Eating, drinking, buying, making
Clear eyes, full bellies, can't lose
The treats of this week will be categorised by the following acronym: EDBM
Like Electronic dance music with a b sandwiched in the middle
Song I’m listening to while writing this — It gets a little crazy from the halfway mark, but I encourage you to listen on.
E: What I’m Eating this week
This week, my belly blessed to cross paths with Habibi in the Schöneberg neighbourhood in Berlin. Now a stone’s throw away from my new flat, I’m pleased to know that some of Berlin’s finest falafel, schawarma, and makkali (fried veggies) there is to offer. I’ve only recently begun to pull the curtain back on the plethora of Arabic establishments peppered around Berlin. These are the kinds of establishments that come through word of mouth, not by a trendy-chic post on instagram of a wine bottle, sourdough bread and whipped butter. In the mood for something to fill the stomach, and also the heart, without the need to queue, my partner whispered Habibi into my ear (sexy). Having grown up in Berlin, he spent his Sundays breaking bread and sipping Aryan with his family at Habibi — one of Berlin’s oldest Arabic restaurants (it’s even advertised here on the Visit Berlin website).
Hands down, Habibi has the best falafel I have ever had in Berlin (and beyond). Together we shared the Habibi Highlight Platte, which was essentially a tasting platter of all the delicious delights on offer.
The plate hit every taste, and more: creamy, crunchy, spicy, hearty, zingy… every bite makes me excited to take another. You can tell that the ingredients they use are very fresh, the shawarma is made from real meat (no pink-slime-like meat here). If you come, promise me to take the fresh Ayran — a cold, savoury, beverage made from yogurt, water and salt. This elixir dances in tandem with the savouriness of the food by washing away the previous taste, setting the stage for the one to come.
If you come to Habibi, promise me that you will pair your meal with a glass of Ayran. Even if you are lactose intolerant (like my boyfriend), your meal will be well-worth it.
D: What I’m Drinking this week
This week, A and I celebrated the fact that it was Wednesday by getting a bottle of our favourite (my favourite) Gamay.
The juiciness of a gamay grape is incomparable to other red varieties, and this one is elevated to thirst-quenching status with the addition of bubbles. Adding a little more sparkle to each sip, this bubbly red from the Jean Christophe Jézéquel in the Loire Valley is my dream wine.
Despite it’s bubbles and colour, this wine fits any and all occasions — like a little black dress. It will always be a show-stopper, but effortlessly so. It’s not quite acidic, nor is it too funky, but the depth of flavour is definitely makes itself known on your palate. Like a much sexier grape juice, everyone is bound to like it because it’s approachable yet still feels a little special. If you come across the bottle, do yourself a favour and add it to your cart (unless you live in Berlin, then don’t and message me where to get it because we can’t find it anymore).
B: What I’m Buying this week
Too good to go has been a gift that keeps on giving. Too good to go is an app that gives restaurants, grocers, and other establishments alike to sell their leftover items at a reduced price. I had heard about the app a few years ago, yet neglected to actually use it.
Everything changed when a little birdie told me about a Too Good to Go bag they had received from La Maison. In case you haven’t read my croissant brief, La Maison is the place to be in Berlin. Boasting some of the best baked goods in the city, the thought of a bag filled with leftover almond croissants, financiers, baguettes, chocolate date cookies…. I’m salivating as I type this. Thus, I made it my mission to acquire one of these bags. The task at hand was not as simple as it made itself out to be. The way that the app works is that a bag can only be purchased during a small window of time — a window that changes everyday. Even after asking the staff what time I should check the app, I still failed to snag the bag. Selling out in mere minutes, I was starting to see that these bags were a commodity hotter than the latest Supreme drop.
And then I got lucky. On a whim, I refreshed my app and saw for the first time that I had the option to make a purchase. Acting on pure instinct, I double-tapped and somehow got myself a bag. Sauntering to the bakery with a little extra pep in my step, I felt like I had one the lottery and was going to retrieve my bounty in the form of baked goods.
The experience was better than I could have ever anticipated. In addition to the gems already stowed away in the Too Good to Go bag, the sweet patron filled my bag with fistfuls of choux and madeleines before handing me the bag. The icing on top of a treasure chest already brimming with gems.
Dinner that evening was a fun one — we had no other choice but to celebrate our good fortune.
Check to see if the city that you are in offers a Too Good To Go. A fantastic concept, that definitely keeps me coming back for more. (And if you live in Berlin, you already know where to go ;) )
M: What I’m making this week
Pici pasta! Sending one too many emails made me hungry to use my hands to make something tangible, so on Wednesday night (alongside the wine), we dusted off our countertop, pulled out the flour and eggs, and began to built the quintessential well that makes space for dough to be born. I’ve only made fresh pasta once in my life, and fettuccini was the noodle of choice. I recall the experience being fun, yet a bit disheartening because striving for straight lines and even thickness throughout is a difficult feat for me, an average home cook. Set out to do something a bit more, rustic, we decided to make Pici pasta — a shape that shines when made by hand. By hand-rolling each noodle, each one is going to come out a little different than the next. This offered us encouragement to continue on.
The sauce that we made was out of this world. What initially wanted to be a zucchini-lemon sauce, turned into something magical with the addition of capers and a beyond-wonderous find from Albatross:
After caramelising an onion (a lot of it), I added in some smoked paprika, salt, and a spoonful or two of the bottarga jam (anchovies could also be used). After giving that a good mix, the concoction was begging for something vinegary, so I added in a squirt or two of Franks. The potion was coming together in a way neither of us could have predicted. For something green, we threw in some salted zucchini with the water squeezed out.
The concoction was so good, we had to make a verbal agreement to stop snacking on the contents in the pot, or else we would have had all this pasta, and no sauce.
The noodles and the sauce married perfectly together. This dinner wasn’t a Jamie Oliver thirty-minute meal, but the taste reflected the care and effort put into each step of the process — and this is the one ingredient that money can’t buy.
Lot’s of food this week. But who’s complaining. What’s life without something delicious? The way to my heart is through my stomach.
It was a good week indeed.
x
P
I love Pria‘s enthusiasm, she’s an eye opener for quality casual food
next time I can lend you my pasta machine :)