Normally, I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but this year was different. I’ve decided I want to expand my horizons into the field of German cooking. Up until now, I handled the American and Asian cuisines, and let Rainer take care of cooking European dishes. This year, in order to learn a little more about my country of residence, I’m going to cook every recipe in Die echte deutsche Küche
Along with the typical Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes), Maultaschen (Schwabian ravioli), Sauerbraten (sour roast), Schweinebraten (pork roast) and Apfelstrüdel, are some of the more extreme German delicacies, like Saures Lüngerl (sour calf lung), Gebratene Leber (fried liver), Gefüllter Saumagen (filled cow pig stomach), Saure Kartoffelstückchen mit Blutwurst (sour potatoes pieces with blood sausage), and Aal grün (green eel).
I’m going to have to substitute chicken for the rabbit in a couple dishes. I had pet house rabbits and just can’t imagine cooking one. I had also planned on trying to skip out on making Zunge in Rosinensauce (cow tongue in raisin sauce). The idea of eating a cow tongue is stomach turning, but Rainer just gushes about how delicious it is. I thought, maybe I just need some inducement, and then the Weblog Awards came along. So here’s the deal:
If my blog is voted Best European Blog (non UK), I will not only make and eat cow tongue, I will record my first bite and post it as a Video Wednesday.
Voting just opened, so remember to vote today and every day for the next week, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll be seeing me try cow tongue later this year.
Anyone want to do this challenge with me? (Making the recipes, not eating the cow tongue, well, unless you want to!)
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Just voted for you, but these things are usually just a contest of who has the most readers / most dedicated visitors.
In the end it’s 90% people’s own readers voting for their blogs and 10% people’s readers voting for other blogs or ‘new’ people actually checking out all the blogs and making an objective vote.
Still hope you win
Especially cuz I’ll get to see you eat that, haha.
Bas - Istanbul Expats last blog post..Bulgaria’s Public Opinion on the Turkish Minority
Thanks for your vote, Bas! I know it’s a popularity contest. Not sure if I have enough readers who’ll go vote every day for me to win, but you never know!
Just a note, my mom is German and makes tongue, but she peels it before eating and serves it to guests without telling them what it is. They always like it, but she won’t tell them what it is until the next day after the dinner and then they are shocked that it is tongue.
Heidis last blog post..Nikolaustag 2008
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. LOL! I’ll vote for you, but not so you will eat cow tongue. Stuffed stomach sounds at least as stomach turning to me.
That’s comforting! Peeling it might be a good idea. The surface is a big part of what makes it look gross. But would that be cheating, since the recipe and picture don’t mention peeling the tongue?
Christina Gs last blog post..The Real German Kitchen
@maria: LOL! You crack me up. Rainer tells me that you don’t eat the stomach, just the stuffing, so I think I can handle that.
Christina Gs last blog post..The Real German Kitchen
And sour calf lung tastes like a lemon drop. LOL!
Marias last blog post..Addressing CA’s Prop 8… Part II
Oh yeah, that one is going to be a tough one to eat too.
My mom used to make cow tongue, she would boil it then skin it before putting it in a stew. It was tender and delicious. I would definitely eat it again - but I don’t think I’d be so keen on the preparation. You should try it whether you win or lose! (But definitely skin it first - ewww..taste buds!)
Tongue is considered a delicacy in Czech/Polish cuisine as well, so I have tried it but texture is just too important to me and I can’t take it. Never heard of peeling it which seems against the concept of a poor people using all the buts of he cow that can be used.
I thought about joining you in cooking: I need a boost to cook more interesting recipes, but the book is available used at 70euros and that’s too much for me. If you want to post/send recipes in advance, I would be into it. Off to vote for you now;)
Gs last blog post..Can Hit**r be humorous?
Hey Christina,
Can you put a sticky up with the address to vote for you?
And although I like to see you win, if you do I will feel all kinds of gult having made you eat tongue. My father raves about it, but ugh. I received a wonderful german cook book at our wedding - kochen mit grundrezepte and there are similar recipes (sans photos).
anns last blog post..first post from unterwegs
@lynn: I’ll probably make it whether I win or lose, trying it will be something I decide on the spot if I don’t win. Skinning it would probably make it more palatable.
@G: I was thinking about how to work that out. I don’t want to word for word copy all the recipes here, that would be copyright infringement, but maybe I can translate them to English and then post them. How much notice would you want? One week, two weeks?
@ann: There should be a message at the top of each page with a link, also clicking the logo in the right sidebar takes you to the voting page as well.
Rainer raves about the tongue too, so I don’t think I’ll get out of making it either way. Don’t feel guilty about making me eat it, I want to try new things and winning would just help me get over that last mental hump
That reminds me, when we got married at the Standesamt in Berlin-Mitte, the civil servant handed me a German cookbook after we signed the marriage license. I guess that’s what all German wives need
Christina Gs last blog post..The Real German Kitchen
how funny about the cooking! I have done similar challenges myself (I am still working on the huge stack of recipes that I have torn out of magazines!)
I would be interested in hearing about your German cooking - I was going to make rouladen yesterday! I would also be interested in knowing if the recipes are truly something that is eaten in kitchens today or if it is something that is only seen once in a while or is just fondly remembered b/c of the grandparents.
Good luck with the contest! I voted!
Stephanies last blog post..Back to the ole Routine
Ugh. I think it is has been way too soon for me to read this post after getting off a rocking boat. The thought of ingesting cow tongue makes me feel really ill.
But I’ll still vote for you!
Vickys last blog post..Greetings From Virgin Gorda
You go girl! Christina, I Like your approach to german cooking! I am a german native myself and waiting for your reports.LOL Although I have to say, if it says Saumagen, it can’t be cow stomach. I am palatinate, where this recipe originates, and there is not a cow’s stomach to be used for that dish! Good luck with cooking!
@stephanie: I think people still eat these dishes. Rainer orders liver quite often in restaurants and the other week he had Saumagen (pig stomach).
@vicky: LOL, thanks
@silvia: You’re right! It’s pig stomach, duh!
you should really give poached tongue in white sauce with white and green asparagus a try. once you’ve cut the tongie to really thin filets, it doesn’t look like tongue anymore. it’s really delicious. can’t wait for the asparagus season to kick off again for that matter.
Give me a week for an ordinary recipe and I can handle it. Extraordinary ingredients would need a little more time:)
@rita: There are so many people saying how good tongue is, I’m guessing it’s true. Still not sure I could manage the texture. I can’t wait for Spargel season either.
@g: Sure thing. As soon as this contest is over I will sit down and figure out what can be made when (spargel>spargelzeit, etc).
Christina, that cookbook thing at the standesamt cracked me up! LOL
:):)
German man-german wife=lucky
German man-alien wife=cookbook???
I am wondering if that Standesbeamte felt sorry for Rainer, or if the whole thing was an insault.
But I guess he did not know that you are the crack of asian cooking and how lucky Rainer really is!LOL
He probably never ever thought that you are whipping up all these dishes in a heartbeat!:-D
just found your site via the blog award site (you got my vote) and am liking it! I’m also an expat in Germany (married to a German) and have been here nearly 2 years now.
Looking forward to having fun perusing your links and reading some back-posts - and of course seeing the new ones! Thanks for creating this blog - it’s so good to hear how others are swinging things over here!
Cow tongue was on the Weihnachts- program again this year. This time again, I helped Oma make it.
How she does it: (warning, probably too graphic for weak bellied.)
In two days, Day 1: Cook it under water like you would for a chicken when making a broth with veggies just below boil, skimming it for the first hour or until no foam appears. It takes about 3-4 hours to cook. Then take the tongue out of the broth and proceed to take off the white outer cover while it’s hot, it is easiest to peel it off then, but watch your fingers. Allow to cool over night.
Day 2: Clean the tongue of debris. The tip is the most tender part and not much to remove just cut in slices. Near the base of the tongue: we cut away the semi-hard outer brown parts esp. large taste buds on the top or sides, on the underside cut anything pillowy or artery looking stuff.
(After helping Oma 2 years in a row, I’m still unclear what is not edible. My thoughts are that you could eat it all, it is just a matter of your guests’ squimish-level. Point of reference: use the meat at mid-way point of the tongue for reference on what is presentable. Meaning: all pieces should look uniform in texture. )
Reheat the pieces in your favorite sauce (preferably made with some the Zunge broth)
Wow Heza! Thanks for the tips. I think you need to come over when we make it and help me out
Christina Gs last blog post..Week in Photos - 11 January 2009
Just envisioning the following scene:
Q: So now your mum is trying german cuisine?
A: Yes. We recently had “Kaninchen mit Pilzen”, which is rabbit with mushrooms.
Q: How did it taste like?
A: It tasted like chicken.