The Traveler and the Cook: The Land Beyond the Forest

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Our Cooking Instructor, Eva Szigeti, takes us on a journey into The Land Beyond the Forest, where sheep roam, and their cheese is currency…

Food is part of our everyday life. Even when our primary travel goal is not the exploration of the cuisine of a certain region or county, culinary experience often finds us. While traveling, we are inevitably exposed to local food, and sometimes we stumble upon a great culinary experience almost by a chance.

That summer, we were traveling in a part of Romania known as Transylvania, The Land Beyond the Forest. Although in the Western world Transylvania is often associated with Dracula (thanks to Bram Stoker’s novel), the story of the vampire count doesn’t have a prominent place in the culture of the region. We were exploring a different side of the country: its historic towns, salt mines, dark pine forests, and beautiful wild meadows.

One day, we were hoping to buy some local sheep cheese in a small mountain village. A villager advised us to get the cheese directly from the shepherds. This seemed simple enough. We were given instructions of where to find them, and off we went, leaving the village and hiking up the hills to high-altitude meadows in search of the shepherds and their flock. The two-hour walk took us through rolling hills with green pastures and blooming wild flowers. This is where the shepherds and their sheep spend the whole summer. In early spring, villagers merge their animals, and a shepherd and his helpers herd the sheep and goats to pastures in the hills above the village. The sheep and goats graze on the mountain grass throughout the warm season. The men sustain themselves on a diet consisting mostly of milk, cheese, polenta, preserved meats, and gifts of the mountain: wild mushrooms, berries, and herbs. The shepherds and the animals spend the whole summer and early fall up on the high meadows, and they return to the valley along with the cold autumn winds.

Our walk seemed longer than what we had expected. Did we get lost? The first sign that we were heading in the right direction came in the form of loud, not-too-friendly shepherd dogs running toward us. The dogs are a much-needed help for the shepherds. They herd the animals and protect them in an environment where wolves and bears are a real threat. To them, we were intruders. We stopped to make sure the shepherd noticed us before the dogs could reach us.

The shepherd’s hut is a shabby one-room shack with no electricity or running water. It serves as a shelter and sleeping area for the men, as well as a work space where cheese is made. The role of the shepherd and the cheese maker merge here; the shepherd not only takes care of the animals—he also turns their milk into cheese. The inside of the hut is rudimentary and dark. There is no stainless steel equipment here; just beat-up pots, rustic wooden tools that could be part of a museum exhibition, and cheese hanging from the ceiling.  The tools and methods of cheese making are the same as they were 100, 200, perhaps even 500 years ago.

If a cheese from this hut sat on a shelf of a specialty cheese store in a big city, it would be described as an artisan organic cheese made from milk of pasture-raised animals. But the wheels from these pastures are not destined for a store, and they could never be sold in one. The shabby shepherds’ hut—without running water and refrigeration, milk heated above a wood fire, wooden tools with quite a bit of patina—hardly conforms to the regulations of the European Union. The cheese from the shepherd’s hut doesn’t enter any formal market. Except for a wheel or two sold to the occasional town-people wanting to taste the real stuff, this cheese feeds the locals. A self-sufficient lifestyle is still prevailing in the economy of small, remote mountain villages. The cheese is distributed among the villagers—the owners of the animals. Traditionally, making cheese was a way of preserving milk. Some of the cheese made in the summer is still saved for the winter months. For the most part, the cheese is consumed within the families. Any excess is bartered for produce or services.

While cheese can serve as a currency in these parts of the world, money may not buy us cheese on the high mountain pastures. Bills aren’t very useful up in the mountains. The shepherd prefers to trade his cheese for fresh vegetables, preserved meats, and bread. Luckily, we came prepared….

Carrying cheese, like a trophy, we walked back down to the village, tired but happy and amazed. We found and tasted a truly authentic Transylvanian cheese; a rustic, pure, strong, perhaps unpolished cheese, deeply rooted in the local land and the ancient tradition of cheese making on the high pastures of The Land Beyond the Forest.

 

Cheese Spread with Herbs

Making cheese at home is not a small task. Although this spread isn’t a true cheese spread (it is made from plain whole-milk yogurt), its preparation involves one of the steps present in cheese making (draining the whey out of the cheese). It is a great first project when introducing the concept of cheese-making to children.

Ingredients:

3 cups organic whole-milk plain yogurt

fresh herbs (such as parsley, dill, chives)

salt to taste

Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth. Put the colander into a pot or large bowl. The whey draining from the yogurt will accumulate in this vessel. Measure out the yogurt and put it into the colander. Keep the draining yogurt in the fridge for a day or two. The longer it drains, the firmer the spread gets.

Take the spread out of the refrigerator and put it into a bowl. Add salt and finely chopped fresh herbs. (We used dill and chives.) Enjoy with bread or fresh vegetables.

The whey could be used for smoothies or shakes, as a cooking liquid for grains or potatoes, or in muffin and bread recipes.

 

The Traveler’s Dream: Monet’s Garden

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The Traveler and the Cook

Our Cooking Instructor, Eva Szigeti, paints a beautiful mental picture of Monet’s Garden and, meditating on color as Monet did, provides a vibrant egg dying recipe that utilizes kitchen scraps.

There are travel destinations we will always remember, there are places we hope to revisit one day, and there are those we have only ever visited in our imagination. High up on my personal wish list of travel destinations is a remarkable French garden: Monet’s Garden in Giverny.

