SNICKY BARS

Frankfurt Book Fair
A couple of weekends ago Mike and I went to the Frankfurt Book Fair. The International Book fair invites publishers (mainly, I think) and other book industry people along for a week long trade fair. On the last weekend it is open to the public, and lets just say I don’t really get why people go. I seriously felt like I had landed on another planet (and it wasn’t because all the German youth turn this into a dress up Comicon event). It cost 15 euros per person for a day and 21 euros for a weekend pass and quite frankly I should have put that money towards more books. Here’s my issues….

• Firstly, you couldn’t buy books at the fair. If you arrived on a Saturday or too early on Sunday the publishers were not selling books. Even if they did start selling them after 2pm on Sunday they weren’t going to sell them at a discount. The strange thing was that a lot of publishers had books shrink-wrapped and ready to go. One publisher had about 30 Jamie Oliver books all ready to sell. I’m sure there was a good reason, like it was too much trouble, there would be too many line ups etc. But really with some careful planning and thought I’m sure they could sell books the whole way through.
• Secondly, authors did readings and interviews in aisles. Some publishers had organised authors to come for book signings, readings and interviews. Great right? Nope. One author we passed was right in the middle of an aisle next to the publishers stand. We and 1000s’ of other people had to push past her and the small crowd that had gathered to listen. Another author came to a publishers stand for an interview and the crowd went through the aisles, into other publishers stands and basically anywhere someone could stand, but you had no chance of seeing the author. Why didn’t someone set up a place for these people to conduct their readings and for a crowd to sit/stand out of the way? If you thought you were going to see your favourite author that day, chances were slim.
• Thirdly, everyone was carrying show-bags but no one was giving them out, what were Germans collecting in these magical show-bags? My guess brochures, catalogues and rubbish – ever heard of the internet? Pretty sure you can find all the information in those catalogues on the internet. As there was no one giving out show-bags near us my guess is that they were more shopping bags given to people as they collected too many brochures. No one offered Mike and I one. To go with this lack of show bags lots of publishers were giving certain individuals (their friends and relatives) drinks and nibbles. You also had to have vouchers to get food or other items from some stalls. Where did you get these vouchers from? Who the hell knows.

Germany has some really lovely and impressive book stores, I totally love them. They are Twice/Thrice the size as of the ones in Australia and a lot more inviting with cafes and reading areas. I can’t understand why someone would pay 15euros (the book fair averages around 300,000 people a year) to go to the book fair when it doesn’t offer as much functionality as a book store where entry is free. The only thing that saved it for us were the International English publishers. Some of the stall holders at publisher stands were selling the books heavily discounted (and keeping the money on the side –maybe :) ) and one publisher gave Mike a book that he really, really wanted for free because they weren’t selling their books (he was a really nice man).
ANYWAY!!!!

Snicky Bars

At the fair we did see this book, Vegan for Fun, and after I went to the book store (like everyone else – I knew, cause they were all carrying show bags) to buy the book. The bookstore was making a killing that day. I was really frustrated at the book fair as I had felt a bit ripped off, but this book made it all better. The pictures are lovely and everything looks really yummy. I also wanted to buy a German cookbook to try new “local” ingredients.

The first recipe Mike wanted to try were the Snicky Bars, randomness was out the window this week for a more direct approach. These were really nice (if you like peanut butter). They taste just how they look. Sweet biscuit bottom, sweet sticky peanut centre and melted chocolate on top; don’t count the calories.  This recipe isn’t hard but does take a while to complete. Firstly you have to make the base by making pastry and letting it sit in the fridge, then you need to bake and cool it. So you need a good afternoon to get this one done.

I was also pleasantly surprised to be proved completely wrong when it came to a cooking technique. The recipe stated that you needed to roll out the peanut butter mixture between to pieces of baking paper in order to get it on to the base. “Never”, I thought, “the peanut butter will run everywhere!” But I was completely wrong. It was actually the only way to get it on to the base!

These were a really easy, uncomplicated, yummy snack! Two thumbs up!

