Christoph's Notes

"Summer Foods" - ´healthy` vs. ´unhealthy`

Just read an article in the American "Shape Magazin" (the article is headlined "5 Summer Foods that aren´t as healthy as they seem" by Cynthia Sass) talking about "Summer Foods", or better what the author perceives as such, and thought this is a quite interesting topic. Summer is coming soon and as far as I can realize people are getting more aware about their body, do more sports and get more concerned about their daily food intake. The article is also quite interesting from a cultural perspective - it does not only show the cultural differences between European food culture and American´, it also shows how different one can talk about "Summer Indulgence". Cynthia compares 5 "not so healthy" Summer Foods´ alternatives with 5 healthier ones.

Since this is America, it´s not suprising that her "Summer Food" recipe number one is a burger, in this case a "Turkey Burger". It´s obvious that a European Summer food report would not start with a Burger, but I like it too (just had a Turkey Burger in Madison, WI). The leanness of a burger doesn´t depend on the type of protein it´s made from. A turkey burger can actually pack more fat and calories than a beef burger if the ground meat contains a higher percentage of fat. Cynthia´s "better choice" is, if one sticks to meat, not surprising, to go with the highest percent lean one can find. I would not call this a "Summer Advice" it´s more a good advice to be followed all year. I like her idea to ditch the meat althogether, especially for hot summer days, and whip up a batch of black bean burgers. Black beans pack more antioxidants than blueberries and - this is shown by some studies - regular bean eaters have smaller waistlines and a 22 % lower risk of obesity. Black bean burgers also taste great with avocado - which is actually a top source of good, healthy fat, antioxidants, and potassium - a natural diuretic that helps prevent bloating and water retention.

BBQ chicken salad versus Kabobs: salad belongs to the healthiest meal on earth as long as we care about the toppings and dressings. "Good" can easily become "bad". A typical entrée portion of this popular summer pick packs not seldom over 1,000 calories and nearly 100 grams of carbohydrate. If one would choose a nice vierge nut oil (hazelnut or walnut) and mix it with a fresh apple basamic vinegar, or a fruity pomegranate vinegar, add some slices of Apples or Mango, a bit salt and pepper, the world would look different. It does not always have to be a "BBQ chicken" salad to savor the Summer. Cynthia´s "better choice" Kabobs is quite popular in Europe too, especially the Germans love it (you find a Kabobs stand in almost every village these days). Kabobs stands for skewer chunks of chicken breast or another lean protein (shrimp or tofu) along with lots of veggies like peppers, onions, mushrooms, and zucchini. Actually all toppings that would go well with the salad. Grilling brings out the natural sweetness in fresh vegetables and you´ll be ditching all the calorie-laden extras. If you crave a little more flavor brush your kabobs with pesto or an herb or garlic infused olive oil. Bonus: a little healthy fat boosts the absorption of antioxidants by 10 times or more.

Lemonade versus water: bitter lemonade is made with sugar, and many producers use lemon flavoring rather than real fruit. Just 12 ounces of a typical powdered or bottled lemonade contains the equivalent of 10 cubes of sugar, the same amount as soda, and provides zero vitamin C. Cynthia´s advice: keep it simple. Stick with plain H2O with fresh wedges of lemon. A quarter cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice provides about 50 % of the vitamin C you need daily. My recommendation would be sparkling water with a dash of balsamic fruit vinegar. Try a glass with crashed ice, a dash raspberry vinegar and sparkling water - wonderful refreshing!

Soft pretzels versus popcorn: hard to understand for Germans that pretzels stand for the "bad" choice - we actually grow up with soft pretzels; but Cynthia tones it a bit down by her statement that a "giant pretzel" can pack the carb equivalent of six and a half slices if white bread. Again, that´s America, and everything has either to be "giant" or "world´s best". Therefore simply drop the "giant" and enjoy the "healthy" normal sized (German) soft pretzels! Nevertheless, Cynthia´s choice, popcorn, sounds quite interesting too. 3 cups of popped counts as a serving of whole grain, a food group linked to lower rates of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. And popcorn seems to be a secret superfood, and it looks to be worth to go deeper into it.

