Spoonfuls of Germany


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Leaving Syria for Germany, then and now

Tabbouleh2

For his book Damascus: Taste of a City, German-Syrian writer Rafik Schami could not visit the city where he was born and spent the first 25 years of his life. He has lived in exile in Germany since 1971. To research his book, his sister Marie strolled thorough the Old City for him, collecting stories and recipes and relaying by telephone what she saw and heard. Continue reading


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Pflaumenkuchen for my beloved

Plum Cake 5

“Is this bread or cake?” my husband asked when I made a traditional German plum cake with yeast dough a few years ago. He was not adamant about it but I could tell that he was not too crazy about it neither. That’s when I decided that I would not make anything again that he does not like, even if it’s a German classic. Continue reading


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The world through the eyes of a cookbook

Sorrel soup

The Pennsylvania TV station PCN interviewed me recently. Francine Schertzer, the program host, asked me how the fall of the Berlin Wall had changed Germany’s food scene. I said there had been tremendous change for the good for East Germans. Continue reading