Brägel

It is generally known that Europe imported potatoes from South America about 400 years ago and that Frederick the Great made enormous efforts to introduce this staple food to Prussia. Potatoes fed Prussia's growing population and made its food supply less dependent on cereal grain harvests.

Frederick is inspecting the harvesting of his favorite staple food
that the farmers subserviently present to the "potato king."

Rumors were frequently spread that Frederick's troops were superior to other armies solely fed on cereal grains because of the Prussian Grenadiers' potato (not spinach!) diet.

Frederick, on the eve of the Battle of Torgau (1760), he nearly lost.
Dreamily, he observes a country lass boiling potatoes on an open fire.
Did the miracle tuber save Frederick's upcoming day?

Potatoes are still popular in Europe. Here in Germany, kids, in particular, adore them as pommes frites (French fries), called Pommes rot with ketchup, Pommes weiß with mayonnaise, or even Pommes rot-weiß. Another popular preparation is frying sliced potatoes in a pan.

Following the white asparagus season, which ends at Sankt Johannis (June 24), restaurants in the Freiburg region seamlessly continue with Brägel weeks at the beginning of July before the chanterelle season takes over. Brägel is not to be confused with Brägele, which are generally considered like Bratkartoffeln (home fries) as served in northern Germany. And then there are still the Rösti in Switzerland.

Let us explore the differences among these delicious potato dishes and start with Brägel. 

Brägel are made from thinly grated, boiled potatoes formed into patties, seasoned with pepper and salt, and baked in a pan on both sides in Schmalz (lard). This sounds like Rösti, but the Swiss specialty is made from raw potatoes.

Brägel (©Hochschwarzwälder Brägelwochen 2015)

Rösti (©Wikipedia/Musskelprozz)

Some people consider Brägele to be a diminutive of Brägel, but they are mistaken. Brägele served here in Freiburg are sliced potatoes. The slices are fried in a pan with bacon and onions and are called Bratkartoffeln (home fries) in High German.

Brägele with Wiener Schnitzel (©fudder)

Red Baron's experience is that Brägele are not as tasty as Bratkartoffeln served in northern Germany. Why is it so? I can only guess. It seems to judge from the consistency of the fried potatoes that Brägele are generally made from boiled potatoes, whereas in the north, Bratkartoffeln are usually made from raw potatoes. This means Bratkartoffeln come out crustier and have more bite (al dente) than Brägele.

Here are Bratkartoffeln (home fries) I had in Hamburg last year
with gebratene Pfifferlinge (chanterelles sautées) served with Rührei (scrambled eggs).

I have never had Brägel, but tasting it compared to Rösti would be interesting.

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Vale senex magister civium !

This morning: Signing the book of condolence at Freiburg's Alte Gerichtslaube (Old courthouse)

Freiburg's former lord mayor, Dr. Rolf Böhme, died on February 12.

Chancellor Helmut Schmidt supported the bid for Freiburg's mayor of his former state secretary,
 party comrade, and friend in 1982. In the back young Gernot Ehrler (©Heinz Wurzer/BZ)

Elected in 1982 and re-elected in 1990 and 1998, the social democrat served 20 years as Freiburg's lord mayor until 2002, when Green Dr. Dieter Salomon took over.

Dr. Dieter Salomon, newly elected first Green mayor of a major city in Germany
on election night in 2002 with his wife Helen and "former" mayor Dr. Rolf Böhme (©BZ)

During Böhme's first term of office, NATO and the Warsaw Pact had serious confrontations over the deployment of medium-range missiles in Europe. NATO's Double-Track Decision resulted in mass protests, primarily by young people in Germany and neighboring European countries.

Disarmament negotiations that began on November 30, 1981, never concluded. When the German Bundestag agreed to the deployment in 1983, the Soviet Union aborted the talks.

Eventually, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on December 8, 1987. It required the destruction of all intermediate-range weapons and ended an episode of the Cold War, until the recently canceled INF treaty.

During that turbulent period, the idea was born that Freiburg should establish a partnership with an American city and a city in the Soviet Union. Rolf Böhme, a dedicated advocate of international understanding and détente, supported the move wholeheartedly. Following Böhme's visit with a delegation from Freiburg, Madison, the Capital of Wisconsin, was chosen in the States. Lord Mayor Dr. Rolf Böhme and Madison's Mayor Joseph Sensenbrenner signed the partnership agreement on May 31, 1988. Frauke Feix, vice president of the Freiburg-Madison-Gesellschaft, has extensively described Dr. Böhme's merits for the partnership between Madison and Freiburg.


Elisabeth and I met Rolf Böhme and his wife at a private dinner arranged by a friend in 2004, where we had a lively conversation. Later, I met the retired mayor and honorary citizen on several occasions, often on the street, since we were neighbors. Whenever he had time, we had a friendly chat.

Leberle mit Brägele (Roasted fine cut liver and sliced onions with fried potatoes as a side dish) is a regional specialty. One evening Elisabeth and I were eating with some friends at a nearby restaurant that offers Baden cuisine. When I read "Leberle" on the menu, my choice was clear, but I became deeply disappointed when the waitress told me that Leberle ist aus (is no longer available).

