Berlin Reified | Food, design and life in Berlin

The perfect children's book (Leute/Blexbolex)

And you can just imagine my pleasure watching S scrutinize Blexbolex's wry illustrations.  If you're looking for the perfect birthday present for a little one (or anyone), swing by pro qm for a copy.

Before & After (Birthday treats)

Note the care with which David has placed the fruit, and the gusto with which S is reaching for yet another wodge. Yesterday was an excellent birthday.

Fruit tree honey at Kollwitzplatz market

While the Saturday market at Kollwitzplatz can feel too overfull to be borne, the Thursday one is is still a treat. I'll meet Clare for waffles and a tea, then chat with the vegetable seller on the best way to prepare rhubarb. Afterwards, I might be drawn in by the olive oil seller's patter, and a few stalls down will be convinced to try the beekeeper's new honeys. He was quite right when he said the Obstblütenhonig, collected and jarred just a few weeks ago, is not to be missed. You taste our radiant April in a mouthful, and, stirred into black tea, the honey makes a humdrum morning divine. Watch out for him tomorrow: he might have a few more jars!

Organic market at Kollwitzplatz (map)
Thursdays from noon to 7pm

Organic ice cream at Pappa e Ciccia

I've long savored Pappa e Ciccia's sweets (they were a front-runner in Berlin's "New York cheesecake" craze) so imagine my excitement when I learned they were opening an organic ice cream shop next door. I was too slow to alert you to the free ice cream last Wednesday, but let me assure you, a scoop of raspberry and basil is well worth the euro it will cost you.

Pappa e Ciccia, Schwedter Str. 18 (map)
Tel + 49 30 616 20801
The ice cream shop is open weekdays 1pm-10pm, weekends noon-10pm.

This summer

The sky was full of an eerie, apocalyptic light when I rushed out just after nine to catch the setting sun on the longest day of the year, and turning homeward I saw a rainbow that seemed to end at our building. At bedtime, the courtyard kept flashing with lightning. What sort of this summer will this be?

The longest day of the year

Since the winter when David read Gatsby aloud to me, chapter by chapter, I have resolved not to miss the summer solstice. (You remember it too? She looked at us all radiantly. “Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.” “We ought to plan something,” yawned Miss Baker, sitting down at the table as if she were getting into bed.)

And so we had a picnic today and sat in Weinbergspark listening to a goofy Depeche Mode cover band and eating strawberry tart, amongst other things. My crème patisserie more closely resembled crème anglaise, which was a disappointment, but never mind, the leftover sauce was delicious spooned over a slice of toasted pain au lait: deconstructed French toast, the perfect bedtime snack.

After the grapes

The tiniest of trees, I couldn't resist this spindly stem, the few small grapes still hanging on. Summer just might be beginning: the courtyard is full of small breezes and a golden light.

Karl August Platz Market

 
Going to Karl August Platz for my birthday was pure heaven. How refreshing, after braving the hordes of tourists at Kollwitzplatz and Winterfeldplatz, to arrive at a market so unselfconsciously beautiful. Locals wove through the stalls that ringed the spacious square and bought Flammkuchen and ate Quarkbällchen and helped themselves to armfuls of daisies and loitered in front of the fish stand where the pike was on special offer.

As a birthday treat I was permitted to idle as long as I chose, and I think I made six slow circuits before I felt I had looked at everything carefully enough. Afterwards we sat in the playground by the church and ate tarts and radishes while S batted at the balloon a Green Party representative had handed her: it seemed a long time since I had been that happy.

Karl August Platz Market, Berlin-Wilmersdorf (map)
Wednesdays 8am-1pm & Saturdays 8am-2pm

Blueberry-filled yogurt cake

Did everyone know that you could cook up blueberries and a bit of sugar for, oh, three minutes, and suddenly have the most fabulous filling to sandwich between layers of your French yogurt cake? Because I did not, and could not believe how fabulous and easy it was, and had to pause in my spooning of berries and aromatic syrup onto the first layer, to take a picture of its glorious untidy beauty before the second layer prettied everything up. I used about a cup and a half of berries in total, cooking half a cup with two tablespoons of sugar, then stirring the remainder of fruit in off the heat (this meant most berries retained their shape). I also used just over half a cup of sugar instead of the full cup the recipe calls for, and no-one seemed to notice.

Really I should tell you all about my talk at Interesting and about all the exploring I did yesterday in Mitte, but this just briefly for now. And friends in Berlin, you might want to drop me a line to see if I'm free tomorrow or the day after, because there are leftovers.

Spring onion bhaji

Such good spring onions everywhere, so densely green and so seldom flabby or brown-tipped! I can't resist buying a few bunches for another round of spring onion bhaji, a dish that became a treat while my mother visited for a few weeks after S was born. You remove the roots and slice the greens, give them a cursory wash, then set them aside while you start the phodni. This requires just a few tablespoons of olive oil heated over high heat for a minute or two; add a teaspoon of brown mustard seeds, half a tablespoon of turmeric powder, two or three fresh red chilis (topped and tailed), a dash of hing (or asafoetida powder, or Teufelsdreck, as the Germans have it). Let this spice mixture sputter for a minute, then add in the green onion and stir virgorously once and then again now and then until it's all cooked down and delicious. Sprinkle with salt and rice flour, then stir again and let sit till everything melds and grows crisp. Serve, for choice, stuffed into pita breads, though the bhaji is also delicious alone. And see, there is a recipe or two left in this old girl yet! PS: I mean it when I say it cooks down: count on one bunch of spring onions per person.