Germany 2013: BBQs and Parties

Bringing it back to the Germany posts!

BBQ!

Mmm... meat. Today's post is going to be about the different barbecues and parties we enjoyed whilst on our trip. I thought it might be interesting for y'all to have a look at - when overseas, I personally find it can be hard to get an insight into a country's regular eating habits unless you're staying with a family for an extended period of time, like with your own friends and family, or on an exchange. Let's roll!

For Sandra's mum's birthday, we had a Fleischkäse Party. Fleischkäse (known as Leberkäse in Bavaria) is a spiced meatloaf, which you can buy in slices at the deli. You can eat it thickly sliced, wodged into a bread roll (like in my German Supermarkets post), topped with an egg and cheese in a "Strammer Max", or in thin slices as part of an Aufschnitt supper or in a sandwich. For this party (with about twenty guests, from memory), they bought three raw loaves, and baked them at home.

Raw Fleischkäse loaf

Slicing the Fleischkäse

There were three flavours: normal, onion and pizza (with cheese, capsicum and spices inside). My favourite was plain - you can't beat a classic.

Fleischkäse 

Haha, my fifteen-year old pork-avoiding self would have hated this sight. Now I'm just like: "Give Me All Of The Pork!"  (N.B. you can buy Fleischkäse here in Melbourne - I normally get it from Andrew's Choice in Yarraville or the The Wursthütte on Glenferrie Road. I can't remember if the Polish deli in Victoria Market sells it, but if they do, I assume it'd be pretty good there too. Everyone here calls it Leberkäse though, how Bavari-centric!)

Accompaniments to the pork were ciabatta bread...

Ciabatta bread

...and salads! I think the pictures are pretty self explanatory, but a few comments: these were all homemade, and not purchased; mozzarella balls are super cheap in Germany, like €1 per ball; and Sandra's mum's potato salad is my favourite German food of all time! (More on that later).

Salads

What's a German party without beer? This was a bonus keg, in addition to the actual keg in the Partyraum, and the fridge full of drinks.

Mini-Keg: "Eine Konigin unter den Bieren" - A Queen among the beers

I whipped up a few desserts for the party: a chocolate mousse, Nigella's white chocolate and passionfruit mousse, and her Bailey's tiramisu. With all that raw egg, (plus the meat, the bread, the salads and the beer), I was terrified someone might get sick, but the eggs were fresh and everyone was fine. Yay!

Ingredients for white chocolate and raspberry mousse

Desserts: white chocolate and passionfruit mousse, Bailey's tiramisu, chocolate mousse

For Sandra's birthday, she requested that her uncle make Gulaschsuppe. You can read about more detail about how to make Gulashsuppe in this post from my previous trip to Germany, but it's a fun, all-afternoon process that involves the entire family preparing the ingredients, a big cauldron in the backyard, and quite a few beers while you wait for the meat to slowly cook to tenderness.

The Gulaschsuppe pot

Bubbling away

All the flavourings and secret ingredients

Dishing up the Gulaschsuppe

Mmm... tasty

I love the rich, paprika-spiked broth (extra rich from all the marrow bones it's cooked with!), the soft potatoes and carrots, and the tender meat.

The accompaniment for this delicious stew were some fab caraway bread rolls that Sandra's sister made herself. Don't they look great? Super professional and artisan-looking!

Kummelbroetchen - Caraway bread rolls

Of course, we had a couple of barbecues. Here's one we enjoyed at a (different) uncle's house. (The same BBQ from the pic at the top of this post).

BBQ

This one was relatively small, with just two salads (pasta salad and Sandra's mum's potato salad), a bowl of tzatziki, and a loaf of türkische Brot (Turkish bread), which was also heated through on the BBQ.

Salads

I know I've gone on about Sandra's mum's potato salad a lot before, but ZOMG it is so good! I just wanted to share a picture of it being made. Look at all that bacon! Bacon, potatoes, onion - pure deliciousness.

Kartoffelsalat - Potato salad

The following pics are from a barbecue we had at home the day we left - when the sun finally decided to come out! Totally dorky, I know, but I had so much fun choosing the different meats at the supermarket the day before. So many options! Apart from the amazing variety and quality of sausages that you'd expect, there were heaps of different marinated steaks, chicken wings, chicken skewers and, thrillingly, pork belly rashers. I must, must remember to buy pork belly rashers and marinate them the next time I barbecue!

BBQ at home

This time, I had a go baking some bread and made a Fladenbrot (flat bread, or focaccia), which I kneaded by hand, thank-you very much!

Raw Fladenbrot

Baked

And... phew! It was cooked all the way through and fluffy. Super yay!

Fluffy, fluffy Fladenbrot

Now that we're back in Australia, I can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit so I can enjoy some barbecues and beers in the sun!

What are your favourite things to barbecue? Do you have standard dishes and menus that you turn to for family celebrations, or do you like to mix it up?