Strawberry shortcake versus strawberry with chocolate: honestly, I do not really get which one should be seen as "good" and which one should be understod as "bad" - if we talk about savoring, both must be great, if we talk about health, it looks a bit like talking about wine and health - something inside could be good. I miss the raw straberries! Or at least a nice fresh fruit salad with strawberries on top! Of course, a strawberry shortcake is made with fresh fruit, but when you add sugar, biscuit, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and maybe whipped cream, you wind up with over 800 calories, the amount in a whopping 16 cups of strawberries. But what´s different to Cynthia´s "better choice": to dip strawberries in melted dark chocolate? I doubt that chocolate should really be linked with "health" (of course I also know all these studies telling me the opposite, but I also know the same stories about wine, whisky, grappa ....). Let´s simply talk about savor, and a bit of savor is also allowed, not only in Summer, but all year! Nevertheless, strawberries are low in calories, high in fiber, and rich in antioxidants, and especially high in vitamin C.

You see, you can find pros and cons for all kind of food, not only in Summer, but all year long. Just be smart, enjoy the (hopefully nice) weather, a glass of wine, but do not forget your exercise too! And, last but not least: savour the pleasures of life!

peanut butter eggs!

Hello, back again.

I have been bit quiet recently. I travelled a lot, wrote on my new nutrition book and became a bit inattentive writing on my blog. I am just waiting for my flight back to Chicago, sitting in the nice Pearson Airport Toronto, Canada, and thought to share (at least) my latest food experience in North-America.

My friend David Gibson told me the other day to try my breakfast toast with Peanut butter and eggs! I couldn´t believe he is serious with me - whoever misses the Peanut butter lifetime-experience as probably all Non-Americans do, will understand why. But he was serious. He even told me to add some grilled bacon on top. I have to confess, the bacon was a bit "too much" for me (could not believe that this is not going to kill me, sooner or later), I tried it next morning. As you see, I chose an English Muffin, toasted it and spread the Peanut butter on both halfs of the Muffin - and finally put the scrambled eggs in between.

And?

Quite surprising, it´s not bad at all! It really tastes! You should try it too - and, if you can bear it, add some bacon on top!

Thought to pay back with a nice Nutella recipe for my friends in America. But, how does it match with eggs and bacon? Will find out and let you know.

Cheers - savour the pleasures of life!

Viva Mexico

Just an impresssion - enjoying my early morning´ cup of cappuccino in Polanco area, Mexico-City. Polanco, the "Rodeo Drive" of Mexico-City is indeed a beautiful place with many green spots and parks, markets, nice cafes and restaurants, and a wide variety of small boutique´ stores. The perfect place to enjoy a coffee, as well as to chose it to become the starting point of the VOM FASS developments in Middle & South America. The first VOM FASS store is almost ready and will open its doors within a couple of days. Just enough time left to enjoy one cappuccino....

Savour the pleasures of life!

Let´s cocoa boost

Savour the pleasures of life! There is no doubt (Stephane excuse me) that chocolate belongs to a joyful lifestyle. And I have to admit, I love chocolate too. Especially this time of the year, there is more chocolate around than one can bear, even as a chocolate lover.

As we have to realize for all kind of food, producers and marketing specialists seem not to be satisfied unless they can't at least tell us something about their products and how healthy they are. The same applies for chocolate. Chocolate means savour, and (should) not really mean health, at least not dominantly, since chocolate means sugar and chocolate means fats, and not really the good ones. But, as the case may be (and be sure this is no accident) more and more studies offer good news to all of you who share my passion for chocolate. And it seems there are really good news, especially for those of you who are either are rats and/or suffer from cold and flue, or are surrounded by animals or people who do: cocoa boosts antioxidant activity! Ok, so far it only works with lab-animals, but there seem to be many reasons why it should also apply for human beings, especially for chocolate with high (above 70 %) cacao content, and as long as we don´t exceed recommended quantity levels (remember the fat content). Unfortunately this quantity level is set by 30 grams a week (yes indeed, they say "a week". I am said too!).

