September Fairgrounds - Pützchens Markt 2014

The so-called „Pützchens Markt“ is a huge fair, held yearly in the city of Bonn, Germany. It always runs for five days beginning on the Friday before the 2nd weekend in September. It is one of Germany´s biggest fairs in terms of turnover. Approximately 550 businesses, exhibitors and vendors present their goods and activities on the 80.000 square meters fair-ground. The nearly one million visitors each year attest to what has become a favorite late summer tradition.

There are always hundreds of stalls where you can play carnival games, enjoy varieties of drinks and food including some German classics such as Bratwurst, but also the usual fairground sweets. You will even find a Bavarian beer hall to help you get in the mood for the „Oktoberfest“.

The fair has a long and fascinating past. Its roots go back to the worship of Saint Adelaide. Around the turn of the first millennium she provided food to the poor and her gift of working miracles soon became known. When in a period of great drought Abbess Adelaide thrust her crosier into the ground, water began to well up. The village "Pützchen" was named after this well and up to this day, believers hope to be healed by the well´s water. Pützchen is said to have become a place of pilgrimage around the middle of the 14th century. Soon traders started to set up tents and stalls to sell their goods here. Gradually, a fair developed which continued to expand and to diversify greatly with time. Soon traders, travelling people, wandering minstrels, entertainers, tamers and circus performers started offering their skills, trades and wares here and Pützchens Markt was born. Today, you could say that the fair draws on centuries of history, it has been attracting visitors for more than 640 years now, as the first recorded date for this fair can be set around 1367.

There is a tons of fun to be had with the many rides to choose from. There is the huge ferris wheel which could already be seen from afar while the fair was still under construction. This „Big Wheel“ with its open and rotating gondolas is the tallest of its kind worldwide and has been the landmark of „Pützchens Markt“ for many years now.

There is also a traditional merry-go-round…

…and some fierce „jungle fun".

Time for a break to enjoy some German sausage treats…

…or some burnt-sugar almonds (my personal recipe for this traditional fairground treat will follow below).

…or some sweet pancakes with various topping including, of course, that well-known chocolate-hazelnut spread from Italy.

While riding the merry-go-round, you could take a good look at, and certainly smell, the „Reibekuchenhütte“ where the staff was busy continuously frying those traditional potato pancakes that people love to eat with apple compote.

More fun rides and absolutely incredible blue skies...

…colorful balloons (guess which one the girls wanted to take home)...

…the weather held up beautifully….

…which in turn attracted even more visitors to the fair.

A rollercoaster with an observation deck.

Time for another break and maybe some colorful lemonade with ornages, limes, cherries and other fruits

Oh those spinning rides…

…guess someone got hungry and took a bite out of this surfboard.

Our girls certainly enjoyed themselves…

...and loved this huge slide…

…and could not get enough of these rides.

My absolute favorite - sweet, delicious, colorful, decorated gingerbread hearts.

And I got this personalized Kitchen Lioness Gingerbread Heart from my Schatzi – love it!!!

Traditionally the fair is opened by the mayor, broaching the first keg of beer on Friday. The end of the fair is marked by grand fireworks around ten o´clock on Tuesday night. Admission to the fair is always free, however you will pay for all rides etc. on an individual basis.

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Fairground Burnt Sugar Almonds

Ingredients for the Almonds

• 1 fresh vanilla bean or 3 tsps. pure (homemade) vanilla sugar
• 200 grams white sugar 
• a good pinch of fine sea salt
• 125 ml water
• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 200 grams natural almonds

Special Equipment needed

• a heavy-duty/cast-iron pot NOT a non-stick pan.
• a sturdy wooden spoon
• a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Preparation of the Almonds

1. To make the vanilla sugar, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add it to the sugar. Mix well. (Instead of discarding the scraped vanilla bean, you can always place it in sugar jar with tight-fitting lid to flavor your sugar.) OR: Use 3 tsps. store-bought, qood-quality, pure vanilla sugar
2. Add the sugar, salt, water and cinnamon into the heavy saucepan and set it over medium heat. Stir to mix, then bring it to a boil before adding the almonds.
3. Add the almonds to the pan. With the wooden spoon, stir over high heat, to boil the water away.
4. The sugar will dry out after a few minutes and the almonds will take on a grey-brown tinge. Keep stirring, so that the almonds do not burn on the bottom of the pan.
5. Reduce the heat to medium, to keep the sugar from browning too fast and burning. At this stage, the sugar heats up and starts to melt again. It is already brown from the cinnamon, so it is hard to see the color change. Just keep stirring, so that the almonds become evenly browned and about half of the sugar is melted and gives the almonds a shiny coat. They will stick together but you will separate them later. When they are shiny, but not burnt, remove the pan from heat.
6. Place the almonds on the prepared parchment lined baking sheet and using two spoons, separate the almonds if they stick together tooo much. Either let them cool completely or serve them while stillwarm. NOTE: the Fairground Burnt Sugar Almonds will keep best if kept in a tin or glass jar in a dry, cool place.

French Fridays with Dorie - Tuna and Mango Ceviche

Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is „Tuna and Mango Ceviche“, a lovely fresh dish, inspired by the cuisine of Senegal.

Ceviche is, at its most basic, raw fish marinated in citrus juice and spices. The acid in the juice denatures the proteins in the meat in much the same way as cooking would. The flesh becomes opaque, the texture firmer and dryer, yet the flavors remain bright and fresh. It seems to be the perfect dish for a warm autumn day.

It goes without saying that any fish served raw should be spanking fresh, but, in general, there is no single species that is  particularly favored for ceviche. It makes sense to use the local „Catch of the Day“ and the species you use should change depending on availability. While Dorie´s recipe calls for sushi-grade tuna, the recipe works equally well with scallops or sea bass, for example. In theory, any white fish can be used, but many fragile fish can become rubbery or totally dissolve in the lime juice.

The cut is also important, and suggestions range from largeish chunks (Dorie´s recipe calls for 0.5 inch cubes) to slicing the fish as thinly as possible. It is often said that dicing, rather than slicing, will ensure a good distribution of raw fish and fish cooked on the outside.

The chief marinating ingredient is, of course, citrus juice. Lime is most commonly used, but lemons and even Seville oranges are sometimes used. It seems absolutely vital to use a generous amount of citrus – that way you get a good spoonful along with the fish. And as far as the addition of the onion is concerned, I think soaking it in iced water briefly before useing it seems to be an excellent idea – although the red onions are somewhat sweet by nature, they should not overtake the taste of the other ingredients.

Fresh and light, Dorie´s recipe also calls for diced sweet mango and creamy avocado, as well as minced fresh ginger, minced red chile pepper and some tabasco for heat, extra-virgin olive oil, white rum, salt and pepper.  All those ingredients taken together will certainly wake up your taste buds. You can make the ceviche  in advance, but no more than an hour or so. You could add fresh cilantro just before serving if you wish - I added fresh cress instead.

To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed this recipe, please go here.

For copyright reasons, we do not publish the recipes from the book. But you can find the recipe for the “Tuna and Mango Ceviche“ on pages 178-9 in Dorie Greenspan´s "Around my French Table".

Farmers´ Market & Pasta with Rapini and ground Pork (Rübstiel Pasta mit Hack und Parmesan)

We are in the middle of September and around here there are quite a few Farmers´ Markets meriting a visit. One particularly nice one is in the town of Burscheid, a mere 25 kilometers from Cologne. We have been faithful visitors for a few years now.

Burscheid is a small town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with less than twenty thousand inhabitants. It is near to the major cultural centers of Cologne and Dusseldorf.

The quaint little town is known for its beautiful town center with its marketplace and churches and the beautiful slate houses. The settlement was first mentioned  in a historic document in 1175 and was granted town privileges in 1856.

So when the late summer sun was shining on Sunday, we paid a visit to the market (now in ist 18th year) to shop for some wonderful local vegetables and regional products, such as the wonderful rapini („Rübstiel“) – recipe will follow below - kohlrabi ("Kohlrabi") and lots of carrots ("Möhren").

These big light-orange pumpkins ("Speisekürbis") caught everyone´s attention.

And we admired the huge, loosely layered, crisp, curling leaves of the so-called butter cabbage („Butterkohl“). This cabbage is a type of savoy cabbage („Wirsing“).

It is a light-green fall cabbage with attractive, crinkled leaves, a mild flavor and a rather robust texture. It is exceptionally good for use in cooked dishes. It is almost impossible to find anywhere these days – unfortunately, due to a certain lack of consumer demand, farmers do not really plant it anymore.

Who can resist buying way too many of these summer squash ("gelbe Zucchinis") and courgettes ("grüne Zucchinis") of many different sizes and colors. And wonderful Hokkaido squash ("Hokkaido Kürbis") - later in the week,  I will enjoy making a velvety Hokkaido squash soup with a dash of Spanish smoked paprika.

