Labskaus is one of those dishes that you should probably taste before you judge — although, to be fair, the appearance does not always make this easy. A Northern German Sailor’s Dish. Labskaus is an old seafaring dish associated with northern Germany, particularly Hamburg and the coastal regions. Its origins are practical: on long sea…
By Ralf, Germany. For me, curiosity can begin with a smell, a beautifully made object or one clever piece of engineering. Then the picture starts forming in my head — and after that, it can be very difficult to leave the idea alone. I have really done this. I am standing at the supermarket cashier,…
By Ralf The Grillmeister, Germany. I like new ideas in the kitchen. But sometimes the best technology is still a sharp knife, a little spoon, and knowing when to leave a good thing alone. I love cooking. It is a great part of my life. I like recipes, I like new ideas, and I like…
Learned at a Stefan Hensler cooking school in Hamburg (taught by Tobias Fjergs), cooked for Ralf’s 50th birthday. Ingredients (serves ~2–4): Ponzu sauce (homemade): 120ml sake, 120ml mirin, 220ml soy sauce, 220ml lemon juice — combined. Method: Arrange sliced fillets skin-side up in a deep plate. Add cherry tomato wedges. Mix lime juice/zest with salt…
Orange, lime, garlic, cumin and paprika barbecue chicken Ingredients Chicken Marinade Method Ralf Note This one is more Argentina-style. You stand there like a small soldier of the chicken. Turn it round, turn it round, baste it all the time. Baste: a very important word for civilisation.
Spatchcock piri-piri butter chicken for the barbecue Ingredients Chicken Piri-piri butter sauce Method Ralf Note This is not a press-button-and-go-away chicken. You must stand there. Look, smell, turn, paint, turn, paint. A barbecue is a relationship.
One question opened my kitchen. Twenty years later, my wife’s sport opened a world I never expected to love. By Ralf The First Question The first important question was not very romantic. “Are you the former husband of S—the man who can cook so well?” That was what my wife asked me when we first…
Ralf’s lasagne replaces the white sauce with more slow-cooked Bolognese, a serious amount of garlic and enough cheese to make even a reheated portion feel like a highlight. The Mayor was slightly disappointed with me. After a busy Sunday, there had been no new culinary adventure in our house. No barbecue, no special restaurant and…
A weekend of old traditions, early starts, a determined wife and one sleeping man showed me that rest is not always doing nothing. Sometimes it is knowing when to step forward, when to step back, and when to let the sofa win. Sunday Begins at 4:30. On Sunday morning, my wife came into the bedroom…
The Mayor asked what I had cooked during the weekend. On Saturday, my wife and I had eaten in a nice Italian restaurant in Bremerhaven. On Sunday, however, we ate convenience food. The Mayor stopped everything. “Just one moment. Mr Ralf Brand says he ate convenience food.” He spoke as if I had announced the…
