European Christmas Dinners. Stage Five. Roast Duck and Beef Roast from Karlsruhe!

“Hi Phil, sorry we have no pictures of the meals but I was so busy with meeting with my family and my godson. However, I will try to describe it for you." Lena and Sascha xx Fondest greetings from Karlsruhe!!!!

 

 

"Lieber Phil, on Christmas Eve my mum made duck with red cabbage and dumplings – this is a very typical Christmas dinner in our part of Germany. Traditionally we would have it with Spätzle and Rotkohl as I have  already described. The duck is spiced with salt, pepper and sometimes paprika. The whole meal can also be served with mashed potatoes, asparagus and green beans too. It is especially nice to find baked apple sauce around the pork. Lecker!!!

Yesterday my boyfriend Sascha made almost the same as you made in England!!!! This is a special roast that is called Rollbraten in German. With it we had potatoes, mit Bratensoße (delicious roast gravy) fresh vegetables and a sauce of green pepper.

Typisches Rollbraten.

All the best to you for Christmas and we very much look forward to seeing you in May 2016!

Lena and Sascha. Karlsruhe. Germany.

"Our Cafe in the mitte of our Strasse!"

Back in December 2014 I was in Karlsruhe in Germany performing a play at the Jakobus theatre with my good friend Emma Brown. When we weren't rehearsing, performing or knocking back a few drinks at the Café Bleu opposite the theatre we could often be found in 'our' café. People say that don't they? 'Our' café, like it exists just for them - a little haven away from the hassle of the crowds - somewhere to gently sip a cup of coffee or have a slice of cake or a tart and a read of the papers, even though they are in complex German. Well, perhaps a look at the pictures in the papers anyway and maybe some of the words - especially if they strike us a funny. "Look, they call XYZ Hinkelbonkel!"

Well Emma is my good friend and I like to show my friends places I have thought of as being particularly cosy or restful and to share that with them. Karlsruhe, is and was, in the unfortunate circumstance of being in the middle of a gigantic restructuring of their tram system in the city centre and beyond. The very centre of the city is a huge whole in the ground into which - one year soon - will fit a new underground metro system to compliment their already complex tram system - the Strassenbahn. Emma and I know all about the Strassenbahn. Don't we Emma? It featured rather heavily in my play!

One day I introduced her to Café Am Markt - café on the marketplace. This is quite an old fashioned resting spot for the some of the older people from Karlsruhe. It is a typical café of the region in it being very clean, compact and has great service with a smile. It mainly serves the German favourite - coffee and cakes (Kaffee und Kuchen) but will extend its menu to some hot food and other drinks. We went there a few times and it became 'our' café.

This is currently a café with a view to weep over. I'm not talking German Romanticism here. There are no snow peaked mountains outside with men and ladies in lederhosen rounding up friendly goats to glory over as you sip your hot beverage. You may well choke on your Mandeltorte, get the pip with your Apfelstrudel or lose it with the Pumpernickel Brownies as you turn in your wooden seat to see the view. Here it is: the view out across to the charming market place.

And from the other side we get this view.

So the windows steam up in Café Am Markt and another hot drink helps the minutes go by pleasantly. On returning from the loos we each spy the very serious looking lady from Berlin on the next table who freaks us out somewhat as she mentally sucks the sugary coated plums from my Pflaumenkuchen. I can almost see them floating in the air from my plate to her bitter lemon mouth leaving in their wake a fairy dust of fine dusting sugar dissolving in the air. I wolf it down so there is no chance of this happening! Then Emma gets out the pills we have just bought from one of the many thousand pharmacies on each strasse. These are for a sudden frozen shoulder complaint. The pills come with ten yards of toilet paper advice on what to take them with, what not to take them with, who to call if you die from them and how long they take dissolve if you go the rectal route. We love Café Am Markt!

The Karlsruhe Christmas Market or Christkindlmarkt.

