First spring Grass cheese from Holland. Dutch Beemster cheese

Buy Beemster Cheese from Holland here. Only 2000 wheels are made each spring. The promotional kit that came with this cheese had pictures of the frolicking cows rushing out in a herd to taste the first spring grasses. This is a really delicious cheese, we have been snacking on it for about a week and although it is mild it has a complexity that lingers kind of like aged gouda. I made toasted cheese sandwiches with it and that was a big hit! I had to test the claim that it melts well- yes it does! I saw on the Beemster site that they have a cheese made with nettles. I think I'd like to try that. Some Danish friends were telling me about making nettle soup and how tasty it is. It sounded easy enough so If I can get past the fear of the stinging I may venture over to our stream. Luckily there are lots of ferns to rub onto the stings (and wearing gloves). if I make the soup I'll post about it.



The taste
Beemster cows graze only on pesticide-free pastures which are located 20ft below sea level in North Holland. The rare blue sea clay of these pastures contains special minerals that give the milk a sweeter and softer milk fat. Hence Beemster cheeses have softer and creamier texture than other Dutch cheeses.

The rare environmental makeup of the Beemster polder allows for the creation of the highest quality cheese in the world, Beemster cheese. Beemster cheese is still made by the traditional cheese making methods. After the curd is cut it is pumped into large drainage containers and raked out by hand to allow for the whey to drain from the curd evenly.

This step is skipped by many cheese makers today who have large machines that squeeze the whey from the curd while in tubes before being blown into cheese molds. In fact, Beemster is the only coop in Holland still making cheese by hand. Beemster is proud in employ only master craftsmen who have a love and passion for their trade and a true dedication to quality. Beemster is created using a secret recipe known only to the Beemster farmers and master cheese makers.

After the whey drains the curd is placed into molds and pressure is applied to create the traditional wheel shape. After spending approximately 45 minutes under pressure the wheels are removed from the molds and placed into a brine bath.

This brine starts the aging process from within the cheese. The wheels are then removed from the brine, after a shorter period than most other Dutch cheeses, and transported to warehouses where the cheese is aged on wooden boards. The wheels are hand turned, inspected, and polished every day for up to 26 months to ensure perfect maturation before being prepared for consumption. -Beemster site.

Durian fruit jam it really does taste like (bad!)

Buy Durian fruit jam and Durian fruit cake here

I was so excited to get these two products in Durian jam and Durian cake. Durian the magical fruit of Malaysia that Anthony Bourdain enjoyed so much. I wanted to like this so much! It is so nasty!
And the nasty stays in your mouth forever! Really really bad taste. I'm giving free samples out at the store! There is no way I'm going to try the Durian Cake. No. Way. Ever.
sweet, pungent, hot and mildly toxic Besides eaten as a snack, it is also being used as 1. Tonic for deficiency, for cold type of body. 2. Rid of cold phlegm. 3. Expels intestine worms 4. Decoction of the leaves and roots is used as antipyretic 5. The leaf juice is applied on the head of a fever patient ...
Travel and food writer Richard Sterling said:
“… its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia.

From Confabulist

"The durian's smell is its outstanding feature-it is pungent, a bit like a clogged drain or rotten eggs." -- Financial Express
"Judging by the fruit's smell, its flesh could just as well be a deadly poison." -- durian.net
"To eat it seems to be the sacrifice of self-respect." -- 19th Century American Journalist Bayard Taylor
"On first tasting it I thought it like the flesh of some animal in a state of putrefaction." -- 19th Century French naturalist Henri Mouhot
"It has been likened to rotting onions, unwashed socks and even carrion in custard, but the most accurate description by far is that of a sewer full of rotting pineapples." -- h2g2
"Try leaving cheese and a dead body out in the sun and you're in the same neighborhood as the smell of durian." -- Tony Bourdain

History of Swedish Knäckebröd (Cracker bread) Crisp bread and yummy Bolletje Finnish style Sesame rounds

BUY Swedish hardtack and round cracker bread (knackebrod) here.