It is early spring, the part of the year when gardeners returns to their gardens. There is plenty to do, and the gardens already have gifts to offers: daffodils and hyacinths are the first to bring color and flower-beauty into my garden, sorrel is already offering its citrusy leaves, a few arugulas and collard greens have survived the winter, perennial herbs like oregano, lovage, chives, and tarragon can already be harvested, reseeded dill and cilantro are emerging out of the ground. There promises to be a good rhubarb harvest in few weeks. And yes, as I am trying to be grateful for what there is, I can’t stop wishing for a garden at its peak. It is spring, and spring is the season when a gardener is most likely to dream about all the potential hidden in their plot of land, but also to fantasize about extraordinary gardens. I am being taken to Monet’s Garden…

The garden in Giverny is special for multiple reasons. Monet’s Garden is unquestionably a work of art, but the garden is not only unusual because of its extraordinary beauty. A friend who has experienced this garden first-hand noted that its aesthetic qualities rival those of Monet’s paintings. This is a landscape that was created by an artist with the intention for it to be the subject of his art; the material for his study of colors and light. We see a double artistic intention here: the garden itself can be viewed as a piece of art, though it was created to be the subject of paintings. This piece of land was the artist’s muse; the flowerbeds are like models posing for the painter in the outdoor studio of a carefully orchestrated landscape. Looking at pictures of Monet’s garden, it is easy to see the origin of his paintings. Even those who haven’t seen the garden recall the image of wisterias covering Monet’s Japanese bridge, the water lilies, or the reflection of red azaleas on the surface of the water.

Being an artist (an impressionist painter, to be exact), Monet designed his garden mainly around color. His main interest was the exploration of colors and the study of color’s interaction with light. He embraced the element of water because of its reflective quality. He considered reflective qualities of petals and foliage in his garden design, and observed and painted flowers (colors) under different light circumstances. Monet’s favorite color harmonies were yellow-blue and blue-pink, and triadic combinations of red-silver-green and blue-pink-white. He used white flowers to create a magical look of glitter scattered on the landscape.

While his designs were elaborate and labor and space intensive, I am contemplating if it might be worthwhile to experiment with Monet’s color harmonies on a small scale in my own garden. Maybe. . .but for now, it is time to plant carrots.

While dreaming of visiting Monet’s garden someday, I am heading with my box of seeds to my not-so-picture-perfect (but beloved) garden. There is a lot to be done. . .trips get taken, paintings get finished, but gardens are ever changing landscapes of works in progress.

 

Dyeing Eggs with Onion Skins

Let’s cook up some color! Nature offers some great dyes, and humble onionskin is one of them. We use it every spring to dye eggs for Easter. The process is straightforward and comes with no mess. Just plan ahead and remember not to compost your onion skins.

If possible, use eggs with shells of different colors. White eggs will take up the color differently than brown eggs. The final color of brown eggs will vary too, depending on what shade of brown the shell is.

6 eggs
3-4 handfuls of yellow onion skins (yellow, red or combination)
1 tablespoon of vinegar
A few drops of cooking oil

Put the eggs and the onion skins into a pot. Add enough water to cover the eggs, add vinegar. Bring the water to boil and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, take the eggs out of the liquid. Let them cool. Using a soft cloth and a few drops of cooking oil, polish the dyed eggs.

 

The Traveler and the Cook: Visiting a Palace

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Our Cooking Instructor, Eva Szigeti, tells about a palace adventure, ponders what it must have been like to live there, and provides a recipe for a lavish quark strudel…

Visiting a historic house, old cathedral, castle, or a town with rich history could feel a little bit like time travel. Stepping with half a foot into another era is not only fun. These trips into the past also unquestionably contribute to our children’s informal education, nurture their imagination, put their knowledge into context, encourage critical thinking about the past, and even put our own lifestyles into perspective. For our family, one of these exciting trips was a visit to Esteháza, an estate with a grandiose palace located in western Hungary.

As the large structure emerged in front of us (the front of the building is 100 meters long, the wings measure 46 meters), the kids first question was: Was this actually someone’s home? The answer to this question is yes, but it wasn’t the family’s primary residence. The 126-room palace was just a summer house in rural Hungary, far away from Vienna. The palace, built by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, is often referred to as the Hungarian Versailles, although perhaps it has more in common with the Viennese Schönbrunn Palace. The glory days of the estate lasted from 1766 (when the main part of the palace was finished) till 1790, with the death of Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Because of the estate’s remote location, his successors didn’t deem it a desirable place to live.

Although today no one would consider the place to be far from Vienna (only 60 miles), it still feels remote and rural. We got off the train at the nearest train station, which was about 2 miles from the palace. As it turned out, the small town has no public transportation and not even a taxi service. So lots of walking was part of our day.

Inside of the palace, the children wanted to run up and down the wide staircase, touch the golden rococo floral decorations on the wall, and explore the rooms. They fantasized about how much fun it would be to play hide-and-seek, to explore the attic, or look for secret doors. Of course, none of these were an option. So instead they tried to listen to the guide and take it all in. We admired the enormous mirrors, the furniture, the frescoes and chandeliers on the ceiling, and the huge wood burning stoves that had been fed by the servants from the adjacent rooms. In the Banquet Room, my daughter was imagining balls that might have taken place there long ago. She saw hundreds of candles burning, women in beautiful dresses, heard the music and wished that she could be one of the dancers.

We learned from the guide that the estate hosted not only balls, but also large hunts and big feasts. The most likely foods served were veal, rabbit, lamb and mutton, poultry, wild birds, and fish; all accompanied with sauces flavored by spices and nuts. The guests probably also enjoyed pates and rice porridge with spices, prepared by the many cooks of the estate. Exotic fruits, like oranges and lemons, were served. Chocolate biscuits and marzipan, a popular dessert of the era, might had been offered to the guests.

