On Tuesday, I was on the phone with my good colleague Sarah, with whom I have “the food conspiracy” project, and she suggested me to have dinner at Amacord, an typical Austrian restaurant. The restaurant was not far away, so I decided to give it a try.
The place was traditional Viennese (dark wood furniture, beiges walls, no music) and packed with people. I hesitated a while whether to stay or to have sushi at Kujiro instead. Kujiro is an excellent sushi bar, very small (7 seats) and the cooks and owners are Japanese.
I ordered the lamb osso buco with chanterelles and mashed potatoes. The last time I ate osso buco was about 6-7 years ago, and it was cooked especially for me by my lovely grandmother. She cooked the veal (not lamb) osso bucco in a soup with cabbage, carrots, zucchini, potatoes and cilantro. As she always does specially for me, she separated the bone’s marrow on a separate plate, so I could eat it with lime juice on a corn-tortilla.
I still remember the first time I had osso buco (called chamberete in Chihuahua) cooked by my granny. My sister and me had friends who stayed overnight and she made us osso buco tacos for dinner…it was delicious.
The lamb osso buco I had was heavy (I had to order two glasses of red wine - an excellent Zweigelt - and decided to walk home to support my digestion), but tasty. The portion was maybe too big for me, but the mashed potatoes were simply fantastic! I remembered that by mixing boiled potatoes, salt and butter you can get one of the best culinary inventions ever.
The best about Amacord were the memories that my meal triggered. Mamá Bertha, my grandmother, is a second mom for me, for my sister and for my brother…and also for all my cousins. She is always smiling and telling all of us how much she loves us.
Since I can remember, she takes medicated pills to control her blood pressure and her pain (arthritis), nevertheless she is never complaining. She is simply full of love. When I get old, I don’t want to be like the old people from my last blog, I want to be like mamá Bertha.
viernes, 12 de agosto de 2011
viernes, 5 de agosto de 2011
two old stubborn and intolerable ruffians
Last week I read an interview with Julia Fischer, a young German top violinist. She played and recorded several times under the direction of Russian/U.S. American conductor Yakov Kreizberg (who died recently this year at the age young age of 51).
In the interview Julia Fischer mentions that Kreizberg was stubborn, perfectionist and challenging person...just as Julia herself. Apparently, when both artists worked together, the sessions were hard, stressful and tense. Reason for this was the similitude in their rigid personalities.
Ms Fischer mentioned that Kreizberg's illness had a positive impact on his personality: Knowing he was going to die soon it made him softer. Kreizberg valued each time he could still conduct. Julia recalls that in his last days as a conductor, he turned more "flexible" and even tolerated mistakes when playing a concert.
Enough superstars, now back to my daily life in Innsbruck:
I cycle daily to work and each time I do something illegal: I ride my bike on the sidewalk for approximately 8 meters (from my house door until the corner). Those are like 5 seconds of illegal activity.
Two days ago, I cycled back home and when I reached the “illegal” corner an old man shouted at me because I was using the sidewalk. As a good Latino, I yelled him back.
Yesterday in the morning before going to work, I went to the postal office to drop a letter, and once more, I committed a traffic felony, but this time I was completely amazed by the angriness of an old lady. I never in my life saw an old woman swearing so loud on the street. She shouted Verdammt noch einmal which can translated as "damn it!", I yelled back saying that I only carefully drove 3 meters from the postal office til the corner, then, I continued cycling, but behind me, I could still hear the old woman barking.
It seemed like those two old people have been waiting days or weeks to explode, and yell and be offensive.
Julia Fischer said in her interview that giving birth to her son made her a more relaxed and tolerable human being, just as happened with Kreizberg by knowing he was going to die soon.
But really, what kind of bastard you have to be all your life, so that even if you have experienced the love of a child and years later, know that you will die, you are still an old stubborn and intolerable ruffian?
In the interview Julia Fischer mentions that Kreizberg was stubborn, perfectionist and challenging person...just as Julia herself. Apparently, when both artists worked together, the sessions were hard, stressful and tense. Reason for this was the similitude in their rigid personalities.
Ms Fischer mentioned that Kreizberg's illness had a positive impact on his personality: Knowing he was going to die soon it made him softer. Kreizberg valued each time he could still conduct. Julia recalls that in his last days as a conductor, he turned more "flexible" and even tolerated mistakes when playing a concert.
