More Baking and Travel Impressions
Warnemünde is not only the harbor for Hansetown Rostock, but a graceful old Baltic Sea resort. Thanks to the former GDR's lack of money, none of the nice old houses was torn down to make place to modern non descript highrise hotels, like in West Germany.
When I first visited my cousin's family in 1957, houses were grey, with flaking paint, looking more and more dilapidated every year . That changed dramatically after the fall of the wall and the reunion 1989. All the houses were fixed-up, by and by.
The yacht pier, used by communistic party VIPs (and closed to the public), was opened and turned into a fish market,
with lots of smoke shacks (I never saw so many kinds of smoked fish before) and even an open air bakery
Those naughty boys on the bakery sign are Max and Moritz - characters from the classic German childrens' book. After sneaking into a bakery, camouflaging themselves with dough, surviving being baked, and eating their way out of their bread armour, they get nabbed. Their long and successful carreer as juvenile delinquents ends as - kibbles for miller's geese!
Street bakery at the fish market pier (with a woodfired oven) with freshly baked Potato Carrot Breads.
In one of the many waterfront restaurants we had "all-you-can-eat" herring. You can't buy them in Maine, though there are plenty - they all end up at bait for the lobster traps. Much as I like lobster, nothing compares to fresh, pan fried herring.
Easter was cold but sunny, we walked along the Alster - a large lake in the middle of Hamburg -
had family dinner overlooking the habor, where paddle wheel boat "Louisiana" passed by
And when we went back to the airport, and had time for breakfast, we were utterly amazed to find this:
a bakery that made everyting from the scratch, from organic ingredients, right in Terminal 1
On the left is a dough divider (for rolls), the glass box a proofing cabinet.
"Marché Bakery" offers a large selection of breads and pastries. I chose this roll with a twist:
It was as good as it looked like! The best breakfast I ever had in an airport.
Comments
Thanks for sharing your lovely photos and letting us travel through your eyes and words.
I wish the airports in NY and in China had a bakery like that! No such luck....
I'm on my way on Monday to the orient for my second business trip of the year....I miss the bread already.
HI Karin,
Thanks for the pictures. I love them and the story of the naughty boy.
I, too, am impressed by the bakery in the airport!!!! Never would have guessed that in a million years! I grew up here with vending machines in our airports!!!! I can still recall the taste of the watered down hot cocoa which was anything but hot cocoa.....I also remember the packaged snacks and candy at the newstands at the airport....nothing fresh in sight. I don't fly anymore so have no idea how things are now......but your photo rings of promise :-)
Thanks again for the wonderful photos of the beautiful sites in your native country.
Take Care,
Janet
Yummy, Karin! thanks for posting great pictures. The bread at the end looks especially delicious.
Karin, so glad you've shared your photos, and I agree- what a find to have a bakery of that caliber in the airport! Hope your happiness over that find stayed with you for the trip back.
Thanks for sharing photos from your Easter travels, Karin. The pan-fried herring looks delicious!
I'm happy to share what I like about my old home country.
Things have changed quite a bit since I moved to Maine 11 years ago. Not only that a lot of American words have made into the everyday language (with Germanized verb endings, like "downloaden" or "shoppen"), but people in general are loosening up, being less reticent, less formal, and friendlier.
Yes, Carl, those are bratkartoffeln. My husband is a great fan of them, and orders them, whenever he can, and, also, prepares them at home. Pan fried with bacon and onions, they are quite different from American homefries. The salad on the platter is mâche, my favorite.
The funny thing about that restaurant - it is called "Casa Mia - Mediterranean Restaurant". Without my cousin, we would have never gone in, my husband avoids Italian restaurants (being spoiled by his Venetian mother's cooking), and we didn't want food that we can get in the US, too.
The GDR had few, if any, ethnic restaurants, and the owners apparently just liked the idea of a cool and exotic name, didn't bother with authenticity, but offered traditional coastal fare with some pizza and pasta strewn in. The pan fried herrings were fantastic, as were the selection of differently marinated ones my cousin had.
So, if you want herrings - you can't get them any better than in one of the harbor towns around the North or Baltic Sea.
Karin
You picked a twisted roll - with seeds on it of course. The 'Queen of Seeds' will not be denied no matter where she goes :-) What I want to know, since the roll is twisted, are these seeds on the top or the bottom or both! Love your travelogue!
Safe travels
to such a loyal follower:)
The seeds were only on top, applied after the twist. I really want to try making such a nice roll, the crumb was a bit fluffy - a sign for the typical low protein flour in rolls, and had an addition of rye, most likely.
We just came home two days ago, and I'm going to work on my Equal Opportunity Baking list again.
Karin
This was so much fun to read and to see this place through your eyes, your camera and your senses, hanseata. Thank you for taking us with you (virtually). That gorgeous roll would startle me in any airport. It looks like a handmade, delectable treat!
Janie
I appreciate that!
Karin
Karin,
If I took one thing away from your wonderful travelogues, it's that clearly the German government cares far more about the integrity of its culture and the health & welfare of its people than it does about the unfettered spread of industrial food processing giants. What a luxury, to be able to find real food wherever one looks (even in airports).
Stan Ginsberg
www.nybakers.com
Germans and other Europeans feel very strongly about the value of their traditional ways of making good produce, the Reinheitsgebot (purity law for beer brewing) being one of them. Elected officials really feel the heat when people are opposed to the introduction of GMO crops, and consumer go on wide spread strikes when hormones or antibiotics are found in their meat.
Unfortunately in the US many people are either uninformed (being only "infotained"), or believe in the food corporation's downplaying of possible health hazards of their products.
Karin