Berlin Reified

Gool polis

Every expat food lover will know the lure of bidding international guests to bring along just a little something. With most friends I'm timid (vanilla extract, baking powder) but my mother is as obsessed with food as I am, and when she announced she was coming at the end of March, the wheels immediately began to turn.

Along with the molasses, jalapeno cheese, and soft brown sugar my mom brought a huge Tupperware filled with gool polis, which she made with a childhood friend who was visiting from India. They're round flatbreads stuffed with a mildly spiced, jaggery-based sweet mixture, studded with sesame seeds and best enjoyed smeared with lashings of soft thoop (ghee). Utterly addictive, we polished them off within days.

Afternoon at the Alte Nationalgalerie

Surely I am not the only one who finds the Alte Nationalgalerie cafe on Museumsinsel a bit – ridiculous? (No sooner is the question framed than googled: "Der Tiefpunkt der Berliner Museumsgastronomie ist wohl eindeutig die kümmerliche Espresso-Ecke der Alten Nationalgalerie" writes Berlin Ist.)

The coffee's fine, of course...

Alte Nationalgalerie, Bodestr. 1-3 (map)
Open Tues-Sun 10 am to 6 pm (Wednesdays till 10 pm)

Tevót & other pieces

My favourite moments of the concert? The arrhythmia near the beginning of Thomas Adès' Tevót, and the extraordinary horn line in Janáček's Sinfonietta op. 60 (itself no rhythmal slouch).