Enough superstars, now back to my daily life in Innsbruck:
I cycle daily to work and each time I do something illegal: I ride my bike on the sidewalk for approximately 8 meters (from my house door until the corner). Those are like 5 seconds of illegal activity.
Two days ago, I cycled back home and when I reached the “illegal” corner an old man shouted at me because I was using the sidewalk. As a good Latino, I yelled him back.
Yesterday in the morning before going to work, I went to the postal office to drop a letter, and once more, I committed a traffic felony, but this time I was completely amazed by the angriness of an old lady. I never in my life saw an old woman swearing so loud on the street. She shouted Verdammt noch einmal which can translated as "damn it!", I yelled back saying that I only carefully drove 3 meters from the postal office til the corner, then, I continued cycling, but behind me, I could still hear the old woman barking.
It seemed like those two old people have been waiting days or weeks to explode, and yell and be offensive.
Julia Fischer said in her interview that giving birth to her son made her a more relaxed and tolerable human being, just as happened with Kreizberg by knowing he was going to die soon.
But really, what kind of bastard you have to be all your life, so that even if you have experienced the love of a child and years later, know that you will die, you are still an old stubborn and intolerable ruffian?
jueves, 21 de julio de 2011
an easy, tasty and healthy summer dish
Its been a long time since I wrote a recipe, here is one I invented last Thursday:
You fry for 2-3 minutes one and a half cup of red lentils (they are actually orange) with 3 or 4 spring onions and one courgette/zuchinni chopped in cubes. Add water and salt and cook it for 15 minutes at low heat without covering (let the lentils become a dried paste).
While the lentils cook, prepare a tzatziki-like sauce with half a cup of yoghurt, half a cucumber (shredded or finely chopped), juice of half a lemon, olive oil and chopped fresh mint.
Taste the lentils, if they are cooked, you may turn off the fire.
On a separate small saucepan, toast chopped walnuts (or pecan nuts if you are a lucky bastard) at medium fire, for 1-3 minutes, add fresh rosemary and when this mixture starts to smell lovely, add two spoons of butter, two spoons of olive oil and some salt. Take the saucepan away from fire as soon as the mix begins to turn dark brow.
Now, you take a plate, place some lettuce leaves, pour a big scoop of the lentils, then add the yoghurt sauce and top with the brown butter-nut-rosemary sauce.
I really enjoyed this meal, I cooked in Höchst, a quite little town at the constance lake. It borders to Switzerland and it is the birth place of Andi F.
This lentil dish has everything a good summer meal should have: It is served not very hot, it has lots of proteins, it refreshes through the use of yoghurt, cucumber, lemon and mint and the rosemary and nut sauce provides a herb, strong body.
I cooked this dish for Andi F and her mom...by the way, Andi F is my girlfriend.
P.S. I took no photo of the dish since it would have been weird to do that in front of Andi F's mom
You fry for 2-3 minutes one and a half cup of red lentils (they are actually orange) with 3 or 4 spring onions and one courgette/zuchinni chopped in cubes. Add water and salt and cook it for 15 minutes at low heat without covering (let the lentils become a dried paste).
While the lentils cook, prepare a tzatziki-like sauce with half a cup of yoghurt, half a cucumber (shredded or finely chopped), juice of half a lemon, olive oil and chopped fresh mint.
Taste the lentils, if they are cooked, you may turn off the fire.
On a separate small saucepan, toast chopped walnuts (or pecan nuts if you are a lucky bastard) at medium fire, for 1-3 minutes, add fresh rosemary and when this mixture starts to smell lovely, add two spoons of butter, two spoons of olive oil and some salt. Take the saucepan away from fire as soon as the mix begins to turn dark brow.
Now, you take a plate, place some lettuce leaves, pour a big scoop of the lentils, then add the yoghurt sauce and top with the brown butter-nut-rosemary sauce.
I really enjoyed this meal, I cooked in Höchst, a quite little town at the constance lake. It borders to Switzerland and it is the birth place of Andi F.
This lentil dish has everything a good summer meal should have: It is served not very hot, it has lots of proteins, it refreshes through the use of yoghurt, cucumber, lemon and mint and the rosemary and nut sauce provides a herb, strong body.