No doubt, cacoa is rich in flavonoids, particularly epicatechin, catechin, and procyanidins. A Barcelona´ based study reports that rats fed cocoa for three weeks had significant increases in total antioxidant capacity in all body tissues, especially the thymus. Thymus is responsible for producing certain hormones that stimulate cells used in an immune response. Researchers also noted that the improved antioxidant system in the thymus was reflected in cell composition, with an increase in the percentage of thymocytes in advanced development stage.

Other studies report about benefits for skin health and diabetes. But, let´s stress it again, chocolate should be taken as a luxury food, or you are a lab-rat and you can fully benefit from the study results. Good quality chocolate can´t be cheap, and it should not be cheap - it is a kind of luxury, and we should really treat it like this. There is a lot of creativity with chocolate. A perfect blend is chocolate and Balsamic Vinegar - a harmonic blend of the sweetness from chocolate and the acidity from the vinegar (don´t be afraid I do not try to tell you the vinegar´ health-story to stress my recommendation - just savour it), as you find it in "Vom Fass stores" around the world.

Chocolate contents sugar and fat and does therefore not suit to be an allayer. At least not on a daily base. But it´s nice, and we should not be afraid to enjoy it.

Let´s savour it, and let´s - sometimes - lighting up our days! Savour the pleasures of life!

A good start

Many years ago I declared the New Year´ morning run to the "most important run of the year". I can´t exactly remember how and why, but I declared - in the beginning only for myself, later on I began to talk about it, and nowadays many people are waiting for my after-run-report - that the NY´ run will tell me how "my" year will be. I became the "running oracle".

Over the years it became more and more important to me - and I began to prepare myself, almost with same intensity and focussing as I do it for any real running competition. No need to say, how much pressure is now on that run. Who wants to know already January 1st that his year is going to be bad or difficult? So it was quite clear from the beginning that my NY´ run had to be a good one. It even influenced the way I celebrate the NY´ eve, knowing that the "prognosis-run" will come in the early morning. This was the moment I refrained from drinking spirits on NY´ eve - wine and "some sparkling stuff" are still well accepted, but any hard stuff was gone from that moment onwards. Not that I regret or miss it, and don´t worry, I enjoy my sprits the days after..., I just made a shift.

The procedure of my NY´ morning run is quite easy: the distance devided by 12 defines the months. Would there be a difficult running situation after 8/12 of the distance, it would tell me that I will face a difficult August etc. You think it´s crazy? It might be, but believe it or not - it worked for me so far. Especially in 2011, when my NY´ running conditions have been extremely difficult: icy, windy, slippery - the whole run told me that this will not be an easy year - and I can tell you it wasn´t.

But how was it this year? It was the total opposite of 2011. The conditions have been easy, no snow, not icy, almost no wind - just some front-wind after 9/12 of the distance (which tells me that there might be some special efforts needed in September/October), but the rest was relaxed, not much exciting and surprising (except a small "surprise" I noticed for "July"), and always everything "under control" - if I saw someone to pass, I passed, especially in the first half. It seems that the second half becomes a bit more "difficult", wherein difficult is surely the wrong word. At least I noticed that my speed rose, even though I had some front-wind.

I enjoyed my run, and I will enjoy 2012. And it seems there is enough room for savour. For all of you who did not make their New Year´s run 2012 so far - it´s never too late to start, still 365 days to go.

Savour the pleasures of life! Enjoy it.

That´s me.

I have been quiet the last weeks. And I have been criticized for that. That´s good to know!

Although I have been quiet, I haven´t been inactive. Several projects are on their way. I am working on 2 running competitions in 2012, and I finally want to finalize my new book project. What´s at stake in the new book? "Savour the pleasures of life!", of course. I will let you know more soon (as of today 120 pages are done).

