Strawberry season |
Lots of mushrooms |
Spitzkohl or pointed cabbage |
Let your imagination run |
Love those daisies |
I love farmers’ markets. Fresh.
Honest. For the most part,
at least in Germany, you’re buying local, from the folks who picked the
berries, dug the potatoes, planted the flowers, and cultured the milk to make
the cheese. There’s no
fragrance like a fresh fragrance and no taste like a fresh taste.
I admit I’m a cook.
Not a chef. Chefs are cooks
who know what the hell they’re doing. I fill plates with food; they create
dishes that delight the eye, and linger on the taste buds and in the
memory. I make gravy. They make delicate, silky sauces. I can’t hang with that crowd and the
folks from Michelin are never going to nail a star on my door. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t shop
where the chefs shop and use ingredients that carry the fragrances and tastes of
the fields.
I grew up in Michigan and still remember sneaking into a
farmer’s plot of corn to pull off an ear of Silver Queen and gobble it down,
the sweet juices running off my chin.
No cooking. No butter, or
salt, or pepper. Nothing else is
needed when the vegetables are that fresh.
For the most part, I like my green vegetables at that
perfect stage, past raw, but barely cooked, what the chefs call crisply
tender. Salads should be mixed
field greens, blends of color, with a very light dressing that hides none of
the fresh flavor. See an earlier
blog for basic vinaigrette and never buy salad dressing again!
My bottom line is:
Why eat when you can dine, often for the same cost, or much less. Farmers’ markets offer that choice and
Homburg’s is no exception. On
Tuesdays and Fridays, from 9 until noon, I
like to wander and dream and chat with the growers and sellers. “What should I use these mushrooms
for?” and “What’s the difference between this cabbage and that?” Matter of fact, the pointed cabbage in
the photo (Spitzkohl) is tasty and easy to fix. In my next blog I’ll give you a recipe.
Not to be missed is the tasting. Never seen a cheese maker that didn’t offer a thin slice, or
an olive merchant that wouldn’t let you savor the distinct flavor differences
between oil and brine cured.
Germany is known for its salt and smoke cured meats. Hams, sausages, each with a different
name and taste, and all so delicious they’ll make you forget Hormel
forever. Your body will thank you
for leaving the nitrates and other chemical shortcuts behind.
Culinary adventures are the perfect time to expand your
repertoire and astonish your family.
Maybe I shouldn’t use the word ‘astonish.’ How about lead your
taste-bud-retarded kin slowly and carefully into new and pleasant
pastures?
Eating healthy, vitamin laced, fresh meals are neither
difficult, nor time consuming.
Average cooking time for greens such as broccoli is twelve minutes. Carrots and green beans are the
same. Stir-fried cabbage and
onions are even less. Put hams or
roasts in a pan with flavored broth, cover and stick them in the oven at 225ºF
(110ºC) and let them simmer all day, while you do other things. Want to spice things up? Add a sausage
or two to the pot.
There are other
benefits to good cooking.
At a recent dinner party, one of my guests admonished two
young men to learn how to cook. “A
man who cooks well is a chick magnet,” she said. Golly, I never thought of that!
Shopping is hard work. Time for a break. |
Well you are a great cook!! No mediocrity at all in your kitchen! Way to take advantage of the great farmer's market that is offered in Germany. Now you need the shirt: "I eat clean and train dirty!"
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