I cooked this dish for Andi F and her mom...by the way, Andi F is my girlfriend.
P.S. I took no photo of the dish since it would have been weird to do that in front of Andi F's mom
miércoles, 6 de julio de 2011
Alpine, urban and tacky
Some weeks ago, I wrote about the „oh-shit-we-live-in-a-small-town“ complex from which many politicians in Innsbruck suffer. On that same entry, I also wrote about the „cosmopolitan city“ marketing-campaign, and now, new shit has come to light!
Months ago, the marketing and tourism department of Innsbruck launched a design competition (which not many people heard of) to design a city logo and corporate identity for Innsbruck. The costs for this entire process were around EUR 250,000, but for the logo, only EUR 35,000 we paid, this means that the marketing and tourism department spent EUR 215,000 in something...
The problem with this logo is that it represents the identity of the entire city, and has a direct influence on all cultural and touristic venues...and these cultural and touristic venues were not involved in this process at all, even though they pay taxes to the marketing and tourism department.
After being strongly criticised in the media and by many cultural associations, the marketing and tourism department decided to invite all cultural associations to a presentation of this new logo/corporate identity. Somehow, I was among the invited, but it was impossible for me to assist. However, Evelin, a friend of mine, did attend. Evelin told me yesterday that Innsbruck's new corporate identity is based under the slogan „alpin urban“ and this is was my inspiraton for today's blog.
In order to show you how „alpin“ and „urban“the city I live in is, I will describe you one of my favourite places in Innsbruck, the Landestheaterplatz, a wonderful square:
This square is located in front of the Hofburg (an imperial castle of the Habsburgs) on the Europaalle (Alley of Europe). This street got its name in the late 1990s, after the European Commission had a meeting in the city Congress, which is located in front of the theatre.
If you sit in the theatre steps (something I love to do on afternoons with a bottle of prosecco), you will instantly feel like ina big city: You can see the imperial castle, the congress, the Hofgarten (royal garden), the Pavillon (a Michelin-star awarded restaurant), a cable-car station designed by the world's most known architect woman, Zaha Hadid, and the cherry on top of this marvellous urban landscape are the Alps.
When you sit there, you have the feeling you have everything a real cosmopolitan city can offer: History, culture, award-winning gastronomy, modern architecture, beautiful huge trees, antique gardens and a contemporary water-fountain with an amazing acoustic effect. If you sit here anytime during the week you will see tourists, business people, punks, students, dancers from the theatre company and musicians with their instruments heading to the congress or to the theatre.
Last Saturday, Andi F and I passed by the Landestheatherplatz and saw something amazing, something I simply had to capture on video. If you hit the link at the end, you will see Innsbruck’s most cosmopolite square, where the two words „alpin“ and „urban“ melt into a perfect symbiosis of nature and mankind.
Politicians and board members of the tourism and marketing department, thank you for offering us, citizens of Innsbruck, this wonderful event!!!
Chick here to see the video - the building on the back is Pavillon, which holds one of the two Michelin-stars in Innsbruck. Great food, by the way!
and now...the link.
Months ago, the marketing and tourism department of Innsbruck launched a design competition (which not many people heard of) to design a city logo and corporate identity for Innsbruck. The costs for this entire process were around EUR 250,000, but for the logo, only EUR 35,000 we paid, this means that the marketing and tourism department spent EUR 215,000 in something...
The problem with this logo is that it represents the identity of the entire city, and has a direct influence on all cultural and touristic venues...and these cultural and touristic venues were not involved in this process at all, even though they pay taxes to the marketing and tourism department.
After being strongly criticised in the media and by many cultural associations, the marketing and tourism department decided to invite all cultural associations to a presentation of this new logo/corporate identity. Somehow, I was among the invited, but it was impossible for me to assist. However, Evelin, a friend of mine, did attend. Evelin told me yesterday that Innsbruck's new corporate identity is based under the slogan „alpin urban“ and this is was my inspiraton for today's blog.
In order to show you how „alpin“ and „urban“the city I live in is, I will describe you one of my favourite places in Innsbruck, the Landestheaterplatz, a wonderful square:
This square is located in front of the Hofburg (an imperial castle of the Habsburgs) on the Europaalle (Alley of Europe). This street got its name in the late 1990s, after the European Commission had a meeting in the city Congress, which is located in front of the theatre.