The Price, patron of the arts, also hosted concerts, opera, and theater performances. The estate had its own Opera House (seating 400 people), Marionette Theater, and a Music House with apartments for the musicians, actors, and dancers employed by the prince. The orchestra was led by none other than the celebrated composer Joseph Haydn. Haydn lived on the estate from 1766 to 1790. The majority of his symphonies were written for the Prince’s orchestra, and they were most likely performed for the first time in Esterháza.

As we walked through the estate’s extensive park back to the train station, my daughter expressed her desire to live in a palace. Then we tried to imagine the everyday life in the Esterházy Palace 250 years ago. The lifestyle of 18th century aristocracy seemed lavish, but extremely wasteful; grand, but perhaps not very comfortable.  After all, they lived in times when 60 miles was a great distance.

Their luxurious palaces had no electricity, central heating, or plumbing. They wore fancy, but most likely uncomfortable clothing. My kids wondered if Prince Esterházy would have perhaps preferred to live in our heated house with a nice bathroom, wear a cotton T-shirt, and listen to music every day without having to provide food and accommodation for musicians of an orchestra.

Quark Strudel

Strudel is a typical Austro-Hungarian dessert. The layered pastry (with sweet or savory filling) became popular in the Habsburg

Empire in the 18th century.

Making the dough itself requires skill, time and patience. The dough is rolled out, then gently stretched by hand until it’s paper-thin. Then it is filled and rolled up. Popular fillings include apple, sour cherry, poppy seed, and quark.

Today not many home bakers take on the challenge of making the strudel dough. Most bakers rely on store-bought dough. Filo dough is a good substitute for dough made from scratch.

 

Makes two strudels

For the dough:

8 sheets of thawed filo dough

6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

 

For the filling:

1 pound quark or unsalted farmer’s cheese

2 eggs, separated
¼ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
grated zest of 1 lemon
½ cup sugar
pinch of salt
½ cup of raisins, optional
4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling

 

Preheat the oven to 375 °F. Lightly brush a 13×9-inch baking dish with melted butter.

Prepare the filling. Put the quark/farmer’s cheese into a mixing bowl. Add egg yolks, sour cream, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and raisin. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold them in the quark mixture. Cover your work surface with a clean kitchen towel. Place a sheet of filo on the towel (with the long side facing you) and gently brush it with the melted butter. Layer three more filo sheets, buttering each layer. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs in a 3-inch strip along the longer end of the dough, leaving an inch on the bottom and the sides without any crumbs. Gently spread half of the cheese mixture on top of the breadcrumbs then sprinkle with another tablespoon of breadcrumbs.  Fold the unfilled sides in and roll up like a jelly roll. Place the strudel seam side down on the baking sheet. Brush the pastry with melted butter. Repeat the process to make the second roll. Bake for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and let cool for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, slice, and serve.

The Traveler and the Cook: Winter Vacation in the Rockies

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OUR COOKING INSTRUCTOR, EVA SZIGETI, TELLS ABOUT HER FAMILY’S WINTER VACATION AND SHARES A DELICIOUS RECIPE THAT’S PERFECT FOR A WINTER BREAK STAY-CATION…

Planning a family vacation often starts with a discussion about the destination. For a winter trip, we might consider two very different types of travel destinations.

Some might want to embrace the season and opt for a ski trip. While those longing for a break from the cold and the darkness, might choose a trip to the sunny tropics.

As my family considered the idea of a family trip, our discussion wasn’t so much about the destination, but about participants. The two experienced snowboarders in the family have been planning to conquer some “real” slopes for a while. The question was whether my daughter (an inexperienced snowboarder) and I would join them on this trip.

I must disclose that winter is not my favorite season, and when it comes to mountains, my feelings are mixed. Growing up in an area where the landscape resembles the flat plains of the Midwest, the most memorable hill of my childhood (and the only hill around) was a small artificial sledding hill on the playground.

From a safe distance, I do like to admire the beauty of mountains, but when experiencing them close-up, my respect for them often borders on fear. As for my skiing skills, they are minimal. Because of the lack of opportunity, my hometown wasn’t exactly a town of ski enthusiasts either. Although I’ve tried skiing, I have never acquired skills beyond a beginner level.

The idea of a family ski/snowboarding trip made me more nervous than excited. For me, skiing and snowboarding come with too much hassle and worries (Does everyone have goggles? Where is my daughter’s left glove? Did we leave the helmets at home? Is the lift safe for the kids? Is the slope too icy?). My worries never seem to end…

After a few discussions, we came to a decision everyone was comfortable with: The boys would travel to Colorado and enjoy the mountains, while the girls would have a special “girl time” at home. The division of our family into two groups happened this time along the gender lines: it was time for some father – son, mother – daughter bonding!

My son and husband packed their bags (so much gear!) and embarked on their adventure. My daughter and I enjoyed our time together at home. We had been getting pictures and news from the boys every day. During our calls with them, the adventures of the day were usually summarized by my son into short sentences—exciting shouts from a high-altitude ski resort.

First day: “We gave up after two hours on the slope. We couldn’t breathe. There was no air! This place gets 11 feet of snow per year!”

Second day: “We went down a black diamond! The trail was more than two miles long! The Continental Divide runs through the top of the ridge!”

Third day: “We were really high up. More than 11,000 feet! Can you imagine? Above the tree line!”

Fourth day: “We went to a bar! Really, no kidding… Haha, an oxygen bar.”

Fifth day: “We are coming home tomorrow!”

 

I was glad to hear from them every time. For me, the most important piece of information was that they were well, because to me the majestic Rockies seem a little dangerous even from a great distance.