Crisp bread (Swedish: knäckebröd, spisbröd, hårdbröd, Danish: knækbrød, Norwegian: knekkebrød, Finnish: näkkileipä) is a flat and dry Nordic type of bread or cracker, containing mostly rye flour. It is popular in armies and schools because of its light weight and simple, transport-friendly shape. Also, it is very cheap and if stored in dry conditions it will keep fresh and edible for a very long time. Crisp bread is a staple of Nordic cuisine and was for a long time considered a poor man's diet. However, in recent years there has been renewed interest in crisp bread in the Nordic countries.
Origins
According to some sources, crisp bread is more than a thousand years old and was a staple of the Vikings on their raids, as a ship biscuit would keep for several months.
Traditional crisp bread was invented about 500 years ago and consists of wholemeal rye flour, salt and water.
Today, however, much crisp bread contains wheat flour, spices and grains, and is often leavened with yeast or sourdough.

Ingredients
Crisp bread contains a large amount of air. In the case of unleavened crisp bread, bubbles are introduced into the dough mechanically.
Traditionally, this was done by mixing crushed ice into the dough, which then evaporated during baking. Today, the dough, which must contain a large amount of water, is cooled and mixed until bubbly.
Another method is to knead the dough under pressure in an extruder. The sudden drop in pressure then causes water to evaporate, creating bubbles in the dough.

Crisp bread is only baked for a few minutes, at temperatures usually between 200 and 250 °C.
19th century hardtack, two different styles Overall, hardtack was a major food supply that was necessary to troops on both sides during the Civil War.

Pilot bread is a simple type of cracker or biscuit, made from flour, water, and salt. Inexpensive and long-lasting, it is and was used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyages and military campaigns.

Historically known as hardtack (or hard tack), ship's biscuit, sea biscuit, sea bread or pejoratively dog biscuit, the name derives from the British sailor slang for food, "tack", and the crackers or biscuits have been called "tooth dullers", "sheet iron" or "molar breakers".

Because it is so hard and dry, properly stored and transported hardtack will survive rough handling and endure extremes of temperature.

To soften it, it was often dunked in water, brine, coffee, or some other liquid or cooked into a skillet meal. Baked hard, it would keep for years as long as it was kept dry. For long voyages, hardtack was baked four times, rather than the more common two, and prepared six months before sailing.

In 1801, Josiah Bent began a baking operation in Milton, Massachusetts selling "water crackers" or biscuits made of flour and water that would not deteriorate during long sea voyages from the port of Boston, which was also used extensively as a source of food by the "gold diggers" emigration to the gold mines of California in 1849. Since the journey took months from the starting point, the town of Independence, Missouri, pilot bread was stored in the wagon trains, as it could be kept a long time. His company later sold the original hardtack crackers used by troops during the American Civil War. The company is still located in Milton and continues to sell these items to Civil War re-enactors and others.

During the American Civil War, 3-inch by 3-inch hardtack was shipped out from Union and Confederate storehouses. Some of this hardtack had been stored from the 1846–8 Mexican-American War. With insect infestation common in improperly stored provisions, soldiers would just drop the tack into their morning coffee, and wait for the insects to float to the top so they could skim off the bugs and resume consumption.

Bolletje Finnish Round is available in sesame Finnish Round Sesame is the most popular knäckebröd flavor in the Netherlands.

It is interesting to me that the round knäckebröd was originally baked in Finland. Most (90%) if the knäckebröd that I personally know of is from Sweden. There is one Finnish knackbrod available that I will be getting for the holidays I am interested to see what the difference is between them if any. In Scandinavia it is traditionally eaten at any time of the day: for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Knackbrod is nutritious and keeps well.

Recipe to make your own Crisp bread at home

Interesting link to someone making a Swedish Crisp bread Pizza. It's quite long so make sure you have 5-6 minutes.

Koopmans Dutch mini Poffertjes pancakes mix and recipe

Buy Koopmans Dutch Poffertjes Mix here Honig also makes a good version of this mix.

Poffertjes are a traditional pancake treat. Poffertjes look like American Silver dollar (tiny) pancakes, but they are sweeter. In contrast with pancakes, poffertjes are turned before one side is completely done, which results in a much softer core than pancakes have. Typically, poffertjes are served with powdered sugar and butter.
Poffertjes are not hard to prepare but a special poffertjes pan is needed. This is a special cast-iron or copper pan also available in aluminium with teflon-coating with several shallow indentations in the bottom. In large restaurants, special plates are often used to prepare poffertjes. Restaurant chefs are quite skilled in turning the almost baked poffertjes with a fork.

Supermarkets also stock mixes for poffertjes, to which only the eggs and milk need to be added. Usually they contain some kind of leavening agent, like baking powder to prevent the issue mentioned above.

They can also be served with other sweet garnishes, such as stroop syrups made of molasses, apples, pears or mixed fruits.

