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Opening a pomegranate doesn’t seem that easy. We’ll show you how to open and core a pomegranate without the mess – and thus benefit from the vitamins and minerals it contains.

Perhaps you have left numerous stains on your clothes or on the wall when opening a pomegranate. The bulging pomegranate seeds explode when you try to loosen them from the shell; stubborn red stains on clothing, furniture and walls are therefore not uncommon.

We’ll show you two methods on how to open and core the pomegranate – without any mess.

Open and core the pomegranate: the tapping method

For this you need:

a sharp knife
a spoon
a bowl
cutting board
With this method, you place the pomegranate on a cutting board and carefully cut it in half with a sharp knife.
Take one half and hold it cut-side down over the bowl.
Use the round side of the spoon to tap the shell vigorously (!) until all the seeds have come loose. This way the kernels won’t get crushed and will keep their shape.

Open pomegranate underwater

For this you need:

a sharp knife
a cutting board
a bowl of cold water
Halve the pomegranate with the knife.
Hold one half in the water.
There you carefully remove the cores with your fingers. Should a core explode due to the pressure when removing it, the water prevents the hard-to-remove juice from sticking to the wall and clothing.

Pomegranate: ruby red vitamin bomb

Once you have opened the pomegranate, its ruby-like pits are not only beautiful to look at, they are also very healthy. This is due to the ingredients, which – as with pineapple or cranberries – not only have an anti-inflammatory effect, but also have an antioxidant effect. You can enjoy the seeds, which are 85 percent water, raw or process them into juice.

Cooking Tips

Roasting Coffee – This is How it Works

The classic brown coffee bean that we are familiar with has come a long way before it finally ends up in our coffee.

How is the typical brown coffee bean made? In our article we tell you everything about the individual roasting stages and how the process works.

One of the most important steps on their journey is the so-called roasting. But how exactly can we roast coffee and what happens in the process? The roasting – also called “refining” – ensures that the coffee bean receives a flavor profile. A consistency is thus created that can unfold during later grinding. In the following we will go into the roasting process in more detail and describe how to roast coffee optimally.

The roasting process and its subtleties

The roasting of coffee beans creates a multitude of aromas and gives the coffee its unique taste. A single bean alone contains between 300,000 and 400,000 thousand cells. If heat is now applied to this, a chemical reaction occurs. The amino acids and sugar acids contained in the coffee bean are completely reassembled during roasting. Up to 1,000 aromas can be created from one cell. The roasting process makes coffee one of the most aromatic drinks of all. And this is how the roasting works in detail:

A classic and also extremely gentle roasting process is carried out with the so-called drum roaster. Up to 30 kilograms of coffee can be roasted at once. For this purpose, the coffee beans are placed in a drum that has been mounted on a corresponding roasting machine. The roasting drum then rotates for up to 20 minutes. The internal temperature is raised to around 200 degrees Celsius. The green raw beans are roasted piece by piece and get their classic brown color. After the roasting process, they must be quickly cooled down again so that there is no further change in consistency. Since the beans lose some of the oil and water in the roasting machine, they weigh up to 20 percent less in the roasted additive than before. However, roasting coffee is not nearly as easy as it sounds. The taste, variety of aromas and appearance of the roasted bean can vary greatly. This is where the subtleties of drum roasting come into play.

After just a few minutes, the slightly yellow color of the beans changes to light brown. This creates a smell as if you were preparing fresh popcorn. Since the beans still have a lot of water and fat in this state, they appear slightly wrinkled.

Probably the most important event in the roasting process is the “first crack”. The coffee beans increase in volume during the roasting process due to the gases produced and the water evaporating, which cannot escape. Until, after about nine minutes, the pressure is so great that the cell walls of the bean burst and the water vapor can escape. The color of the bean has evolved from its previously pale green color to a yellow/brownish color by this point. Once the “first crack” has taken place, the roaster must be extremely vigilant from now on. Now the coffee beans begin to unfold their aromas and form their typical, tasty character. Chlorogenic acids are broken down piecemeal, the cell structure decomposes, and sugars caramelize inside. The longer the coffee is roasted, the more acids are broken down. At the same time, more and more roasted aromas unfold. A coffee that has been roasted for a long time has a much stronger and more bitter taste. Those who prefer it more individual can rely on short roasting times and thus enhance the coffee’s own taste.

The individual roasting stages

As already mentioned, the roasting time plays a decisive role in the final coffee taste. The degree of roasting varies depending on the heat input and the duration of the roasting. In the following we will show you the individual roasting stages for the coffee beans:

Cinnamon Roast: Probably the lightest of all roasts. A light tan ensures strong acidity and a minimal aroma profile. This state arises directly after the “First Crack”.
City Roast Plus: The medium-brown bean has reached its perfect roast point about two minutes after the “first crack”. There are light roasted substances to taste, but very acidic.
Full City: The bean is a bit dark brown. For this, almost four minutes must elapse after the “first crack” has started. The coffee bean smells spicy and hot and tastes of bitter and roasted substances. The acid takes a back seat.
Continental (French roasting): Shortly before the second crack, the bean is already dark brown. An oily consistency emerges and the taste is dominated by strong roasted aromas.
Dark French (Heavy): After the first half of the second crack, the caramelized sugar is broken down. The bean keeps getting lighter. The taste focuses entirely on roasted and bitter aromas.
Spanish Roast: At the end of the second crack and beyond, the bean is blackish-brown. It shines and has hardly any ingredients left. The taste is slightly burnt and can only be perceived through some bitter substances and roasted aromas.
Roasting coffee can be a real craft. Master roasters train on new variations every day and thus learn more and more about the variety of aromas in coffee and how this can be best brought to light.

Food

Cooking Spinach: This is How It Works

Spinach is a vitamin bomb and a source of protein at the same time. We will show you how to cook spinach properly and what you should pay attention to.

Spinach contains many important vitamins and minerals, including folic acid and vitamin A. You can use it in salads, smoothies or vegetarian dishes, for example. Many use ready-made spinach from the freezer, but you can also easily cook fresh spinach yourself.

The basic rule for fresh spinach is that it should only be stored at room temperature for as short a time as possible. This is because spinach contains nitrate, which turns into nitrite at room temperature – nitrite is toxic in high concentrations. So if you bought spinach, put it in the fridge. You should also keep leftovers in a cool place. Then you can warm up spinach without hesitation.

Blanch, boil or puree spinach

How to cook fresh spinach:

First, you should remove stems that are too large or woody. You can then wash the spinach in a bowl of cold water. You should be thorough here: there is usually a lot of sand from the field in the spinach. Once you have washed the spinach, you can drain it.
Caution: Do not leave the spinach in water for too long when washing, otherwise it will lose too many vitamins.
Then you can briefly boil the spinach in a large pot with salted water. The easiest way is to add the spinach to the pot in batches and cook for a minute at a time.
Keep an eye on the spinach to make sure it doesn’t get too soft. The leaves should still be a little firm to the bite.
To blanch, put the spinach in ice water for a few minutes. This step is optional.
So you can already eat your spinach. You can also add spices like pepper and salt to make it taste better. More about this here: Seasoning spinach: This is how it tastes best.

If you want to puree the spinach, you should let it cook a little longer so that it can be processed more easily. After about five minutes you can shake it off, let it drain and, depending on your taste, refine it with a little (vegetable) cream before crushing it with the hand blender.

Food

How Rice Cultivation Works

Rice cultivation is increasingly being criticized due to its eco-balance. The high water consumption and the released methane are problematic for the climate. Here you can find out how rice cultivation works and what you should pay attention to when buying.

Southeast Asia: The most important rice-growing region in the world

Rice is a staple food for over 3.5 billion people and, according to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), it is one of the three most important cereals in the world along with corn and wheat. Rice cultivation thus has far-reaching effects on our climate.

According to the FAO, around 90 percent of the world’s rice harvest comes from South Asia and Southeast Asia, with China and India as the largest rice producers. According to statistics from the OCE (Observatory of Economic Complexity), India and Thailand are the main rice exporters, providing a large part of the world’s traded rice volumes.

Rice is also grown in the USA, Latin America, Africa and Europe. The main European rice producers are Spain, Italy and France. The following types of rice can be found there:

Spain: Bomba rice (for paella)
Italy: Arborio rice, jasmine rice and Venus rice (Piedmont as the main growing region of Italy)
France: Red rice from the Camargue

How does rice cultivation work?

There are various methods of rice cultivation, but the most common is wet rice cultivation. Irrigation is done differently depending on the location. Sometimes the farmers rely on natural flooding, sometimes fields are artificially supplied with water via sophisticated irrigation systems. Around 75 percent of the world’s rice harvest is based on artificial irrigation, as Ferrero and Tinarelli state in the introduction to their book “Pesticide Risk Assessment in Rice Paddies”. The water serves as a natural protection against weeds and pests for the plants.

There is also dry rice cultivation, which is much more laborious and less productive. Weeds and pests are not kept out naturally, which is why more fertilizers and pesticides are needed. An advantage of this cultivation method, however, is that less water is required and less methane is emitted. Due to the meager yields, this cultivation method is still less used.

Wet rice cultivation: How does it work exactly?

Growing rice is very time-consuming and is often still done by hand in Asia.

The rice seeds are sown in the dry field, which is then ploughed.
Later, the seedlings are transplanted into the paddy field by hand or with the help of jigs.
Now the fields have to be constantly under water before they are drained around three weeks before harvest. Depending on site conditions, this occurs through natural flooding or artificial irrigation systems.
In total, the rice plant grows for five to six months before it is harvested.
harvest and processing

Rice can be harvested one to three times a year, depending on the rice variety, site conditions and cultivation method. After harvesting, the rice is threshed and dried. The husks are then removed in a rice mill, leaving the actual grain of rice and the husk – the so-called silver skin. This product is sold as brown rice, whole grain or brown rice. Usually, however, there is a further step in which the silver skin and seedling are removed. What remains is the classic white rice, which has a longer shelf life but is less nutritious.

What are the consequences of rice cultivation for the environment?

Water consumption

According to Öko-fair, 2,000 to 5,000 liters of water are required for one kilogram of rice in wet rice cultivation. If the fields are artificially irrigated, this can lead to a falling groundwater level. This often poses major water supply problems for the cultivation regions, which are often water-scarce anyway. The energy required for the artificial irrigation systems is also high.

Methane emissions

According to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), wet rice cultivation is responsible for around ten percent of man-made methane emissions worldwide. Methane is the second most important man-made greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and is 21 times more potent than CO2, according to the Max Planck Society.

The reason for the high emission values are the flooded fields: microorganisms decompose organic substances here in the absence of oxygen, resulting in the formation of methane. How much methane is produced depends on how long the fields are under water. If they are drained regularly, less methane is produced – a simple step that would already make rice production significantly more sustainable. However, for many small farmers in Asia, this additional effort can hardly be implemented. In addition, leftover husks are often burned in the fields after harvesting, which releases CO2.

An overview by the WWF makes the extent of methane emissions in rice cultivation clear. It shows the respective amounts of greenhouse gases that occur during the production of different foods. With 6.2 kilograms of CO2 equivalents per kilogram, rice is significantly higher than potatoes (0.62 kilograms), fresh milk products (1.76 kilograms) or even poultry meat (4.22 kilograms).

Sustainable rice: You should pay attention to this when buying

Fair trade rice: Rice is mainly grown in less developed regions of the world. A Fairtrade certification shows you that the producers receive fair wages and work under good conditions. Many Fairtrade-certified rice suppliers enter into their own small cooperations with individual rice farmers in order to be able to offer ecologically and socially sustainable rice. In this way, cultivation conditions can be clearly traced and made transparent for consumers. You can usually find information about such cooperations on the provider’s website or directly on the product. In general, the more specific the information about origin and growing conditions, the better. It is worth taking a closer look at the products before you buy them.
Organic Rice: When you buy certified organic rice, you not only protect yourself and the environment from synthetic pesticides: Organic farming also protects rice farmers from constant exposure to harmful pesticides at work.

Rice from Europe: In the meantime, you can also find rice from European cultivation in the supermarket or health food store. So you can avoid long transport routes. In addition, the environmental guidelines in Europe are generally higher than in Asia and many European rice farmers value more sustainable rice cultivation.
Rice from dry cultivation: Although not the global solution, dry rice – especially from European cultivation – is often the more environmentally friendly alternative, as the Austrian daily newspaper Kurier shows using the example of the domestic rice producer “ÖsterReis”. Dry rice cultivation releases significantly less methane and uses less water. For example, the Swiss risotto rice branded “Terreni alla Maggia” or the Austrian rice from “SO-Fröhlich” come from the dry cultivation method. In dry cultivation, however, farmers increasingly have to contend with weeds and pests, which is why this method is much more labor-intensive – especially in organic cultivation. In order for rice from dry cultivation to actually be a sustainable alternative, you should only obtain it from organic cultivation. This is because more pesticides are often used in dry cultivation. While organic dry rice is a sustainable option, it is not a real solution on a global scale. Because the harvests in dry cultivation are too small and it can by no means cover the worldwide rice demand.
It doesn’t always have to be rice: there are many regional alternatives to rice that have a much better ecological footprint. For example, German potatoes or local cereals are the more sustainable side dishes. Spelled rice, for example, is a good alternative to rice. According to the WWF, the cultivation of lentils and legumes also emits fewer harmful GHG emissions, although they cannot compete with potatoes or cereals in this respect.

First steps towards sustainable rice cultivation

A step in the right direction is the International Platform for Sustainable Rice (SRP), which has developed a standard for sustainable rice. The project supports Thai rice farmers in making rice cultivation more ecological and campaigns for better local working conditions. Research institutes, large companies such as OLAM and international organizations such as GIZ or the United Nations Environment Program are involved.

According to GIZ, up to 50 percent fewer greenhouse gases are released as a result of the project measures, water consumption falls by a fifth and the farmers get by with fewer pesticides. At the same time, small farmers can increase their profits. The rice is certified accordingly and commercially available. For example, the Uncle Ben’s brand says it sources its rice exclusively from farmers supported by the SRP.

The Thai-German project Thai Rice NAMA also aims to make rice cultivation more sustainable and there is worldwide research on “anti-methane strategies”.

Little climate awareness when it comes to rice

Converting rice cultivation to uniform ecological standards is not that easy. Because there are too many individual small farmers from different countries where different environmental regulations apply. There is also often a lack of ecological awareness in the less developed countries of Asia, and for many small farmers, rice cultivation primarily means securing their survival. So they have no capacity to think about climate issues.

Projects for sustainable rice cultivation, such as those implemented by the SRP, are therefore all the more important. But the topic of sustainability is not only little present on the part of the producers. As consumers, we are also little aware of the poor ecological balance of rice – in contrast to products such as palm oil, avocados or meat, to which we are much more sensitive. It shouldn’t be any different with rice.

Food

Planting, Caring for and Using Wild Apples: This is How It Works

Wild apple is a small tree that attracts attention in summer with its lush flowers and provides you with numerous fruits in autumn. Here you can find out what you should consider when planting, caring for and eating.

The winter apple (also known as the crab apple) is a native plant: it has been cultivated regionally and its fruits eaten for centuries. Today, however, the winter apple is rarely found in Germany. It is also a popular refuge for birds and mammals and an important food source for various insects.

Characteristic is the thin trunk, which only reaches a diameter of two to four centimeters, and the slightly woody consistency. Some branches have thorns. Some varieties also have slightly wrinkled skin. However, this does not affect the health of the tree or the taste of the apples.

The flowering period of the tree extends from April to May and lets it shine in a white to light pink splendour. The apples ripen in early autumn and are yellowish to reddish in color, depending on the variety. Be sure to choose local varieties for planting.

Plant wild apple: The basic conditions

Before you plant wild apples, you should think about the time and place of planting. Please note the following:

Timing: Autumn is the best time to plant. In principle, however, it is possible all year round.
Location: Choose a sunny to partially shaded spot. The tree likes sun and warmth and should not be overshadowed by other plants. Otherwise it is quite robust, so that wind and rain cannot harm it. Note that the apple tree can grow between 3 and 6 meters tall. However, this varies depending on the variety. At the same time, the roots grow quite extensively and close below the surface of the earth. There are also varieties that are suitable for hedge planting.
Soil: Since the wild apple tree is a wild tree, it can get along with almost any soil. He just doesn’t particularly like extremely wet soil like moor. Nevertheless, you can enrich the particularly nutrient-poor soil with nutrients and sand.

This is how you plant the wild apple

Planting a wild apple is not difficult. To do this, follow the steps below:

Place the young tree in a bucket of water so the roots can soak.
Dig a planting hole. This should be at least twice as large as the plant ball of the wild apple tree.
Enrich the soil with some compost or other organic fertilizer.
Place the small tree in the hole and refill the soil. Squeeze them tight.
Water the freshly planted wild apple tree properly.
Depending on the location, it may make sense to initially secure the young tree with a stake.
If you sprinkle bark mulch around the tree, you prevent weeds and at the same time protect the tree from unwanted competing plants.

Caring for a tree: tips and hints

The wild apple tree is robust and quite undemanding. For care, it is sufficient if you observe the following tips:

The most important thing is that you protect the wild apple from drought. Especially when young, you should water the tree regularly during long periods of drought. We recommend collecting rainwater and using it to feed your plants.
If you want to do something good for your wild apple, you can fertilize it in the first half of the year (spring to June), preferably with compost.
Basically, it is not necessary to trim the wild apple tree. However, if it is not developing in the way that is best for your garden and other plants, or if you want to shape it, you should cut it from time to time. You can read here how to best make the cut: Cutting an apple tree: The right tree cut in spring and autumn
Wild apple is hardy. So you don’t have to take any special precautions for the cold season.
If you want to propagate the apple, the best way to do this is by sowing: Scatter the seeds of the fruit in a pot outside in autumn and keep it moist. Cutting a cutting and cultivating it is often not successful.
Diseases and pests do not worry the wild apple tree for the most part. However, typical apple tree diseases such as apple scab or fire blight can sometimes occur.

Here’s how you can use the wild apple

Wild apples are edible. However, young apples of the tree are rather sour and tart because they contain a lot of tannin. You can cook them to tone down the flavor. In addition, the kernels of wild apples, like other apples, contain the substance amygdalin, which is converted to toxic hydrocyanic acid in the body. Even if you bite into the seeds, they are harmless in small amounts.

Wild apples contain a comparatively large amount of pectin. You may know the substance as a vegan gelling agent. They also have a firmer consistency than cultivated apples. You can take advantage of these two properties by using the fruit for homemade applesauce or apple jelly. You can also make tea, juice or syrup from wild apples.

The fruits are also often used as a decorative element in arrangements or wreaths.

Food

Mohnstriezel Recipe: This is How It Works

Mohnstriezel is a sweet pastry from Silesia. It is traditionally eaten at Christmas or Easter. We show you a delicious recipe with a vegan version.

Originally Mohnstriezel comes from the former Silesia. The area is now mostly in Poland. The Silesian Mohnstriezel are still served in these regions as a traditional pastry at Easter or Christmas. They consist of a sweet yeast dough filled with poppy seeds or almonds. There are also delicious sprinkles and a sweet glaze. You too can make the Silesian Mohnstriezel yourself. We will show you a recipe for the sweet pastry with a vegan version.

Pay attention to the organic quality of the ingredients. In this way you can support species-appropriate animal husbandry and avoid chemical-synthetic pesticides. Above all, we can recommend the organic seals from Demeter, Bioland and Naturland, as they comply with stricter criteria than the EU organic guidelines. Also, make sure to buy eggs without chick shredding.

Buy ingredients that are locally and seasonally sourced. This avoids long transport routes and reduces global CO2 emissions. You can also support local providers in your region.

Mohnstriezel: The recipe

Ingredients:

600 gwheat flour
42 g yeast
630 mlmilk
230 g butter
260 gsugar
1vanilla bean
0.5 untreated lemon
100 g marzipan raw mass
2 tablespoons starch
1 egg
180 g blue poppy seeds
100 gicing sugar

Directions:

Put 500 grams of flour in a large mixing bowl and make a small well in the middle.
Crumble the yeast and pour it into the well.
Heat 130 milliliters of milk until lukewarm. Pour the warm milk over the yeast and let it soak briefly.
Cut 150 grams of butter into flakes and add them to the mixing bowl.
Now add 100 grams of sugar and process the ingredients with the hand mixer to form an even dough. Cover and let the dough rise for about an hour.
In the meantime, you can make the sprinkles. Put the remaining flour and 80 grams of sugar in a bowl.
Halve the vanilla bean and carefully scrape out the pulp with a knife. Put this in the bowl as well.
Wash the lemon thoroughly and grate half of the lemon zest into the bowl.
Now add the remaining butter in flakes and mix the ingredients into a crumbly dough. You can put the finished crumbles in the fridge.
Then it’s time for the filling. To do this, cut the raw marzipan into small pieces. Pour the marzipan into a pot.
Pour half of the remaining milk into a measuring cup. Whisk together the cornstarch or cornstarch substitute and egg until smooth.
Heat the marzipan with the remaining milk and sugar. Stir constantly so it doesn’t burn. Let the ingredients boil up briefly.
Then take the marzipan off the stove and stir in the blue poppy seeds and the milk with starch. Reheat the filling and keep stirring until you get a smooth mass. Then let them cool down.
On a floured work surface, roll out the dough into an oval shape.
Spread the poppy seed filling evenly over the pastry base. Roll up the Striezel from the two longer sides towards the middle.
Place the finished Mohnstriezel on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Spread the crumbles evenly over the pastry and press lightly.
Bake the Mohnstriezel at 180 degrees top and bottom heat for about 45 to 50 minutes. Then let it cool down completely.
Halve the lemon. Use the half that you already scraped off the skin. Squeeze out the juice from this lemon half and stir in the icing sugar (tip: make your own icing sugar). Brush the cooled Mohnstriezel with the glaze as you like.

Mohnstriezel: Tips for the preparation

The Silesian Mohnstriezel need a certain resting and baking time. However, the effort is worth it for the tasty treat. With a little practice and patience, even baking beginners can prepare the sweet Striezel. The following tips will help you with a sustainable, varied or even vegan preparation:

Blue poppy consists of the seeds of the opium poppy. It contains alkaloids that are used in the production of intoxicants and narcotics. The well-known morphine is also obtained from the opium poppy. The poppy seeds usually do not contain morphine, but they can become contaminated with it during harvest. The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment therefore recommends a maximum intake of 6.3 micrograms of morphine per day and kilogram. This corresponds to around 94.5 grams of poppy seeds per day for a person weighing 60 kilograms.
Vanilla originally comes from Mexico. Madagascar is now the largest cultivation area for vanilla beans. Unfortunately, pods from Germany or Europe are not available. Since the vanilla has to travel long distances, you should use it sparingly. Consume them consciously and preferably buy them with the Fairtrade seal.
You can refine the Mohnstriezel with various ingredients. For example, healthy raisins, almonds or other chopped nuts taste great in the filling. Jam or pieces of apple also give the filling a whole new taste. If you replace the wheat flour with wholemeal spelled flour, your pastries will be more nutritious and rich in fibre. However, the dough may need more liquid.
If you want your Striezel to be less sweet, you can reduce the sugar as you like.
You can also prepare your Mohnstriezel vegan. Replace the milk with plant-based milk and the butter with vegan margarine. You can use an egg substitute instead of eggs.

Cooking Tips

Plant Buckthorn and How It Works

The buckthorn is ideal for a natural garden as its flowers provide food for many native animals. In this article we will show you how to plant the tree and what medicinal effects its berries have.

The buckthorn is a native plant that, as a valuable habitat for birds and insects, is of particular importance for the preservation of biodiversity. You will find it in the form of dense hedges and bushes, especially in alluvial forests, sparse forests and at the edges of forests. Butterflies, wild bees and many other insects feed on the flowers and leaves of the buckthorn. The buckthorn gets its German name from its thorns, which sit at the end of the short shoots and overlap with the branches in a cross shape. From September onwards, the deciduous tree bears pea-sized black drupes, which birds like to eat. The raw fruits are poisonous for humans, in dried form they are known in folk medicine as a strong natural laxative.

Planting buckthorn: This is how you do it right

As an ecologically valuable tree species, the buckthorn enhances every natural garden. With its dense branches, it offers birds and other animals a safe retreat in your garden. You can plant the robust shrub on its own or grow it together with honeysuckle, dog rose or dogwood to form a wild hedge. Before you plant buckthorn, you should consider the following tips:

Location: The buckthorn thrives best in a sunny spot in the garden. But you can also successfully plant the robust woody plant in semi-shade. Blazing sun and wind do not bother the buckthorn. In too shady locations, its leaves are slightly larger.
Soil: In the wild, buckthorn grows on stony, loamy and gravel soils. In the garden, it loves well-drained soil with a high lime content. Even slightly damp soil is no problem for him – only permanently wet roots can cause the shrub to die.
When to plant: You can get young buckthorn plants from well-stocked garden shops. There they are usually offered in plant containers or as bales. In theory, you can plant the buckthorn in pots all year round, as long as there is no frost on the ground. If you buy the tree as a root ball, it is best to put it in the ground in spring or autumn.

Plant buckthorn correctly:

First, dip the buckthorn root ball in a bucket of water. As soon as no more air bubbles rise, the young plant is sufficiently watered.
If you want to plant the buckthorn as a hedge, dig several planting holes about two meters apart. Make sure that the holes are at least as wide and deep as the root ball.
Place the young plants in the holes. With baled goods, make sure that no soil trickles down when you lift the plant. Untie the top of the bale cloth so that it doesn’t hinder the growth of the buckthorn and has a better chance of rotting later.
Mix the excavated soil with some compost and pour the mixture back into the hole.
Press down the top layer of soil and water the buckthorn generously at the end.
By the way: the buckthorn has very strong, deep roots with many runners. That’s why you can use it to fasten embankments and slopes.

Proper care for the buckthorn

In the right location and with the right care, the buckthorn can grow up to six meters high. Fortunately, like most wild trees, buckthorn is relatively undemanding and therefore fits well in a low-maintenance garden. With the following care tips, the wood grows particularly vigorously:

Watering: You rarely have to water the buckthorn, as it prefers to be only moderately moist. Therefore, always check first whether the top layer of soil has dried before you water the wood. Since buckthorn is sensitive to limescale, you should water it with stagnant tap water or rainwater from the barrel. In winter you should water the shrub even more sparingly and just make sure that the soil does not dry out completely.
Fertilizer: In theory, buckthorn does well without additional fertilizer if you mix some compost under the soil when planting.
Pruning: Buckthorn trees usually do not need a topiary. You can remove broken or dead branches at any time. Note, however, that the buckthorn copes with pruning measures less and less with increasing age and then no longer sprout so strongly.

Buckthorn: Native plant with a strong laxative effect

In the vernacular, buckthorn is also known as purging buckthorn because of the laxative effect of its fruits. Once dried, the fruits were used as a laxative and for blood purification. However, the medical journal PTAheute advises against using the berries in this way because their effects are difficult to regulate. Smaller amounts can cause painful side effects such as vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea. This strong reaction is caused by anthraquinone glycosides contained in the fruit. These substances inhibit the absorption of water in the intestine and at the same time ensure that more water flows into the intestinal tract. In this way, the pressure in the intestine increases.

Cooking Tips

French Press Instructions: This is How The Preparation Works

A cheap alternative to conventional coffee preparation is the French Press. We will explain how the French press works and what the pot has to do with France, Denmark and Italy.

What is a french press?

With a French press, also known as a press pot or coffee press, you can easily prepare coffee with hot water and ground coffee. The hot drink is prepared directly in the pot, which can also be used as a serving vessel. This method is called the full immersion method. In contrast to the pour-over method, in which water is poured over the coffee powder, with the full immersion method the ground coffee is directly in the water.

Where does the stamp pot come from?

As the name suggests, the device was invented in France around 1850. However, the pot was not patented until 1929 by the Italian Attilio Calimani. The shape we know today was only introduced to the market in the 1970s by the Danish manufacturer Bodum.

How is a French Press constructed?

Every French press is basically the same. Only the design varies from model to model. In most cases, a French press is made of glass, but there are also variants made of stainless steel or directly as a thermos flask. French presses are commercially available in different sizes from 0.35 to 1.5 liters filling volume. It consists of a holder in which a mostly glass, removable jug sits. A press stamp is integrated in the lid, on which a metal sieve is located. When preparing the coffee, the plunger is pressed down and the coffee grounds are separated from the finished coffee through the sieve.

How does the preparation of coffee in a French press work?

With the French Press, the coffee is ready to serve within minutes. All you need is hot water and ground coffee.

Ingredients required for 1 liter of coffee from the French Press:

Coffee beans for 60 grams of coffee powder
1 L of water with a temperature of about 96 degrees

Step 1: grind the coffee beans

The degree of grinding should not be too fine for preparation in a French press. Choose a medium to coarse grind. As a guide: The degree of grinding should be similar to that for filter coffee. If you don’t have a coffee grinder, you can also buy ready-made coffee powder. However, be sure to pay attention to the degree of grinding when buying.

Step 2: Boil the water

Before the water comes into contact with the ground coffee, the temperature should be around 86 to 96 degrees. Too high a temperature would result in a bitter taste.

Step 3: Fill in the coffee powder

Check the capacity of your French Press and how much coffee you want to prepare. As a guideline: If you have a pot with a capacity of one liter, put 60 grams of coffee powder in the French press. Then pour the appropriately tempered water completely into the pot. Make sure all the powder is wetted and don’t stir the mixture.

Step 4: Break open the crust

After four minutes, break up the crust that has formed on the liquid with a spoon. This process interrupts the extraction and most of the coffee powder sinks to the bottom.

Step 5: Continue Infusing (Optional)

Then wait five to eight minutes again. During this time, the fines (fine coffee particles) and the coarse particles of the coffee grounds sink to the bottom. This will make the cup a little clearer. However, this is only a recommendation and not a must. The coffee itself is ready to serve after four minutes of extraction (step 4). The longer you let the coffee steep, the stronger it gets. Of course, you can also influence the intensity of the coffee by choosing the coffee beans.

Step 6: Press down the stamp

Place the lid on the jug using the stamp press. Press down slowly and steadily using only the weight of your arm. This prevents the coffee powder from being stirred up again and nothing sloshing out.

Cooking Tips

Pumpkin Spice Latte: This is How The Recipe Works

Cozy afternoons can be perfectly enjoyed with a Pumpkin Spice Latte. We explain why pumpkin coffee is so popular, where it comes from and how you can easily make it yourself.

What is a Pumpkin Spice Latte?

A Pumpkin Spice Latte is a coffee variation that is essentially made with espresso or strong coffee, pumpkin puree, spices and milk froth. Depending on the season, mainly autumnal spices such as cinnamon or cloves are used.

The drink was made famous by the American coffee chain Starbucks, which offers the drink in its branches every year around Halloween. The first Pumpkin Spice Latte went over the counter in January 2003. At that time, the company tried to extend the Christmas season with the drink by launching a hot drink with Christmas spices.

Since the drink was very well received by customers, but the pumpkin season generally begins in autumn, the decision was subsequently made to sell the pumpkin coffee in the branches as early as September. Since then, the Pumpkin Spice Latte has developed into a real cult drink that is so popular that Starbucks was already offering the drink in selected branches in mid-August.

This is how the Pumpkin Spice Latte works

If you are looking for a pumpkin and coffee recipe to take home, you’ve come to the right place. The recipe is quite simple, but requires some preparation if you want to make all the ingredients yourself.

List of ingredients for about 0.4 l Pumpkin Spice Latte:

1-2 tbsp fine pumpkin puree
1 tsp Pumpkin Spice spice mix
2 tbsp agave syrup
Milk/milk alternative for milk froth
espresso
Options:
Coffee syrup for refining or sweetening, such as vanilla or caramel

Step 1: Prepare the pumpkin puree

In the USA you can get the ready-made pumpkin puree in almost every supermarket. In Germany you can occasionally find the puree at the weekly market or in some delicatessens. You can also easily prepare pumpkin puree yourself in just three steps:
cut pumpkin
Cut a Hokkaido pumpkin into four equal parts and remove the seeds.
Cook Pumpkin
Put the pieces, including the peel, in boiling water and leave them there for around 15 to 20 minutes.
puree
Using a hand blender, mash the soft pumpkin pieces into a puree.
Storage Tip: You’ll probably need a lot less puree than you get from a whole squash. But that doesn’t matter. If you pack the puree airtight, it will keep in the fridge for about a week for further processing. Of course, you can also plan ahead and store the finished puree in the freezer.

Step 2: Preparation of the spice mixture

The listed ingredients for our pumpkin recipe can be found in almost every supermarket or easily ordered online. You can also make the spice mixture yourself and create your own individual taste. Depending on your preference, you can change the proportion accordingly. To make it, simply mix the following ground ingredients together:
3 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp nutmeg
1.5 tsp allspice
1 tsp cloves

Step 3: Prepare Pumpkin Spice Latte

Now the ingredients for the pumpkin coffee can finally be mixed together:
Pour pumpkin puree into a glass
Prepare a large glass and fill it with 1-2 tablespoons of fine pumpkin puree. To get it particularly fine, you can scrape it through a sieve into the glass again.
mix ingredients
Take a small bowl and mix 1 teaspoon of the spice mixture with the 2 tablespoons of agave syrup. Then spread the mixture over the pumpkin puree.
Add milk froth
In the next step you need milk foam. You can open it yourself or get it quickly and easily from a fully automatic coffee machine. Then add the milk froth to the glass.
Add espresso
Now it is important to make a particularly strong espresso. This is only possible with the help of a fully automatic machine or portafilter. A strong coffee can be made with an espresso maker, for example. Now pour the espresso into the glass very slowly so that the individual layers do not mix with each other. This creates a great visual effect when serving.
Stir
The Pumpkin Spice Latte is ready and ready to be enjoyed. Just before drinking, you should stir the drink well with a long-handled spoon so that all the ingredients mix together and the typical pumpkin taste can unfold.
Optional: Add syrup and cream
If you would like to refine your pumpkin coffee, you can optionally add cream to the PSL as a topping or add coffee syrup instead of agave syrup.

Vegan Pumpkin Coffee

For the vegan variant of the Pumpkin Spice Latte, you can also easily become a milk alternative. Soy milk or oat milk are best suited for frothing. Rice, coconut, almond or spelled milk are less suitable. After all, the milk froth is an essential part of the pumpkin latte. But in the end it’s a matter of taste.

Pumpkin Spice Latte without coffee – the version for children

For people who don’t want to drink coffee, malt coffee is an alternative preparation option. It’s actually not real coffee, since it’s made from grain, but the taste is similar and the pumpkin malt coffee is also very tasty. So that it doesn’t get too sweet, you can also do without the agave syrup and use honey instead.

How many calories does a Pumpkin Spice Latte have?

You may have guessed it: Starbucks finished PSL is anything but a diet drink. A 12 ounce Tall cup contains approximately 300 calories. The calories of the Pumpkin Spice Latte are divided into about 10 g of fat and 40 g of sugar, which corresponds to about 10 sugar cubes. This increases the daily energy requirement. If you prepare the coffee with pumpkin puree at home, you can of course control the addition of sugar and fat. This delicious and homemade alternative is not quite as impressive. A glass (250 ml) with fine puree and 1.5% milk has approx. 135 Kcal.

Cooking Tips

Latte Art: This is How Barista Art Works

How does the heart actually get into the milk froth of a cappuccino? Anyone who has always wondered how the artistic motifs get into the milk crown of a coffee drink will find out all the important information about latte art in this article.

What is latte art?

Latte art is the predominant method for creating beautiful patterns and decorations on the surface of coffee. By pouring the milk froth – or the milk – in a special way, patterns and images are worked into the surface of the drink. Popular patterns are the heart, the fern leaf and the swan. The motifs can even be combined with a little practice.

In addition to simple pouring, there are also many tools that can be used for more precise and extensive creations. For example, pens, stencils or chocolate syrup can be used. The master of latte art is the so-called barista. He is responsible for artistic and tasty coffee creations. In the meantime, even championships for the most beautiful latte art are held.

Dense crema thanks to Robusta

Since the espresso is first poured into the bulbous cup, the crema should have a thick consistency and a hazelnut-brown colour. In this way, optimal motifs can be created in it. If a part of Robusta is in the coffee beans, a stable crema should succeed. The slightly reduced oil content compared to Arabica is an advantage here.

Milk (alternative) needs protein

The quality of the milk foam plays an important role so that the barista can fully develop his artistic streak, after all, the foam is the artist’s canvas. The milk froth must be of optimal consistency, temperature and density.

Which milk or milk alternative is used to prepare the milk froth can be decided individually. The most important thing is the protein content. The protein gives the foam its stability and density. The fat content makes the milk foam creamy and looks good.

Many prefer fresh whole milk, but condensed milk and UHT milk work just as well. Milk alternatives are also suitable for producing a nice milk froth. Frothing works particularly well with soy, oat, almond or spelled milk. We even recorded this in an in-house test.

In general, care should be taken to ensure that the milk froth has a dense, creamy consistency that is not too firm.

Equipment needed

Mastering latte art is a lot harder than it first appears. The barista needs:

Espresso, either from the portafilter or the fully automatic coffee machine
Milk frother or a steam wand
milk jug
Bulbous cup, e.g. for cappuccino

Good to know: milk can be foamed on professional fully automatic machines or produced manually using a steam lance. Both are possible.
The cup should ideally have a round bottom and open upwards. A wide opening offers space for pouring in the motifs. The ideal size for the milk jug is 0.6 to 1 liter. The espresso is now used as the basis for the new coffee creation. The actual work begins with pouring the milk froth.

Step 1: Frothing the milk

For frothing, the milk jug should only be filled halfway, as the volume can quickly double during the frothing process. In addition, the milk should be chilled before frothing, as the milk froth must not be warmer than 60 to 70 degrees. Otherwise it will fall apart.

The most important factor in frothing is the pulling and rolling movement of the milk in the jug. It doesn’t matter whether the milk is set in motion via the frother of the portafilter machine or by means of an electric milk frother. First, air is drawn under the surface of the milk. The rotation of the milk distributes the air in the milk and creates foam. For even better creaminess, the milk froth is then swirled around. You can find out more about this in our article on milk foam.

Step 2: Pour in the milk froth

Incidentally, after frothing, pouring should be done quite quickly, since the foam and milk can separate again within about 20 seconds. The desired pattern is now created when pouring the milk froth into the espresso.

The cup with the espresso must be held at a 45 degree angle. Begin pouring from the deepest part of the cup, pouring in the frothed milk in a circular motion to create a base. The crema rises to the edge of the cup and the color is a nice, even brown. Now place the pot with the spout close to the surface of the coffee and carefully pour the pattern into the crema. The angle of the cup becomes smaller and smaller until the cup is full.

The most popular motifs for latte art

Not every motif is equally suitable for learning latte art. We have compiled a few of the most popular milk froth artworks per level for you here.

beginner

The following works of art are ideal for beginners:
heart
Sun
shamrock

Advanced

If you already have some barista skills, then you will like these motifs:
fern leaf
Rosette
star

professional

The absolute latte art professionals can be recognized by these motifs in the coffee:
swan
Angel