Let Me Tell You About My Ham

It all started on the beach of Castelldefels, outside of Barcelona. I was in one of the restaurant/containers on the promenade & I wanted lunch. When in Spain, one does not eat sandwiches. One eats bocadillos - crispy baguette-like rolls with 1 - 2 fillings (ham or cheese). I saw the bocadillos with Serrano ham, as well as Jamon Iberico. I went for the Jamon Iberico, even though I didn't know what it was; "Iberian Ham" - when in Iberia... It was a 9€ sandwich, and completely worth it. Ever since then, I have scoffed at Jamon Serrano, even though it is much easier to find. Jamon Iberico, the more elusive ham, is a different variety of pig, it is feed a different diet, and is aged longer. In the last 6 months, I have bought 2 hams (one shoulder, one rear leg) and my life seems to revolve around it - making sure it doesn't melt in the morning sun, worrying about it while I'm on vacation - I'm into my ham.

Last night, I needed to cook the monster asparagus I bought from the farm. They were giant stalks, at least 1 1/2 " in diameter. I wasn't all that into making a soup or crepes or anything phenomenally out of the world. I just wanted to use the asparagus as long as it was still good. I opted for a variation of a German classic: boiled asparagus, boiled potatoes and cooked ham, all with Hollandaise sauce. Instead of a hollandaise, I used the wild leek pistou I have kicking around, and tossed the potatoes in that. And instead of cooked ham, I used my Jamon Iberico, which has been drying on my kitchen table for the last 3 weeks.

A little bit of lemon juice for the potatoes and the asparagus - Mucho yummy!

Kid Goat, Taken from Mom

Through a series of unfortuntate events, I tried to escape work early after work before a long weekend, and instead found myself at the local goat farm. All I can say is that Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) was not working well yesterday.

Normally, I visit the goat farm's stand at my local farmer's market, but while I was out in the middle of nowhere, why not pop by the farm itself? As coincidence would have it, I was at the farm exactly 1 year ago for a wine & cheese tasting, where I got a tour of the farm. As a life-long city girl, I never really thought about where my cheese comes from. I know that goat cheese comes from goat milk and that mammals produce milk after children are born. Well, in order to ensure that the milk ends up as my cheese, and not as the food for some young kid, the "excess" kids are slaughtered, usually the males, as the females will produce more milk in later years. It all makes so much sense, and had I ever bothered to think about it, I would have figured if out on my own, I'm sure. Really.

Springtime is the time to get the young male kids. I did not grow up in a household with goat, but I have fond childhood memories involving my mother's excitement upon finding goat dishes in the most unusal places. Against my jeuvenile judgement, I tried the goat, and although I never insisted that my mom make it at home, I wasn't turned off by it. My mom is a picky eater, and if it's good enough for her, then it must be good.

The first thing I did after I bought my 600g rack of goat was call my mom. When I was at the farm, I told Stefanie (the lady of the farm) that my mom would be jealous. My mom wasn't exactly jealous, but she had more ideas then I knew what to do with. Ideally, I'll be buying meat exclusivly from the goat farm for the rest of the season. I never really listened to my mom in the first place, but she did give me some good ideas. And I think the next time she'll visit will be in springtime for goat season. If she cooks, I'll certainly welcome her visit.

Roasted Kid Goat
600g piece of kid goat back (loin with ribs - bone in)
1 lemon
1 Tbsp chopped thyme
1 tsp chopped rosemary
2 bay leaves
salt & pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 c french apple cidre (or substitute water + 1 Tbsp honey)
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme

Grate zest off of lemon & set aside. Clean meat, if necessary. Squeeze lemon & wash meat in juice. Salt & pepper meat. Place meat, along with thyme, rosemary, lemon zest, garlic and2 bay leaves in ziploc bag and allow to marinate overnight, or at least 4 hours.

Put goat in pan, add a splash of cidre, along with 2 bay leaves and 4 spigs of fresh thyme. Roast goat at 220° for 10 minutes, then turn the heat to 180°. Add more cidre. After ca. 45 minutes, turn heat down to 150°, and continue to roast. Baste continually (or whenever you remember). Keep the thing in the oven for a total of 2 hours.

I was thrilled with the tenderness of the meat, as well as the slightly sweet sauce I got out of it. To accompany my springtime treat, I made some simple quinoa, tossed in the wild leek pistou my friend gave me. Right now, I'm so content that I've forgotten about yesterday's traffic troubles. I might even pop by the farm again on the way home from work. And, yes, I'll call my mom to tell her how to cook goat.

Allium Ursinum - Bears Like It (And so do I)

For a gastronome, springtime means a lot of things in Germany. It means the onset of fresh asparagus, fresh strawberries, and it also means the arrival of "Bärlauch", commonly known as wild leeks. Bärlauch means "Bear's Chives" and are apparently thusly named because bears would dig them up in the forests. The Latin name is Allium Ursinum, and I can only believe that the German language used Latin to find a name, because, frankly, there are no bears in Germany to dig the stuff up. In the years I've been here, there has only been 1 bear, Bruno. He caused such a stir that he was shot. Unfortunately, Bruno was only in Germany during the early summer and I think he missed the leeks.

This year, a friend of mine was presented with a 1 Kilo bag of wild leeks. She knew that she had to do something with them to preserve them so she made a kind of pistou - a pesto without nuts or cheese. Normally a pistou is made of garlic, olive oil and basil, but because wild leeks are leafy & have a garlicky flavour, all you need is oil and salt. She opted for rapeseed oil (any other neutral oil will do) and sea salt. After visiting her for brunch this weekend, I was given a jar of the wild leek pistou. I tried it on boiled potatoes & found it heavenly. To be honest, I've just been eating it out of the jar in the evenings after work. She has a kilo of the stuff. I can get more.

Two-toned Asparagus

I stumbled upon this idea at my foodie friend's website Shizuoka Gourmet. Considering it is still "Spargelzeit", I can get fresh asparagus nearly anywhere in Germany. I opted for Aldi. Yes, there is Spargel at Aldi. Granted, it is 2nd Grade, but I don't really care.

There are many grades of asparagus in Germany, but I believe the most important thing to look for is size. Width matters (please keep any phallic comments to yourself). Width is important with white asparagus because it needs to be peeled and extra diameter in "untreated" asparagus means that there is something left over. Grade 2 asparagus is still large in diameter, it is simply not as straight. I don't really care about this for 2 reasons: 1) I do not believe that organic material should be symmetrical and 2) it all evens out when you peel it.

In this dish, I got to finally try out the 12-year old vinegar I bought over 6 months ago. You don't need to break out a vinegar that has the same per ounce value as Dom Perignon, you can use a balsamico sauce.

This was my first time poaching eggs, and I still have a lot to learn. But I know that I'll be practicing this a few more times before "Spargelzeit" is over.

Two-Toned Asparagus with Poached Eggs
4 stalks green asparagus
2 stalks white asparagus, peeled
2 eggs
1 leaf wild leeks
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar (or sauce)

Sautee asparagus in olive oil. Poach eggs. Sautee wild leeks. Layer asparagus and eggs. Garnish with fried wild leeks. Drizzle balsamic vinegar over eggs.



Wild Leeks, also known as wild garlic, ramsom or ramps, are another springtime treat. Known under the Latin name Allium Ursinium, they are found in the woods and emit a strong garlic smell. They can be found right now (at least in my neighbourhood) and, like asparagus, should be enjoyed as long as the season lasts!