Stroop made with apples is interesting because it is made in a huge iron vat and the mineral transfers into the product, it is often 'prescribed for anemia. Slagroom (whipped cream) or aardbeien (strawberries), are common toppings as well. Served with strawberries and cream they are known as 'Poffertjes à la Bill Clinton' in honour of his visit to Delft.

Ingredients

Poffertjes being baked in a special cast-iron pan.
420 g of self-raising flour
1 litre milk
3 eggs
pinch of salt and a teaspoon of vanilla essence
yeast

Instructions
Dissolve the yeast in some milk.
Put the flour through a sieve, make a small hole in the middle of flour and pour the milk with yeast into it.
Starting in the center add the remainder of the milk, meanwhile whirling the batter. Finally add the egg.
Put the batter away for 30 minutes.
Place the pan on the stove and grease the pan with butter when it's hot. Add a little bit of batter to each hollow, only filling them half way.
Just before the topside of the poffertje is completely dry, turn it over. It should let go easily. Wait till the other side also has a nice golden brown color.
Put them on a plate and dust them with the powdered sugar, till they are completely covered with sugar, and put a small piece of butter on top, this should melt.
Serve immediately.

The Danish also make small pancakes called Aebleskiver but they are manipulated in the cooking with a nitting needle and are more often that not filled with cheese or fruit. You can buy Aebleskiver pans here at my pals shop down the street from me.

For breakfast or Dinner Fresh German Egg Waffels can't be beat

Buy ready Made Egg Waffles Here


When I first learned of this product I have to admit I was a little leery about trying it. A shelf stable waffle? How could it be good? Squishing the package.. yes they are soft, really soft actually, I was expecting a brick. They smell sweet and a little, malty. I took a bite and yes they are sweet! These will need no syrup. Hmm this is looking better and better. This is perfect for those days we are running late for school. Ok those all all the days that I drop off, but whose counting! I do keep these on hand for a car snack for the 11 year old. They are nice with strawberries and whipped cream. For camping or boating these are a must!

Lingonberries and whipped cream make a great topping for waffles. The tangy tartness of the lingonberry mixes well with the smoothness of the cream. I wrote about lingonberries on May 16th so if you want to know mare about the Scadinavian cranberry cousin follow the link.

We make allot of waffles at our house and this is one of our favorite recipes:

The Best Belgian Waffles Recipe #63071
These waffles are super crisp on the outside and light as a feather inside and so scrumptious! Avoid removing them from the waffle iron too soon; they should be a golden brown. Enjoy!
by Marie 16 waffles
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup oil
2 cups milk
Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Separate the eggs.
In small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.
Mix together the egg yolks, milk and oil and stir slightly.
Add to dry ingredients and mix well.
Fold in beaten egg whites.
© 2007 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com/

German gingerbread cookies or it's always Lebkuchen time

Buy Lebkuchen Gingerbread here

Lebkuchen is a soft spicy gingerbread that can be glazed with a sugar syrup or chocolate. Sometimes it is baked so that large crunchy sugar crystals remain whole (how, dear G*D how do they do that??). These crunchy bits are waiting to dissolve with glorious bursts of flavor. Can you tell I love Lebkuchen? I opened a package of Contessa Lebkuchen Klassiker (classic) to sample a bite so I could describe it more accurately and before I knew it 3 whole cookies were gone! I had to quickly hide the rest from myself.

But those few moments of gingerbread bliss.. oh my. And yes I kid not, it was moments! The really cool thing about these cookies is the way they are baked on back oblaten which is a disk or sheet made out of wheat or rice paste and is paper like. You take the dough ( you, not me I *not* a baker remember!) and set in upon the paper so it's almost to the edge. And you bake it. The wafer is kind of a preserving technique as it hold moisture in the cookies so they don't go stale. Seriously, I've eaten and enjoyed cookies made on this paper that were so and flavorful and 3 years old! I didn't intend to eat old cookies. It just happened. It was a test that one of the retired Austrian ladies gave me to see if I could tell which of the holiday cookies she gives me every year was a 'vintage' cookie. I couldn't. Very weird until she explained how back oblaten preserves cookies. I suppose if I ever get my oven fixed and decide to try my hand at baking again I might try this kind of cookie. It seems more fool proof than other baking. Or then again if I didn't succeed the evidence would be around for a half life...

A mixture of aromatic spices, including: Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamom, Coriander, Mace, Nutmeg, Aniseed, Pimento, Lemon peel.

