Food!

I like baking and occasionally, I’m asked for a recipe. So here, I’ll share some of them with you.

Elisen Lebkuchen, a delicious Franconian cookie, typically baked in Winter, which happens to be very healthy and gluten-free, too.

Stollen, the well-known German Christmas loaf, can be a little tricky to get right. I finally found a way to utilise the bread-maker in raising the dough…

Fior di Mandrola are healthy, gluten-free cookies inspired by Italian and Arab traditions. And, as the Bavarian Eiweiβkuchen, they ‘get rid’ of egg whites that are left from making custards and creme anglais …..

For a bit of mind-calming, loving, zen-like focus on food preparation, try making and eating this Adult only! Ice cream!

Now for something different: my favourite hedgerow food is Frankfurter Grüne Soβe, a variation on Salsa Verde, German style. During the COVID-19 lockdown, walking the lanes of Cornwall around where I live reminds me that a lot of the ‘eligible’ herbs in this dish grow in the wild.

One positive element of lockdown appears to be the return of bread baking. If you are just a little exasperated at the complexity of sourdough recipes on the web and at the wasting of scarce resources (flour!) by the imperative to throw away half your sourdough starter each time you bake, you may want to go back to the basics. Not sustainable! Sourdough bread is really very simple to make, the easiest of all breads, in my opinion, and very versatile. My recipe is based on the Tassajara Bread Book and does not waste your starter – you simply take out what you reserve for next time and use the whole of the rest, every time.

It is the season of summer fruit and there are a number of fabulous recipes that make even the most sour fruit appealing to a sweet palate. I’m starting with a fruit-meringue tart laced with almonds, continue with Rote Grütze, a German summer pudding without the soggy mother’s pride in the bottom ruining it all and finish off with with a long project that leads to something to replace Christmas pudding: Rumtopf!