If being on vacation means, breaking away from the usual daily routines, then my daughter and I had a vacation too. We “camped”, along with our dog, in the guest room, watched movies (something we don’t do too often) during the snowstorm, we stayed up later than usual, enjoyed craft projects, and played lots of board games. I mostly neglected cooking, because this week after all was a departure from our everyday lives. We all had a good time, and we concluded that having a one-on-one parent – child ‘vacation’ experience can be as valuable as a trip involving all members of the family.

Through my son and husband’s experience, I had a taste of their snowboarding trip. It seemed great, but I still don’t long for a winter vacation in the mountains. Perhaps one day I might want to travel to the Rockies in the summertime. I am quite fascinated by the idea of standing in the rain on the imaginary line of the Continental Divide, knowing that the raindrops coming down on the Eastern side of the mountain might one day meet the waters of the Atlantic, while the precipitation trickling down the West slope is destined for the Pacific Ocean.

 

Mushroom Soup for a Winter Day

We eat mostly home-made food. That means lot of time spent in the kitchen. During our unusual vacation-at-home week, I gave myself a little break from cooking. We had mostly salads, sandwiches, and soups. Most soups are not labor intensive and can be made in large batches that last for few days. Many taste even better reheated than fresh.

3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound Portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped parsley, plus extra to garnish
½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
salt to taste
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 – 2  teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a large pot heat the butter and oil. On medium heat, sauté onions until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add mushrooms and thyme, cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle mushrooms with flour, mix well, and cook while gently mixing for 2 minutes. Add stock, mix and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low. Add salt and pepper.

Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add cream and bring back to simmer (not boil). Adjust seasoning if necessary. Mix in parsley and lemon juice.

Garnish with parsley. Serve with toast or fresh bread.

 

 

The Traveler and The Cook: Rockland Lake’s Epic Ice Operation

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Our cooking instructor, Eva Szigeti, keeps it local while taking us back in time to an incredible business operation right here in our backyard. Plus she provides a recipe for the most delicious wintertime treat (historical context included!)…

Travel doesn’t have to be only about far away destinations. There are plenty of places worth visiting close to home. Day trips or even outings that are just a few hours long offer refreshing departure from our routines and open doors to something new and surprising. The travel package becomes even more exciting if a little time travel is part of the deal.

Our local time traveling took place in the Rockland Lake State Park area, at the foot of Hook Mountain. Rockland Lake is a 256-acre spring-fed lake. The trail around the large lake is a popular destination for joggers, bikers, roller skaters, or those who enjoy a relaxing walk. When we think of the lake, we think of recreation; a family picnic, a walk or a boating excursion. It is hard to imagine that, in the past, the area was home to a major business operation, an industry belonging to times long gone.

The economy of the Village of Rockland Lake (the village no longer exists, only a few houses remain on the east shore of the lake) was driven through a good part of the 19th century by the lake itself. The frozen water of the lake was a valuable commodity in the pre-refrigeration era. In 1831 the Knickerbocker Ice Company formed. Rockland Lake was known as “the icehouse of New York City”.

Blocks of ice harvested from the lake were transported to New York City and far beyond. The harvesting usually started in January when the ice was thick enough. First, blades pulled by horses “drew” a grid into the ice. Then, workers with machinery pulled large blocks of ice out of the lake. The ice was stored in a nearby icehouse. The double-walled building insulated with sawdust assured that the ice lasted, amazingly, until the summer! The ice was needed most in the summer and that is when it also fetched the highest price. The ice was used to preserve food and for sought after cold drinks, which were the new thing.

A lucrative industry developed here not only because of the purity of the water, but also because of the location of the lake. The lake is a half a mile from the Hudson River, at an elevation of 150 feet above the river. The proximity and access to the Hudson assured that the ice could be relatively easily shipped. The ice was transported down the mountainside to the river on inclined gravity-driven railroad cars, then shipped on barges to New York City. Some of the ice was put to use in the Meat Packing District, some was distributed throughout the city by special ice wagons, and – as unbelievable as it sounds – part of the harvest was shipped to faraway destinations in Asia!

Ice harvesting deeply impacted the local economy. It provided jobs for farmers in the wintertime, and by the 1850s the Knickerbocker Ice Company employed about 3,000 people. After buying out a competitor, in 1869 the Knickerbocker Ice Company became one of the largest companies in the world. But, its decline was inevitable. Outcompeted by commercial refrigeration, the company closed in 1924.

After a winter walk around the lake and a cool experience viewing the remains of old ice-harvest-related structures, we wanted to treat ourselves with a hot drink. We went for the kind that the inhabitants of our region might have drank in the 19th century. Digging into the culinary history of the region, we have learned that frothed spiced hot chocolate was a drink popular in the Hudson Valley area as early as the end of the 17thcentury. Cacao was a commodity shipped from Curacao in Lesser Antilles, sometimes in exchange for dairy, wheat, and preserved meats from the Hudson Valley!

Times certainly change; industries come and go, but a cup of hot chocolate remains a delicious treat.

 

Rockland Lake ice operation

Painting by Andrew Fisher Bunner ca. 1890 (Image source)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hot chocolate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spiced Hot Chocolate

The difference between hot cocoa and hot chocolate is that the former is made with cocoa powder while the latter uses chocolate. As opposed to cacao, chocolate contains cocoa butter, which makes hot chocolate more rich and creamy.

2 cups whole milk
¼ cup sugar
½ cup chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, over a medium heat, bring milk to simmer. Make sure not to bring the milk to boil. Whisk in sugar and spices. Add chopped chocolate and vanilla extract. Gently whisk until all chocolate melts. If you prefer your chocolate with lot of froth, use a hand-held frother to aerate the hot drink.

Pour into mugs and enjoy!

