Berlin and Vienna

Presentation event.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a very good and somewhat different event. A brief presentation of Vienna - Austria and Berlin - Germany, two close and friendly nations that go far beyond traditional tourism, I was delighted with both destinations and left there eager to board the next flight. Are they the next destinations? Humm... I learned that Vienna is not just Maria Leopoldina's homeland, The empress-consort of Colonial Brazil, it is also an incredible place, with its modern buildings, mix of the classic with touches of nature, beautiful cafés and magnificent restaurants. Not to mention the mouth-watering cuisine!

I saw that Berlin is a unique place that transforms the old into the new. They showed an abandoned brewery turned into a modern café, mixing the two eras and bringing out the best in each. It was great! A city with a young soul, very lively and with lots of events. It's full of hotels springing up all the time, which means that they always need to be good, cheap and with a difference in order to compete. Each one has a different theme and a different way of attracting customers, one cooler than the other! A city of the future, simply unlike any other.

Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH

I didn't know much about either city, in Germany I'd only been to Munich and I haven't yet had the chance to go to other destinations in Germany and Austria, but I'm already itching to pack my bags and go. The event didn't stop there, there was also a presentation of local cuisine, but it wasn't just a tasting, we actually got our hands dirty! It was simply incredible. We were able to try various Viennese and Berlin dishes and learn a little bit, isn't that nice? I loved it. What's more, I discovered my favorite wine. Before, I was under the illusion that it was a red, but after I tried a typical Viennese white, everything changed. As soon as I arrived at the event, I was greeted by this simply wonderful surprise! Hummm, here's a tip for you to try and fall in love with too: Gemischter Satz from the Wininger winery in Vienna.

Then came the first course and I realized just how delicious the evening was going to be. Meatballs with salad, nham nham! And just as I was salivating for the next one, what do you know? Where is it? Put on your aprons and let's get to work! Separated into five islands, each group chose a delicacy and we immediately started making the dishes, because if we didn't, we wouldn't be able to eat or try them. It was a real cooking class with chefs helping us every step of the way. I loved the seconds, minutes and moments I spent there, I had a lot of fun. But fun aside, what about the dishes? Time to taste and tcharãm... Surprising! Everything was absurdly wonderful and it was impossible to say which was better, the Viennese or the Berliner.                                        Photo taken by Liliane from the blog Passionate about Travel.

Ouch, can you do it again? I left there dying to visit both destinations! They've got the traveler by the stomach, cheap shot! Of course, the beautiful landscapes and charms of the city also helped a lot. I also got the recipe for everything we did there and I'm going to leave you a recipe we learned as a gift and if you make it, I want photos! Let's get cooking!

Apple Strudel

Stuffing
50g raisins
5 tablespoons of rum
1,200 kg of Gala apples
3 level tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder to taste.

Sweet farofa
40g of breadcrumbs or more
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon of sugar.

Pasta
Filo pastry for 2 large strudels
Spring roll dough for single mini strudels, melted butter

How to prepare
Hydrate the raisins for at least 20 minutes in the rum. They will absorb the liquid more quickly if the container is placed in a warm place.
Peel the apples, remove the cores and slice them as thinly as possible.

For the sweet farofa

Melt the butter in a frying pan and toast some of the breadcrumbs, sweetening with sugar. Leave to cool.

Check the consistency of the apple filling and add half of the sweet flour until you have a moist but compact filling.
Roll out the dough on the table. If the filo pastry is too thin, use two doughs
Brush the remaining sweet flour evenly with the melted butter, leaving the edges clean and dry. Distribute the filling on top of the pastry and wrap the pastry up, closing the sides first, rolling the pastry to close.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180º for about 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before cutting.
Sprinkle the icing sugar (Glaçúcar) through a fine sieve.
Serve warm or cold with whipped cream, ice cream or vanilla custard.
That's it! Now all you have to do is scold.