This week’s challenge was an Erdbeer-Bowle (Strawberry punch), combining a bottle of Mosel wine, some strawberries, and some sparkling wine. We’ve got plenty of Mosel wine from Rainer’s cousin’s vineyard, and Rainer picked up some Asti to use for the sparkling wine. He thinks the sweetness of the Asti will go very well with the sweetness of the Mosel Rieslings. But why am I writing in the future tense, you ask?
I was sick all week (bronchitis), and left the buying of the strawberries for Saturday. Rainer went to four (yes, FOUR) different supermarkets on Saturday and ALL were sold out of strawberries. WTF? I know three of them were well-stocked with berries last week. Is it some German Mother’s Day tradition I have not heard about to buy up all the strawberries in the markets?
Anyways, I’ve got a lot to do in the village tomorrow, so I’ll stop by our local shop and see if they’ve gotten new stock in. Otherwise, I’ll head in to Regensburg on Tuesday and make it then. One way or the other, I’ll update this post by Tuesday evening!
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I stopped by the market this morning (Monday) and found a nice big selection of strawberries from Italy. They looked beautiful so I started sniffing. In case you’re not good at picking out strawberries, to get the best ones, you should smell the packages. If they don’t smell like anything, they won’t taste like anything either. The more deliciously strawberry they smell, the better they’ll taste.
I grabbed the two best smelling packs, I only needed one for the Bowle, since I was making a half-batch using individual Asti bottles, but Oliver was going nuts and he’s a little strawberry fiend, so he got a pack just for himself.
I quartered, and in some cases tenthed the strawberries (they were huge) and put them in a tupperware pitcher (might as well skip having to wash a bowl). Then I opened the wine, a Riesling Spätlese, measured out 400 mL, and poured it in. I covered the pitcher and stuck it in the fridge for a couple hours.
After Rainer got home, I poured the Asti bottles in and we enjoyed. It was a nice refreshing drink. I didn’t even really notice the alcohol at first, but by the bottom of the glass, I could feel it in my head.
The sweetness of the Asti slightly overpowered the Riesling, but Rainer thought it was a good choice of sparkling wine for the Bowle (he’s the expert, I know nothing about wines).
I think it would be a great drink for an early summer garden party. And as Heidelbergerin mentions, this recipe is very rich in strawberries. When I’ve seen this at festivals, there’s usually just a couple berries floating in the glass.
Other participants (will be updated throughout the day):
- Stephanie at A Greenville Life
- CN Heidelberg at Heidelbergerin
Next challenge!
- 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 calls for 300g of veal sweetbreads. The sweetbread needs to be ordered from a butcher. The picture looks really delicious, so I hope someone else will make this with me cause I don’t want to do it alone!
If you haven’t done a challenge, feel free to join in anytime you want. You can do it as a one-time thing, or as often as you’d like.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I think one of your mistakes was going to the supermarket. Aren’t local berries available yet? I remember those little kiosks in the shape of a strawberry which popped up all over Berlin in the springtime; they always had great berries. But there were also people selling them on the sidewalk.
Meanwhile, your supermarket’s probably getting them from Spain, and they taste like cucumbers.
Ed Wards last blog post..Vive La France, First in a Series
Here is my entry! I agree – the strawberries are better from your local vendors – definitely worth it!
I also recommend making next week’s recipe along with this – it was nice to have to munch while having your drink!
Stephanies last blog post..Erdbeer-Bowle (Strawberry Bowl)
http://cndrnh.blogspot.com/2009/05/amiexpats-erdbeer-bowle-strawberry-bowl.html – Here’s mine
CN Heidelbergs last blog post..AmiExpat’s Erdbeer-Bowle (Strawberry Bowl) Challenge!
hey! i just came across your site from blogher. i’m an ami expat too! your site looks great. hope you don’t mind if i start reading it!
Jessies last blog post..busy bees
@ed: Local berries aren’t available here yet. We’ve got a strawberry patch in our garden and the plants are in flower now. Probably won’t have berries till June. I avoid produce from Spain and Holland, neither are any good.
@stephanie: I’m all there with you on the local produce. I live in a small village with plenty of farms around, so getting locally produced stuff is easy, it just isn’t quite strawberry time here yet.
@cn heidelberg: Great!
@jessie: Welcome! Nice to “meet” you!
The post is updated now. And I need to get to the butcher and order the veal sweetbreads ASAP!
My aunt usually refines this bowl with some fresh mint leaves or even – and that was unusual for my grandmother’s taste but I quite like it – fresh basil. Especially when you use sparkling wine the bowl can turn into a too sweet drink – the fresh herbs sort of counter that. I highly recommend it.
@Marlene: The recipe had an optional sprinkling of Zitronenmelisse, but I skipped that since I’ve never actually seen it before. It might just be that I never looked for it. The next time I make this I’ll try it with herbs though. The basil sounds really interesting.
Hi Christina!
I will be moving to Germany in late August/early September. I’m really enjoying reading your blog. It is getting me super excited to get there, and also helping me to prepare!! Thanks for all the great advice/interesting posts
-Christine
Christines last blog post..opalinefeather:
missdreass:ronniebruce:isntlifejuicy:
i love…
You’re welcome, Christine! Thanks for commenting!
i’m a bit early, but i don’t know when i will get home tomorrow to post the entry. so here it is: rita’s attempt at making Prasselkuchen.
http://rita.blogkade.de/archives/1709-christinas-baking-challenge-Prasselkuchen.html
ps. in the next few weeks my provider is changing the name of the subdomain. so instead of “blogkade”, my URL will read “1on”. but i will let you know once they made the switch.
@rita: Cool post, love all the tips. Mine will post tomorrow morning, but I added your link to it already.
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