When I was a child I lived in Germany; my father was in the British Forces and we lived in Minden and Hanover until I was about 12. Winters were cold and snowy, summers were dry and hot and being of that age some of my most formative memories belong to those years.
I remember catching crayfish by hand in the local streams, starting my own paper round for the estate on which we lived, my red bike with only one brake - the other was a kick brake, implemented by back peddling - visits to the NAAFI, a dreadful dentist who always left me with a mouthful of pain and a nausea from the gas he used...and I remember schnitzels!
I had forgotten all about our visits to the restaurant in town to pick up a big dish of kartofell salat and schnitzels for the family back then, until I revisited Germany in 1991 and discovered them all over again in the centre of Bonne. It was a momentary, extremely odd feeling of déjà vu combined with euphoric bliss and a sublime confusion as to whence the apparent knowledge of such a dish had come. But a second or so later in a rush of nostalgia it all came back like a wave of warm soapy water covering me in warmth and comfort. I often think that nostalgia can be tasted and smelled. Every time I listen to Wish You Were Here or Shine On You Crazy Diamond, I can smell the vinyl, the black plastic wrapper the album came in and almost taste the atmosphere of my Mam's kitchen back in 1975. It's like a tangible entity - something that can be touched and if you could just reach you hand far enough into the past you would feel it, taste it, smell it...Oh and God Bless Syd and Rick....I can always get off to sleep late at night by listening to Pink Floyd, it's as if my cares and worries are carried away by the wistful memory of how simple life was in my teens...
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| May it thinner if you need to... |
Schnitzels are so easy to prepare and cook and you can use turkey, chicken, pork or veal. Just ensure your escalopes are thin enough to cook quickly - you can make them thinner by using a rolling pin - and coat them in seasoned flour, dip them in beaten egg and then roll them in freshly prepared breadcrumbs - don't buy breadcrumbs, never buy breadcrumbs. You're just adding to the coffers of the corporate conglomerates who think British people can't cook anything for themselves. And never buy "Wonder" bread....Oh, I mustn't start...
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| Bread, then egg, then breadcrumbs |
Anyway, then you can fry them off in a shallow pan until they are a golden brown colour on both sides, pop them in the oven to keep warm on a low heat for a few minutes while you prepare whatever you fancy to accompany it.....and enjoy...
Quick, tasty and nostalgic...for me anyway...
