Even good cookbooks are usually consumed much too fast in our household, sometimes all it takes is a free evening and nasty weather to snugly cuddle up on the sofa with the obligatory cup of hot chocolate and of course the new book. Many of our glossy books have fallen victim to this routine.
But then there is this rare occasion when you get hold of a very special book and you know it too the very moment you open it. Books that meet my individual taste spot-on and sometimes even exceed my anticipation. These are precious books, which deserve due attention. I then tend to regulate myself, consuming in small doses, because I don’t want them to end. A Tale of 12 Kitchens by Jake Tilson is one of those rare finds.
There are two hearts beating in my chest and skimming across my bookshelves will quickly prove that one is dedicated to my passion for cooking, the other devoted to design. A Tale of 12 Kitchens passes both requirements with flying colors, it has to be one of the most creatively laid out cookbooks that passed through my hands. The vibrant mix of different typography and retro illustrations is breathtaking, so are the countless packaging shots (finally someone seems to have a bigger heart for packaging than I do), handwritten notes and a very own style of photography featured. It almost made me forget, that it is actually a cookbook. Well, is it one anyway? I like prefer the way Claudia Roden refers to it as “…enchantingly evocative kitchen memoir of food and cooking…” and yes it contains recipes and instruction, but probably not in the way you’d expect.
We are still enjoying what is to become one of the hottest Octobers on record here in Bavaria – it sure looks like someone up there is making up for the cold and wet summer we had right after the World Cup. Everyone is out soaking up as much sun as possible, yet I’m sure, a pretty nasty and cold winter is already lurking around the corner – to bite us when we least expect it. Another positive side effect of the non-stop sunshine: My grandfather’s orchard had a wonderful huge crop of Zwetschgen, a small oval plum of blue color with yellow flesh. Online research pointed me to another type of plum, the Damson plum. Same thing? I never (knowingly) had Damson plums before so I can’t tell for sure! Anyone?
Zwetschgen are key for one of southern Germany’s most typical and coveted cake, the Zwetschgendatschi. To me, they are the key ingredient for a fantastic sweet dumplings recipe, Zwetschgenknödel (plum dumplings). Sweet dumplings have deep roots and are well known in German, Austrian and Bohemian kitchens, the base dough can either be prepared with curd, semolina or yeast (EDIT: or potatoes – thanks for reminding me, Kaltmamsell!). Here I am again blaming it on my parentage, but growing up in the house of a Bohemian grandpa and a kitchen goddess -my grandma- I had no choice other than to become an addict to Zwetschgenknödel, plum filled steamed yeast dumplings. Well, I’m also a fan of traditional Bohemian Sauerbraten served with sliced yeast dumplings, but that’s a whole different story.
I’ve mentioned it before, the very best thing about food-blogging is the people you’ll meet along the way. Dear friendships have developed, both in the online and offline world; what can I say, passionate food lovers mingle well.
Some months ago we received an email from somebody trying to put together an extraordinary culinary roadmap for an upcoming visit to Munich. Of course we helped out! Emails were flying back and forth and shortly before the two (S. and B. for now) arrived in Munich, we made plans to meet up for coffee at one of our favorite places in town. We had so much fun together and naturally the main topics revolved around – no surprises here – food and travel. Time flew by that morning and after a couple of hours together in the city, S. & B. continued their travel to Austria, we promised to keep in touch.
But you know how life is, sometimes it’s not even easy to keep in touch with your close friends. Therefore it put an extra big smile on my face, when we received a surprising email today – coming with this inventive, renewed invitation.
S. and B. sent us pictures of their favorite places to shop in their hometown – any idea where this could be?
EDIT: Thank you all for playing along – and yes, you were right, it’s the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market in San Francisco / Rancho Gordo products, about which we only read so far on quite a few bay area food blogs. Hopefully we’ll be able to pay SF a short visit next year ;)
©2006 B. Page
Peanut butter and I go way back, we share some memorable history together. It all began with love on first sight, then we completely lost contact for a while, to finally put a happy ending to the story. So what had happened? Long story…
Seven years back – to the day! – I was attending a large trade fair in Munich. The company I worked for at the time was notorious famed for their excessive parties, yet I felt wiped out and not in the mood for a long night out. Who knew, that I was destined to fall in love with “my man”, soul mate and best friend there? On the flip side, destiny got it all wrong and screwed up on the prior day: Just on the day before we met, Oliver had quit his job in Munich and signed a new contract with his old company in the States. Now all we had left were two weeks [in denial].
