German postal service and I not necessarily see eye to eye, up until recently anyway. But it’s changing, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Since I’m primarily an online book shopper, most of my new cookbook fixes I get via mail. Despite my tendency to hold grudges against bad service, somehow my appetite to hit the “Order” button still exceeds my frustration with our post office’s poor performance (and I’m not the only one having issues with postal service). Here’s my thought process: If you can’t beat your enemy, embrace him! The original phrase may continue a long the lines of “…with two hands behind your back he can’t hurt you“, but I thought of a more literal meaning. We live on the third floor and the postman usually had a good work-out once he climbed all the stairs – how about a little bribe to sweeten his efforts?
The thought of a little bag of homemade cookies -a quite logical thought for a foodie- I quickly dismissed. Found it to be a little over the top and in fact, he doesn’t actually look like a sweet guy, if you know what I mean. Besides, what if he is paranoid and thinks I want to poison him for bad service? To be on the safe side, I decided in favor of a more than reasonable good ‘ol fashioned tip. Hey was that a hint of a smile, flashing over his face?
That was when things started to change and I didn’t have to go to the post office to fetch my undelivered packages ever since. Not sure what I triggered, but this guy has become a bit too keen to do well. Now we have the honor of being the first party in the house who he delivers to AND rings the doorbell, typically at 7AM. I’m an early bird, yet, I had to get accustomed to signing delivery papers still wearing my pj’s in front of a smiling postman – not a big deal though. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t just the tip after all?
Of course I keep smiling back (on top of the occasional tip) – what can I say, he is my main cookbook purveyor and one has to treat them good, right? His latest delivery? A book I had pre-ordered over a month a ago and one I had almost forgotten about: Working the plate by Christopher Styler (Amazon US / Amazon Germany)
This is a good example of a book that leaves me a bit puzzled. The publishing house Wiley introduces this books with the words “Long awaited by professional chefs, this groundbreaking guide to food presentation will also delight and inspire culinary students and sophisticated home cooks. Acclaimed food writer and culinary producer Christopher Styler describes seven distinctive plating styles, from Minimalist to Naturalist to Dramatic, with several striking examples of every genre. Each plating suggestion is accompanied by clear instructions along with color photos of step-by-step techniques and finished plates. Complete with essays on plating from ten leading chefs and recipes for the dishes featured, this book is a work of art in itself–a must for the kitchen shelf.”
Germany, especially its southern corner, Bavaria, has a deserved strong reputation for dumplings – in good company with its neighbors Austria or the Czech Republic. Sweet or savory, there’s a breathtaking variety being offered in restaurants ranging from low to high end, as well as on a regular lunch table. A traditional holiday dinner in our family would not be complete without dumplings (of some sort) and it’s simply impossible for me to understand how anybody can actually not love them.
Compared to other countries in the world, Germany is considerably smaller in terms of surface, but with probably an equal amount of peculiarities across the regions. How to tell whether someone is from the North or South? Let him or her order a side of dumplings and it may quickly show: People from North Germany would ask for “Klöße” while we Southerners -so to speak- refer to them as “Knödel“. Definitely a regional thing. Hint: avoid ordering Schweinsbraten with “Klöse” in any traditional restaurant in Bavaria – the least you get is a raised eyebrow from a potentially grumpy Bavarian waitress. Who will possibly top it off with a murmured “Saupreiß” – a not so nice term for somebody from North Germany ;)
Sometimes inconspicuous food discoveries have a huge impact on your daily diet. My latest find is a real keeper, in fact, I stock up on it at least twice a week…
The few reservations I had against anything goat cheese are all history, long ago, yet it was rarely seen on our dinner table. For years now goat cheese has virtually been my welcome appetizer I chose at restaurants, baked in phyllo dough and crepes or on top of a fresh salad. Just about until I had the pleasure making the acquaintance with my dear new friends, les bûchettes de chèvre. That said, I feel the urge to elaborate:
First flirting took place at an informal dinner at our friends Hande & Theo’s place. Wait, to put things straight, an informal dinner at their place is always a challenge – to all intents and purposes. Just about after their trip across Thailand and Laos, we’d been invited to join the two for some Asian food – read: six fantastic courses (or seven? eight?), seven hours and ten bottles of wine later we understood the definition of an informal dinner.
