Unflipped: Maple-glazed Grilled Salmon

My past experience with salmon filets has been a mushy and disastrous one. I inevitably follow the recipe instructions to turn the fish after about 2-4 minutes in the pan or on the grill, and end up with half of it disintegrating and the rest of it overcooking.  Which is probably why, when I suggested grilling salmon last night, all my husband did was offer the stern injunction: "Don't flip it".

After researching online however, I found that flipping is generally seen as the proper way to cook salmon (baking, I hear, is a different story).  How else do you get those beautiful cross-hatch marks, or a crispy seared exterior?  While I'm sure that experienced chefs can and do flip successfully, the moral of my story is that flipping is not necessary for lovely, tasty fish on the grill.  I marinated my filets (with the skin still on) in a mixture of 1/4 c. maple syrup, 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce, plus salt and pepper about 2 hours before grilling, Some people prefer the flavor of the fish to stand out more, or less, but 2 hours seemed right to me for decent, but not wild, salmon.  I let the grill coals burn down to a medium heat, oiled the cleaned grate a bit with a paper towel, and then cooked the salmon, covered, skin-side down, for about 10 minutes, basting as I went.  I removed them when the outside had turned a dark pink, ribbed with white streaks, and savory brownish edges where the marinade had caramelized.  They were still soft when I pulled them off the grill, but not squishy.  Excellent with a mango/ peach chutney on the side (simplest way to make this is to chop roughly 2 pieces of fruit and half a red onion or a bunch of scallions, then mix in the juice of one lime and some salt).  A great meal in the heat of August when it is far too hot to turn on the oven. Who knew that summers in Munich could be so humid?!

Back to the Past, in Paris

It is the rare movie about Paris that escapes playing to nostalgia and conjuring up hackneyed cliches about one of the most beloved cities in the world.  So, truth be told, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris is not a rare movie.  But it is fresh and fun, and definitely enjoyable whether you love Paris or not. Before launching into the story, the film primes the audience for unabashed nostalgia with scenes of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and various well-known tourist attractions, to the backdrop of lilting accordion street music.  No surprise then when the main character, Gil (played by Owen Wilson), starts gushing on in a typically exuberant American way about the allure of the city.  His fiancee is less impressed, and he's soon left alone to wander the streets at midnight, which leads him magically to the world of Paris in the 1920s.  Along with meeting Ernest Hemingway, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, and a very ridiculous Salvador Dali (played by Adrian Brody), Gil is inspired to write his novel, and change his life.  And believe it or not, none of this is cheesy.  Owen Wilson's sweet eagerness, reminiscent of a college freshman who wants to learn and try and do everything, embraces the creativity of the artists he encounters, and rejects the self-indulgent intellectualism of the academic type that his fiancee prefers.  In the end, the movie isn't about mere nostalgia, but rather that exhilarating feeling of finding the profession, or the place, or the person, who strikes a chord in the very heart of your being and inspires you.  It is about falling in love.

Misunderstanding, and more, in Tehran

Divorce is a tough topic, particularly in Muslim societies.  A new Iranian film, Nader and Simin- A Separation, is a stunning portrait of family stress, misunderstanding, and the ways people make their difficult lives even more complicated.   I heard of the film after it won the "Golden Bear" for Best Film at the Berlinale International Film Festival, but it was also garnered a series of awards at other festivals (the trailer with English subtitles is available here).

The strife between a woman, Simin, and her husband, Nader, over her desire to move overseas and his refusal to leave his father behind sets in motion a chain of events in which a woman who comes to care for the invalid father is injured and accuses her employer, Nader, of causing her miscarriage.  The two families are embroiled in a drama of falsehoods and questions of honor, set against a backdrop of religious convictions and desperate living conditions.  When all is said and done, the personal heartbreak of a child torn between two parents remains the most poignant aspect of the story.  The characters were so realistic that after watching the movie, you may have to remind yourself, as I did, that they are merely fictional.  I found myself worrying about them long after the film was over.

Fresh Fish

Since our first visit to Königsee, a pristine lake nestled in the Alps just south-east of Munich, one of our favorite meals has become roasted trout (geräucherte Forelle).  At Königsee, after taking a boat across the lake, one can buy one fish, accomanied by a slice of rye bread and butter, in a small wooden hut that belongs to the Fischmeister, who is the only person who is allowed to do any fishing on the lake.  Back in town, I buy my fish at the weekly farmers' market for about 3 Euros apiece.  Though caught in a different Bavarian lake, the fish are just as savory and served with a slice of bread and a fresh salad, they make a terrific supper.  Above is a picture of Carl's fish, halfway devoured.

Sunken Rubies: Raspberries in a Browned Butter Tart

It is not easy to pass up luscious-looking berries.  Once a week I waddle over to the square in front of St. Joseph's church and fill my granny tote with fresh farm milk, lake trout, and some of the home-grown produce that looks particularly tempting.  This week I couldn't resist buying some ripe "himbeeren" (raspberries) along with my salad items, but once I returned home I wasn't quite sure what to do with them.  These berries were just right for snacking, but a pregnant woman's belly is only so spacious, and I didn't want these little gems to go the way of other well-intentioned purchases: molding in the back of my refrigerator.  Luckily I happened upon this recipe from the Bon Appetit website and it came out beautifully.  The shortbread crust is a breeze to assemble, and the rest of it is easy as...pie.  The butter content is staggering, but makes a cup of cold milk on the side or a scoop of vanilla ice cream all the more scrumptious.

The Piano Tuner

As charmingly ridiculous as Bavarian television often is, I have found reading in the evenings to be more stimulating for my imagination than "watching distantly" (or "fernsehen", in German).  I recently picked up The Piano Tuner, by Daniel Mason, at a thrift store and it has proved to be an exquisite find.  An unusual tale of a man who travels to Burma during the British occupation to repair a piano, at the behest of a very curious general who believes in bringing peace through music, the novel is one tremendous adventure interwoven with many other mystical small stories and lovely observations of natural beauty.  The book isn't long, so I'm trying to ration myself, and not read too far ahead any one night....

Starting a blog: too much time on my hands?

It has been pouring all day long, and my belly is very heavy.  I am at home in my living room, resting my swollen, pregnant feet and dreaming about a raspberry tart to make for dessert.  Are these the sort of lazy afternoon circumstances that prompt the average internet surfer to blog?  Don't I need an adventure of sorts to start one of these public pages?  However, I just remembered that the last time I was exploring overseas or pursuing some exciting venture, I did not have time to even think about creating a blog.  Now I have all the time in the world- to wait for my baby, bake raspberry tarts, and write.