I also got my personal QR code - you don´t know what it is? I do not know it either, but I have been told, that´s me. If you scan it with your smart phone, you will get me - this is what I have been told. Funny world. But it works (at least figuratively). Unfortunately, I can´t upload the code, but I just printed it on my shirt. So if you meet me once, just scan me up and you got it.

Be sure I will become more active. There are so many things to share about savour and life. And be sure I will do so.

In the meantime, I wish you all a happy, healthy and active new year, and do not forget to savour the pleasures of life!

How about breakfast? A taste of culture.

It is no secret that breakfast makes my day or not. I prepare my breakfast cereals (with buckwheat) before I go to bed, think about it while I am running early morning, and if I should dream about something, I am sure it must be breakfast. There is simply no day without "my" breakfast.

It explains why I rank hotels by breakfast and running facilities. Both are musts to make it in my ranking, and both are crucial to see me again. While running facilities do not seem to be a real problem for most of the hotels - one finds gyms with treatmills almost everywhere (one has to find a way to get in, at least at early hours), breakfast can really be a problem. Sometimes based on ignorance (one simply doesn't care about about a reasonable breakfast offer), sometimes based on cultural habits, the latter a matter of traditions, in which my "tradition" is not really understood.

I found a nice overview about the different breakfast cultures in the Singapor Airlines inflight magazin "Silverkris" (October issue, page 28), and as they say, breakfast food may just be your fast track to getting an inside into a country's culinary culture. So let´s study how breakfast cultures differ:

USA
A typical breakfast includes a bagel with lox (smoked salmon), cream cheese and capers, plus a coffee - on the run of course. On weekends, expect the works: sunny side up eggs, bacon or skirt steak, hash brown, bagels, fruit juice and coffee. I am ok with that, as long as I get some fresh fruits on top, and maybe some cereals with fresh milk as well (most of the time hotels serve packed cereals - not really the right ones, but at least cereals).

HONG KONG
Congee (I love it, but not for breakfast), typically eaten with a range of dishes including pork floss, pickled turnips, century egg (preserved egg) and peanuts. Other condiments and garnishings like soya sauce, chilli oil and spring onions add texture and flavour. Different taste, but not that bad!

FRANCE
The French Cuisine hurts a bit. The day usually starts with a croissant or pain au chocolat and a large coffee, preferably served in a bowl so it's easier to dip the pastry into (that's the part I like). There is no "healthy part", it´s all about savour - not bad, but not for a longer period!

UK
Well, it's still hard for me to understand it, but playwright Somerset Maugham once wrote that the only way to eat well in England is to have breakfast 3 times a day. Holy, where has he been, and what has he got? What they call "breakfast" includes at the very least bacon, eggs, leek and pork sausages, black pudding, mushrooms, baked beans and fried bread, and of course, everything together on one plate. The English may really like it, but this is a bit too far beyond my tradition.

JAPAN
Accompanying the okayu (rice porridge) are grilled fish, umeboshi (salty plums), tamagoyaki (rolled omelette), miso soup and strips of nori (seaweed). The latter can also be wrapped with rice and eaten with shoyu (Japanese soya sauce). Again a different taste, but on the healthier side. Although it is not really "mine", I can go with it - say for a couple of days.

SINGAPORE
The decadent kaya (a spread made from eggs, coconut and sugar, and flavoured with pandan leaf) toast is a must, along with soft boiled eggs doused with soya sauce and sprinkled with pepper - one slurps this straight from the saucer. Finish with a cup of kopi coffee or coffee sweetened with condensed milk. I have to say, that I learnt to like kopi coffee - extremely sweet, but interesting taste.

As you easily can see, there is a innumerous number of possibilities and varieties how to enjoy a breakfast. Many of them are very tasty, even for "untrained" tongues. I try as much as I can while I am travelling, and although I learnt to honour it, I start thinking about "my" breakfast in the moment I take a seat in the plane home.....

It is as always, enjoy it and savour the pleasures of life!

Chicken Sushi?!

Used to travel around the world since many years, I´am still to be surprised, not only by people but also by food. Asia is for sure a place where surprises can surprise me.

I just spent a few days in Tokyo, Japan, where I had the pleasure to join an event hold by the Japanese Prince Naruhito and the German President Wulff, celebrating the long-lasting (150 years) friendship between Japan and Germany. The event was celebrated in the Kyushu district (Hiroo), where the German Embassy is located and thought to support the victims of the March earthquake disaster in the North-East of Japan. It was an overwhelming success and I am proud that I and Vom Fass could have been part of it. Thanks to the German Embassy and the very helpful people of the Goethe Institute who organized the event.

After the event my friends Ryoko san, Kenji san and Emi san decided to go for some "traditional" food of the Kyushu area, actually not knowing what "traditional" was supposed to mean. But as always, I trust, following my only request, especially for Asia: "I prefer the food to be served to be dead". The place to eat was found quickly: "Satsumaya" restaurant in Hiroo, not knowing how many surprises are waiting for me.

All I knew was, that we go for "Shabu-Shabu", a famous Japanese dish, in which thin slices of beef are stired (shabu-shabu stands for the permanent stiring) in a big bowl with boiling water and different vegetables inside.

My "surprise" number one, was the young French waitress, who welcomed us in perfect Japanese, immediately serving me my surprise number two: raw chicken slices, thought to be taken raw, like Sushi. The waitress who saw my surprise told me that she was expecting my reaction - she always wonders how people like to eat that! (I still appreciate her honesty!) - I actually grew up in the believing that the French eat everything raw (just cut off the hooves from the cows....), but far away. I was supposed to eat a raw chicken and I knew that this will become a brave acting in front of the French waitress. So no chance to fail. I did what I was supposed to do, took my slices of raw chicken, dipped it into a spicy soya sauce, and...... I enjoyed it! As I am writing this report on my flight back to Germany (just enjoying the upper-deck service in this enormous A380 plane), 2 days after I had the experience, I am proud to say, I even survived it. Hope the French is still proud of me.

Surprise number 3 followed immediately. The Shabu-Shabu itself. While I was expecting beef, boiling water and vegetables, I got pork, boiling oil and soya sauce, all together called "Ton-Shabu" - "ton" for pork. While I was a bit worry about the heavy load of oil and fat, I got my surprise number 4: nothing happened. I did neither feel stuffed by the fat, nor did I felt that I got too much of it. Why that? The answer is "ponzu", a mix of soya sauce and vinegar, which has been put into the boiling oil - it seemed the ponzu neutralized the fats! Very delicious, very tasty.

My surprise number 5 came right afterward: fried Gingo nuts! Did you ever think to eat Gingo? I did for sure not, I did even not know that one can eat it. But fried with beer, it becomes a wonderful (almost) healthy snack!

Thought Japan can't surprise me anymore, but it still could. Wonderful experiences, wonderful surprises. Thanks a lot.
By the way, I should not forget to tell you that before we left, we asked the French waitress (who came out to be a language student and sings in a Chinese band - how surprising is that?) to join our Vom Fass team in the new VOM FASS Jiyugaoka store (Trainchi).

You see, another story on my journey to "savour the pleasures of life!"

A "101 experience"

I recently visited Taipei, Taiwan. I arrived late and thought it might be a great idea to go up to the extra-ordinary 101 Tower ("Taipei 101"), downtown Taipei. Taipei 101, formerly known as Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skycraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei. The building ranked officially as the world´s tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai 2010. Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. It´s height measures 509.2 metres. I can tell you, that´s high (I was up)! And bloody windy at night.

The main reason I went up that high was actually that I thought that I may get some great Taiwanese food up there. And what should I tell you, I got it! And what a kind. The place to go up there is "Shin Yeh 101". An incredibly nice designed restaurant, with phantastic Taiwanese food and an extraordinary view at Taipei.

