***** 2014 - UPDATE START *****
I am back. My times as an expat is over. I am finally back to Germany. My exiting and interesting stories as an Expat in Asia will be with me forever, but now I am looking forward to rediscover my roots in Germany. I am also looking forward to mingle and meet with my fellow food bloggers here in Germany and once my kitchen is set up, I will of course continue to blog about my cooking experiments and experiences.
***** 2014 - UPDATE OVER *****
Who is Che Foodzeit?
Che Foodzeit = me = Thomas is an expatriate German from the beautiful region of Swabia that migrated temporarily to Asia and resides in China for the time being. The name Che Foodzeit is a result of what happened to the CHEF FOODZEIT after Microsoft Word applied its almighty auto correction of grammar and thesaurus on a file. You can always reach me at: dosenwurstgesicht @ gmail dot com.
Foodzeit? What does it mean / stand for?
Well, Zeit (as you might know from the word Zeitgeist) is the German word for time. I combined this German word with food, (obviously my favorite hobby and the main topic of this blog) thus I created a new expression that should not only represent the fact that it’s always a good time to enjoy food (By visiting and living in South East Asia I learned about the joy of snacking the omni-present street food snacks all day long, anytime, as often as you feel like), it also shows that different languages and different cultures are represented in this space. The blog, from the start up to today, shows the meeting, the clash, the incorporation and finally the fusion of those cultures in my cuisine.
Tell us about the history of your blog!
Well, basically since I moved to Asia, in the beginning I was not cooking at all. Too great were the temptations of local eateries and everything was very affordable. I still today know a lot of expats that rarely are cooking at home; it’s maybe just the Asia sickness (besides yellow fever I mean). But due to the lack of German restaurants that offer acceptable quality in combination with affordable prices, in combination with my wish to take my wife on a culinary trip through my youth, I soon decided to go back to the roots and start cooking the dishes I grew up with. As was lucky enough to pass a good part of my childhood in the kitchen, alongside of some really gifted cooks (my auntie and my grandma), I wanted to try and revive the tradition of homemade Swabian recipes for a starter. But that is easier said than done. Not only due to the lack of ingredients, also was I lacking a lot of tools and equipment. So the blog was initially written to talk about the difficulties in my plan to create Germany dishes while living in China. In the beginning I started by creating Germany sausages and cold cuts, but I quickly found out that there is no acceptable bread to go with it. So I got into bread baking and until today you will find that I am very focused on bread making. But I also incorporate a lot of Asian flavors in my dishes these days and I as a result of living here, today I love to incorporate local flavors with flavors from my roots.
What’s your favorite dish?
My favorite dish is the simplest one. Cut me a fresh slice of oven warm bread with some cottage cheese on top, that’ll do. A fresh slice of homemade Pizza is equally good to me. I have an aversion for fennel and I am not that much into seafood but besides that I am ok with most kind of foods, as long as they are cooked with love, they will be eaten with delight.
What’s the difference between your blog and all those other blogs out there?
Don't know, maybe my picture? I think the blog tells my very personal story and I think that I found a way of combining the high art of making real artisan bread (Now I am working on a comprehensive guide and a software that is targeted towards the beginner in the art of artisanal bread) with delicious homemade cooking incorporating flavors from all over the world. Is that unique and different? Maybe not, but I sure am .
What are you going to cook for us today?
Well, like above mentioned, I will cook homemade food, I will incorporate local flavors and above all, you also can expect a lot of bread recipes from me. I will honor others by recreating their recipes, I will adapt great recipes from others, I will make my own recipes, and I will take flavors from all over the world to created fused (and sometimes also con-fused) recipes
But this blog is more than only recipes. I will take my readers on a culinary journey, I will try and tell stories connected with food and I will try and list tips, tricks, links and useful resources on my page as well. So, are you hungry yet?
Can we request you to cook certain recipes for us?
Yes you can and I have been doing that in the past already. I also have a lot of friends that are good cooks and always tell me about their art of works. I would be happy and glad to host such guest contributions on my blog, but they are all gifted cooks but very shy personalities. I will continue to hope that one day they honor me with their contributions as it will be worth for all of my readers to discover their great
Tell us about your photographic techniques?
I am not a professional photographer. For me it works when the food is on the picture and if I get hungry by looking at it. That is a very simple philosophy, right? I do have a collaborator for my blog here, she is a studied designer and very much helps me with composition, arrangements and others important input for my photography. If you are interested in my equipment used, you can read about my equipment that I use for my photos, here.
Das ist wahrhaftig ein weit entferntes Exil- sehr schön in euren Küchenerfahrungen zu lesen!
ReplyDeleteGrüßle
Ninive
Weit, weit weg in der Tat. Schwäbische Griassle in'd Hoimat und ich werde mir bei Dir sicher den einen oder den anderen Tip bezüglich schwäbischer Küche holen.
ReplyDeleteGerne doch- auch für Nachfragen bin ich offen- meine Blog-Frequenz ist ja weniger hoch- gekocht wird trotzdem viel und gerne.
ReplyDeleteEin Maultaschen Rezept, ein richtiges so mit Teig angefangen, das würde mich noch mal interessieren da habe ich bisher vergeblich danach gesucht. Hast Du was? Weißt Du wie man die macht? Oh das wäre es, Maultaschen mit Brühe in China
ReplyDeleteDanke für deinen Kommentar bei uns - so habe ich deinen Blog gefunden!
ReplyDeleteToller Blog. Habe zwar erst ein paar Seiten durchstöbert, aber schon viele tolle Beiträge und Rezepte gefunden. Bin mir schon sicher, demnächst werde ich deinen Zitronenkuchen ausprobieren.
Ich werde dich in unseren Blogroll aufnehmen, damit ich öfters mal hier vorbei schaue.
Viele Grüße aus Frankfurt
Harald
Harald,
DeleteDas ist auch meine Lieblingskuchen. Habe Dich schon in meine Blogroll mit aufgenommen und werde mich, wie gesagt, besonders gerne und ausgiebig in der Räucher Abteilung umsehen. Räuchern möchte ich auch mal gerne.