Category: chakula

Übers Essen lässt sich viel erzählen…

Kann man über Hausarbeiten bloggen? Kann man über den “Umgang mit Klärschlamm unter Berücksichtigung der Wertstoffrückgewinnung” einen interessanten Beitrag schreiben wenn einen das Thema mittlerweile schon im Schlaf verfolgt? Sollte man über die Unmöglichkeit berichten, 4 Hausarbeiten und eine Klausurvorbereitung innerhalb von 5 Wochen bewältigen zu wollen?

Sicherlich. Nur halt jetzt grad nicht.

Stattdessen gibts heute eine Kochrezept. Eine Zusammenstellungsanleitung, denn mehr ist es nicht. Ideal also für die moderne Frau (verdict: Ihr könnt ja alle nicht (mehr) kochen – ein Glück, für mich! :-) oder die Tiefkühlpizza-verwöhnten Kommilitonen. By the way, wusstet Ihr dass mein Mitbewohner genau 12 Rezepte kochen kann? Diese kocht er sich im stetigen Wechsel. Mal Nudel mit Käse-Sahne Sauce, mal Schinken-Schmelzkäse-Sahne-Sauce mit Nudeln, Frikadelle/Bullettnnn/Hackfleischscheibchen/Hamburger mit Sesambrötchen vom Edeka und gerösteten Zwiebeln, Pommes, Nudeln mit Fettsauce, und natürlich: Pizza. Am liebsten isst er allerdings Fleisch. So schöne Steaks, 1-2x die Woche. Extrem lecker – und tödlich für die Figur.

Stattdessen also das Kontrastprogramm von meiner Seite (mas o meno):

Man nehme 1 Packung Dinkel ausm Penny. Gabs grad günstig für 0,99 EUR. Dinkel soll ja gesund sein und ich stelle mir schon vor, wie genial das Zeugs in einer Essig-Senf Sauce im nächsten Salat schmecken muss. Vielleicht über Nacht zum Quellen in Essig einlegen? Mmmhhhh….Ok! Also den Dinkel in kochendes, gesalzenes Wasser werfen (gesalzen, damit der Geschmack rauskommt, damit die Kochtemperatur sinkt und damit es diesen osmotischen Effekt gibt) und ca. 17 Minuten kochen lassen. Dazu dann 5-6 Karotten vom Penny – der 2kg Beutel für nen Euro – waschen und reinschnibbeln (schnippeln?) und wenn dann alles die gewünschte Bisshärte hat, im Sieb abgießen.
Und damit das nicht nur so eine trockene Pampe wird, muss da noch irgendwas weiches, matschiges rein. Ich denke da auch an ein leckeres Mangochutney oder vergleichbares. Hatte ich aber nicht da. Stattdessen wählt man die ungesunde Alternative und kauft sich noch eine kleine Dose Königsberger Klopse mit 71% Schweinefleischanteil in einer schönen, sahnigen Sauce (0,69 EUR). Diese dann im Kochtopf erwärmen, die Dinkel-Karotten-Mischung hinein und fertig ist das Mittag-Abendessen…Guten Appetit!
Grö�enänderungfood.jpg

(schaut ein bißchen aus wie Kotze, ge?)

Krustowski’s Realm…

Armin “Krustowski”, a dear friend of mine who was seperated at birth from his twin brother Al Yankovic, recently moved to Moscow where he works as a supervising engineer (read: messenger job) at a construction site for a German company and recently starting blogging…
Armin complained that there’s no Dönerbude in Moscow (a food stall where they sell turkish döner kebap) – but found some turkish workers on the construction site roasting their own meat for lunchtime.

Nyama choma is soooo cosmopolitan! :-)

sunshine

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0,5 l Oettinger Pils + 0,5 l Oettinger malt beer = EUR 0,70
1 Mozarella cheese = EUR 0,49
1 big packet of fresh olives = EUR 0,98
1 packet of small tomatoes = EUR 1,49
1 fresh cucumber = EUR 0,89
1 (turkish) pita bread = EUR 0,45
1 (director’s) chair from Kenya = EUR ~ 20,- (??)
1 balcony with a view = EUR 159,- /month
1 background music stream = EUR 0,00

Sunshine that makes you close your eyes and forget that you’re currently living in a very remote kijiji…. = priceless :-)

House of Porridge

My local correspondent Mbuzimoja today forwarded this hilarious story from the Daily Nation (page 17, April 6, 2006) to me, a story about a group of Wazungu (…) from Germany who opened up a food kiosk in BUSIA TOWN (!) “that boasts tea, chapati, potatoes and porridge on its menu”. They call it “House of Porridge”:

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Customers “can only conclude that the foreigners are stranded in Kenya and have opted for the business to raise money for their tickets back home” …. “most people thought the food kiosk was not a business fit for the foreigners, after all they had enough money to start a big venture“. Ability is wealth?