If you sit in the theatre steps (something I love to do on afternoons with a bottle of prosecco), you will instantly feel like ina big city: You can see the imperial castle, the congress, the Hofgarten (royal garden), the Pavillon (a Michelin-star awarded restaurant), a cable-car station designed by the world's most known architect woman, Zaha Hadid, and the cherry on top of this marvellous urban landscape are the Alps.
When you sit there, you have the feeling you have everything a real cosmopolitan city can offer: History, culture, award-winning gastronomy, modern architecture, beautiful huge trees, antique gardens and a contemporary water-fountain with an amazing acoustic effect. If you sit here anytime during the week you will see tourists, business people, punks, students, dancers from the theatre company and musicians with their instruments heading to the congress or to the theatre.
Last Saturday, Andi F and I passed by the Landestheatherplatz and saw something amazing, something I simply had to capture on video. If you hit the link at the end, you will see Innsbruck’s most cosmopolite square, where the two words „alpin“ and „urban“ melt into a perfect symbiosis of nature and mankind.
Politicians and board members of the tourism and marketing department, thank you for offering us, citizens of Innsbruck, this wonderful event!!!
Chick here to see the video - the building on the back is Pavillon, which holds one of the two Michelin-stars in Innsbruck. Great food, by the way!
and now...the link.
martes, 21 de junio de 2011
the best slow fast-food
When I am in Vienna, I always go to my favourite place: the Naschmarkt, which is Vienna's biggest and most touristic market. I love to go there an buy cheese (my favourite is a matured Goat Gouda), herbs (the cheapest place in Austria to buy cilantro), curry pastes and my beloved falafel (after years of testing I found tthe tastiest at Dr Falafel). I also love the things they grill at the market different restaurants: Kofte at okzident, calamari at Do-An. At Kurkonditorei Oberlaaan one can find an mouth-watering chocolate cake.
Last weekend, Andi F took me to another market, the Brunnenmarkt. And the experience was incredible: One third of the stands were selling fruits and vegetables at very cheap prices (I assume it was because the products were ripe and needed to be sold soon, but the fruits were at their best stage). Another third of the stands was selling nuts, seeds and cheese (from Denmark, Holland, Italy and Austria) and the resting third, were stands selling the most useless Chinese products in history: battery-operated plush pets in horrendous colours, awful baseball caps and the cheapest clothes you can ever imagine.
For us, the best in the market were the few places you can get prepared food: We saw real kepab (were you can see that the meat was manually placed into that rotating pole), fresh fish they clean for you to cook home or if you prefer, they grill and serve the fish for you. But the best of this stands was a real slow food stand:
It looked like a normal fast-food stand and inside there were three Turks: One thin guy in his early 50's and two obese women, whose age we were unable to guess. They seemed old, but with some married Turkish women you can never know if they are 30 or 60.
This Turkish version of an Italian mamma, were preparing in a very calm way, somethin that looked like a home-style borek. The ladies were slowly rolling dough, forming pizza-like shapes, then they carefully topp this „tortillas“ with plenty olive-size portions of cooked and seasoned spinach, grounded meat, potatoes or sheep cheese, depending on the client's taste. After finishing the topping, these mammas folded the dough to form a square the size of a DVD case and cooked them on a huge pan which seemed to be upside down.
We ordered one of this Turkisch crepes filed with spinach and got 10 minutes later. The process was easy and the cooking took only 3 to 4 minutes, but the acurate and love-full preparation of this dish took over 10 minutes.
Seeing this entire process was beautufil, but to taste it, it was a culinary-trip to a small village in Anatolia and back to Vienna for only €1.5
I am not exagerating, it was the best „slow“ fast-food experience I've had in Europe.
Last weekend, Andi F took me to another market, the Brunnenmarkt. And the experience was incredible: One third of the stands were selling fruits and vegetables at very cheap prices (I assume it was because the products were ripe and needed to be sold soon, but the fruits were at their best stage). Another third of the stands was selling nuts, seeds and cheese (from Denmark, Holland, Italy and Austria) and the resting third, were stands selling the most useless Chinese products in history: battery-operated plush pets in horrendous colours, awful baseball caps and the cheapest clothes you can ever imagine.
