dripping, some call it crackling fat, others refer to the firm parts of it as pork scratchings. And – to make it even more hair pulling – the descriptions are inconsistent with one another. If anyone out there knows the one and only correct term for Grieben and Griebenschmalz, I’m all ears! For the time being, I will use the German term Griebenschmalz…
Besides the added spices this spread consists of four major ingredients: apples, onions, the rendered fat and the firm remains from rendering the pork fat. Truth be told – it might not be the healthiest of all available spreads simply due to the high amount of saturated fats, but if you forget about this teeny, almost negligible fact *cough*, IT IS SIMPLY DELICIOUS!
Eeew, now if that’s what you’re thinking – stop right there and wait for the final product. What do you think are my culinary plans for the weekend? Take a guess!
When I think about the next dish or recipe, I sometimes feel like a kid in a candy store, I want it all but can’t make up my mind what exactly I want. I find the decision process in fact harder than the actual cooking. So a typical picture would show me in a German grocery store pondering my options, restructuring my shopping list on the fly, probably ending up buying too much of this and that but overlooking the essential items.
After a hilarious photo shooting in our kitchen with a lot of smashed cherries on the floor and a notable thin layer of flour pretty much everywhere (more juicy details in a later post), I had to rush out to a close by supermarket, because all our fridge had to offer was a yawning void – why rush you think?
Most times memorable food experiences are predominantly related to one of your senses. Some dishes are pure eye candy, others are superbly fragrant, phenomenal taste-wise or have a very unique mouthfeel. But what to do when you hit jackpot and all your senses go wild? Simply enjoy!
If you’re up for a not so ordinary doses of ravioli, you’re in for treat: imagine a just runny egg yolk, its dark orange color which reminds of pretty sunflowers and bright sunshine and its velvety texture, warm enough to make your tongue feel comfortable, bedded on a deliciously seasoned ricotta & Parmesan mix and wrapped in thin home made pasta sheets, voilà , sunny egg ravioli.
