Sorry for the delay in getting this up. I was hit this morning with a killer cold, and Oliver has an ear infection, so our house is just a joy to be in right now.
Anyways, this week I made the second of our four (it was three, but I just found another recipe that wasn’t under Spargel in the index) Spargel recipes, Krabbenragout, or shrimp ragout in English.
I bought the highest quality Spargel at the Spargel stand for this week’s recipe. I don’t think it is required by the recipe, since there’s so much other stuff in there, but I wanted to have Spargel with butter and ham today so I just got a 1 kg packet of the good stuff. We didn’t manage to eat today, so hopefully we’ll feel up to making the Spargel for tomorrow.
The recipe is pretty easy. I used medium-sized shrimp even though the photo with the recipe shows tiny shrimp. Rainer told me once I served it that these larger shrimp are more sweet, while the tiny North Sea shrimp that would usually be put in this are more salty, so it had a different flavor than what is probably meant (I love it when he tells me these things as I’m serving the meal).
I served it over wild rice and it was really delicious. It has a nice creamy, lemony sauce, that didn’t really feel heavy at all. The recipe said it made four portions, but our family ate it all up. Oliver passed back the asparagus this week, but happily ate the rest of the dish.
I also keep forgetting to mention that whenever a recipe calls for white pepper I’ve been substituting black. I’m slightly allergic to white pepper.
This was simple and delicious, I’d probably make it again. How did yours turn out?
Other participants (will be updated throughout the day):
- Stephanie at A Greenville Life
- Yelli at 50% of my DNA
- Vicky at TGAW
Next challenge!
I started translating the next white asparagus recipe, then realized that I needed to build up to it, it’s not something I could just do next weekend, so here’s the schedule:
- For Monday, May 11: Erdbeer-Bowle (Strawberry bowl) – It’s a punch made from wine and strawberries. It calls for 2 bottles of wine (one white, one sparkling) and says it’s for four people. This doesn’t half well, so I guess I’ll be bringing it to the housewarming party I’m attending next weekend. Rainer says you can also make this using Altbier from Düsseldorf, then it’s an Altbier-Bowle.
- For Monday, May 18: Prasselkuchen (Crackling Cake) – Our first cake, yay! It’s from Saxony and sounds easy and delicious.
- For Monday, May 25: Berliner Frikassee (Berliner Fricassee) – this it the Spargel recipe I was talking about. It calls for 300g of veal sweetbreads. I need about two weeks to get the courage up to cook and eat this. The sweetbread also needs to be ordered from a butcher. The picture does look really delicious though. I really hope someone else will make this with me cause I don’t want to do it alone!
- For Monday, June 1: Leipziger Allerlei (Leipzig Potpourri) – this looks a little like this week’s recipe, so I put it last. It uses crawfish instead of shrimp, and has a lot more ingredients, but looks similar to today’s shrimp ragout. I haven’t translated the recipe yet, but there’s plenty of time for that.
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Sold! I do believe I’m going to try this one! I’ll try to squeeze it in over the next week.
Vickys last blog post..Another Symptom of Baby Tick Obsession
We didn’t manage this week (partly time, partly because I’ve never shelled/deveined a shrimp in my life and am utterly clueless on that)….but I hope to do the Erdbeer Bowle!
maybe i’ll join in the Prasselkuchen challenge. saxon cake — made in saxony — by a saxon!
http://agreenvillelife.blogspot.com/2009/05/krabbenragout-shrimp-ragout.html
Here is my entry! Hope that your family is feeling better!
Stephanies last blog post..Krabbenragout (Shrimp Ragout)
Hmmm, I thought Leipziger Allerlei used Schwarzwurzel. It does in Lepzig! And the Berliner Fricassee I’ve seen has all been made with chicken. I wouldn’t even know where to buy veal sweetbreads — or any other veal — in Berlin.
Ed Wards last blog post..Fear And Strawberries
Looks delicious Christina!!
I’ve got an award for you on my blog, it’s in Saturdays post, it’s here: http://heavenisinbelgium.blogspot.com/2009/04/saturday-something-awwww-award-or-maybe.html
Jientjes last blog post..Ruby Tuesday Rock the Boat …
@ ed ward: leipziger allerlei recipes are like the ones for irish stew: the ingredients aren’t fixed.
My post is up! I didn’t know about the little shrimp either but I am excited to try that next time!