 

The Traveler and the Cook: Christmas Market In Vienna

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Our cooking instructor, Eva Szigeti, writes about the nostalgia she feels around the holidays, particularly for the joys of the ‘holiday market’…

The holiday season is a time when we seem to be especially prone to nostalgia for childhood, for the magical time of hope and anticipation that brought light into the darkest part of the year. Nostalgia magnifies moments from childhood and leads to reminiscing about positive experiences. I miss the Christmas seasons of my childhood. No matter who hard I try to recreate the feeling of ‘Christmas’ every year, the holiday never seems to be the same as it was when I was a kid.Adults, do you remember snow globes? Those heavy glass (or plastic) spheres with a winter scene? When they are shaken, snow starts quietly coming down on the town or the landscape encased in the glass. Did you ever hold one as a child and feel mesmerized by the miniature world where snow was just one shake away? I always imagined myself being part of the scene. As the soft snow slowly came down inside of the glass-covered world, I was transported into the kingdom of imagination and dreams. How delightful! But seeing a snow globe as an adult, it seems more tacky than enchanting. I had to remember all the magic it brings, when my daughter asked for one few years ago.

As a child, I loved the Christmas market. I remember a bag of freshly roasted chestnuts warming my hands and the aroma of roasting chestnuts filling the town square. Enjoying the spirit of the holiday in a market is a nice way to spend a weekend day with children. For those who happened to be in Central Europe during the holiday season, Vienna is an excellent choice. Although I never went to a Christmas market in Vienna as a child, I had been to many others that provided a similar experience.

Vienna’s famous Christmas markets were likely the first place where snow globes were sold (and are still sold). Like many other inventions, the first snow globe was an unintended byproduct of a quest for something else – in this case, for a surgical lamp. The snow globe (Schneekugel) was patented at the end of the 19th century by Erwin Perzy, an Austrian surgical instruments mechanic. The hand-painted, manually assembled glass globes encasing a miniature St. Stephens Cathedral were a hit. The Perzy family continues to make a variety of snow globes to this day, and the family business still operates in the same house in Vienna.

Of course, there is no Christmas market without food and holiday treats. In a Christmas market in Vienna, this means stalls with grilled sausage, pretzels, sandwiches, roasted chestnuts and almonds, potato wedges, donut-like sweets (Krapfen), apples covered in red sugar glazing, cotton candy, and marzipan. Some stalls sell nothing but gingerbread decorated with colored frosting; hearts and stars with inscriptions of Christmas wishes.

For the sake of childhood nostalgia, I had to have a Schaumbecher which is an ice cream cone topped with marshmallow cream dipped in chocolate when I last visited a market. As children, we called them ‘winter ice cream’. It was nice to taste one again, although as a child, I had not been a big fan because they failed to deliver the taste of real ice cream.

Possibly more than by food, children at a market in Vienna will be enchanted by old-world wooden toys like pine cone animals, wooden birds, porcelain bells, and especially wooden figures that jump or fly (without batteries) when a string is pulled. And don’t expect to meet Santa in Vienna. In Austria and the Central European region, Christmas gifts are brought by the Christkind (Christ-child or Little Jesus).

In Central Europe, there is no Christmas without what the Austrians call vanilla kipferl (vanilla crescents). We decided to make a batch with my daughter recently. As we were baking, suddenly the wise-woman-persona of my nine-year-old daughter came to life and spoke, “You know, it is the small things that matter in life, like baking cookies or being with your family.” After my initial shock, I had to acknowledge that she was perfectly right. I hope she feels the wonder of the holiday, and one day she will yearn for the magic of her childhood Christmases.

Vanilla Kipferl or Vanilla Crescents Recipe

These are typical Austro-Hungarian Christmas cookies. In Austria, they are usually made with almonds, whereas in Hungary, ground walnuts are preferred.

Vanilla sugar is available at European grocery stores, or you can made your own by burying a vanilla bean in a jar of sugar. Let it sit for about two weeks until the vanilla releases its flavor into the sugar. Nicely packaged home-made vanilla sugar also makes a good gift!

2 cups flour
1 cup finely ground almonds or walnuts
2 sticks unsalted butter
¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar (for the dough)
1 egg yolk
½ vanilla sugar (to coat the bake cookies)

Beat the butter until smooth. Gradually work in the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla sugar. Add the egg yolk. Stir in the flour and the ground almond or nuts. Make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into two parts and form two large rolls. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 35 degrees F. To form the crescents, cut about two teaspoons of dough. Gently roll the dough to form a rope with tapered end. Form the rope into a crescent. Put the cookie on a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough. This batch will make about 50 crescents. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the cookies are light golden around the edges. Cool the cookies on the sheet for about two minutes. Roll each cookie in the vanilla sugar to coat. Enjoy!

The Traveler and the Cook: At the Airport

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In her new series, our cooking instructor, Eva Szigeti, writes about airport experiences that went beyond the expected…

At the Airport

For the weary traveler, airports are rarely fun. Usually, we don’t think of airports as places where the real travel experience happens. They are just the unavoidable necessary steps toward our travel destinations, where all the fun and experiencing is supposed to happen. If time spent at an airport becomes memorable, it is usually for the wrong reason: a missed plane, hours of delay, lost luggage…

That being said, I’d like to share two very different airport-related experiences that don’t fit this equation.

One of them happened years ago in Paris Orly Airport. As I was absent-mindedly hurrying through the airport, I suddenly became a witness of a tiny moment in some strangers’ story and felt deeply touched by it.

I had very little time to catch my connecting flight. Navigating the corridors as a little piece of an anonymous moving crowd, the only thing on my mind was to get to the right gate on time. But then, suddenly, I had to stop. We all had to stop, and readjust our minds, our perception of the world—because the following happened: The column of people in front of me stopped moving.  Something was wrong. I could see the escalator at the end of the narrow corridor—the only available exit route in front of us. The escalator was running and there was a crowd of people seemingly waiting to get on, but the steps of the escalator continued their rhythmic ascent without carrying any people.