I wonder if my love of Lebkuchen is in part tied to the Aniseed in the spice blend and my obsession with all things licorice? Probably.

The Empress of all gingerbread is the Elisen Gingerbread which like French wines can only be called such if it is made in a certain part of Germany. The reason this gingerbread is even more special is the addition of ground nuts in place of flour. That means they are full of protein and good for you~ yea!

The recipe that follow is this Elisen type of gingerbread.

This is a recipe named for the patron Saint of gingerbread makers in Germany.

Elisenlebkuchen (German Christmas Cookies) Adapted from the great German classic cookbook, "Back Vergnuegen Wie Noch Nie."

Provided here, approximate measurements if you need to use American measuring cups. If you can find it, Lindt sells a large bar of chocolate that is excellent for melting and is roughly the correct amount you need - a little more won't be a problem.

For the nuts - these are not to be confused with chopped nuts - they should be finely ground into a meal. If you can't find them sold this way in your area, whirl them through a coffee grinder or food processor briefly (you don't want mush) until they are floury. The nuts are the "flour" in this recipe and cannot be omitted - however you may use hazelnuts or other nuts that you prefer.

300 g powdered sugar

3 egg whites

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 lemon, grated zest of

75 g candied lemon peel, finely chopped

300 g very finely ground almonds

50 white German baking wafers, 4 cm diameter (Oblaten)

100 g sweetened milk chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 150 C (or 300 F).

2. Place powdered sugar and egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat, using a whisk attachment on an electric mixer on high speed, until stiff (but not dry) peaks form- this may take while (up to 8 minutes- but may take less depending upon your mixer).

3. Combine the lemon zest, the candied lemon peel, and the nuts, then gently fold in the egg whites mixture- do not over mix.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then set out the oblaten wafers.

5. Place a 1 rounded Tbsp of cookie dough onto each oblaten in a mound.

6. Bake about 20 minutes until light brown, in the center of the oven.

7. If necessary, set a second (empty) cookie sheet in the rack directly above the cookies to help keep the tops from over browning.

8. Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.

9. Melt chocolate in either a double boiler or in the microwave briefly until you can stir down the chocolate into a melted glaze (be careful not to burn if you use the microwave- chocolate tends to hold its shape even if it is melted inside when melted this way).

10. Drizzle the tops of each cookie with the melted chocolate.

11. If you prefer, you may melt even more chocolate and carefully dip the cookies halfway.

12. Let dipped cookies dry on a cooling rack.

13. Pack into airtight containers.

14. IF USING AMERICAN MEASUREMENTS: Use about 2 cups ground almonds, 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar, 1 cup candied lemon peel, and a couple of Hershey's milk chocolate bars (regular size)- or more. 50 servings change to: US Metric servings 1 hours 30 mins prep time 30 mins cook time

These are delicious soft & puffy cookies. The Oblaten wafers, which serve as the bottoms of these cookies, can be found in German markets - they look like Communion wafers, and are actually made in the same manner.

The History of Gingerbread from the makers of Weiss Lebkuchen:

The history of gingerbread dates back to honey cake in Egyptian royal tombs from around 1500 B.C. According to Egyptian mythology, and Greek, Roman and Teutonic mythology later on, honey was a gift from the gods. This explains why honey was always attributed a demon-banishing, healing and life-giving effect.There have been records of the patrician name “Lebzelter“ (gingerbread baker) since 1296 near the town of Ulm, Germany. And the monks in the Elisabethan-Spital hospital of the Nuremberg Teutonic Order of Knights meticulously noted in their rent book in 1395 that a hen had been paid as rent for a Lebzelter house in a street called the Schmidgasse.The German word for gingerbread (“Lebkuchen”) first appeared in writing in a Franconian manuscript in 1409. Apparently, the term has been known since the 13th century and the fortifying, health-promoting effect of spicy gingerbread has been known for just as long.Scholars have been disputing about the origin of the German word for gingerbread (“Lebkuchen”) almost as long as it has existed. Has it something to do with the Polish word "lipa" (lipa – lime tree because the honey required came from this tree)? Or is the word, as most experts believe, derived from the Latin word "libum" (flat, round, unleavened cake) because Latin was the language of the monasteries and gingerbread was once a monastery matter?Long may the linguists continue to puzzle over the origin of the word. We’ll just enjoy the product!The oldest gingerbread recipe in writing dates back to the 16th century and is displayed in the National Germanic Museum in Nuremberg. The ingredients given are sugar, honey, mace, ginger, cardamom, pepper and flour.Considerably modified, gingerbread recipes appeared in the “Complete Nuremberg Cookbook“ in 1691. Mention was already made of almond, wafer-based gingerbread with aniseed, candied lemon peel and rosewater aroma. It’s not without reason that, even as far back as the 17th century, the master gingerbread bakers of Nuremberg were known for their craftsmanship far beyond the city walls.Of course, every gingerbread baker had his own closely guarded, secret recipes. However, changes in taste have meant that the art of baking gingerbread and the recipes have changed over the centuries. In the last century in particular, the speed at which the raw materials are delivered to the gingerbread centres has also changed. Our gingerbread has long been international, with hazelnuts from Turkey, almonds from California, walnuts from France, eggs from China and the Eastern bloc, cocoa from Africa, candied orange and lemon peel from the Netherlands and Italy, ginger from Japan, cardamom from Sri Lanka, coriander from Romania, cloves from Brazil and Madagascar, etc. etc.Gingerbread is becoming more and more popular. In earlier times, gingerbread was only eaten over the Christmas period because people could only afford this delicacy at “holy times”. Nowadays, brown gingerbread is available all year round. However, wafer-based gingerbread is still only available in the winter months. As it is manufactured without the use of any chemical preservatives, it must be stored in a cool place and packed well to ensure a long shelf life.To preserve its distinctive taste, high quality and naturalness, master gingerbread makers subject themselves to strict standards which exactly specify the composition of the various types of wafer-based gingerbread.

Wendler Nougat: The Ultimate Mixed Bar

I was talking with my wife about how I wanted to get one of these, and it suddenly dawned on me that this is probably the only bar that I actually think about during the regular routine of my day. Sure I have had many memorable chocolate bars, and would like to enjoy them again of course, but really, do I think about them? No. Not like this one.



This is a seriously mind-blowing mixed bar comprised of marzipan, nougat, hazelnuts, and chocolate. The mix of flavors is unbeatable in my opinion and so satisfying as to put most other bars to shame.

To just think about one is to start myself on a salivating quest to find one and introduce it to my stomach.


It will put you into orbit! Buy Wendler Nougat Baustamm Here

Bavarian Meats German sausages and Landjager salami snacks

Buy Bavarian Meats Landjager here
I did a post awhile back about Uli's Famous Sausages so I want to give equal time to Bavarian Meats whose sausage I also carry. The landjager you see here is a 4 pack vacuum packed. This sausage is ready to eat and is a quick, easy meal replacement on the go.

They are in a casing so if that is off putting it's easy to very easy to peel it off. The salami style meat (which is pork & beef) is very a very soft chew without the casing. Originating in southern Germany here is what wiki says about landjager.

Landjäger, (in both the singular and the plural, which literally means "country hunters" — originally a kind of mounted police in some German provinces) is a Southern German dried sausage made of roughly equal portions of beef and pork with lard, sugar and spices. They are usually made into links of six to eight inch (15–20 cm) length. These are then pressed into a mold before drying, which gives them their characteristic, rectangular cross-section of about one inch by half an inch (2½ cm × 1 cm).
Popular as a snack food during activities such as hiking and treeplanting. They also have a history as soldier's food because they keep without refrigeration and come in single-meal portions.

Landjäger tastes like dry salami. Eaten straight from the deli, it goes well with a cold beer. As a meal, landjäger sausage can be boiled and served with potatoes and fresh greens. To reduce the fat, poke holes through the casing of your landjäger before you boil it.

Hmm, I don't know about boiling it, but I might try that. These are very satisfying and when you are starving, because it's quick and substantial. For me it takes one to ease the pain around 2pm when I realize I haven't eaten all day! One (or so) keeps me feeling full and boosts the blood sugars up until I can get home have the time for a proper meal.

These are good dipped mustard too! I have people that come in and (I swear) buy 15 packs ever week and a half! They are that good, the flavor is not a very spicy one but there is just a little spice in it but its a slight garlic peppery flavor not hot. I get these fresh from the factory which is across the water in Seattle every other week. Although they are shelf stable for up to 6 weeks I keep them in the refrigerated section because to me they taste better. So there ya go the perfect armchair road trip food!

