FOOD GLOSSARY
Ayran Cold, savoury yoghurt-based drink
Blutwurst Dark sausage made from pig’s blood and diced meat Bockwurst Sausage made with finely ground mixed meat which may be either simmered or grilled
Currywurst Pork sausage with or without its casing, served with tomato sauce, curry powder and chips
Döner kebap Seasoned, rotisseried meat and salad in pitta bread
Eisbein Boiled pork knuckle, usually served with sauerkraut and potatoes Königsberger klopse Veal meatballs in a caper cream sauce Milchkaffee/schwarzkaffee Coffee with hot milk/black coffee Pfannkuchen Jam-filled doughnut
Senfeier Eggs in mustard sauce
Over the past five to ten years, ‘Berlin has just gone crazy for coffee,’ says Philipp Reichel over toffee-coloured lattes made with his own self-roasted beans. It’s Saturday morning and we’re enjoying the sunshine outside his relaxed café and its glass-fronted sister roastery at the Kreuzberg district’s legendary indoor market, the Markthalle Neun.
A salty, caramelised hockey puck of a croissant-dough pastry sits on the table between us. Philipp explains that although coffee is hugely popular across the city, the coffee area is definitely Kreuzberg – there are at least five roasteries in less than half an hour’s walk, he points out. The focus on sustainability and staunch commitment to environmentally and socially responsible business practices goes with the territory – his Kaffee 9 and the Vote roastery
simply echo the ethos of many in this cool corner of the city. And these are just two of Philipp’s Berlin-based coffee projects, supplying locals with fully traceable and fairly traded speciality coffees from Central and South America and Africa. ‘With our beans, we want to stand up politically,’ he says. ‘Our aim is to decolonise coffee.’
With its history as a divided city, Germany’s capital doesn’t have a geographical centre. The 12 districts, including Kreuzberg and the neighbouring district of Neukölln, are made up of countless smaller neighbourhoods, each with its own history, character and culture. In these two districts alone, we repeatedly find ourselves feeling as if we’ve stepped through Alice’s looking glass as we turn a corner into what feels like an entirely different place. We wander around the gradually gentrifying Schillerkiez, still rough around the edges
but crammed with small cafés, galleries and bars; and along the Landwehr Canal, passing runners, dog walkers and hipsters playing boules. We explore Rixdorf, a historical village-like quarter founded by Bohemian refugees in 1727; and pass through the loud and colourful Kottbusser Tor, with its inexpensive kebab houses and spätis (late-night stores). The Markthalle Neun indoor market itself first opened in 1891 and many see it as the beating culinary heart of Kreuzberg, if not the whole city. Although it’s a tourist destination for food lovers, it remains a trusted shopping spot for locals and supplier of regional produce to Berlin’s restaurants.
A half hour’s walk south, on a cobbled Neukölln side street, we meet with two kindred spirits to Philipp, local food heroes Marion Coulondre and Thomas Giese, former owners of bistro
Bichou. The French-German couple’s food ethos is one of ‘simple food rooted in French cuisine’, says Marion. The pair share their love of food and recipes with locals and online and they cook for us some of their favourites. We try their plat chaud: a comforting dish of pork shoulder braised with pears with mashed potatoes, all served in a glass jar. Marion doesn’t pay lip service to transparency and traceability: she sources from independent producers only, whether that means meat from the local butcher or olive oil from a cooperative in Greece. Sipping her homemade fermented ginger lemonade on a bench outside, she tells us of like-minded food folk in the area, ‘taking small steps towards zero waste, reducing and reusing as much as we can’.
We tear into spiced chai brioche buns with glossy, chewy tops and gloriously sticky bottoms; the pastries have been baked fresh using a chai blend made in house to brew tea. These sorts of ideas for recycling ingredients and produce are being implemented more and more around the city. ‘Berlin tends to want to be green,’ Marion states simply, ‘and lots of places want to set an example.
‘I hope it’s more than a trend.’ She explains how much Neukölln’s food scene has changed over the past few years. ‘There’s a huge
mix of places, and they all complement each other well. There’s no competition, though: they’re all doing what they do best.’
On another quiet Neukölln street, close to the Landwehr Canal, thick grey curtains are drawn across the front windows of the two-Michelin-starred CODA, renowned for its seven-course surprise tasting menu consisting entirely of desserts. From the outside, the curtains give little away; inside, their effect is theatrical, providing a backdrop to a dark, purist interior. ‘We don’t want to make the exterior of the restaurant obvious,’ says head chef René Frank. ‘In this neighbourhood, you’re left alone to do what you want – the curtains ensure that people don’t, won’t look.’
Seven courses of desserts? René’s dishes are not the traditional, sugary sweets associated with the word in western Europe. ‘Dessert hasn’t developed here,’ the pastry chef explains. Inspired by ‘differences in understanding of what desserts are, and what they mean’ around the world, he looks at how other cultures use specific ingredients and then uses classic techniques to interpret them in his own progressive way. The use of bone marrow in a soft, domeshaped ‘beef cake’ is inspired by a Persian custard. ‘The rest of the cake is almond,’ says CODA’s co-creator, designer