The group at the very front seemed to be traveling together. Their clothing stood out. They weren’t dressed for the cold Parisian winter day. Rather, some wore short-sleeved T-shirts; others wore traditional African clothing made for a warm climate. They seemed scared and indecisive. The older members of the group were discussing something. Suddenly a teenaged boy stepped out of the group and turned back as if asking for the approval of the elders. He then stepped onto the escalator and went up. Shortly after, the others hesitantly followed the young boy. I realized that escalators were not part of their experience prior to this moment. Confronted with one for the first time, they did not know what to do until the curiosity of the young boy grew stronger than his fear, and he showed the group the way…

I do not know what was to follow for these families after they arrived at the top of the escalator. Perhaps they were on a vacation, or perhaps they were fleeing their homeland. I have often wondered how their lives unfolded since that cold day in Paris. I hope they found their way and their place.

The other very different and cheerful story involves travelling with my children and their perception of a country, based solely on its largest airport. We were changing planes in Zurich, Switzerland. This time, I didn’t have to worry about not making it on time to the connecting flight, as we had a five-hour layover. I was worried about having too much time. Spending hours in transit after an overnight flight is usually not fun.

I had prepared. We had plenty of snacks packed to fight hunger and also serve as a distraction. There were a few small toys, books and activity booklets in my backpack, ready to provide a little entertainment. But, in the end, we never took them out. The children vastly enjoyed the airport. The sleepiness was gone and the boredom was lifted as they looked out of the airport windows and past the runways. As far as the eye could see, there was forest, and only forest. We were at the largest airport in Switzerland and it wasn’t surrounded by an urban or industrial landscape, but rather, endless trees. The children noticed it right away. They pointed it out, and they loved it. They appreciated how clean everything was, too. We enjoyed the view for a while, and then it was time for lunch. We chose a deli that imitated the looks of a rustic small town bakery. The soft pretzels with ham a cheese looked so good and tasted even better. A piece of Swiss chocolate for dessert followed. We learned and experienced that there is such a thing as a good airport food – at least in Switzerland. Of course, one pays the price, as Switzerland is anything but inexpensive.

The natural question for my children to ask was: “Why don’t we live in Switzerland?” This country, experienced only through its airport, somehow made so much sense to them. My children now often talk about Switzerland. Since spending five hours at the airport in Zurich, this country has become one of their dream destinations. My daughter started learning Italian, and explained her decision among others things with: “It could be useful in Switzerland”.

So we keep saving for a ‘real’ trip to the country of the majestic Alps, delicious chocolate, and yummy airport sandwiches.

Airport Pretzel Sandwiches

This is a recipe for the sandwiches we enjoyed at the airport in Zurich. Butter, ham, and cheese are a combination typical for Germany and German speaking regions of Europe.

If you are in the mood, you can start with baking soft pretzels from scratch. Pretzel dough is basically yeasted bread dough with a bit of butter in it. The Internet is a good source for pretzel recipes and instructions on how to properly form them. Compared to baking bread or rolls, making pretzels involves an extra step: immersing the formed pretzels in boiling water before baking. This process creates the typical chewy texture of pretzels (and bagels too).

Making pretzels from scratch at home requires some time and a bit of patience, but it can be done, especially if you have helpers interested in playing with dough.

  • For each person/eater, you will need:
  • 1 soft pretzel
  • some butter
  • 1 slice of good quality ham
  • 1 slice of Gruyere cheese

Slice your pretzel in half. Butter both sides. On the bottom part, layer the cheese and ham. Cover with the top half on the pretzel. Enjoy for lunch or pack for your next road trip.

The Traveler and The Cook: Visiting Familiar Places

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In her new series, our cooking instructor, Eva Szigeti, writes about visiting her childhood hometown with her children, and about the fruitful discoveries they make along the way…

Traveling with children usually results in a very different experience than getting on the road with adult company. It is not only that when children come along we adjust the pace and the activities to meet their needs and interests. What is truly unique is that we get to see our travel destinations from a different angle, with the refreshing eye of a child. The whole travel experience takes on one more extra layer when we decide to take our kids to places that have a special place in our personal history; when hometowns, college towns, broader areas of our childhood become destinations. We are hoping to include the children in our story, one that is the precursor to their own.

We traveled to Central Europe last fall to visit family, friends, and participate in a harvest in the vineyard (the first one ever for my children). On most of our day trips, we kept crossing paths with the Danube. For me, the Danube is ‘The River’. I was born in a town on the Danube, learned to swim in its waters, and I spent my college years in two cities on the Danube. The river had been part of everyday life, just as it was part of those moments that stood out. There was no New Year’s Day during my childhood without a family walk to the Danube. I always saw it as a New Year’s pilgrimage to experience the cleansing effect of chilling wind carried by the river.  So naturally, encounters with the Danube were part of our recent trip.

With the children, we strolled on the banks of the river; they threw pebbles, watched ships. We talked about history: times when these parts of the world were the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. “Wait, what? Romans here?” the children wondered. So we went to a museum to see some artifacts and to learn more. Turkish invasion was the next subject….

From my hometown, we walked through a bridge over the Danube and crossed to another country. As history has redefined borders, one town has turned into two: one on each side of the Danube and each in a different country. Luckily, both countries are now part of the European Union, so we were able to enjoy ice cream on the other side of the river without needing a passport.