Another great pre-cooked sausage from Bavarian Meats in Seattle is their Polish Sausage the German take on Polish Sausage tastes much
different that the American version. It's like comparing a rib eye to turkey franks with the rib eye obviously equalling the artisan made Polish sausage. Throw these on the grill to heat them through and you will be converted. As a matter of fact the violin repair shop across from me does just that here on sunny days. Where are those sunny days, we were teased with a few and now people are calling this month June-uary.
For a raw sausage I like the Berliner bratwurst which is made with pork and veal. I guess there is quite a food fight that goes on in Germany about who has the best sausages for curry wurst. Currywurst was invented in Berlin but Hamburg has thrown the sausage gauntlet on the ground. Like all good things invented in Europe there is a curry wurst museum in Berlin devoted to it. I suppose since I have the Licorice Shrine, I'm on that train too!

Currywurst is a curry ketchup street food in Germany

Buy German boil in bag Dumpling Mixes here

Before I start in on currywurst I want to mention another easy dinner item. Boil in bag potato dumplings. These are so easy to make you just pop however many you want to serve into a pot of water, heat it to boiling for 1 minute and let them simmer for 15 minutes. Peel the bag of under cold running water and you are done! We like these with currywurst but I don't think that is traditional, at all.

Currywurst is a German dish consisting of hot pork sausage (German: Wurst) cut into slices and seasoned with curry sauce (regularly consisting of ketchup or tomato paste blended with curry) and generous amounts of curry powder, or a ready-made ketchup-based sauce seasoned with curry and other spices. Currywurst is often sold as a take-out/take-away food, Schnell-Imbisse, at diners or "greasy spoons," on children's menus in restaurants, or as a street food.
Usually served with French fries or bread rolls, it is particularly popular in the metropolitan areas of the Ruhr Area, Berlin, and Hamburg. Considerable variation both in the type of sausage used and the ingredients of the sauce occurs between these areas, and there are disputes over where currywurst was originally invented and which version is the best. Sometimes currywurst is sold in food booth with a machine that will slice and spice with sausage. It is also sold as a supermarket-shelf product to prepare at home.
For decades, currywurst has been by far Germany's most popular fast food, especially among working-class Germans. In recent years its popularity has suffered due to the competition of pizza and döner kebab. Nevertheless, it remains easily available almost everywhere and continues to be culturally iconic.
Currywurst seems to have been invented in the post-World War II West Germany, although the exact time and place of the event remain subject to controversy. According to the Berlin legend, currywurst sauce was invented by one Herta Heuwer (b. June 30, 1913, Königsberg, d. July 3, 1999 in Berlin) when, while waiting for customers at her sausage stall in Berlin's Charlottenburg district on the rainy day of September 4, 1949, she started to experiment with the ingredients out of sheer boredom. According to the Ruhr-area legend, the sauce was accidentally invented by a sausage stall owner in Essen, who dropped a can with curry powder into some ketchup. In his 1993 novella entitled Die Entdeckung der Currywurst ("The Discovery of the Currywurst"), the renowned author Uwe Timm dates it to 1947 and attributes it to a fictional character called Lena Brücker, who ran a stall in Hamburg.
Early in his career German pop singer Herbert Grönemeyer, raised in Bochum, devoted a song to currywurst with lyrics in the typical sociolect of the Ruhr area. Thanks Wiki!

http://www.len.ro/cooking/curry-wurst/

Asian Home Gourmet Indian Butter Chicken Mix

Buy Indian Butter Chicken Mix here

Easy Butter Chicken (Makhani) has Moghul origins. The directions are in English. But I chose not to follow them, as usual. I cooked the chicken in my skillet. I always use the Costco frozen thighs & breasts which I place frozen in the pan and put the lid on for about 15 minutes on medium heat. After this amount of time I drain off all but about 3/4c of the chicken broth that cooks out of the frozen chicken. It's allot! At this point if the chicken is done it can be easily cut up into 'rough cubes' with no pinkness. I added a can of organic diced tomatoes, the spice packet and 3 Tbs of butter. The packet recommends cream but I didn't have any on hand .. or onions. It was still and amazing dish the tomato really lets the flavor of the butter shine through. It was rich enough without the cream. I will definitely make this again. I'd never eaten Butter chicken before but I knew it would be good not just because it is an Asian Home Gourmet mix but because people buy 4 or 5 at a time!

I also made Village Harvest Jasmine rice. I thought about making the Eastern Essence Khichdi. But I'm glad I stuck with the plain rice even though I'm craving the Khichdi because is basically a meal in itself and