Archive | July, 2012

Back in Berlin – a city in chocolate fever, the best Schnitzel ever and recipe for warm potato and cucumber salad

21 Jul

We are back in Berlin – and for good, at least for the next years and besides being busy getting settled again, we are exploring our city on foot, discovering and rediscovering culinary options, delights and other sights.

Yesterday clearly was marked by the love for cocoa beans and chocolate, first visiting the famous Fassbender and Rausch store at Gendarmen Markt, not only selling the best ever pralines and chocolates, but as well displaying the most famous Berlin landmarks rebuild in chocolate:

 

This visit was followed by an all time kids favorite just around the corner – the Rittersport museum and shop, where you can design your own chocolate featuring all kinds of ingredients such as nuts, chilies, spices, sweets and more. While you wait for your chocolate bar to be ready to collect, you can stroll through the museum and shop, choosing from a huge variety of flavors and shapes:

 

 

After so many sweet stuff, some savory fare was what we needed. So what better than to go for the best Schnitzel ever, at least for sure in Berlin, not to offend any Austrian readers! So we had dinner at another Berlin institution – Lutter & Wegner at Gendarmenmarkt:

 

The Schnitzel came accompanied by this delicious potato and cucumber salad, here is the recipe for 4-6 as a side dish for meat or as part of a bbq buffet:

  • 1kg of potatoes, peeled and sliced
  • 1 large cucumber, peeled and finely sliced
  • 3 tbs white wine vinegar
  • 3 tbs vegetable oil
  • 1 tbs mustard
  • 2tbs dill
  • salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes until not too soft. Allow to cool slightly and mix with mixture of vinegar, oil and mustard. Season with slat and pepper, mix with the cucumber and dill and serve warm. For a twist you can serve it with fried bacon bits.

 

 

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Impressions from our last two weeks in Rio – part 2 and recipe for fresh salmon and tomato pasta

8 Jul

Time is flying and the last week in Rio started yesterday. but what a great week behind us – Tuesday started with a visit to Sugar Loaf – Pão de Açucar with stunning views under a blue blue sky:

followed by lunch at Terra Brasilis overlooking the bay:

Wednesday we spent a lazy day at Apoador beach:

followed by dinner in Horta at Horto restaurant. A first time try of delicious Tapioca Pizza:

and a drink under the full moon lit palm tree:

Friday night meant some serious samba dancing in Lapa at Rio Scenarium:

an ambulance selling hot dogs and cigarettes!

Yesterday back to Lapa but in daylight for the monthly fair buying last minute souvenirs:

Recipe for fresh salmon and tomato pasta for 4

  • 500g Fettucine
  • 500g fresh salmon cut into diced
  • 250g baby tomatos halved
  • 200ml cream
  • 100ml white wine
  • bunch of spring onions chopped
  • bunch of dill chopped
  • 1 red chili deseeded and diced (optional)
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Boil the pasta. Fry the spring onions, tomatoes and chili in olive oil. Add the cream and white wine and simmer for some minutes. Add the dill and salmon and heat through. Season with salt and pepper and serve over pasta. Quick and easy summer dinner!

 

Impressions from our last two weeks in Rio – part 1

2 Jul

Our last two weeks in Rio have started and we have dear friends visiting – time to revisit all the great spots that we have seen over the last year as well as visiting those that we always were about to visit but thought we would have ample of time doing so.

Saturday started with a visit to the Santa Marta Favela located just besides the kids school. Santa Marta is famous for being both the first Favela pacified years ago as well as the on Michael Jackson visited and had the video for his song “The don’t care about us” filmed.

From the top of the favela you have a wonderful view over Botafogo, Lagoa and Christ. We took the community tour into the favela, a project supported by the municipality of Rio to generate income for the people living in the favelas as well as creating awareness about their problems and  challenges. Santa Marta has an elevator that takes you on top of the hill from were we walked down back to the entrance of the favela, not missing the Michael Jackson square:

The favela currently is under way to be painted in the brightest colors – a project by some dutch project and a brazilian paint company. The first houses are ready to be followed by all the houses in Santa Marta:

Sunday’s visit led us for the first time to Christ Redeemer – the number one sightseeing spot in Rio – what a spectacular 360 degree view over Rio and beyond:

Followed by a wonderful lazy lunch in a great restaurant in Santa Teresa – Aprazivel – serving typical brazilian fare in the most amazingly beautiful setting. Best of all the palm hearts cooked in their natural cask:

Today it was beach day at Prainha, a lovely surfing beach spot out south of Barra and Recreio again followed by a lazy seafood lunch of grilled fish and prawns overlooking the beach – it hardly can get better than this:

The fish and seafood super fresh as some of it just caught by a diver such as this octopus: