#serves3

[berlinwhatscooking]

White Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce

Laura lives close to one of Kreuzberg's loveliest neighbourhoods 'Bergmannkiez'. Her living set-up is pretty different to that of her neighbours though. Laura (who has moved here from London) and 3 of her friends have created their lives around 'Boys Club', a colourful community space open for music, theatre and art in any shape or form taking place right in their living room (http://boysclub52.tumblr.com/). I came across their lovely space while taking a Finnish cooking course at Trade school, an international exchange community that Boys Club is part of (http://tradeschool.coop/). Having moved into this space a year ago with almost no belongings, it is now a creative haven full of fun quirks, market finds, DIY creations and donations from neighbours and friends.

LAURA, WHAT'S COOKING?

I live with 2 Italians, which means I have literally stopped cooking for others. Anything they make just tastes amazing and feeds our big group easily. I do like cooking for myself on my days off though and try to learn more about the German kitchen, traditions and the German language for that matter. Germans get really crazy about white asparagus as it is just available for a limited time in the first warm days of spring in April and May. This made me curious and I started to cook it for myself and my friends. It is sweeter and softer than green asparagus and tastes great with anything buttery. Very different to the horrible tinned version we get in the UK.

INGREDIENTS

600g white asparagus, 300g green asparagus, 700g potatoes, a slice of lemon, 150g cooked ham, half a box of cress, pinch of sugar

holllandaise sauce: 3 eggs, 200g butter, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, squeeze of lemon

1 meter cotton string

HOW TO COOK IT

Start with washing both types of asparagus. Pat them dry carefully. Then cut off the last 3 cm of your white asparagus, as these are coarse and dry. The white asparagus grows under the soil, so it also needs to be peeled. Prop the asparagus up in your hand and start skinning it from just underneath the head right down to the bottom. Get rid of any brown spots. If the ends of your green asparagus are a little hard too, skin the bottom 5cm. Now tie them up in pretty little bundles. This is also a good way of portioning your veg.

Take your potatoes and skin them, getting rid of any dark spots.

Bring two pots of water to the boil - one for your potatoes and a large one for your asparagus. Add one slice of lemon, a pinch of sugar and your bundles of asparagus to the boiling water. It's useful to set a timer. Your green asparagus will take about 5-8 minutes to boil and your white asparagus 10-12 minutes.

Next prepare your sauce: Bring a large pot of water to the boil and separately melt 200g of butter (yes, it's a huge chunk!). Set the melted butter aside to rest. 

Now start on your sauce: Separate 3 egg yolks from their whites into a large bowl. Whisk vigourously. Add a squeeze of lemon, but not too much. Add some salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Keep whisking. Take your pot of boiling water from the oven and place underneath your whisking bowl. The heat will thicken your sauce. Be careful not to heat your egg mixture too much otherwise it will scramble! Slowly mix in your melted butter drop by drop and keep whisking. You will soon see your sauce get thicker and fluffier. Continue for another few minutes and season to taste with your pepper, salt and cayenne pepper. All your other ingredients should now be ready too. (Sadly your sauce only holds for about 10 minutes, so always prepare it last.)

Check on your potatoes and asparagus. Poke a sharp knive into the end bits to see if these are soft. If they are, carefully take out your asparagus bundles, untie and arrange on a platter. Take your ham and cress from the fridge and arrange nicely on plates. Scoop your potatoes into a bowl.Transfer your hollandaise sauce to a jug.

Now enjoy your beautiful spring time lunch- flowery asparagus, sweet salty ham and a beautiful, (outrageously) buttery sauce.

A piece of German food craziness - (that's really as crazy as it gets over here.)

YOUR GERMAN LESSON: Weisser Spargel mit Sauce hollandaise und gekochtem Schinken.

[berlinwhatscooking]

Potato pancakes with apple pear compote

Julius and his wife Tanya live in a stunning old fashioned flat near Oberbaumbrücke in Kreuzberg. Through their living room window you can watch the Spree pass by like a gentle giant. The couple travels a lot and seem to find all the best treasures wherever they go. Their flat is full of all these things you might have looked out for on markets but could never find. Should they ever decide to quit their fashion jobs, they surely could open Berlin's most magical antique shop.

JULIUS, WHAT'S COOKING?

I never really have time to plan any meals and just throw together what we have in the kitchen. As fashion stylist I can get a call in the morning and I am off preparing and shooting for the next few days. I love the Turkish market at Maybachufer though and try to go down there on Tuesdays or Fridays. They always sell great quality seasonal fruit and vegetables. This dish is one of my favourite lunch snacks as we always tend to have a few pears or apples, potatoes and ham in the house. The fresh creamed horseradish is today's little treat to be honest.

INGREDIENTS

Potato pancakes:750g potatoes, 1-2 eggs, 1-2 onions, 1TSP flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg, cooking oil

Apple-pear mouse: 2 apples, 2 pears, 2 ginger slices, 1 cinnamon stick, large piece of orange peel, 40g sugar, 80ml white wine, 5 cloves

Creamed horseradish: 250g cream or crème fraiche, 1 stick of fresh horseradish, 2 TSP ready-made horseradish, salt, squeeze of a lemon

  HOW TO COOK IT

Start with your apple-pear mouse. Chop the apples and pears into 1 cm small cubes and give into a pot, together with your sugar. Let the fruits caramelise over a medium heat. Add your white wine and cloves. Tie all your other spices into a little bundle and cover in the pot. Now cover your pot and let boil for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, wash and skin your fresh horseradish, grate into fine flakes. Whip your cream and season with a little salt and lemon, mixing in the fresh and the ready made horseradish to taste.

Check your apple-pear mouse and take out your spice bundle. Crush the soft bits with a wooden spoon until mushy. Put aside to cool off.

Skin your potatoes, and grate into fine strips, wrap into a kitchen towel and make sure to press out all the water. This is really important and will help your pancakes hold together. Mix in your finely chopped or grated onion, 1 or 2 egg yolks, the flour , a little bit of salt and pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Cover your pan generously with oil and heat up. Now add spoonfuls of potatoes to your pan and flatten to 10cm pancakes. Fry until golden brown and slightly crispy. Careful flipp them over from time to time. Transfer them onto some kitchen towel to drain off some oil. Crack open a few nuts and a nice bottle of white wine.

Serve the hot crispy pancakes with 3 or 4 slices of your ham, some spoonfuls of your creamy horseradish, your walnut halves and a nice helping of your apple and pear compote.

Enjoy and Guten Appetit!

Your German lesson: 'Kartoffelpuffer mit geräuchertem Schinken, Apfel-Birnen Kompott, Walnüssen und frischem Sahnemerrettich'