Ms Lisa Mueller, Ms Laura Henn and Mr Arno Schulter – all in her mid-twenties – came to Kenya in October 2005 to work as volunteers. The food kiosk, the article says, serves as an income generating project. A neat idea, I think. Why not?

The story reminds me of a Kenyan Lady by the name of Rachel Kamau who runs a nice & comfy Kenyan restaurant in Freiburg, Germany (I’ve mentioned earlier last year).
“If we can make it as foreigners, then the locals have no reason to fail. Nobody can go to a hotel to take food that he does not like simply because it is being sold by foreigners”, Ms Henn is quoted in the article.
Well well well….some ppl have the freedom to choose while others just need to survive the next day. On the other hand, though, my reason for blogging this amusing story is that it highlights the difference in thinking. Whereas these Gaamaaaans just came to Kenya to help and work (and I think I’m not much different from that, at least they are showing this business approach), the typical Kenyan reaction in the first place is “ati, can’t they afford to go home?”.

Sometimes I am so sick of this stereotyped thinking. As much as I never questioned the opening of that Kenyan restaurant in Germany, I sometimes wonder when these “mzungu, mzungu…give me shillingi…” cries will stop whenever a white person enters a black village. Harassment, from the other perspective. Similar to that, it’s like me joining the Kenyan Blogosphere and then ppl approach me and comment like “oh, I didn’t know you are white”. Well, SORRY that God has given me this skin colour?!
I mean, what I am supposed to answer on such comments? Dito Kenyans of Indian Origin – when will we start accepting each other without looking at ancestry or tribal origin? Me, me I am just JKE :-)

Waruku

I was taking down some pictures from the wall because I am planing to move out of this place a.s.a.p. and came across some pictures my sis had prepared for and presented to me as a collage some years ago. The initial plan was to stick them into my sketchbook(s), which is my very own way of personalizing memories…

Sooo…while going through these pictures, I found the following snapshot, taken in Waruku, Kangemi, Nairobi, Kenya:

kangemi.jpg
Who’s this? :-)

And of course, being the caaariiaas (curious) mzungu freak, I googled for “Waruku Kangemi” and came accross this interesting & sad story, featuring the following picture of a very very good old friend of mine:

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Mzee Stephen Kamau wa Gitau with his grandchildren.

You know, I thought he’s already dead. Now, since I know he’s still around, I shall try to visit him when I am back in EAK sometime in May ’06…. Ikinya r? m?k?r? r?kinyaga m?runa.

Obazde [Ohh-bbrrrrrrradz-daah]

Life is for living. (Coldplay)

…which obviously includes eating.

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Today I would like to prepare a speciality I’ve only recently come across in Munich: "Obazde", "Obazda" or also known as "Gerupfter".
I will just pronounce it Ohhhbbrrrrrazzza because that sounds very bavarian and thus foreign to my northern ears. Ati, you know these bavarians in the south are like the Maasai in Kenya – very uncommon for the rest of the country but everyone (else!) pictures them whenever we speak of the country. Needles to say that they have their own culture which btw isn’t that strange after all.

Back to the cheese:
Obazde is a spreadable cheese preparation, made out of an assortment of different Camembert cheese, butter, onions and spices. It is said to be a traditional spread which is served along with beer and pretzels in those beer gardens you’ll often find in the south of Germany. As for the history of this speciality, this source says "there is no guarantee, but it is possible that Obazde has been served as long as beer has been known in the Weihenstephan monastery north of Munich. It became well known in the 1920s when it was served by the licensee Kathi Eisenreich to her guests in the Weihenstephaner Bräustüberl. She did not know what to do with a too large order of small Camembert rounds, but then the cook had the idea of mixing them with spices and some onions and then finishing the mix off with some beer."

I know there are some recipes out there on the internet, and I am sure the recipes for making good Obbbrrrrrraaazzdddaah are just as various as there are good cooks. Yani, let’s just start and try to see if we can come up with something similar. Here’s what we’ll need:

  • Good music. Cooking without music is like going to McDonald’s and ordering salad.
  • Camembert cheese or any other cheese you assume to be fit for this speciality.
  • chopped onions (being a lazy bone, i just used dried onions)
  • some butter (fat reduced!)
  • a little bit of milk or cream, whatever you like
  • spices & herbs like caraway, salt, black pepper, paprika, parsley, etc. – just take anything you’ll like as long as caraway is included.

Please refer to the pic for an approx. quantity – I just measure these things the Kikuyumoja®-way. And of course, I added more caraway than you see in the pic above. :-)

Once you have the ingredients, mix them all together. You may want to use a fork but you can also just use your hands the way I did (and I am sure Jamie Oliver does it that way as well).

Et voilà, once everything is mixed, just spread it on a pretzel or any other piece of bread and serve with beer or milk.

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Bon appétit!