During our trip we stood on several castle hills, all overlooking the Danube. The children imagined themselves to be knights watching the approach of the enemy. They felt lucky to be strategically well positioned and protected in their castles. They were enjoying themselves. But I kept wondering during the whole trip: Are they unimpressed? Does this experience really sink in? Or are these only fleeting moments of fun that will be soon forgotten?

After many day trips came the long anticipated day of the harvest in the vineyard.  The harvest of vine grapes has a special place in my personal mythology for a simple reason: I was born on the day of harvest in my grandfather’s old vineyard.

The bulk of the grape harvest in that area happens around Saint Michael’s Day (September 29th). The exact time is determined by the skilled eye and taste buds of the grower/vintner. The right levels of sugar, tannin, and acid are the first step to a good wine.

On the day of the harvest, the grapes were plump, ripe, and ready. Probably like my mother’s belly on that day many harvests ago. I was happy that we were there, that my children get to see the vineyard in its full autumn beauty, that they will savor the many tastes of different grape types, all of them so distant from the supermarket varieties.

Grape harvest is quite a sensory experience. It is not only the smell and taste of the berries, but how aware we become of our hands. The super ripe berries are no longer able to contain their juices. With each picked cluster, the hands of a picker get more and more sticky from the sweet juice that, like a magnet, attracts dirt, resulting in a gray sugary second skin.

Like everything else, grape harvest has its traditions. As for lunch, we had the traditional: roasted duck prepared on the day before (because who has time to cook on a harvest day?) with pickles and bread, and sweet bread for dessert—the perfect food to eat while sitting in the grass at the edge of the vineyard or under one of the peach trees dotting the rows of wine grapes.

The life span of grape vines is 50-100 years. Although the vineyard where harvest took place on the day of my birth no longer exists, we went to visit the place where it oncegrew. We looked around in the trees, and there they were: old, woody vines climbing up the tree trunks in search of light, and still bearing grapes. We picked a basketful of this surprise fruit for my grandparents, so they could taste and remember their lost vineyard.

My grandfather is fond of grape vines. He made sure his descendants would have no lack of them in the decades to come.  At the age of 90, he decided the time had come to plant a new vineyard. And that’s what he did.

There is one single grape vine growing in my garden as a fill-in for a vineyard. I bought the plant four years ago in an Italian gardening center without being aware of its variety.  The plant bore fruit for the first time this season. With great expectations, I picked a plump berry, and to my surprise, I tasted something very familiar. I recognized the cultivar right away: sweet, aromatic with a thick slip skin. Isabella: one of the varieties that had grown in grandfather’s old vineyard.

Eva’s Recipe for Traditional Braised Cabbage

On the day of the harvest in the vineyard, roasted duck is eaten picnic-style with only bread and pickles. When served properly on the dining table for a fall Sunday lunch, roasted duck and goose are often accompanied with a side of braised cabbage. Braised cabbage is also a nice side dish to be served with pot roast, roasted ribs or any other roasted meat, including game.

1 head of cabbage (3-4 pound), shredded
1 medium onion, sliced
3 tablespoons canola oil or lard
3 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon caraway seeds
½ cup water

 

Sprinkle the shredded cabbage with 1 ½ teaspoon of salt and let it stand for 30 minutes. Squeeze out the cabbage and discard the liquid.

Using a large heavy-bottomed casserole, heat the oil or lard and sauté the onion until limp. Add the sugar, stir and let it lightly caramelize. Add the cabbage and seasonings. Pour on the water, bring to a simmer, and cover. Gently simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 3 hours or until tender. Great fresh, and even better reheated the next day.

 

 

 

The Traveler and the Cook

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Our cooking instructor, Eva Szigeti, introduces her new series in The Dirt, writes about a breathtaking blueberry farm, and shares a recipe for a frozen blueberry treat…

Who doesn’t sometimes dream about faraway places, thrilling escapes, change and new experiences, about being a stranger in a welcoming place?

Most of us probably do here and there. Although partly for different reasons, the idea of travel excites children as well. And that is why we travel, and why we take our kids along. We cultivate their curiosity; we want them to see and experience; we give them the possibility for learning, for transformation and for reevaluating their self-concept. Travel suggests hope, things to discover and find, change, and a new perspective.

As we say farewell to summer, we are also leaving behind the season of vacation and travel. Wanderlust might stick around though, and we have to cope with it. Having good food is always helpful and comforting. Enjoying food that evokes faraway destinations is an even better remedy for a traveler who must stay put! The traveler can become a cook. With a little imagination, the cook (and their helpers) can go places without ever leaving their kitchen. The traveler/cook may know the desired destination and reach it, or they might be on a wonderful journey without ever arriving…

In the upcoming issues of The Dirt, we will travel through cooking. The road will take us to countries, towns, and villages that I have visited or that I, along with my children, dream to see someday.

The Traveler and the Cook in Maine

It took us more than eight hours to get to Downeast Maine. It was a long car drive – uneventful in a good way. A flight of a similar length could have taken us to Rome, Italy; Helsinki, Finland; or Lima, Peru. But we didn’t leave our continent, our time zone, and not even the country. We did, however, leave behind some of the summer heat and our everyday life.

Not too much planning went into this trip. We wanted to take the children to Acadia National Park, to see some friends, to visit a goat farm we have been to once before (because their cheese was simply unforgettable), to relax and do whatever felt best on a particular day.  The minimalistic plan seemed to work well. The children were the most happy engaging in unplanned simple activities like seeing a harbor seal (well, just its head) or a starfish, collecting shells on the beach, looking for sea glass, jumping the cold waves, petting goats and kittens on the farm, harvesting blueberries with an old-fashioned blueberry rake, or watching fisherman unloading their catch. They enjoyed the beach, which was so different from their idea of a beach or the familiar Jersey Shore: rocks instead of sand; no palm trees or grasses, but tall, dark conifers. These were not the balmy waters of the Caribbean but the rough and raw northern coastline. The space seemed so big, so stretched out. Even in the midst of the tourist season, it wasn’t hard to find a beautiful beach that we could have just for ourselves.

