Stollen

Not the easiest of evenings, with too much work followed by Ikea furniture disintegrating in its Ikea way, but what comfort stollen can provide. While I'm usually scrupulous about italicizing German words, stollen doesn't seem to merit it, having been comfortably absorbed into my American consciousness at an early stage and age. Yet still, there is an especial everyday-ness to stollen here, where it's not limited to the international foods section but on every shelf in the local Arkaden, Christmas market, or, indeed, organic shop.

Bohlsener Mühle’s organic stollen was very delicious, with the crumbly fruitiness owing to the stollen estate, densely larded with sultanas, almonds and candied lemon and orange peels, spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, sweetened with a mysterious, surely unconventional mix of raw sugar and rice syrup (though German shops teem with mysterious sweetners, which I will one day test and document).

And eaten with a bit of tea, as you contemplate the shattered Ikea wardrobe scattered across the bedroom floor, very comforting.

Comments

[David]

I should add that a warming dram of Aberlour helped dull the anguish caused by the wardrobe mishap -- and went very nicely with the stollen too! :-)