Our Grand Breakfast

What more could I ask for?
Here my day starts with fish.
We usually have salmon , prawn and the other one, I am yet to ask them its name, as you see below:


Then we have different varieties of Salami:


And we have wonderfull breads:

Here also, I lack knowledge required to introduce each one to you but I will learn soon.

Then we have fruits:


And cheese:

mmmm.... yummy!

There are endless varieties of flavoured youghurt. Strawberry is my favourite.
And then fruit juices, milk and cornflakes.


One can choose from scrambled- or boiled eggs. Last but not the least, there are sausages, too. A great start for the day! What say?

Kartoffeln mit Speck!

Finally I had it! And I loved it!

---- Kartoffeln mit Speck und Knoblauchsauce

Karttofel means 'potato'. Germans, like us, love potato and have many mouthwatering but simple recipes with it as the main ingredient. See, they have built a whole potato cottage and a cute little potato-darling is inviting you in.



Inside there were many other options but I went for Kartoffel mit Speck because I always wanted to taste it. Most of my friends love it. But doesn't it look exactly like our beloved 'alur dom'? (Alu= potato; 'alur dom' is a very popular Bengali dish. )

Dragonfruit!

Yes, that is what it is called!The lady serving tea told me.



It had a very suble taste, mildly sweet! I am curious to see the whole fruit!

The Star-Lotus Eaters

Not just in the poem of Tennyson or in the short story of Maugham, there are lotus eaters among us also.


---- A Lady Selling Shapla Flowers at Lake Market, Rasbehari Avenue, Kolkata

This flower is called 'shaluk' or 'shapla' in Bengali. It is not lotus but some tiny sister of lotus, as you can see the similarity. This adorns the ponds of Bengal in villages and can mainly found in two colours: white and pinkish red. Shapla is the national flower of Bangladesh.
I must admit I do not lnow how they cook it. I have not yet got the opportunity to taste it either.

The Puja Gourmet! ;P

What would have happened to atheists like me if Prasad were not there in Pujas?
How could I possibly take part in the festivities if the feast were not there? Thankfully it is quite an important part (actually the only important part for me)in our pujas. Why so? You can easily understand just throwing a glance at what my mom's goddess has on her plate eveyday:



So, just for my mom's daily tiny Puja, we have here,
Narkoler narhu
Tiler narhu
Khoier moa
Kadma
Batasa
Chal-kola
Khejur
Guava
Banana

Usually my mom also gets sweets, in addition, and all seasonal fruits. So, you can imagine what happens in the large-scale pujas like Durgapuja organised by the local clubs or Saraswati pujas in schools. Oh! Sitting all classmaltes together on a row with banana leaves in front of us and khichuri, begun bhaja, bandhkopir tarkari, mishti doi, rasogolla appearing on it one after thee other --- makes me so nostalgic (read:drooling). Saraswati puja happens usually end January. The weather is wonder full with winter leaving and spring approaching. The fragrance of Shiuli flower (also of the food ;P)is in the air.
Durga puja Prasad was forbidden for us because father was atheist at home. (Actually all sorts of Prasad were forbidden but Goddess Saraswati, the Puja and all related fun used to take place in school, so naturally beyond the reach of the home ministry.)Usualy young members of the local Puja-commitee or club used to distribute Prasad-packets door-to-door. Had they ever come across father unfortunately, either the Prasad had been rudely refused with the door slammed on the poo boy's face or it had to go directly to the bin but to stomach when, rarely though, we managed to open the door. The Puja khichuri, with a big piece of potato in it, and the ladrha (the special mixed vegetable curry)always has a very special taste for me.
The Pooja feast is always strictly vegetarian for us. Even onoin and garlic cannot be added to any dish since those are non-veg.:) And no masoor daal which is also non-vegetarian.

Building Kebap Connection

---- The Very Popular Döner: One of the Celebrities Among Snacks

Even before I have realised, I became a frequent visitor to Germany's possibly the most popular turkish food chain. One possible reason is that it reminds me of shawarma I used to have from Kerala food joints on Bangalore streets.
Usually I have a small portion like a Döner-viertel (quarter) or a halb (half) there but today I had a dinner.
Just have a look:


This looked like chicken and vegetable stew to me but my companion cried, "Looks exactly like Saambar!" No comments!
And these were complementary with this:



Quite a lot for one tiny stomach like mine! Right?

On Königstraße, Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof

I never thought I would find something like this on Königstraße.
This looks so so so spicy.

No I have not yet tasted it. It looks too spicy even for the feast for my eyes.
It is cheese-pepper salat with onion rings. really eye catching with yellow and red peppers.

And look at this.

Doesn't this look like paneer curry. It is sheep milk cheese. Paneer is cottage cheese. Only after tasting it I can tell you, if it is paneer from sheep milk or not. It's a Corsican dish cooked in olive oil, with garlic and some selected herbs. Looks yummy and good for vegetarians!

And this is Peperoni from southern France:


There were innumerable examples like these on Königstraße posing as an unbearable contrast to people begging,though not for mere food, I am sure, and not really comparable to my poor motherland. But still, affluence and wealth at one hand and people asking for money on the other, did create a very disturbing cohabitation for me.
Poverty exists eveywhere, though not always equally acute.



----- A Foodstore on Königstraße

Maultaschensuppe -- Swabian Pockets!

I tried this today. This was my dinner.
Maultaschen means 'pasta pockets'. In the dictionary you may find the English name as 'Pasta Squares'. These are actually pasta pockets filled with minced meat.
This is a Swabian preparation.

Gaisburger Marsch

Bandnudeln in Schinken-Sahnesauce! That was my first dinner in Germany. And I fell in love with German food. Love at first taste? Yeahhh!

Mostly I eat Gaisburger Marsch at dinner.


This is a soup with potato and softcooked beef and these noodles. This is really light and gives me energy and refreshes me at the end of the day.

And yesterday at lunch I had Lachsfilet mit Kartoffeln: salmon fish fillet with potato.

Putencurry mit Reis

As far as food is concerned, I am having a blast here.
At breakfast I usually have fish. Incredible! Also I can have boiled- and/or scrambled egg, salami, sausages. There is a wonderful variety of breads always. And cheese, of course!
At lunch we have innumerable variety at much cheaper rate. I can have salads, beef, duck, fish etc. There are desserts, different types of rice.



This is Putencurry mit Reis, one of my favourites among dinner-dishes.
It is turkey. The taste is subtle, not spicy at all. I felt it was cooked with butter.

After a long time my taste buds are having solace.
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