It was mid-August, and it was blueberry season in Maine. We couldn’t miss a visit to a blueberry farm. Our journey took us to a quite unusual one. The farmer was a former New Yorker who, I suspect, decided to trade the unpredictability of markets and corporate life for the unpredictability of nature and its elements. He was not only a farmer but also a sculptor. He cultivated his fields, and gave form and meaning to enormous pieces of basalt rock. After all, in both capacities, he was taming the nature.

Even more unusual than this man was his field of organic wild blueberries. I would have never identified that piece of landscape as a cultivated land. I saw a mild slope full of rock and some boulders. In a way it looked ordinary, but there was something breathtaking in it: a feel of sacred space. I imagined a place of ancient rituals, not a crop producing field. This was land formed by a receding glacier, the farmer explained. That made sense, but the explanation did not fully satisfy me – there was something there that simply could not be explained…

We left the farm with several pounds of wild blueberries. Some got eaten fresh and we froze the rest. The frozen ones made the trip back to New York with us and became part of our winter provision.

Every time we will take some out of the freezer to make a sweet treat, they will remind us of Maine and the mysterious field that gives life to wild blueberries.

Frozen Blueberry Treat

Recipes will be the maps on our imagined journeys. With the addition of common sense and a little bit of imagination the

results will surely be yummy.

This is a quick frozen (or almost frozen) dessert for a warm autumn day.

The recipe is so simple, even your six-year-old could prepare a treat for the family.

For 4 servings:
2 cups frozen wild blueberries
1 cup vanilla yogurt
nuts , fresh fruit or whipped cream (optional)

In a mixing bowl, combine the frozen blueberries with vanilla yogurt. Work fast and make sure the berries get covered in yogurt. (The yogurt will freeze over the blueberries.) Fill four small dessert bowls with the mixture. Decorate with fresh fruit, nuts, or whipped cream. Serve and enjoy immediately before the blueberries get defrosted.

 

For the Love of Lovage

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Our cooking instructor, Eva Szigeti, muses about lovage and what’s in a name…

As parents, we make many important decisions. Among the first is the naming
of a child.  Finding the right name for a new baby is often a long process full of careful considerations. Many factors play a role: our origin, cultural and religious background, education, and our hopes regarding the future of our offspring. Finding a name for a newly born baby means naming without knowing who that baby really is as a person. We can only imagine the personality or ‘grown-up looks’ of our newborn. We hope that the name will be a good fit for the child’s personality and a good fit within our family and society (regardless of whether our priority is  “to fit in” or distinguish our child from the crowd).

The Latin proverb “Nomen est omen” captures he predictive power of a name, and is certainly at least partly true. A name puts a person in a social and cultural context. Unfortunately, it can result in stereotyping people, and can lead to assumptions, not only about our origin or social status, but also about our behavior.

I was walking in my garden admiring the newly emerged plants when these thoughts about naming began to occupy my mind. It was because some lovage had caught my eye. A lovely plant with an even lovelier name. Lovage is an old European herb widely used in medieval kitchens and herb gardens, but largely forgotten today. So forgotten, that the word didn’t even make it into the spell-check dictionary on my computer. As I was writing this text, the spell-check constantly indicated that there is an error in the word lovage.

My mind kept wondering about the origin of this strange word and whether “Nomen est omen” applies to plants.  Lovage looks little like a celery (although unlike celery, it can grow up to 5 feet tall). Its flavor also reminds most people of celery, but it is stronger, more complex, and more aromatic. Personally, I like it a lot. Beneficial insects like it too.  If lovage were widely known, my guess is that its strong flavor would generate either a “love it” or “hate it” response in most people; nothing in between.

The plant belongs to the same family as carrots, parsley, and dill.  Its leaves, stalks, seeds, and roots are all edible. In the past, candied stalks and roots were used as a remedy. Leaves work well in salads, soups, and stews. Ancient Greeks chewed the leaves to improve digestion. Hildegard von Binden used lovage as a culinary herb, and recommended it as a remedy for colds, heart problems, and abdominal pain.

Thanks to its name, lovage also has a reputation as a love potion. I am not sure about the effectiveness ofthe potion, because it turns out the name of the herb is the r

esult of a semantic mix-up.  As I have learned, the original Latin name of the plant was Ligusticum, meaning ‘from Liguria’ (a region in north-western Italy). Ligusticum somehow later morphed into Levisticum. Subsequently, the plant was called loveche in Old French and loveache in Middle English. The non-poetic truth is that modern English ended up with the word lovage due to a distortion of the plant’s Latin name, and not because it had anything to do with love. Folk etymology was wrong, but regardless I still love lovage…

Spring Potato Soup Recipe

This soup gets its unique flavor from lovage leaves. If you can’t find lovage, use parsley or celery instead. Your soup will be tasty in a very different way.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 quart vegetable stock
5 whole leaves of lovage
2 finely chopped leaves of lovage for garnish
1 tablespoon dill, finely chopped
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream, optional

In a soup pan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and gently cook until translucent. Add the potatoes and stir well. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the whole lovage leaves and simmer for 5 more minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Take the soup off the heat. Remove the lovage leaves and use a hand blender to puree to soup. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Add dill and vinegar, and return the soup to the heat for a few minutes. Do not boil.  Put soup into serving bowls and garnish with chopped lovage. Serve with a dollop of sour cream if desired.