Lord of Kale
I always avoid upright ladders. Taking metre-wide detours and executing acrobatic stunts if necessary – I just won't walk under there. I throw salt over my shoulder to escape seven gloomy years of damnation. When I clink glasses I make sure to keep eye contact, you can never know. And if a black cat crosses my path, I think about whether it had come from left to right or from right to left, and which of the two possibilities was the worst case scenario. On the other hand, I’m convinced that my cat shields me from evil like a cheese dome.
A superstitious person could argue that the plan to head from Hamburg to Oldenburg for the First Kale World Championship on Friday the 13th would not be the greatest idea. After Christoph and I spend half an hour ramming the key into the age-old lock of our Airbnb’s age-old door in all imaginable variations, it is only with the help of the neighbours, who had been alerted by the suspicious rattling of the front door, that we get into the studio apartment. I begin to question our intentions here. Four hours later Chiara announces on the phone that she was hindered by an, and I quote, “arrogant, extremely mean and power-hungry” conductor of the Deutsche Bahn who wouldn’t allow her to take her train which was already delayed by 30-minutes. There is only one plausible explanation: Evil forces are on the loose.
The next day, heavily laden with backpacks, food, Fipsi the smoked eel and an array of kitchen utensils, we begin our walk to the bau_werk Halle near Oldenburg’s Pferdemarkt. Christoph has ants in his pants. Understandable. At the official reception the night before in Oldenburg’s picturesque, historic city hall, Stefan Aufleger, one of the initiators of the championship, member of the “Creative Group”, and winner of the Porridge World Championship in Scotland (from this the idea of a kale championship in Germany’s kale capital developed), talked of the large audience and media presence.
The venue of the “First Championships of Kale Cooking” itself could not be prettier: Being one of the few upheld relics of the historic industrial architecture, the old machine room is brimming with charm, and nowadays it primarily serves as a venue for events and lectures about architecture and future building culture. Rust and sand coloured brick walls, large lattice windows set into slick dark wood and imposing exposed beams under the roof, which is decorated in the most tasteful world championship fashion with the flags of all imaginable nations. The event’s icing on the cake.
As promised there is a mob of media and spectators who had shown up: No matter where you may glance in the hall, there isn’t a spot which is not filled with a happily excited face or a television camera.
Altogether 19 chefs from eight nations – the US, Britain, Hungary, Lebanon, Iran, Turkey, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and of course Germany - will compete divided up into three rounds of 40 minutes each, and will be accompanied by the presenter, Annie Heger. No old hat here – with all due respect to Günkohl mit Pinkel. Kale with bananas African style, kale pesto, kale mango curd. Some visitors find themselves in incredulous disbelief regarding the versatility of the plant that looks like an afro straight out of the paint bucket.
Those who think that our very own Christoph would lose his cool in the face of dozens of curious pairs of eyes and half an infantry of microphones and cameras in front of his nose, might as well believe that Donald Trump’s hair is real. Quite the opposite. The way he whirls around, surrounded by white vapour from his kale pan, fileting Fipsi slice by slice into perfect pieces, the scene embodies a certain epic.
I’m not going to lie, more than once the soundtrack of “Lord of the Rings” wafted into my head as I watched. Chiara and I are head over heals in love – kale and pearl barley risotto with smoked eel in tempura batter and kale chips with bacon salt, doesn’t just sound heavenly, but tastes so as well.
AND THE WINNER IS
But can Christoph’s dish convince the jury? See for yourself:
Ta-da! Suddenly our very own Christoph is world champion!
Chiara and I are as happy as kids in a sweet shop. While the newly crowned Kale King presents his most handsome smile to the excited media, we hold back tears.
Christoph, we’re proud of you! :)
Text by Leonie Kantratowicz
AND IF YOU WANT TO RECREATE THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING RECIPE:
Risotto:
500 g kale
a total of 4 tbsp olive oil
salt
600-700 ml chicken stock
200 g red bell pepper
200 g pearl barley
100 ml apple wine
50 g chilli pecorino (“Primo Sale”)
60 g cubed cold butter
espelette pepper
Bacon Salt/Chips:
20 g bacon, in wafer-thin slices
1 tbsp corse salt
Fish:
½ lemon thyme
½ pack of tempura flour (75 g)
200 g freshly smoked eel filet
around 1 L peanut oil for deep-frying
Recipe by Christoph Steinhauser
For the risotto, clean the kale and rinse multiple times, then tear into bite-sized pieces and carefully dry with a salad spinner. Now, place four fifths of the kale into a large pan with olive oil and sear at a high temperature while stirring. Then remove from the pan and salt to taste.
Bring stock to a boil. Wash bell pepper, finely dice and sweat in a pot with the remaining olive oil while constantly stirring, then add pearl barely and allow to briefly sweat. Douse with wine and add kale as well as the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook risotto for 30 minutes until the pearl barley is done but there is still a little bit of liquid remaining (top up with stock if needed).
Meanwhile, finely grate the pecorino. Mix everything including butter into the finished risotto and add salt and espelette pepper to taste.
For the chips, fry bacon in a dry pan until crispy, then allow to drain on kitchen towel. Use a mortar to crush bacon and salt. Fry the remaining kale in small batches in 160 °C oil for 2-3 minutes, remove and dry on kitchen towel and sprinkle with bacon salt.
Tear thyme from stalks and finely chop, then mix with the tempura flour and 105 ml of cold water until smooth. Slice eel fillet into eight pieces and turn in the tempura batter. Then fry in 185°C oil until crispy, remove and allow to drain on kitchen towel.