For us, the best in the market were the few places you can get prepared food: We saw real kepab (were you can see that the meat was manually placed into that rotating pole), fresh fish they clean for you to cook home or if you prefer, they grill and serve the fish for you. But the best of this stands was a real slow food stand:
It looked like a normal fast-food stand and inside there were three Turks: One thin guy in his early 50's and two obese women, whose age we were unable to guess. They seemed old, but with some married Turkish women you can never know if they are 30 or 60.
This Turkish version of an Italian mamma, were preparing in a very calm way, somethin that looked like a home-style borek. The ladies were slowly rolling dough, forming pizza-like shapes, then they carefully topp this „tortillas“ with plenty olive-size portions of cooked and seasoned spinach, grounded meat, potatoes or sheep cheese, depending on the client's taste. After finishing the topping, these mammas folded the dough to form a square the size of a DVD case and cooked them on a huge pan which seemed to be upside down.
We ordered one of this Turkisch crepes filed with spinach and got 10 minutes later. The process was easy and the cooking took only 3 to 4 minutes, but the acurate and love-full preparation of this dish took over 10 minutes.
Seeing this entire process was beautufil, but to taste it, it was a culinary-trip to a small village in Anatolia and back to Vienna for only €1.5
I am not exagerating, it was the best „slow“ fast-food experience I've had in Europe.
martes, 7 de junio de 2011
the cosmopolitan city which smells like fermented cows's shit
Innsbruck is a small city with politicians with a big complex: Innsbruck is very small and rural. Some days the city even smells of compost when the farmers fertilise their fields.
Since I came to Innsbruck, 14 years ago, politicians have tried to win back the Olympic games twice, but, any normal person knows that they could never be successful! Who the hell could give them the winter Olympic games for a third time?
Some years ago, those politicians tried to make the inner city a UNESCO heritage site because of its ancient buildings, and when their proposal was rejected, they tried to make a city known for its modern architecture. Now, Innsbruck is the only city in the world with two buildings designed by Zaha Hadid. This is almost embarrassing...it's like if a guy in his midlife crisis buys two red Ferraris.
In 2004, the city hall was turned into a shopping centre. And since that day, the government presents Innsbruck as a "Weltstadt" which means cosmopolitan city. A Barcelonese friend of mine used to work for the marketing firm behind this concept and she told me that since this shoppings centre had a Mango store and a Müller (a German drugstore chain), the city was now cosmopolitan!
Independently of all this stupid campaigns (Sports, architecture and shopping), I experienced a truly cosmopolitan moment last Friday:
There is a farmer's market each Friday in the city centre. I was hungry and went there to get a Kiachl with Sauerkraut. A kiachl is nothing but fried dough, which reminds of a doughnut without sugar or frosting on it. The owners of the kiachl stand was a couple in their fifties. The man was preparing them and the woman collecting the money. It was a little bit weird to hear that the couple spoke English among them, I then realised that she was British and he Tyrolean. While preparing my Kiachl, the cook was talking to the city's Vice-Major (probably one of those politicians investing money to present Innsbruck as the only cosmopolitan city in the world which smells like fermented cows's shit). Right after me, two Turkish girls asked in perfect German if the Sauerkraut had bacon bit in it. The British Kiachl seller replied that they only sell vegetarian sauerkraut, because they themselves are strict vegetarians.
While eating my kiachl I had two thoughts "First: the sauerkraut is great, and second, Innsbruck is indeed a cosmopolitan city".
Go to any place on earth and if you find a vegetarian couple older than 50 selling regional products (and they being foreigners themselves), and if their clients are politicians, locals and locals with migration background, you surely are in a cosmopolitan place.
Since I came to Innsbruck, 14 years ago, politicians have tried to win back the Olympic games twice, but, any normal person knows that they could never be successful! Who the hell could give them the winter Olympic games for a third time?
Some years ago, those politicians tried to make the inner city a UNESCO heritage site because of its ancient buildings, and when their proposal was rejected, they tried to make a city known for its modern architecture. Now, Innsbruck is the only city in the world with two buildings designed by Zaha Hadid. This is almost embarrassing...it's like if a guy in his midlife crisis buys two red Ferraris.