Many different kinds of honey from a local beekeeper who also sells honey candy to soothe your throat and sweet mead ("Honigwein"). And will dispense with lots of helpful advice as to all the different uses of honey.

You could taste the different varieties of honey to your heart´s content - the offerings included light yellow runny honeys, dark brown forest honey ("Waldhonig"), and light-yellow, thick rapeseed honey ("Rapshonig").

And so many lovely flowers to choose from, such as these white and purple perrenial pansies ("Stiefmütterchen").

Or you could plant these dark, velvety, purple pansies in your autumn garden. It is not too late for planting these yet.

Sunflowers ("Sonnenblumen") look particularly nice in the late autumn sun. They seem to have a golden glow and will certainly look beautiful in one of those big vases at home.

Fruit brandies and liqueurs such as apple or pear liqueur („Apfelbrand, Birnenbrand“) and strawberry, currant, raspberry, apple and pear brandies („Erdbeer-Likör, Johannisbeer-Likör, Himbeer-Likör, Apfel-und Birnen-Likör“).

And a lot of lovely fruit juices ("Obstsäfte") – apple, rhubarb, or sour cherry, to name but a few.

Fresh berries from a local blueberry farm ("Blaubeeren").

Jams ("Marmeladen") and jellies ("Gelees") and fruit molasses ("Apfel- und Birnenkraut").

Freshly-picked late season blackberries ("Brombeeren") - I bought two packages. Since my lemon verbena is still producing many fragrant leaves, I baked a Blackberry-Bundt with Lemon Verbena ("Brombeer-Gugelhupf mit Zitronenverbene") with these (recipe can be found here).

And those wonderful Italian plums („Zwetschen“) - perfect for baking my beloved fruit-ladden, old-fashioned Plum Torte ("Pflaumenkuchen") with a hint of cinnamon and vanilla (the recipe can be found here).

From the looks of it, all visitors to the market seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The bell tower of the local church providing a very pretty backdrop for the event.

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Now that you brought your farmers´ market loot home, it is time to get cooking with some of the produce, such as the slightly bitter rapini ("Rübstiel"). This autumn rapini does not keep very long, maybe a day, but only if you wrap it well and store it in a cool place. It is definitely at its best the day it was harvested.

Creste di Gallo with Rapini and Ground Pork - Rübstiel Pasta mit Hack und Parmesan
(serves about four)

Ingredients for the Pasta and Sauce

• sea salt (for boiling the pasta and the rapini)
• 2 bunches autumn rapini (about 500 grams each), cleaned and roughly chopped
• about 1⁄3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 500 grams freshly ground pork
• 4 spring onions, cleaned and sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced very thinly
• 1 tbsp. dried oregano (preferably Italian)
• 400 grams pasta (such as "Creste di Gallo", you can use any smallish type of pasta that will suit this type of sauce)
• some freshly grated lemon zest (organic, please)
• some shaved parmigiano reggiano (or other hard cheese)
• fine sea salt and freshly ground black peper to taste

Preparation of the Pasta

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add rapini and boil until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer rapini to a large bowl of ice water and chill. Drain rapini, pat dry, and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground pork. Cook over high heat to color the meat, breaking up any lumps with the back of a fork. Drain the pork, discard any fat. Wipe skillet clean.
3. Heat more olive oil in the skillet over medium heat again. Add spring onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add oregano (run it through your fingers while adding, to release the essential oils)  and cook, stirring frequently, for 30 seconds. Add rapini, toss. Add browned meat, toss again and remove pan from heat; set aside.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes, or according to package instructions. 5. Drain pasta (keep a good cup of the pasta water for thinning out the sauce)and transfer pasta to a colander. Drain.
5. Toss the pasta with the sauce to combine, add some of the pasta water to the sauce to let all the ingredients come together to make a lovely sauce.
6. Grate some lemon zest over, garnish with a few shavings of parmigiano reggiano and season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Divide pasta between bowls/plates and serve immediately.

The slightly bitter rapini marries well with hearty ground pork, the oregano and the wonderfully salty parmigiano reggiano in this dish. If you are looking for another layer of flavor to add to this dish, why not infuse a bit of godd-quality olive oil with herby from your garden, some garlic and lemon and drizzle a bit over the finished pasta - heavenly.

Shopping at a farmers' market is a great way to meet local farmers and get fresh, flavorful produce and feel good about the food you are preparing.