BTW: I love the pic of spargel you took here. Beautiful…
Yellis last blog post..Real German Cuisine Challenge: Krabbenragout
I think the confusion about the shrimp was due to a subtle translation error. “Garnelen” is the direct translation of the English term shrimp, of which there are many varieties. “Krabben” refers to specifically to North Sea shrimp, the kind you get fresh off the boat when you visit the harbor in Husum (except that these days most “Krabben” are shelled in Morocco)…
Real “Krabben” are rather expensive, so I can see why one would choose to use “Garnelen” instead.
Scott Hansons last blog post..Whiney Expat Bloggers Meetup 2009
It’s a shame but we don’t have the white asparagus (spargel)
that’s common in Deutschland here in the States. That’s a great
meal, spargel mit schinken. We don’t have schinken here either.
It’s sad that so much of our German culture has been lost.
@vicky: Let us know how it turns out!
@cn heidelberg: I cheated and used the frozen, shelled and deveined bio-shrimp from Aldi. The Erdbeer-Bowle sounds like fun though!
@rita: That would be great! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Prasselküchen and the recipe.
@stephanie: Slightly. Oliver and Rainer both have ear infections. So far I’m in the clear, but still have a bad cold.
@ed ward: I’m guessing it’s like any other regional specialty and every family has their own recipe, especially given the Allerlei nature of the dish. Also, I’ve only ever seen Berliner Fricassee with chicken, but I guess the author wanted to kick things up a notch there. I don’t normally think much of the Berliner Küche, so I was surprised at the recipe.
@yelli: Thanks for all the info on shrimp. I’ll be keeping that in mind in the future. The shrimp I used were frozen Bio-Garnelen from Aldi, not sure how they fit into the whole shrimp picture and whether they’re a better choice or not.
@scott: Ahhh, okay. Having never been to the North Sea (we are planning a trip there at some point), I didn’t know this. Leo.org gave crab or shrimp as the translation for Krabben and in the picture of the dish, it was clearly not crab, so I assumed shrimp.
@bud: Not sure what you mean. I know I’ve seen white asparagus in Virginia (I worked as a supermarket cashier in college, so I am sure about this), and Stephanie lives in North Carolina and made the Spargel mit Kratzete recipe. Vicky lives in NC too and since she’s planning on making the recipe, I assume she’s got access to Spargel as well.
My husband and I are moving to Germany (Bretten) for 6 months in June. I just found your blog, and it’s really helpful to have some idea of what to expect. Thank you!
sidenote: I live in South Carolina
Can’t wait to try the Erdbeer-Bowle – making it tomorrow evening to start off the weekend! Many thanks for having this recipe during our WONDERFUL strawberry season here (my family of 4 have already eaten over 3 gallons… and will eat as many as we can until the season is over!)
Stephanies last blog post..Butler Springs Park
@Erica: Thanks for commenting!
@stephanie: Whoops! I knew that. I was thinking too many things and scrambled them up I think. I meant to say that I lived in North Carolina and saw them there too, and that you live in SC. Yikes! No more blogging on cold medicine
Hi. I just wanted to say I’m in total agreement with your comment on AFM’s blog. I’m a far-left leaning, extended breastfeeding, attachment parenting practicing American, too. But I live in Wisconsin. You have a very cool blog. I am not great at planning very fancy meals for my family while juggling life with a baby and a 5 year old. I’ll hopefully get back in the swing soon. Best wishes.
@Teri: Thanks for stopping by, Teri
Alles gute zum Muttertag!
Harvey Morrells last blog post..Another thing I miss about Munich…
Thanks, Harvey!
I was a little intimidated by the number of ingredients in this week’s recipe so when I saw Krabben in the store, I thought I’d try this instead. No blog post (sorry, husband took camera to Switzerland for the weekend) I agree that the lemony sauce was really good. The (pre-shelled, non-fresh) Krabben that I used definitely have a different taste than normal shrimp (and unfortunately look kind of like meal worms… ick). I bet if you lived up north and could get them fresh, it would be amazing.
@amber: Glad to hear your thoughts on the recipe! I’ll have to try the fresh Krabben sometime, we’ve talked and talked about taking a North Sea coast vacation, so someday it’ll happen, I’m sure.
Guess what I saw in Farm Fresh last Friday! White Asparagus!
Vickys last blog post..Weekly Winners – June 21, 2009 – June 27, 2008 – Northwest River Park and Camden Causeway
You should make some, it’s delicious!
My post is nearly two months late– but here it is!
http://tgaw.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/real-german-cuisine-challenge-krabbenragout/
Big hit tonight! Thanks for the recipe!!!!
Vickys last blog post..Real German Cuisine Challenge: Krabbenragout
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