Potato soup from Berlin

                                                                               Receta en Español
                                                                          
Potato soup is very typical in Germany, specially in Berlin. This is a dish with a lot of energy that you can take in winter.

Ingredients (4 people):

• 700 g potatos.
• 1 carrot.
• 1 piece celeriac.
• 1 piece leek.
• 1 onion.
• 1 garlic clove.
• 100 g bacon.
• 1 l water or broth.
• 1 tablespoon marjoram.
• 2 Bockwurst sausages.

Method:

1.    Peel potatos and cut them into thick pieces.

2.    Cut carrots,celeriac, onion and leek.

3.    Put some oil in a casserole, sautée garlic and onion.

4.    Cut bacon into strips, add it to the casserole and cook until bacon is done.

5.    Add the rest of the ingredients, add potatos at the end.

6.    Add 1 liter boiling water or broth.

7.    Add salt, pepper and marjoram.

8.    Cook on a low heat for 20 minutes.

9.    Remove from the fire , use a food processor to crush the ingredients , after that you can pass the soup through a siebe.

10.  Some minutes before serving , add sausages cut into slices and cook for 5 minutes.

My comments to the recipe:

This is an easy recipe to make, with a marvellous taste, I didn't know celeriac, it has a perfumed taste very nice to find in a soup, sausages provide the typical German touch. 

Where to find the ingredients:

 You can buy celeriac sometimes at Hipercor, in Madrid I found it at Ventas market, at 209  'Frutas y Verduras Toñín' .

Marjoram is also difficult to find at supermarkets but it is easier to find at herbalist's shop.

Germany

SauerKraut , choucroute (fermented cabbage)

                                                                               Receta en Español

Sauerkraut is also known als choucroute or choucrut in France, it is popular in Europe but it is a very old dish, fermented cabbage was already used during the construction of The Greart Wall.

It is very popular in Germany, there are some special recipients to ferment cabbage called Harsch crock. It is also possible to ferment cabbage in canned jars, you can use a jar 2 liters capacity.

During the fermentation the number of lactic bacteries, who are present on the surface of the cabbage, are considerably increased. 
Lactic bacterias are anaerobic microrganisms, they produce lactic acid from the carbohydrates of the plant.
Lactic acid and other substances obtained by fermentation provide preservative capacity given its antimicrobial activity.
Lactobacillum and Bifidubacterium are examples of these bacterias. Fermented cabbage is considered a probiotic.
The moment you put cabbage to ferment you can add different spices, the recipe I am going to show you is the simplest one, without spices. This way you can add the spices the moment you are going to cook it.

You can eat this fermented cabbage cooked or not to make salads or accompany meat.

Ingredients:

• 1 sterilized canned jar 2 liters capacity.
• 1 cabbage.
• 2 tablespoon salt.

Method:

1.       Take two whole leafs of the cabbage,  set aside to use them later.

2.       Cut the cabbage in half, get rid of the stem.

3.     Shred the cabbage into thin stripes.

 

4.       Put the shreded cabbage in a non metalic bowl.

         

5.      Sprinkle the salt over the cabbage and mix well, let stand for one hour so the cabbage starts to release its natural juice.

6. After 1 hour the volume of the cabbage has reduced.

 7. Crush cabbage for 15 minutes to make the cabbage release more juice.

8. Sterilize the jar: boil water and place the jar in it.

9. Now put the cabbage into the jar, keep on crushing the cabbage. Put the 2 whole cabbage leafs on top to cover the rest of the cabbage , the natural juice of the cabbage should be over the cabbage:

10. To keep the cabbage well crushed you can put a glass on top of it, as you see in the picture:

11. If the natural juice of the cabbage doesnt reach the top of the jar , fill it with water, cover the jar, keep for 3 or 4 days in a dark and cool place.

12. After 3 or 4 days put the jar into the fridge, after 3 weeks the cabbage is already fermented. You can keep it in the fridge for 6 months. This is how cabbage should look like:

Germany

Saudi Arabia

 By Javierblas (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
 By Keepscases (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Recipes from Saudi Arabia that I cooked:

  Khubz (Pita bread).

Tahini.

  Hummus.

  Mint Lemonade.

  Kabsa (Chicken rice from Saudi Arabia).

  Pistachios stuffed dates

Saudi Arabia