Eierschwammerln, Shibboleths and A Bit of News

Friends! I’m afraid I’ll be rather snowed under (maybe literally too) for a few months and that means I mightn’t get to hang out here as much as I’d like. In the eight months since I started this blog, I’ve connected with so many interesting and lovely people, some of whom I’ve had the great pleasure to meet in person and some who I look forward to meeting, somewhere in the world – you know who you are. Thank you for always coming by, I’d have stopped bothering long ago without you.

Though in the beginning I posted three times a week and now I post every five days, it looks like it’s going to be about once a week from now on but I dearly hope you’ll stick around, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve that I hope you’ll all enjoy and I aim to deliver quality even if the quantity is a little less. I hope I’ll be posting at my silly faces blog about as often.

I’m going to try and focus on Austrian specialties in the coming months because it’s the sort of stuff that’ll stick to your ribs and it seems right about the time of year for it unless you live in the Antipodes… Speaking of which, I have a trip home to New Zealand planned at Christmas so there’ll be some updates from there too, I’m excited already!

Though it’s put about that Austrians and Germans (not to mention quite a few of the Swiss) speak the same language, anyone learning German will tell you it’s a dirty lie and in fact there are many words which are shibboleths.

Pfifferlinge, or as the Austrians call them Eierschwammerln, is one such word; order a stew with the former in Austria and you’ll immediately be marked out as a German tourist.

They remind me a bit of oyster mushrooms and I cooked them with cream and shoyu; while I tend not to be a fan of fusion food, mushrooms love cosying up together with the garlic under the salty, creamy blanket they meld into so I make an exception here.

Do you know any shibboleths?

Eierschwammerln Stew

I give this treatment to many of the mushrooms that cross my path so you can substitute to your heart’s content here. This should serve 2 hungry people.

Cut the pork, if using, into dice sized pieces.

Heat a large pan over medium high heat and fry the garlic in about a tablespoon of oil, then add the pork if using, and brown the outside – don’t worry if it’s not cooked through – and remove to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Allow the pan to warm again and add the capsicums and fry until softened slightly.

Add the mushrooms and shoyu and cook until the mushrooms are also softened slightly.

Put the pork and any juices back in the pan, if using, then the cream and allow the sauce to reduce by about a third on a medium low heat – boiling will toughen the meat. Season well with the pepper and salt, if needed.

Serve with rice.

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Tagged as: cream, easy, garlic, mushrooms, own recipe, pork, quick, shoyu