I've been so busy since I came back from Germany in early December and then after Christmas I came down with this virus everyone seemed to be getting and so all my chronological plans of writing about the food in Germany, the butchers shop in Ettlingen and a variety of other cooking or food related blog posts up to this day seemed to have got all mixed up. I still have to tell you all about the open market in Leiden in Holland too!

Well, at least I am no longer coughing like a bad tempered walrus and on this rainy Tuesday in early January 2015 (Happy New Year readers!) I have been going through a few photographs of my relatively recent visit to Karlsruhe with my friend Emma Brown. We went to perform my play called Greetings From The Trenches. A lot of our time was spent doing last minute technical checks and rehearsing with our German sound and lighting guy - Lennart Strenztsch but we were also able to get out and about to the Christmas Market and enjoy some mulled wine and sweet and savoury pfannkuchen.

Whilst eating and drinking our way round the festive Christkindlmarkt  we spotted some smoked salmon in the whole side being smoked in front of a fire as well as plenty of  pretty stalls selling a variety of confectionary items and enough nougat to rot your teeth in seconds. The Germans certainly seemed to be a nation with a sweet tooth. As you might expect from such a market there were many stalls selling Lebkuchen and Magenbrot (both forms of soft gingerbread) and Gebrannte Mandeln (candied toasted almonds) as well as candles in all shapes and sizes and wooden toys. Although I kept saying that I was going to try a German sausage I never did get round to it.

During my time in Karlsruhe I came back to the Christkindlmarkt two more times. Those were on the Saturday to meet up with my friend Lena and her partner Sascha and on the Sunday to see my friend Thorsten (of whose Christmas dinner you can read about in the blog post before this.) On both occasions we had to try out the gluhwein just to make sure it was still ok. Thorsten took me to a tiny little kiosk where he claimed it was the best mulled wine made with good wine from his homeland - the Rheinland Pfalz.

A lot of the time in Germany seemed to be involving drinking German lager beer (weird that) and sitting in steamy cafes with a cup of strong coffee and an appetizing portion of delicious fruit based tart. A couple of times the too strong coffee upset  my stomach and caused me to make a swift visit to the loo! But that is another story. Happy days! Even as I am writing this I am recalling lots of stories and incidents/observations from my time in Karlsruhe regarding food and certain favourite cafes. I certainly won't be short of things to write about this year!

On the tram to Heide.

Dinner for One... or five?

Every New Year's Eve across Germany and other mainland European countries families sit down to enjoy a seventeen minute British comedy filmed in Hamburg. It stars Freddie Frinton as a butler called James and he is serving a meal and drinks to his ninety year old boss Miss Sophie and four imaginary guests. It is in black and white and the funniest seventeen minutes of pure comedy slapstick that you are ever likely to see. At each course he and Miss Sophie get progressively more drunk. And yet this masterpiece of comic timing is very little known in the UK despite its star being a British legend of Music Hall entertainment in his day. Rather than over burden this particular blogpost I will do a separate blogpost after this one.

I mention this having watched it the other night with some German guests to the Lace Market Theatre. They all know the script and actions off by heart and my friends Markus, Carsten and Hannah had cooked myself and their host Alison a terrific meal of Saltimbocca  alla Romana, preceded by a fresh lightly dressed salad and followed with home made Apfel Streudel and English custard. There are tempting but slightly blurred pictures at the end of this blogpost. I blame the copious white wine!

Previously in the week myself and members of the Jakobus Theatre in Karlsruhe had dined at various eateries in Nottingham including Annie's Burger Shack on Broadway (Nottingham) and Jamie's Italian in the centre of Nottingham. Both places offered very good food and excellent service at reasonable prices. I especially liked the Mussel Linguini at Jamie's Italian.

Dishes from Jamie's Italian in Nottingham.

Another time we went to Nottingham's best ever deli - the renowned Delilah for hot drinks and to soak up the ambiance. There wasn't really room or the facility for us all to sit around a single table so we arranged ourselves around the coffee bar area.

