Petra De Hamer

Turkish Picnic in the Park

We’re working very, very hard on finishing our upcoming cookbook – the Dutch edition will be out this Fall and who knows, maybe in English sooner than we think! We dedicate four pages to one of the most favorite hobbies of all Berliners: having a picnic in the park. Read more…

Compote: A Different Kind of Jam

My first couple of years in Berlin, I happily joined the jam-making madness. In spring and summer, when the fruit is cheap and almost overripe, the markets are crowded. You will see people buying way too much fruit and I bet you: about to make way too much jam for the rest of the year. Read more…

Russian Okroshka

Spring in Berlin starts with the blooming of ten thousands of Japanese cherry blossom trees. The Japanese donated them after the Fall of the Wall in1989. Just a few days after they have started blooming, it rains pink leaves. And from one day to the other, Read more…

Scones with Cranberries & Cherries

When I was young, Easter wasn’t complete without matzos with butter, sugar and garden cress – something I still eat around this time of year. In Berlin, the stores and bakeries are filled with chocolate eggs and bunny shaped bread rolls as of early February. Whoever celebrates Easter with a brunch, can’t go without lots […] Read more…

Kaiserschmarrn

Felix Austria is a tiny little restaurant in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Red and white checkered tablecloths, dark wooden furniture, bottles of the herb-lemonade Almdudler in the fridge. On the menu: sausage salad, potato salad, goulash, Marillenknödel (Apricot Knodel), and these Kaiserschmarrn, an Austrian pancake dessert. Read more…

Käsespätzle

Every self-respecting little village in Bavaria, Austria or Switzerland has it on the menu: Käsespätzle (cheese noodles). This quick, home-made pasta is made by squeezing the dough through a special flat colander-like equipment called a Spätzlesieb. Read more…

Avocado Toast & Poached Egg

Which restaurant doesn’t serve it, Avocado Toast? Both Tal and I like to make a quick sandwich of toasted bread and avocado for lunch, but I also like to order them at nice Berlin lunch spots such as Melbourne Canteen, Roamers or Betty’n Caty. Read more…

Berliner Buletten

Today we’re cooking flattened meatballs, a traditional German snack. Like a lot of German dishes, different names are used throughout the country. In the north, the Heimat of my favorite pilsner (Flensburger), these meatballs are called Frikadellen. In Berlin, we call them Buletten. Read more…

Christmas Stollen

Dresden, a two-hour drive from Berlin, is the hometown of the real Christstollen (Christmas Stollen). It’s serious business: about 130 bakers make these famous breads every year. There is one more or less secret basic recipe, but all bakers make their own variations. Traditionally, you should buy a stollen two to four weeks before Christmas. […] Read more…

Ulla’s Glögg & Ginger-Licorice Cookies

My Danish friend Ulla, who opens a coffee shop in Berlin next January, is a great cook and also knows how to bake the most delicious cookies. For her traditional Advent Party she made eight different versions, among which these crispy ginger cookies with raw licorice powder. Cookies with licorice? It may sound odd, but […] Read more…

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