Golden Mary

Sweet cocktails are fine, but I rather prefer savory ones. Especially when it’s hot like these days and you need something refreshing and at the same time something to top up your salt level. Like my favorite one: a Bloody Mary, which I always order when I’m at a new location and want to test how well the cocktails are prepared. The balance has to be right: some salt to cut the sweetness of the tomato, just enough vodka or gin, some vinegary tabasco and maybe some worcestershire sauce for balance and freshly ground black pepper for a really refreshing spicy and pungent touch. If the flavors are in balance, you don’t even want to try another cocktail from the menu but stick to your Mary all night.

Golden Bloody Mary

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Rainbow Trout with Kohlrabi and Caper-Vinaigrette

Did you like kohlrabi as a child? Me neither. It’s strange that with increasing age some ingredients I used to push aside on my plate, I’m now becoming a fan of. This is the case for example with brussel sprouts or kohlrabi (though with pattypan squash I still can’t get along). One of the secrets for good kohlrabi is to use only young produce and trim all potential woody parts from its bottom. Even raw it tastes great with its sweet flavor. Beyond cooking you can also grill, roast or sauté kohlrabi, although I recommend to cook them first, otherwise the center will remain raw. Precooked kohlrabi sticks are also great for salad, e.g. with this mustard seed and caper-vinaigrette. Both the seeds and the capers have a nice mustard taste, which pairs really well with the slight sweetness of the kohlrabi.

Rainbow Trout with Roasted Kohlrabi, Kohlrabi Sauce, Caper-Vinaigrette and Potato Puree

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ZEITmagazin Cooking Competition 2011

One month ago Noémi and I were part of a very special and unique evening: we had to cook and plate a three-course menu for 60 people at the mesa Restaurant of the Hotel Grand Hyatt in Berlin. Several famous people from the German gastronomy scene were among the invited guests like restaurant critic and “taster of the nation” Wolfram Siebeck and his wife Barbara, the celebrity chefs Cornelia Poletto and Ali Güngörmüs as well as the former German Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture and possibly the next Mayor of Berlin Renate Künast. It was the final of the 2011 ZEIT cooking competition, where we were invited as finalists for the final cook-off.

Zeit Cooking Competition 2011, the Jury (from left): Martina Olufs, Barbara and Wolfram Siebeck, Cornelia Poletto, myself, Noémi, Renate Künast, Ernst Petry, Ali Güngörmüs (© ZEIT-Verlag / Sina Preikschat)

The Jury (from left): Martina Olufs, Barbara and Wolfram Siebeck, Cornelia Poletto, myself, Noémi, Renate Künast, Ernst Petry, Ali Güngörmüs (© ZEIT-Verlag / Sina Preikschat)

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The Pink Dessert

The final dish of my meatless menu for the 2011 ZEITmagazin cooking competition is a variation of strawberry. I usually make the cake using rhubarb instead of strawberry and yoghurt for the mousse, but unfortunately the rhubarb season was already over when the competition was held. Because Goji-berries are about the same size as raisins, I used them similarly by soaking them in rum and adding them afterwards to the sponge cake base. Already in the cake alone there are three variations of strawberry present: diced and orange liquer marinated strawberry pieces, a light strawberry-yoghurt mousse and a quarter of raw strawberry at the top.

The Pink Dessert: Strawberry with Goji-Berries and Pink Pepper

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The Orange Main Course

In the main course of my meatless menu for the 2011 ZEITmagazin cooking competition I wanted to present the carrot from different perspectives. The base is formed by a clean tasting creamy carrot puree. After cooking the carrots I put them back on the hot stove to dry them out a bit. Afterwards, while blending to a fine puree I adjusted the consistency if the puree by adding some raw carrot juice. Carrots tend to loose a lot of flavor during cooking – by adding carrot juice later I managed to reincorporate the clean carrot flavor into the puree.

Orange Main Course: Carrot puree, sautéd young carrot, marinated carrot cubes, ginger-lime-carrot foam, hazelnut and ruby red rainbow trout

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The Green Appetizer

I submitted this starter and the following two recipes to the 2011 ZEITmagazin cooking competition. The topic of the call was to create a meatless menu, though not strictly vegetarian, because fish was still allowed. While thinking about what to submit, I had the idea to tighten the limitations and create each dish using only one single color. There are plenty of ingredients available during spring and summer, so I thought, it’s a realistic and solvable task. The dish below was the starter for the competition, consisting only green ingredients.

pea ravioli with marinated zucchini, snap peas and ramson foam

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