And finally to the meal prepared by our friends from Karlsruhe. This was at my friend Alison's house and while they cooked I got on with writing a script half in English and half in German (with help from Carsten and Markus for the authentic German)  as part of the official presentations we do at the farewell party on Friday night. The cooking smells coming from her kitchen as they made the Apfel Streudel and the Saltimbocca alla Romana were heavenly. The delicious veal was purchased at Waitrose and everything else at Tesco. The link for the Saltimbocca alla Romana is to Jamie's Italian Magazine and it offers a simple recipe to follow and enjoy.

uncooked apfel streudel

Unforgettable times with lovely people. I can't wait to visit them in Karlsruhe in December this year. More food based delights from this visit will follow shortly.

A long weekend in Karlsruhe.

I have put off writing this because there is almost too much to write about in my mind’s view. One side of the story could be a record of a very pleasant four days spent on holiday in Karlsruhe, a beautiful if currently upside down city in Germany. Another, and certainly more important view would be the changes it has brought about in my life, zum Beispiel, thoughts of a new life, and thoughts of doing a lot more with my language skills.

So, I decided to go to Germany again to see my friends there and to enjoy a performance of the Jakobus theatre’s production of a farce called Boeing Boeing. Previous readers of this blog will recognise that I went with the Lace Market Theatre as part of a theatre exchange in May this year. I flew this time from Stanstead airport, on a Boeing, as it happens.

I stayed with a family I have known since my first ever exchange in 2002 and have remained in touch with them ever since. Andrea and Peter Voos were my hosts and made my stay very relaxed, convivial and interesting. We ate some nice food together al fresco; maultaschen, Black Forest cured ham, home grown tomatoes, radishes and a variety of breads. We chatted in English and German about various things; we discussed the Olympics, life and theatre, people in Nottingham and had a few beers on the porch on the balmy evenings. Our conversations made me think about my levels of fitness and gave me food for thought about looking after myself better.

I hadn’t slept well on the previous night (far too excited) and so I had a brief afternoon kip before I went into town on the tram to meet up firstly with my friend Thorsten at three pm in front of the Chateau and then to the Jakobus theatre to see my friends there for a pre-show meal and drink at Café Bleu opposite the theatre. I had already met Carsten who had kindly picked me up from the airport earlier in the day. I was looking forward to meeting my other friends, Marcus, Lisa, Lena and Hannah and especially looking forward to the show itself. Previous to this I spent some quality time with Thorsten and we had a few beers and gradually I recognised others from the Die Käuze theatre as they gathered to do a sound check for the evening showcase of the Operetta ‘ Schwarzwald Mädel’  to promote the show happening later in the year. As well as Larissa Kaufmann and her mum I surprised a few other German friends like Volker and Henrik simply by being in Karlsruhe so soon after the official visit in May. They all seemed pleased to see me.

Around six o’clock I made my way down the Kaiser Alleé via the various  ‘baustelle’ – road works – to the Jakobus theatre. I was delighted to see my old friends at a table outside Café Bleu and I stayed awhile chatting theatre with their director Andreas Rüdenauer and everyone else. I felt very welcomed by their group and amused them with my German language and comical Badisch expressions learnt on my previous visit while I ate my Currywurst and frites and drank another ice cold Pils. 

Marcus and me

Later on I went into the theatre and watched their warm up and took a few photos. Gerd and Herrlich Lehrmann came by to say ‘hello’ and I chatted in the interval with other people I’ve got to know, like Lea Voos, Anna Brünner and Jutta and Peter.  They all seemed very impressed that I had made the trip to Karlsruhe to see this show and I felt very included in their society. The possibly of me performing a one man show called “Der Kontrabass’ was talked about too but I had considered this previously and realised the impractical nature of working with a double bass on stage in England and Germany as well as the transportation of such a thing.

The youthful and energetic production of Boeing Boeing was superb. I had read the script in English before the trip so I had a rough idea what was being said and happening and the performances were top notch. It was the first time I had seen my good friend Marcus Künstler in a big role and he was very funny as the male foil. Every actor, male and female, worked very hard to make the show work, including some songs (not in the original) like ‘Come Fly With Me’ and ‘Fly Me To the Moon’, all sung in English. A farce is all about timing and quick reactions and they did very well despite the sweaty heat of the theatre itself plus the balmy warmth of the weather outside. They fully deserved the rapturous applause they received at the end. The theatre is hoping to bring the production to the Lace Market Theatre in 2014 as part of the theatre exchange we run between the two cities. Ich hoffe das das möglich ist und ich freue mich sehr darauf.

After the show I helped them clear away the props (this was the last night) and joined them all for some food (Spätzle) and drinks and chat at a long table at Café Bleu. Again I felt very included and was treated like an honoured guest. I remarked that this experience of having some nice company, food and drinks sat outside might be quite different in Nottingham on a Friday night. The whole atmosphere was pleasant and no stupid gangs of drunken people around, making a pleasant evening uncomfortable, like back home.  Ali Voβ and Marcus kindly gave me lift back to the Voos house. I think that I may have struggled to find it otherwise, especially after a few drinks and in the dark. I managed to lose my way the following day in the daylight. I’d have no chance in the dark.

Interior wall at Cafe Bleu

The following day (Sunday) I went to the Cornelli’s (my hosts last time) for a very nice afternoon at their house with their daughter Meike, son Marius and mum and dad Martina and Michael. I took along a Nottingham newspaper showing the Queen and some of the royal family in Nottingham during the Jubilee celebrations as this German family like the British Royal Family and they were thrilled to see this. The Cornellis had gone out of their way to put together some lovely rolls and cakes for me to enjoy courtesy of Richard Nussbaumer the baker and konditorei in Waldstadt and we all had a super time talking in English and German over some wine and beer and swatting wasps that had taken a liking to the luscious cakes. Seven wasps met their end that afternoon.

On Monday  I returned to the Cornelli’s with the intention of posting a few brochures into their letterbox and going on my way. As it happened I bumped into their daughter and went back to their house along with her granny and on Meike’s insistence, entered the house unannounced. Mrs Cornelli shrieked and exclaimed her surprise at seeing me once again. We all laughed, I had a quick glass of water and went on my way into Karlsruhe centre via the tram.

I had arranged to meet up with Thorsten again at the Oxford Pub opposite the University where he works and we spent an hour over a simple lunch together mainly talking about the success of the showcase on Saturday evening.

I used the tram system a lot whilst I was there and enjoyed gliding around the city to various places and as the Monday evening sun went down I took a fair few photos in this special light and then made my way back to my temporary home for my last night in Karlsruhe. During the day I had a chance to do a little shopping and visit some old haunts. I began to realise that special places from previous visits aren’t always the same when it is a different time of day and there is a lack of friends to enjoy the place with. I also started to think that if I ever chose to live abroad/in Germany/ friends would be the most important part of that existence as well as having work. Otherwise I think that I would be very lonely. Having a good command of the language would be hugely beneficial too.

On Monday evening I spent my time with my hosts Peter and Andrea and we watched the Olympics (mainly the women’s pole vaulting) and had some food outdoors. Andrea also showed me a collection of photos that her brother Micheal had taken of the 40th celebrations at the Jakobus Theatre.

Early Tuesday morning Andrea was kind enough to take me back to Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airport and having left their house at 7.30am I was actually back home by 2.50pm. This was mainly due to enquiring if I could use my rail tickets earlier than planned. I could and I took the Birmingham train from Stanstead via Cambridge and changed at Leicester for the direct train to Nottingham. Andrea had suggested I take a filled roll and a croissant with me to eat en route as well as a couple of bananas which I did and didn’t really feel hungry when I got home. A cup of tea went down very well though.

Since my trip I have been sharing my photos with German and English friends on Facebook and have recently framed the poster I asked for of Boeing Boeing. I have begun my own journey of improving my German language skills and we’ll see where it takes me.