The Stuttgart Wine Trail

This last weekend was peak fall colors in our area, so we decided to take a hike with friends like we did last year at this time. We chose the Stuttgart Wine Trail, which traverses a large hill surrounded by scenic villages, where wine is likely the main industry. However, it is just a stone's throw from Stuttgart. The wine trail itself is probably a scheme to bring in tourists, but it worked and we had a beautiful day for it. Admittedly, we tried a bit of the produce as we wandered along the trail, but we did end our adventure at a local wine "Besen" where we paid for the goods.

The Danube Prequel

Like many sagas, sometime the beginning happens after the fact. That is exactly how we are treating the nearly 700 km bike ride we did along the Danube last April. We started our spring ride in Ulm, about 170 km downstream from the source of the river in Donaueschingen (the Danube is called "Donau" in German). So over the summer, we convinced our friends Barb and Adam (Americans; Barb is also a postdoc in our institute) to ride the first 80 km with us one weekend.

We headed off by train one Saturday morning in July. The Deutsche Bahn (German rail company) makes it pretty easy to purchase a one-day pass for a group, with bikes even, to ride the local trains. We arrived in Donaueschingen around 11 am and our first order of business was the find the mythical source ("Quelle") of the river. Unfortunately it was under construction! So we only saw it from a distance. We were however somewhat appeased by finding the distribution center for Fürstenberg beer on our winding route out of town.

Unfortunately our ride coincided with one of the summer's hottest weekends. We compensated for the kilometers of sunny, hot riding by making several stops to cool off. At one stop we found some small holes in the ground connected to what was probably underground limestone caves. They were releasing cool air - a sort of natural air conditioning. The four of us huddled around one of these caves for probably far too long. We also went swimming in the river, and once at a Freibad (public outdoor swimming pool) in one of the towns along the river. And of course, we drank plenty of Radler (shandy, or lemonade mixed with beer) that is the drink of bikers.

There were a few interesting sights to see along our ride. One was the Donauversickerung (the Danube percolation). In a few spots along this stretch of river, the water percolates down through slanted layers of rocks and ends up in tributaries of the Rhine. During some times of the year, almost all of the water disappears over short stretches of river. How is that for a clever way to steal water? We stopped at one of these points to see the river disappearing, and even saw/heard a few spots where water was being sucked down. I especially like the descriptions of radioisotope experiments (51Cr) done nearly a hundred years ago to figure out how long water took to travel to the Rhine (about 1 hour/km). It would be hard to get a permit for such an experiment these days.

We overnighted in the town of Mühlheim an der Donau. It had a terribly cute old town. We were there on Saturday night, in time for the free city tour from the town's only remaining Nachtwächter (night guard). He took us around the old town as the sun set and explained the history, punctuated by singing verses of the Nachtwächter song. The guard watched for fires during the night in medieval times.

So now all that remains of the Danube for us to ride are the 90 km from Sigmaringen to Ulm... and from the Austrian border with Slovakia to the Black Sea. The lower part goes through Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria (actually I am not totally sure which countries it goes through!), and are not as frequently traveled by bicycle. We will see if we take on that challenge!

What do we eat? Part III: Chicken Spätzle Soup

It's been getting cooler and the leaves are starting to change colors and fall off the trees. Now that Joe and I are both working, it's more difficult to get homemade meals on the table each night, but we managed to come up with a quick meal that it also appropriate for the dropping temperatures.

For this soup we decided to incorporate the local noodles - Spätzle. Most Americans pronounce this something like spat-zell, but it should actually sound more like spetz-leh. What we did was to saute some chicken, onions and carrots, then add broth and spices until the carrots were mostly cooked. Then we added fresh spätzle (you can also find it dried) and cooked until the noodles were soft. Perfect for a cool fall evening.

What do we eat? Part II: Zwiebelkuchen

Yesterday I wrote about how we make some foods here that we are used to having in the States. However, we have incorporated a number of local foods into our diet. It's simply easier, because all of the ingredients are readily available here, and the cuisine is actually not all meat and potatoes.

