Evening all I was just thinking about my time in Berlin (16 wonderful years) and the one meal that was always enjoyed by myself and I think almost all of the Berliners was the Schlachteplatte, This consisted of Blutwurst, Leberwurst, Kassler, Nuremburger Bratwurst, Wellfleisch, Speck Sauerkraut and Kartoffeln. (Soft black puddings, fresh white pudding, cured and smoked loin of pork, small spicy sausages from the North Bavarian town of the same name. Belly pork cooked in smoked bacon sauerkraut and boiled potatoes).
The Schlachteplatte was originally only done when a pig was killed and butchered, it used up the offal and less saleable pieces of the pig. Today it has become an institution and when a butcher cooks “his” fresh Blut & Leberwurst on sale people come from the whole village, in fact I know a butchers shop in an old part of Berlin, that is so famous that people travel 50km from the other side of the city to buy his fresh Wurst. He refuses to take orders on the telephone and has a blackboard in the window telling people what day he is doing his “Frisch Blut und Leberwurst”. Alas he is now over 80 and is closing this year as his children did not take up the trade and he will not let his recipes go out of the family, those wonderful sausages will go with him.
The Berliner Schlachteplatte would not normally have Nuremburgers with it but did have an “Eisbein” a boiled ham knuckle. You don’t need to eat for a week after that.
There are some famous “traditional” restaurants in and around the tourist areas Küdamm and Alex that sell supposedly authentic ones, BUT for me the only real ones are done in the corner pubs (Eck local) out in the old workers quarters of Moabit, Neuekölln, Kreuzberg and now the areas of the old East like, Prenzlauerberg, Friedrichshain and the outlying districts.
I aim to make a one for our cookery club this coming winter; I suppose I should warn them as they will need to go on a strict diet (for about a month before hand). I will have to order some of the delicacies well in advance but as my daughter still lives in Berlin and will do just about anything for a free meal, I think it is manageable!
Hi again! It is ascension day
Today as it is a Public Holiday here in Germany and nothing is open and the weather is lousy, it was a cooking and baking day. I cooked a Berliner Schlachter Platter for Linda, I think she quite liked it, LOL!
Here are a few Photos to give you an idea of it.
The cured pork knuckle (Eisbein) on a rolling boil in the liquor, made with freeze dried root veg, powdered stock, a couple of cloves, a clove of garlic, a small onion diced and a few all spice and juniper berries for a good 2 hours, when the Eisbein is cooked, add the sausages to the liquor and carefully warm through "do not boil or they will burst".
Right is Sauerkraut with Kassler, top is mashed potatoes with speck, onions and parsley. What with that and the wine, I must admit I did have a little nap.
Oh! and yes there is enough left for tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment