I am sorry I didn't get a newsletter for
Silvester (the German term for New Years Eve)
that would have helped you do some fun
tradional German meals for Good Luck
in 2020
.
I have taken on another cooking job
(though I told you I retired and became a farmer)
so I
have been busy during the holidays.
However
I find anything that says you
CAN'T
do these meals
AFTER
New Years Eve
or New Years Day,
to help bring good luck.
and if you find someting saying they bring bad luck
or no luck
well that is just a superstition.
Yeah, I thought that would be a fun joke to start off 2020
I hear you, the meals are maybe superstitious too.
but are "good luck meals" or "Glückwunch Essen" really just superstion?
I don't know but I have great memories of some of my grandma's
German traditions whether they work or not for luck.
Why do we believe in Superstitions?...... Especially with Food
Some folks that study behavior have thought that when you feel
like you have little power over your fate,
or the elements in your environment
That our minds make up ideas that can give us a feeling of control.
The word Superstition suggests that you have made a connection
with the supernatural by bringing 2 events together
Like,
eating sauerkraut
at the stroke of midnight
or eating pork and sauerkraut on new years day,
Now I can see this, because our German ancestors in the medieval ages
spent a long winter without much sun and they had no electricity
and Sauerkraut would be there for you when
no green vegetables would.
In
modern days maybe it would be
a good refrigerator or a stocked freezer
a good car to make it to the store for green vegetables.
or eating a nice Carp dinner
and putting a fish scale in your wallet,
Yup....that is a pile of fish scales
but don't they look like a pile of shiny jewels?
or
or putting
bread with salt underneath the table cloth
as they did in Saxony to ward off
evil spirits.
Bread and Salt?
Bread and Salt not only was a lucky charm and insurance to keep away bad luck
but they both symbolized wealth.
Bread was what they had for
most of their meals
and a symbol of security.
And salt was so important back in ancient and medieval times,
and many times a bag of salt was
used to pay wages, and where
the word Salary comes from.
So if you spill your salt on the table
it its often felt it was a sign maybe a spriit was out to get you,
so you take a bit of that salt with your right hand
and toss it over your shoulder to appease the
spirit!
Sauerkraut
Become
Shreds of Money!
I think first on the iist of must do dinners would be
sauerkraut. But not just any sauerkraut.
this must be a special kraut that you count the number of shreds in it.
each shred will be a dollar coming your way.
1 cup = 10,000 shreds
--don't believe me just count them.
What a great tradition, and may work better for you than guessing the Stock Market....
Perfect to pair with the Sauekraut
for Luck
is of course
Pork
A good pig was a sign that you would have meat for the year.
But don't eat chicken!!!!
Chicken was considered bad luck
for the new year because of
the way a chicken scratches its claw backwards,
and you
DON"T
want to go backwards in 2020.
A pig snouts forward to forage....
makes total sense.
A gift for the new year is often a
Glückschweine or a Good Luck Pig.
it is easy to remember the word for luck in German
Just put together the 2 words,
GOOD and LUCK
and you get
Glück (Glook)
So for a really good luck and a good financial 2020
put together a
Sauerkraut and Pork dinner
Smoked Pork Chops with Sauerkraut
with an apple potato mash
is a perfect symbolic winter new years meal.
Using preserved pork, ...for good luck
Sauerkraut for wealth
and Himmel und Erde (Heaven and Earth)
to represent good spiritual life
This is an easy recipe and one that potato dumplings go especially well. I like to serve it
in a large bowl as the juices are thin but make a nice flavor for the dumpling to soak up,
and skewer on a piece of the fall apart pork
chunks and kraut to go with the bite.
The Next is to find a fish dinner, preferebly one that has scales.
I ama not sure why
Seafood on New Years Eve or for the New Year
Seafood for dinner (evening meal) on New Year's Eve has been a long-standing tradition. Particularly popular is the New Year Eve Carp ( Silvesterkarpfen ). The carp can be baked, pan-fried, grilled, or smoked. Other seafood, such as trout, salmon, crab, sturgeon, eel, lobster, crayfish, and oysters, are also favorites on New Year's Eve. It is not really known how this tradition started. However, one theory is that people wanted to cut their caloric intact after all the Christmas celebrations and food, so they chose less fattening food, seafood, for their New Year's Eve celebration.
In the past, carp was always an expensive and hard to find fish. Because of this, it was greatly valued and a superstition evolved around it. It was believed that a fish scale from the carp hidden in one's wallet brought an abundance of money. The scales also look a shiny little jewels. The scale had to remain in the wallet the entire year and could not be removed. Likewise, scales hidden throughout the house brought this same abundance of money to the entire family. This custom is still followed today by many Germans.
Dieter from Gelsenkirschen, Germany sent me this one that is one of their favorites on New Years Day. So many pictures of the carp don't looks so nice like say a catfish in the US is kind of ugly.
But isn't this a pretty fish?
Imagine the scales are money!
or let's just say real wealth and happiness.
Ingredients:
1 carp (weight 1500 to 2000 grams or 3 to 4 lbs)
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 cup water
1 onion
1 laurel leaf
1 tablespoon pepper
1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon butter
for garnish:
one tomato
half a lemon
1 tablespoon horse-radish
Directions:
"Carp blue" is one of the traditional Christmas and New Year's dishes in Germany. To achieve the blue color of the fish, it is important not to scale it. The combination of the scales of the fish skin with the vinegar causes the blue coloration.
1. If your fish is not cleaned when you buy it, carefully cut the underside and clean it. Salt the inside of the fish.
2. Place fish in a bowl. Heat the vinegar to a boil and pour over the fish. Then lay the carp onto a platter, saving the vinegar.
3. Heat wine, water and vinegar in a large pot. Peel onion and cut in half. Add the fish, as well as the laurel leaf, pepper and lemon. Put on low heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Take out the carp and lay onto a preheated platter.
4. Melt butter and serve separately. Cut tomatoes in slices and garnish the carp with it. Fill the lemon half with the horseradish and lay on plate. You may serve cooked potatoes with this dish.
This is a wonderful tool from Germany, that makes the longer Spaetzle noodles. My German friend brought one over from Germany for me.
German Music
Through modern technology we can enjoy music from Germany at the touch of your computer, there are many venues now, Pandora, Amazon music, and Youtube is free.
I love my noise canceling headphones that are completely wireless and give incredible sound!
A recipe book and short biography of my Grandmother Emma Block. Her recipes, culture and cooking styles that were brought over from Germany. How they evolved when she came to America in the early 1900s and settled in Portland, Oregon on the west coast of the United States. Over 100 recipes
Bonus Recipe CD with the Ebook and recipes with step by step pictures
Biography of my grandma
Emma Block From Germany with Love tells the story of my grandma, Emma Block, growing up in a little town in Baden/ Würtemberg, Germany near Heidelberg named Steinsfurt. Then at the age of 15 immigrating to the United States, taking a train with one of her sisters and brothers to Hamburg and sailing the Atlantic with other hope filled Germans wanting to make a life in the "New World". It was not easy but with good values learned in her German upbringing made a full life, had a wonderful family with lots of fun and celebration including the great German meals.
Karin Elliot born and raised in Germany
is a chef and wonderful friend giving me encouragement through the years here and donated her recipes for our newsletter. She also does wonderful volunteer work like providing meals for school children in need in Tuscon, Arizona.
Many German-Americans and German immigrants are interested in Native American items from books and movies to jewelry and arts and craft supplies. Karin will take care of you personally with her online store Native Rainbows
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