This time of year (fall) is the time for Zwiebelkuchen (onion cake). Actually, you can find Zwiebelkuchen in bakeries year-round, but traditionally people eat it with new wine (Federweisser or Neuer Wein), that is basically actively fermenting grape juice. You can only get new wine in the fall. Joe and I thought that maybe Zwiebelkuchen was special to this region (Swabia), but it turns out it is eaten all over Germany, with regional differences in how it is made.

We had Zwiebelkuchen last Sunday at our local hiking hut - it was a special once-a-year event. We also went to a Zwiebelkuchen party with some colleagues this weekend. Meantime, I made Zwiebelkuchen at home for Joe and I. Each Zwiebelkuchen had a slightly different character, but I have to admit I was quite pleased with how mine turned out. If you are looking for a new recipe to try this fall (and aren't adverse to massive quantities of onions!), I would recommend it.

Zwiebelkuchen

-Prepare a yeast dough according to the package instructions, or prepare it from scratch like you are going to make a pizza.

-Cut 800 g (yes, 0.8 kg!) of onions into rings. I used onions grown in the village next to us and had to take several breaks due to tears. German onions tend to be quite pungent.

-Saute the onions in a few tablespoons of oil until they are glassy. Remove them from heat to allow them to cool.

-Mix two egg yolks (or two whole eggs if you are lazy like me) and 200 g cream together in a bowl.

-Roll out the dough and spread out the onions. Season with salt, pepper and caraway seeds. (Note: caraway is something that is to me a really typical German flavor - think sauerkraut).

-Sprinkle 250 g shredded gouda and bacon or ham on top of the onions. (Note: I used about 100 g of bacon cubes and this was plenty, although the recipe I roughly followed called for 400 g! If you can't get cubed bacon, I think ham or crumbled bacon would be fine.)

-Now top with the egg/cream mixture and bake for 30-40 min. at 200 C. Enjoy!

What 800 g of onions looks like. I cut julienne, btw. Not skilled enough for proper rings.

Zwiebelkuchen before the cheese, egg, cream and baking.

Joe eating Zwiebelkuchen. He does not enjoy onions, bacon and cheese nearly as much as I do.

What do we eat? Part I: Pumpkin muffins

In the past we have told you about all the great road-side stands that sell pumpkins on the honor system. That means we eat a lot of pumpkin in the fall. No complaints. However, one pumpkin product we sadly have not found in Germany is canned pumpkin. The logical conclusion from this is that Germany, despite its plethora of delicious baked goods and cakes eaten every day promptly at 3:00 pm with coffee, lacks pumpkin sweets. No pumpkin lattes, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie... :(

But fortunately we have connections in the US, and make semi-regular trips there. So I will admit, at the risk of paying back customs, to smuggling cans of Libby's pumpkin into Germany. With the weather feeling determinedly autumnal, I baked pumpkin muffins last weekend with my imported - pureed gold?

The occasion was the 1st birthday our friends' son. He was born on Reunification day (Oct. 3; "Tag der Deutschen Einheit"), the holiday that celebrates East and West Germany being re-united. That means the little guy gets the day off on his birthday every year. And it didn't escape the attention of the nurses when he was born, that his mother grew up in former east Germany, and father in west Germany. That is a bit of poetry.

But back to the muffins. I found the recipe on the Libby's website. I made a few modifications: I used local apple cider instead of orange juice, and sunflower not vegetable oil. I think most Germans are used to muffins made with butter, not oil, which tend to be dryer. Sometimes I find the oil-based muffins to be a bit too moist. I also utilized my smuggled stash of McCormick's pumpkin pie spice.

I topped the muffins with Nutella frosting. Yes, this could certainly be an entry for This is why you're fat. I'm not sure that Germans really appreciate frosting, because I brought the muffins into work unfrosted and put them next to the tub of Nutella frosting. The muffins disappeared but the frosting lingered. Oh well. I do quite like the German version that appears on donuts. It's called "Fettglasur" (fat glaze). How is that for truth in advertising?

If you are in Germany and want to enjoy homemade pumpkin muffins, you will have to do a bit of extra work. You will have to bake and puree the pumpkin yourself. I'm also not sure we can find the classic baking pumpkin used in the US here in Germany. They look like this.

Pumpkin muffins - minus the Nutella frosting.