It's the most wonderful time of the year! IT'S EUROVISION DAY!!! I feel that Andy Williams wasn't really singing about Christmas, but more so about the fabulous Eurovision.
Last year we were "metaphysically" in Norway, but with the win of the fantastic Lena with a bizarroly simple and not flashy (Eurovision sacrilege!) song "Satellite", this year we're heading to Düsseldorf.
This was the 4th Annual Leo's Eurovision Extravaganza, and we've certainly come a long way from the first Eurovision Party. From a few friends sitting around a small screen eating nibbles, to a packed 3 hours of colossal entertainment! Australia, being so far away from Europe, does not broadcast Eurovision live. When Eurovision starts at 9pm on Saturday 14th May German time, it would be 5am Sunday 15th May in Australia. Therefore, SBS doesn't broadcast the Eurovision final until Sunday night primetime. This means that all Sunday, Australian Eurovision diehards have to avoid all media channels to prevent accidently finding out who won!
Weeks of planning go into hosting a successful Eurovision party, from the streamers and flag-inspired balloons to drinking games and sweeps. But the most challenging is the timing of serving food to correspond with the relevant country's performance.
The Molefaces enjoy cooking (well most of them) and when the participants for the final are announced, each party attendant is given a country. Not only for them to support and cheer on, but also they are asked to bring a dish that is associated with their selected country. Consequently, we generally have more food than necessary, but they are spaced apart enough to help with digestion. Then for those who are drinking, a drinking game challenge is selected. These can be innocuous like drink if they "have instruments on stage", or can potentially lead the recipient to alcohol poisoning like drink if "there is pyrotechnics", "a key change" or "costume reveal". Then once everyone has performed, we sit back drunkenly and digest the feast whilst we wait the good hour or so until the winner is revealed.
Lastly, once the winner has been chosen, if you have picked that country from the sweep, you have to get up and perform for the crowd!
Sauerbraten is a like a pot roast, usually beef roast but can be from other meats. It is marinated for several days, and although the marinade recipe can differ across regions, it is generally a mixture of vinegar, red wine, water, vegetables, spices and seasonings. The acidic marinade helps to tenderise the cut of meat as well as discolour and flavour it. After cooking the marinade is made into a gravy to be leisurely poured over the meat. Meal accompaniments also vary from region to region, with red cabbage, potatoes (dumplings, boiled or mashed) and noodles being traditionally served alongside sauerbraten. And of course with it being German, it is best served with Märzenbier or a nice Riesling.
Enjoy, or as they say in Germany, Guten Appetit!
Das ist meine recipe link: http://www.quick-german-recipes.com/sauerbraten-recipe.html
Difficulty: 4
Appearance: 4
Taste: 4
TOTAL: 12
Note: Difficulty is scaled in reverse to the other categories, where 1 = was extremely difficult to make, and 5 = was easy to make.
Note: Difficulty is scaled in reverse to the other categories, where 1 = was extremely difficult to make, and 5 = was easy to make.
So this dish wins for the most amount of pre-planning needed. You HAVE TO marinate the beef for 3-5 days before you are ready to cook. This is not a simple run down to the supermarket, pick up some ingredients, come home and whack it on the stove kind of dish. But once you do actually get up to the cooking phase, the ingredients are essentially just left on the stove to cook until tender.
I was thoroughly glad that sauerbraten was the German national dish, for the aromas that emanated from the kitchen whilst cooking were amazing! Guests were welcomed into Cinéma d'Eurovision, by the wafting smells of beef infused with red wine, garlic and bay leaves. And the brown tinged result were off-set by the accompanying mashed potato and sour cream.
All that marinating and cooking left the sauerbraten so tender and delicious. I love the taste of red wine infused meat, but the other seasonings melded well to give complex flavours despite there being only a few extra ingredients. Germany performed close to the middle of the night and shortly before was the United Kingdom. Lady Cara had drawn the UK and made mashed potato and gravy to represent that country. This went remarkably well with the sauerbraten, and may not have been coincidence (there has been accusations of country assignment rigging in the past). And the EuroMolefaces seemed to enjoy it, even though it came after 4 entrees and 3 mains.
So overall we had 4 entrees, 5 mains and 4 desserts. That represent 13 nations out of a possible 25! For most groups that amount of food would be a challenge. But this is the Molefaces we are talking about. Piece of cake! (which we would probably eat as well.) Below is a quick video of what was on offer.
As you saw the surprise winner this year was Azerbaijan! And although it is one of my greatest dreams to attend a Eurovision final, I don't think I'll be making it to Baku next year. Which is a shame since I've already cooked the national dish of Azerbaijan and could do with some more delicious Yarpag Dolmasi! Another great Eurovision Party was had by all. Danke Deutschland!!
(For those playing at home, Germany has performed in all Eurovision song contest since the beginning, and is the most represented country. This may have something to do with they are a part of the 'Big 4' (UK, France and Spain are the other 3, although if Italy continues to participate it will become the 'Big 5') These countries are the biggest financial contributors to the EBU (they broadcast Eurovision) and are therefore always qualified for the final. No need to audition for Europe!
Having said that, Germany have not fared well in the past. They have only won the competition twice (1985 and 2010), placed second 4 times, and third 5 times. However, those high placings were mainly 30 years ago and they have also placed last 5 times also. Good luck for the upcoming years Germany, for I love making German food!)
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