Berlin Reified | Food, design and life in Berlin

A quiet meal

After the weekend's excess, baked potatoes seemed just right for dinner. The new crop of petite gold-fleshed tubers are best briskly scrubbed then rubbed with oil and salt before being baked for an hour or so. We cut crosses to let the heat penetrate. To serve, I never tire of Uwe Leue's fresh-pressed linseed oil and Siebengiebelhof's extraordinary Quark.

Uwe Leue sells his oils at the Kollwitzplatz market on Saturdays from 9am to 4pm.
Siebengiebelhof's products are available at Kiepert & Kutzner and other organic shops in Berlin. Find a list here.

Transcendent apple juice

Whenever we want to celebrate we buy a bottle of Familie Barenthin's apple juice. Find their juices and jams at Sgaminegg; I also spotted them selling at the Karl August Platz market last summer. (What we're celebrating now? The beginning of our holiday; we're off to the Isle of Mull in a few minutes.)

Mushrooms at the market

Now if my last post hasn't tempted you to visit the local market surely this display of mushrooms will. I am dreaming of fragrant, woodsy soups and candles flickering against our kitchen tiles.

Zucchini blossoms at the market

A wonderful stand has (re)appeared at the Kollwitzplatz market on Thursdays, selling these gorgeous zucchini blossoms (10 for a euro) and tiny potatoes the size of marbles too. Look out for them tomorrow!

Greengages at Kollwitzplatz Market

All I knew is that these fruit were beautiful in their battered French crate, perched on the edge of the market stall holder's table. If only I had recognized them as the much talked-about greengage (also known as Reine Claude plums or Edel-Pflaume). Next Thursday I will fill a paper bag and gorge on them all weekend long.

Meanwhile: Really, Mexican food? (excited)

Champagne currants

These berries are just too beautiful to be true. Will you share a favorite recipe with me?

Proper scones and forgotten jams (and architecture)

Now let me tell you, the only thing better than going to a stimulating architecture-themed Stammtisch is going to said Stammtisch and being presented with four perfect scones, two plain, two studded with raisins. By eight o'clock this morning, not a crumb was left. (If we'd managed to hold out a little longer, the photo above might not have such a blueish cast.)

Alongside his work as an architectural writer, Jim also bakes British treats with his partner, supplying a few very lucky Kreuzberg cafes and individuals with cakes, scones and cordials. Find more on Hudson's here and here. Aren't you dying to sample that sour cherry and beetroot cake?

Speaking of sour cherries, last night I had sterling intentions of bringing along some sour cherry jam. Inspired by this low-sugar recipe I had attacked my cherry supply yesterday afternoon. I used far less than the 1:1 ratio of sugar to fruit that most cherry jam recipes stipulate, sprinkling 280 grams of (pitted) sour cherries with just 40 grams of sugar -- but when I had a taste I was convinced it was just the sweet pucker I was after. Simmer the sugared fruit for about a half-hour or until the juices have thickened. In my haste I forgot the jar on my kitchen windowsill. Jim & Katie: next time!

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

Quail eggs

I eyed the pheasant eggs too but finally settled for the speckled neatness of these dozen quail eggs.

Pain au lait from Berlin's best bakery (SoLuna)

During the week we eat that wholesome hearty heavy brown bread that Germany is famous for, toasted and daubed with acacia honey or with a smear of almond butter, but on Saturdays we have a standing order at Sgaminegg for a loaf of pain au lait from the SoLuna bakery in Kreuzberg. White bread is so often plastic or over-fluffy, but this is a dense loaf with a fine crumb that has come to signal the weekend for me. Sunday morning scarcely feels complete without a slice richly buttered and topped with strawberry preserves, or, as this morning, some fresh rhubarb jam, whipped up with little fuss using this recipe. Pain au lait also makes fabulous French toast.