This recipe comes from:

Vegan for Fun: Vegane Küche die Spass macht

by Attila Hildmann

Language: German

JERK SEITAN with COCONUT RICE, SWEET POTATO & SWISS CHARD

To get back into the swing on blogging regularly I needed a theme or idea. I also needed something realistic. For a while there, I had lost my way. Vegan Mofo 2010 was great but I think I burnt out and then was overwhelmed by how many blogs there were.  I got to a point where I was worried that my photos weren’t good enough, that I wanted better light than my tiny kitchen has for perfect photos all the time, who was reading this anyway, would people get bored, I make too much stuff from a cook book, it’s a hassle – all of that just made me give up for a while. Then it occurred to me that it didn’t really matter. The internet is full of stuff and I need to make my little section, my tiny blog, fun for me. I really appreciate the few people who may read my blog, it is amazing to think people take time out to read something I have written, but there aren’t many – I’m too small and quiet, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun!
Anyways, after perusing a lot of vegan blogs going crazy for Mofo I found this awesome idea on Vegan.In.Brighton – randomness, picking a random cookbook and a random page number. What a great idea? It would be exciting each week to see what numbers came up and would be a good way to go through some of those books I have forgotten! I decided that I would do this for one meal a week on a Sunday. Sunday is the best day, as I have Mike to help with the dishes and I have all day. So I can do any kind of recipe whether it be snack, cake or meal. Also, during the week our schedule can be a little random so I need to be able to plan meals in accordance with that.
So all excited I created a spreadsheet to generate random cookbook numbers and page numbers. With high anticipation Mike and I sat down on Saturday morning and pressed F9 (calculate) to see what would come up……..

Randomness Wk 1

The Book: Vegan with a Vengeance
The Page Number: 156
The Recipe: Seitan
The Meal:

• Jerk Seitan
  
• Coconut Rice
  
• Jacket Baked Sweet Potato (on Monday though, I cut it into chips and roasted them, quicker but still yummy)
  
• Swiss Chard with Raisins and Capers (Viva Vegan!)
  

Seitan

I have decided not to post recipes here as they can be found somewhere else on the web. Just Google it and you will find them easily. A modified version of the seitan recipe can also be found on the PPK.
This recipe boils the seitan rather than steaming it. I haven’t tried to boil seitan before and was a little unsure of how it would work. I absolutely love the seitan in Viva Vegan and was a little worried about the texture of this one. As the recipe, made 1.3kg of seitan I decided to halve the recipe, which may have messed around with the consistency a little, but it still worked. The seitan actually came out really nicely. It was a little mushier than steamed seitan but went fabulously well in the Jerk Seitan. I think, as it was a little less firm in consistency, it soaked up and held the marinade a little better than streamed seitan. A perfect seitan mixture for full flavoured, saucy marinades and stews. It also can be made and eaten in the same day, whereas the steamed seitan is better if left to rest in the fridge overnight. That being said, this takes an hour to cook, so you will most likely prepare it in advance on the weekend or a day you have at home.
Note that I didn’t take any photos of the seitan…….. it is pretty ugly:) 

Jerk Seitan

This was yummy. I’m not sure why we haven’t tried this recipe before cause it is really nice! The marinade is easy to make and doesn’t need any exotic ingredients. My knowledge and experience with Caribbean cooking is limited. All I know I have learnt from Vegan in the Sun and Caribbean Cooking Made Easy, but when any recipe has All Spice in it I immediately think Caribbean, so to me this tasted and smelt like a quick and easy Jerk marinade. I made only a few changes to the recipe, a) red capsicum rather than green, b) Chilli flakes rather than cayenne powder, c) 1/2 tsp of nutmeg rather than 1 tsp (I swear the ground nutmeg packet I bought must have been made from nutmegs on steroids – it’s so strong).
The only down side is that it needs an hour to marinade. Not a 30 minute meal, but it takes no time to cook after this.  I’m guessing you could marinade it overnight though or process the marinade and leave it in the fridge so it’s ready as soon as you get home.

Coconut Rice

This rice was really nice and went well with the seitan. It’s lightly flavoured and easy to make. I used Basmati Rice, instead of Jasmine Rice, as I have a lot in the cupboard at the moment. It probably wasn't the best rice to use as it has a ‘strongish’ flavour and wasn’t subtle enough for the other flavourings. It still tasted good though. I also make a Caribbean Coconut rice from Vegetarian Times which I think I like better. The recipe from Vegetarian Times takes more work, with the addition of ginger and garlic, so the VWAV one is great for when you have multiple dishes on the go or can’t be bothered. The VWAV rice also uses an entire can of coconut milk so there is no waste.
It’s a little funny that the random generator bought up a book that we use a lot. This was one of the first books I bought as a vegan but I only go to it for a few favourite recipes. It was great to try something new and I think I’m a big fan of these two!  If you own this book and you haven’t tried it, put it to the top of you ‘thing to try next’ list. So far randomness has been a success!