In 2004, the city hall was turned into a shopping centre. And since that day, the government presents Innsbruck as a "Weltstadt" which means cosmopolitan city. A Barcelonese friend of mine used to work for the marketing firm behind this concept and she told me that since this shoppings centre had a Mango store and a Müller (a German drugstore chain), the city was now cosmopolitan!
Independently of all this stupid campaigns (Sports, architecture and shopping), I experienced a truly cosmopolitan moment last Friday:
There is a farmer's market each Friday in the city centre. I was hungry and went there to get a Kiachl with Sauerkraut. A kiachl is nothing but fried dough, which reminds of a doughnut without sugar or frosting on it. The owners of the kiachl stand was a couple in their fifties. The man was preparing them and the woman collecting the money. It was a little bit weird to hear that the couple spoke English among them, I then realised that she was British and he Tyrolean. While preparing my Kiachl, the cook was talking to the city's Vice-Major (probably one of those politicians investing money to present Innsbruck as the only cosmopolitan city in the world which smells like fermented cows's shit). Right after me, two Turkish girls asked in perfect German if the Sauerkraut had bacon bit in it. The British Kiachl seller replied that they only sell vegetarian sauerkraut, because they themselves are strict vegetarians.
While eating my kiachl I had two thoughts "First: the sauerkraut is great, and second, Innsbruck is indeed a cosmopolitan city".
Go to any place on earth and if you find a vegetarian couple older than 50 selling regional products (and they being foreigners themselves), and if their clients are politicians, locals and locals with migration background, you surely are in a cosmopolitan place.
jueves, 26 de mayo de 2011
Happy Guys Finish Last
Jessica L. Tracy and Alec T. Beall from the Psychology department at the University of British Columbia recently published a study called "Happy Guys Finish Last: The Impact of Emotion Expressions on Sexual Attraction", they did not only achieved international success within the scientific community, but they also had media impact internationally (I read that in an Austrian news-website)
Tracy and Beall suggest that "Showing a happy face is considered essential to any
friendly social interaction, including those involving sexual attraction" but this
applies only for women! The study states that "women may find male pride displays
more attractive than male happiness".
Now my story:
Between 2008 and 2009 I was not very lucky with women, let me quote again (but this
time myself), "I will try emotional chastity". Reasons for this? During my stay in Nicaragua (and the 18 months prior to that) I was not happy with my non-existing emotional life.
What went wrong with the ladies? During that period, I was not always happy, or at
least I did not look happy. So, I assume that my face and body expressed more
seriousness, even sadness.
So: during 2008 and 2009, I did not laugh much, but women did not find me attractive!
Ms tracy and Mr Beall, I can prove you wrong!
Summarising:
a) I was a serious man (almost an emo) for two years
b) there we no women queuing to meet me during this period
c) I am dating a girl
d) I am permanently smiling
Thesis by Tracy and Beall: "Happy Guys Finish Last"
Thesis by me: I am a happy guy who will finish last
Synthesis: Happy guys don't care if they finish first...or last
P.S. Here is the link to the study of Tracy and Beall
Tracy and Beall suggest that "Showing a happy face is considered essential to any
friendly social interaction, including those involving sexual attraction" but this
applies only for women! The study states that "women may find male pride displays
more attractive than male happiness".
Now my story:
Between 2008 and 2009 I was not very lucky with women, let me quote again (but this
time myself), "I will try emotional chastity". Reasons for this? During my stay in Nicaragua (and the 18 months prior to that) I was not happy with my non-existing emotional life.
What went wrong with the ladies? During that period, I was not always happy, or at
least I did not look happy. So, I assume that my face and body expressed more
seriousness, even sadness.
So: during 2008 and 2009, I did not laugh much, but women did not find me attractive!
Ms tracy and Mr Beall, I can prove you wrong!
Summarising:
a) I was a serious man (almost an emo) for two years
b) there we no women queuing to meet me during this period
c) I am dating a girl
d) I am permanently smiling
Thesis by Tracy and Beall: "Happy Guys Finish Last"
Thesis by me: I am a happy guy who will finish last
Synthesis: Happy guys don't care if they finish first...or last
P.S. Here is the link to the study of Tracy and Beall
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