Bringing it back to the Germany posts!

BBQ!

Mmm... meat. Today's post is going to be about the different barbecues and parties we enjoyed whilst on our trip. I thought it might be interesting for y'all to have a look at - when overseas, I personally find it can be hard to get an insight into a country's regular eating habits unless you're staying with a family for an extended period of time, like with your own friends and family, or on an exchange. Let's roll!

For Sandra's mum's birthday, we had a Fleischkäse Party. Fleischkäse (known as Leberkäse in Bavaria) is a spiced meatloaf, which you can buy in slices at the deli. You can eat it thickly sliced, wodged into a bread roll (like in my German Supermarkets post), topped with an egg and cheese in a "Strammer Max", or in thin slices as part of an Aufschnitt supper or in a sandwich. For this party (with about twenty guests, from memory), they bought three raw loaves, and baked them at home.

Raw Fleischkäse loaf

Slicing the Fleischkäse

There were three flavours: normal, onion and pizza (with cheese, capsicum and spices inside). My favourite was plain - you can't beat a classic.

Fleischkäse 

Haha, my fifteen-year old pork-avoiding self would have hated this sight. Now I'm just like: "Give Me All Of The Pork!"  (N.B. you can buy Fleischkäse here in Melbourne - I normally get it from Andrew's Choice in Yarraville or the The Wursthütte on Glenferrie Road. I can't remember if the Polish deli in Victoria Market sells it, but if they do, I assume it'd be pretty good there too. Everyone here calls it Leberkäse though, how Bavari-centric!)

Accompaniments to the pork were ciabatta bread...

Ciabatta bread

...and salads! I think the pictures are pretty self explanatory, but a few comments: these were all homemade, and not purchased; mozzarella balls are super cheap in Germany, like €1 per ball; and Sandra's mum's potato salad is my favourite German food of all time! (More on that later).

Salads

What's a German party without beer? This was a bonus keg, in addition to the actual keg in the Partyraum, and the fridge full of drinks.

Mini-Keg: "Eine Konigin unter den Bieren" - A Queen among the beers

I whipped up a few desserts for the party: a chocolate mousse, Nigella's white chocolate and passionfruit mousse, and her Bailey's tiramisu. With all that raw egg, (plus the meat, the bread, the salads and the beer), I was terrified someone might get sick, but the eggs were fresh and everyone was fine. Yay!

Ingredients for white chocolate and raspberry mousse

Desserts: white chocolate and passionfruit mousse, Bailey's tiramisu, chocolate mousse

For Sandra's birthday, she requested that her uncle make Gulaschsuppe. You can read about more detail about how to make Gulashsuppe in this post from my previous trip to Germany, but it's a fun, all-afternoon process that involves the entire family preparing the ingredients, a big cauldron in the backyard, and quite a few beers while you wait for the meat to slowly cook to tenderness.

The Gulaschsuppe pot

Bubbling away

All the flavourings and secret ingredients

Dishing up the Gulaschsuppe

Mmm... tasty

I love the rich, paprika-spiked broth (extra rich from all the marrow bones it's cooked with!), the soft potatoes and carrots, and the tender meat.

The accompaniment for this delicious stew were some fab caraway bread rolls that Sandra's sister made herself. Don't they look great? Super professional and artisan-looking!

Kummelbroetchen - Caraway bread rolls

Of course, we had a couple of barbecues. Here's one we enjoyed at a (different) uncle's house. (The same BBQ from the pic at the top of this post).

BBQ

This one was relatively small, with just two salads (pasta salad and Sandra's mum's potato salad), a bowl of tzatziki, and a loaf of türkische Brot (Turkish bread), which was also heated through on the BBQ.

Salads

I know I've gone on about Sandra's mum's potato salad a lot before, but ZOMG it is so good! I just wanted to share a picture of it being made. Look at all that bacon! Bacon, potatoes, onion - pure deliciousness.

Kartoffelsalat - Potato salad

The following pics are from a barbecue we had at home the day we left - when the sun finally decided to come out! Totally dorky, I know, but I had so much fun choosing the different meats at the supermarket the day before. So many options! Apart from the amazing variety and quality of sausages that you'd expect, there were heaps of different marinated steaks, chicken wings, chicken skewers and, thrillingly, pork belly rashers. I must, must remember to buy pork belly rashers and marinate them the next time I barbecue!

BBQ at home

This time, I had a go baking some bread and made a Fladenbrot (flat bread, or focaccia), which I kneaded by hand, thank-you very much!

Raw Fladenbrot

Baked

And... phew! It was cooked all the way through and fluffy. Super yay!

Fluffy, fluffy Fladenbrot

Now that we're back in Australia, I can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit so I can enjoy some barbecues and beers in the sun!

What are your favourite things to barbecue? Do you have standard dishes and menus that you turn to for family celebrations, or do you like to mix it up?