These recipe comes from: Vegan with a Vengeance,

by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Recipes can be found on the web.

KOPPS – VEGAN RESTAURANT & BAR (BERLIN)

Last weekend we did a quick dash to Berlin. We arrived Friday night, spent Saturday catching up with friends sight-seeing and were gone Sunday midday. It was great. While there, we decided to try out a new, recently opened vegan restaurant, Kopps - Vegan Restaurant & Bar. Managed by Björn Moschinski (one of Germany’s most noted Vegan Chefs) and partners, we were hoping for good things!
So we arrived early, as we always do, and prepared for a night of sitting, chilling and eating. As we walked into the restaurant it still had a faint smell of paint and newness, which just made the anticipation all the more exciting! The decor and seating was lovely. I’m not a fan of vegan places that don’t invest in good furnishings and decor. Not every vegan is a hippie that wants to eat in a place with old miss matched furniture that looks like student accommodation. We don’t eat out often, and when I do I want it to be special – not like I’ve just turned up to a hostel. Kopps get an A+ for decor and furnishings. We had a window box/seat, which gave us a private little area all to ourselves. It was perfect for a group of four. After looking at the yummy menu which included soups, salads, starters, mains and desserts, we decided that we were going to make this a four course meal to be had throughout the night. I don’t think the waiters were initially prepared for our “we will order one course sit for a while and order three more courses”! But they got the idea quickly.
First we ordered drinks and ate our d complimentary bread and dip – which I forgot to take a photo of. I started off with a non-alcoholic beer (my new favourite thing), of which there were three, and every one else had soft drinks and alcoholic beer. We then moved on to a bottle of wine, and there were so many wines to choose from! I was surprised at how long the list was. Anyway, after my wine I went on to sparkling water – part of my new diet is less sugar, caffeine and alcohol (all for another post).
Now on to the important part – food and photos (I only had my only little camera with me, so the quality is not the greatest!).

Starter one

Fresh Mushrooms in crispy, aromatic crust with creamy lemon-rémoulade and bread
These were great and probably my favourite dish of the night. Fried mushrooms, what is there not to love? The creamy lemon-rémoulade was great too. It went so well with the mushrooms.

Starter two was

Beetroot ravioli with cashew nut-herb filling on wafer-thin fennel salad and balsamic dressing
This was my least favourite dish, purely because I don’t like beetroot. I thought I would give it a try and I could have easily eaten the whole dish but I wasn’t going to waste tummy space on it (I had more dishes to come and Mike loves beetroot, so I handed it over!). Other people at the table who do like beetroot loved it, so I think it was good – it was just me. The beetroot was subtle but I still wasn’t a fan. It was beautifully presented though and definitely one for a beetroot fan.

2 mains, 4 individuals

 Braised soya roulade with red cabbage, potatoes and tasty gravy

Mike absolutely loved this dish. I think he was having a real moment with it. It reminded him so much of what his mum used to make and informed us the flavours were “spot on”. I said I would have preferred mashed potatoes to be shot down with “pft they are for the week day meals, this is for special occasions”. But I have to agree it was really, really good. The roulades were a fantastic consistency and the gravy was so good. I also love German red cabbage and this was the best I have had in Germany.
Celery schnitzel with light dill sauce, fresh cucumber salad and mashed potatoes
Maybe I wanted mash potatoes because a friend got this dish and told us they were some of the best mashed potatoes she had ever had – and yes after stealing some I can agree, they were yummy. I also tried a bit of the celery schnitzel with the sauce and it was so so good. Again it all fitted perfectly together.

1 photo, 2 desserts, 4 individuals

Cake of the day – a deconstructed Black Forest Cake

Dessert time! As soon as I heard what the cake of the day was, I knew I had to try it. Three people on the table had this dessert and we all agreed it was the perfect size to finish off the meal. The other dessert ordered was the chocolate mousse (which I forgot to take a photo off, but just imagine a perfect quenelle of mousse on a decorated plate – yum), which according to the person eating it, was awesome.
 
All in all we were there several hours and enjoyed a really great meal. I would definitely give this restaurant a go if you are ever in Berlin. Plan to make a night of it, relax and enjoy. The decor is beautiful, the prices are very fair, the drink list is extensive and above all the food is super yummy.

KOPPS, Restaurant und Bar Linienstraße 94 10115 Berlin Tel: 030 43209775 www.kopps-berlin.de