The interior designer for Shin Yeh 101, Tony Shu had travelled to Ooh Lia, Taiwan. There, he discovered the unique woven patterns of the Atayal, a Taiwan aboriginal tribe. Later, it occured to him, that he could use the patterns of their weavings to create an art signature for Shin Yeh 101. To capture the essence of their patterns, he decided to use Neo-Plasticism, an art technique invented by Piet Mondrian, and assembled 50 different patterns from the tribe into one piece. Thus, the traditional art of the Atayal receives a new exposure.

At least as nice as the design of the restaurant is the food they serve. I choose a variety of "everything", all Taiwanese specialities.

I started with "a quartet of cold appetizers": Baby abalone dressed with five spice sauces, fresh scallops, Taiwanese sausage and grilled eel in Teriyaki sauce, Delicious!

My second choice was a "double boiled fish maw with dried scallop chicken, pork ribs and mushroom", followed by a "steamed king prawn with ginger pesto and served with poached tofu". Wow! Just as I thought that´s enough, I decided to allow myself a "round cod wrapped with crispy rice vermicelli", and added some "stir-fried seasonal bamboo with dried shrimps". No idea how to explain you about this crescendo of taste! I may also honour the very nice New Zealand´ Sauvignon Blanc.

So, when ever you make it to Taipei, don´t miss the chance! Great thanks to "K.J." and Alex. Great pleasure meeting you!

Savour the pleasures of Life!

Kuala Lumpur - food experience in "Nyonyo Style"

Malaysian cuisine is a quite special food experience. Between Westerner not as known as Chinese, Thai or Japanese food, maybe not as trendy as those ones, but actually not less interesting. The Malaysian cuisine is quite much a mix of different styles and different cultural influences. A bit of everything, Chinese, Thai, Indian. Absolutely fresh and spicy (nt as much as Indian or Thai), and, that´s a bit different to their neighboors, the Malaysian definitely like it sweet when it goes into the desserts! During my short stay in Kuala Lumpur (only 18 hours), I did not miss the chance to get my portion of everything. I had the pleasure to enjoy some Malaysian Favourites, in the traditional Nyonya Style, served at a food place, to that is called "ah Tuan ee's Place".

One "funny" think upfront. If you are invited to drink an "MJ" in Malaysia it might be graceful not to ask what it means. Malaysian love to drink "Chin Chow in Soya Bean", and are quite happy to call it "MJ" - even on the menue. MJ really stands for "Michael Jackson" - It took me a bit to get it: dark seaweed/grass jelly in white soya milk: "insight black, outside white". No comment, but served cold with ice cubs, very tasty! You can see the MJ look in one of the pictures attached.

Our food experience started with a nice "Pai Tee", vegetable fairy cakes toped with a not that spicy chili sauce. Nice, but luckily not too hot. "cakes" and dip were served on a plate.

Our main course was "Jeu Hoo Char", fine shrips of cuttle-fish, mushroom, turnip, carrots and cabbage simmered till the flavour is just right. Served with fresh lettuce and sambal belacan. Very delicious. We had it on top of rice. The Jeu Hoo Char was accomplished by Sambal Prawns with Petai - my god, what a great stuff! The prawns and petai cooked in a spicy sauce. Not that spicy, but just spicy enough.
We made the lunch perfect by adding a portion of "Perut Ikam" - a connection of about 12 different vegetables and herbs, small prawns and pickled fish maws, cooked to perfection.

Although we had no "space" for dessert anymore, there is no way to miss it; not in Malaysia. It´s all about ice - ice cream and crashed ice topped with sirup, black, red, green, yellow and what so ever jelly, sweet corns, milk, creme .... no idea how to figure out exactly, what they put into the bowls! Just delicious. No more to say.

Look at the pictures and understand why I definitely will be back as soon as I can - a lot to study. Thanks to Teoh. Savour the pleasures of life!

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