Enter Rolf Böhme with his wife and friends seated at a nearby table. Suddenly, he stood up and approached our table, smiling, but complained bitterly, "You ate my Leberle!" I told him my chagrin was as great as his and even a few minutes older.

When, suddenly, due to a severe illness, Dr. Böhme had to live in a nursing home, I missed our street contacts. I last saw him in the film Weltweite Freundschaften, where he, sitting in a wheelchair, commented on his Freiburg-Madison partnership.

This morning: Freiburg's flag in mourning at the town hall. 

R.I.P. Rolf Böhme

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A Traditional Kale Dinner

Last night, Red Baron participated in a Grünkohlessen at Freiburg‘s well-known restaurant, Großer Meyerhof. The man from Kiel*. Lars Petersen, Freiburg city councilor, district court judge, trombone player, band leader, and his charming wife, Meike Voss, once initiated the kale dinner. Yesterday, they animated the 14th edition with a quiz on Low German.

*Kiel is the capital of the northernmost German state

The demand for this annual kale dinner is great. However, I was early in my quest for a ticket, while those who arrived later had to be placed on a waiting list.

In 2014, I wrote a blog about Brassica oleracea var. sabellica L., claiming that the vegetable from northern Germany was virtually unknown in the south.

In the States, kale was discovered as a superfood in the early 2000s. As usual, American trends sweep across the Atlantic, so over the years and little by little, kale also became known in southern Germany.

When I strolled through the Minster market yesterday morning, I found the following offer:

Freiburg currently has permafrost, so the kale leaves were slightly covered with hoarfrost. They say that before a vegetable may be harvested, it must have frozen—the frost takes the bitterness out of its leaves.

I had my last Grünkohl in Berlin at the end of December in a restaurant, eating all by myself. Here in Freiburg, I sat at a table surrounded by animated, expectant diners.

And the beer did the rest.

The Großer Meyerhof served Brägele as a side dish. Red Baron, preferring Bratkartoffeln (North German-style roast potatoes), once blogged about various dishes made with roasted potatoes.

Different types of meat covered the small quantity of Grünkohl. It was not enough, so I asked the waitress for more. New kale was delivered hot and was well-received at the table. This meant a third delivery was necessary to meet my quantity requirements.

The kitchen and service team deserve big applause, and many thanks to Meike and Lars for their organization and animation.

The Lower German quiz was rather demanding. Who would know that Schinkenbüddel (ham pouches) simply are underpants, Plüschappels (plush apples) are peaches, and Windmölenfleeger (windmill flyer) is a chopper.

Here is the lady who won the quiz and became the kale queen. She waved graciously to our table.

My American readers will be interested in the answer to the quiz question: Who was, at times, the largest buyer of kale in the US?

Red Baron chose Pizza Hut among the options, assuming the food chain sold a lot of kale smoothies. The answer was correct, but the reason was different. Pizza Hut had bought large quantities of kale simply for decoration.

Look at the photo above. Beautiful Brassica oleracea var. sabellica L.
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Acrylamide

On April 11, the COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) 2017/2158 of November 20, 2017, establishing mitigation measures and benchmark levels for reducing acrylamide in food, came into force in the European Union. It was shown that this chemical product causes cancer in rats.

The fact is that frying, grilling, roasting, and baking will produce cancer-causing acrylamide in coffee, fries, and bread, but also in Christmas cookies like Honiglebkuchen (honey gingerbread), Mandelplätzchen (almond cookies), and Zimtsterne (cinnamon stars).

As Wikipedia knows, acrylamide is the result of “strong heating of starchy foods produced in a reaction between asparagine and reducing sugars (fructose, glucose, etc.) or reactive carbonyls at temperatures above 120 °C (248 °F).”

So far, so bad. Remember how many potato chips, French fries, Bratkartoffeln, Brägele, or Rösti (home-fried potatoes), bread, toast, crispbread, and coffee we consume daily. In particular, young people should avoid foods containing acrylamide, but I still see toddlers on Freiburg’s streets munching on crisp, brown, tasty pretzels instead of bleached, healthy, sugar-free baby biscuits. But there is hope.

I gild toast bread and bake rolls at home, but I do not char. All baked goods should be golden yellow, not dark brown. Do not fry French fries at 180 °C; fry them at 175 °C. Even better would be much lower temperatures, for as in any chemical reaction, the rate of the “roasting and taste-giving” Maillard reaction increases exponentially with the absolute temperature of °K (degree Kelvin). But who likes to eat food with no taste? A medical doctor once told me that nothing but taste counts for his obese clients. He, skinny as a rake and a chain smoker, eventually died of lung cancer.

Here are two examples of bad and not-so-bad food.

French fries and pulled pork for dinner in New York ...

... and French fries for breakfast in London. The chips in New York were tastier.

Potato fritters (Reibekuchen) in Cologne. Here with applesauce ...

... and here with pumpernickel and butter. The person frying the Reibekuchen below was apparently distracted by an exciting and lengthy telephone conversation.

In the end, I have some good news for coffee lovers. Roasted Arabica coffee beans tend to contain lower levels of acrylamide than roasted Robusta beans. Enjoy your espresso!

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