This year we hosted Food Art Week Berlin’s exhibition entitled ‘vs. meat’ and with that also were tasked to devise some theme-appropriate dishes. The most fun was a ‘fake meat’ carved from slowly dehydrated watermelon. The fleshy, chewy texture was a dead-ringer for real meat and a dash of sea salt lent it a savoury quality that (almost) tempted us to give up meat permanently. Oh and check out that layer of “fat”!
Off to Italy for a few days. Yeah, yeah, pizza’s great. Italy, the food, I know. But I’m quite sure after a few days I’ll be desperate for the flavor diversity of HaHa’s lunch. Arrivederci!
Sometimes it’s a challenge to come up with a satisfying, filling meal that’s also cooling in summer. Sure, all those leafy salads and gazpachos are great, but sometimes they leave you hungering for a mid-afternoon snack only a couple hours later. Solution: Causa. This layered Peruvian dish uses cold mashed potates as a base, with chicken (you can also use fish), loads of lime and fresh herbs, plus slices of avocado. We added some smoky roasted pimento on top plus some pickled red onion.
We’ve all heard that some spice in the belly is the best prescribed antidote for days of extreme heat. Not sure if it worked today, as the temps reached nearly 30 C, but this Korean rice noodle dish nonetheless felt like an official prelude to summer. Enjoy the sun!
Pork belly turns into something magical when marinated with soy and citrus and roasted in the oven, just like what we did today. Make sure to hide those crispy bits away for yourself.
Why must it be that tuna and mayonnaise form such a lecherous partnership? This week we’ve used tuna in various forms and iterations, including a mayonnaise-slicked, anchovy-spiked mash on baguettes. My favorite though was this classic Salade Niçoise, made with lemony flash-fried tuna steaks. The crunch of the salad with charred green beans was a clever antidote to both the meaty fish and creamy dressing. Inspiring salty musings of the French seaside…
A couple months back we bought our kitchen an exciting little present: a tortilla press. It’s not the fanciest on the market, but it does the trick of squeezing springy balls of blue corn masa into thin discs of deliciousness. When those warm blue-grey tortillas are topped with smoky pulled beef, grilled bell pepper and chiles, fresh tomatillo sauce and cilantro (oh, and a fried egg, naturally), the present has officially earned its permanent spot on the kitchen shelf.
