zgBerlin

Baklava: The Poor Man's Plight

"I am not rich enough to eat Baklava in my house."

After The Lord was wrapping up his first week of business, on the 8th day he thought about desert... "Let there be layers of bread, and nuts, and spices - and baked by the sun - and drenched in the honey of the bee."

So it was said and so it was done... the heavenly creation of Baklava.

Or so, it would seem to devotes of Baklava who can get themselves past what sits aging on many a tray in numerous Berlin Imbisses.

Just how did this sticky, sweet finger food make its way from Biblical Times to being a staple found in nearly every Turkish Imbiss in Berlin?

Give thanks first to the Assyrians who from circa 800 BC were so kind as to share this delight with the many peoples they had engaged in trade. And a heads up to those sailors who brought back to Athens the earliest Baklava recipes and to those nameless Greeks who refined the original bread recipe with the most significant Greek contribution to humanity since the Hellenistic Age - Phyllo Dough, leafy and thinly rolled.

And a nod to the Armenians, expert in their knowledge of spices and essences, who first introduced cinnamon and clove into their Baklava. Also, not to be entirely left out of the kitchen, the Arabs. With a spoon in the mixing bowl, they tweaked the recipe once again, this time adding doses of rose-water and cardamom.

Nuts, exotic spices, honey, sublime dough... clearly this was a luxury reserved for only the taste buds of the rich. And so it was for centuries - a delicacy way past what the common folk could afford to indulge themselves in. In the wealthier regions of Persia to the outskirts of Rome, and throughout the Ottoman Empire, Baklava was baked and served in the palaces and mansions of the elite and rich.

Today, though, we can enjoy Baklava without having to turn in the keys to the Kingdom.

One delightful trip to Pasam Baklava, a minute's walking distance from the Yorkstrasse S-Bahn, will make you a believer. Here is a small, unadorned and uncluttered Turkish bakery that serves only Baklava and it comes fresh from their ovens. A sampling of three different types and a large glass of tea costs less than 3 Euros.

A trifling sum for experiencing Nirvana.

Pasam Baklava - Goebenstr, 12a - 10783 Berlin tel: 030 219 62 383

Schalti 16.03.2007

The 15 Degrees of Sue Grafton - A New Method of Comparing Cities

Push the Economist aside and stuff the Big Mac Survey!

http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_index

Here is a new way to evaluate the Land You Make Home.

Introducing The 15 Degrees of Sue Grafton

An axiom from the annals of time tells us Good Libraries make for Great Cities. Certainly a sentiment held by Alexander The Great who plundered his share of libraries, as well as Andrew Carnegie who by the year 1929 financed the construction in the US of over 1600 libraries, many still intact and situated in vital city centers and serving the needs of generations of users.

Here in Berlin - despite budgetary problems to beat the band - we are truly blessed with a public library system that squarely has its sights on meeting the needs of the quickly changing demographics of its card carrying members. And, yet, it appears this is a reality lost on most native Berliners. Sad to say, I know folks who shudder at the though of holding a book that has passed through scores of unknown hands. In fact, hardly any of my long standing Berlin friends possess library cards and when prodded to join me in an excursion to AGB or at a meeting at the the Phili (Philipp Schaefer Mitte, Rosenthalerstrasse) to remedy this "oversight," they seem to appear to be immediately possessed, as if they were forced to compete in a naked break dancing competition played out on a carpet of glass slivers. One big ouch.

So what is it my friends are missing?

No less than The World - at the cost of a few dozen tea bags.

Consider this prospective from a long time, native English speaking Berlin resident: besides an endless supply of short pencil nubs and the use of a warm WC, the Berlin Public Library system ( https://www.voebb.de/) serves up access to international newspapers, magazines (yes, one can often find Rolling Stone and Variety back issues on open racks), cds, VCD and DVDs, internet usage, art and posters to bring back to the apartment (to hide over the cracks resulting from last month's storms), Manga comics, language tapes to accelerate the Deutch-learning you've put off since the last go around at the Charlottenberg VHS, Scrabble and Monopoly board games, and - of course - books.

Lots of books, in many languages.

Which brings us to Sue Grafton and The 15 degrees of Separation.

Sue Grafton sells millions of books and her translated novels has a strong following in over 30 Countries. From International Airports to gift Shops all over the world, one is not far from the continuing capers of Grafton's feisty and independent PI, Kinsey Millhone ( http://www.thrillingdetective.com/millhone.html). Since 1982, Grafton has published 19 books in the "(Umm) is for (Aha) series. All in print and available in English at your nearest mailbox courtesy of your supple credit card and Amazon. Some of the Millhone capers can be found at David Solomon's BiB (Books in Berlin, Goethestrasse 69), or at Christian Koch's Kreuzberg Krimi-torium, Hammett (HAMMETT Krimibuchhandlung Friesenstraße 27).

But they are all available - in English - courtesy of the Berlin Public Library (VOEBB), distributed around the City in 15 different Branch Libraries, all accessible with the purchase of a one year library card at the cost of those previously mentioned tea bags.

Can the same be said of Public Libraries in Paris or Madrid or Rome?

• Here are the Grafton titles and where they can be found:

"A" is for Alibi... location: PL1 --- "B" is for Burglar... location: PL2 --- "D" is for Deadbeat.. location: PL3 --- "E" Is For Evidence.. location: PL4 --- "F" is for Fugitive.. location: PL5 --- "G" is for Gumshoe... location: PL6 --- "H" is for Homicide... location: PL7 --- "I" is for Innocent... location: PL3 --- "J" is for Judgment... location: PL8 --- "K" Is for Killer... location: PL9 --- "L" is for Lawless... location: PL10 --- "M" is for Malice... location: PL11 --- "N" is for Noose... location: PL10 --- "O" is for Outlaw... location: PL4 --- "P" is for Peril.... location: PL12 --- "R" is for Ricochet... location: PL14 --- "S" is for silence... location: PL14 ---

So, where is C? Millhone's third outing, C is For Corpse, is part of a Grafton collection, "Three Complete Novels," and resides in Mitte's Bertolt Brecht Bibliothek.

Shalti's tip: Annual fee for the VOBB is 10 Euro. For registration, one will need to present a passport ((gültigen Personalausweis) and a police registration /Ihre polizeiliche Anmeldung) to register.

The VOEB system is well integrated into the Internet and you can easily research titles and availability on line. Reservations and shipping are possible, additional handling charges will apply.

PL1) Bibliothek am Wasserturm Prenzlauer Allee 227/228 - 10405 Berlin Tel.: 030/902953921

PL2) BZB Reinickendorf Humboldt-Bibliothek Karolinenstraße 19 - 13507 Berlin Tel.: 030/437 368-0

PL3) Heinrich-Schulz-Bibliothek Otto-Suhr-Allee 96 - 10585 Berlin Tel.: 030/9029 12217

PL4) Bertolt - Brecht - Bibliothek Karl-Marx-Allee 31 - 10178 Berlin Tel.: 030/200923569/3576

PL5) Gottfried-Benn-Bibliothek Nentershäuser Platz 1 14163 Berlin Tel.: 030/90299 5458

PL6) Bezirkszentralbibliothek am Luisenbad (Mitte) Travemünder Str. 2 13357 Berlin Tel.: 030/200945611

PL7) Mark-Twain-Bibliothek - Hauptbibliothek Marzahn Marzahner Promenade 55 12679 Berlin Tel. 030/54704-154

PL8) Helene-Nathan-Bibliothek Karl-Marx-Straße 66 Parkdeck 4 12043 Berlin Tel.: 030 / 6809 4342

PL9) "Gertrud-Kolmar-Bibliothek" Schöneberg-Nord Elßholzstr. 34-37 10781 Berlin Tel.: 030/7560 6398

PL10) ZLB - Amerika Gedenkbibliothek Blücherplatz 1 10961 Berlin Tel.: 030/90226-0

PL11)Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Adolf-Reichwein-Bibliothek Berkaer Platz 1 14199 Berlin Tel.: 030 / 9029 22391

PL12) Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Bibliothek (Mittelpunktbibliothek) Brandenburgische Str. 2 10713 Berlin Tel.: 030/9029 15900

PL13) Stadtteilbibliothek Neuwestend Westendallee 45 14052 Berlin Tel.: 030/9029 27803

PL14) Wilhelm-Liebknecht-Bibliothek Adalbertstr. 2 10999 Berlin Tel.: 030/5058 52-25/-27

PL15) Tempelhof-Schöneberg (Bezirkszentralbibliothek) Götzstr. 8/10/12 12099 Berlin Tel.: 030/7560 2516

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