My News

There is a lot of talk currently going on in Luxembourg and among its bloggers about the occupation of an old house in the heart of the city. Yesterday, the police broke in, cut the electricity and wrote down the names of the occupants, then left. The house is owned by a private real estate agency, which has not yet ordered the evacuation of the occupants, as the building is scheduled to be destroyed and is only waiting for the permission of the mayor's office, and since the house is in a protected part of the old town, this usually takes some time. So I don't really get all the fuzz about this. Yeah sure, the left wing parties and student organizations called for a manifestation to show their solidarity. In a way I sympathize, I mean what harm can a couple of punks occupying a building do... But come on, even if the decision of the agency will be to evacuate the building once they have permission, nobody can complain about anything. So far no force had been applied by the government, except the breaking in part and the cutting the electricity part, both of which are absolutely comprehensible in my eyes. I mean what do you expect if you occupy a privately owned building? Can anybody expect to just walk into any vacant building they like and claim its their own? We all know what an autonomous zone for people like that would eventually turn into... So what's the alternative? I know this is a sensitive situation, which you certainly cannot resolve with stubbornness and brute force, and I don't think that those two have been applied so far in this case. So again, I don't really get why this is suddenly so much of an issue. Maybe somebody can broaden my horizon.

This does not look too convincing... ADR as 8th best match WTF?

This guy is my closest match? http://sozialrevolutioun.blogsport.de/ jeez

EDIT: and if I check which party to choose, it says either Greng or KPL...

Last Friday, Julie and Aaron, who work also in the Biozentrum and their friends Megan and Lindsay (not sure bout the spelling...) from the US were touring Europe, so Line and I decided to pick them up in Brussels to show them Luxembourg. We started off Friday by eating Fries in Jette, then moved to Luxembourg City where we saw the Cathedral, the Gëlle Fra, the Veneciano, the Grouss Gaas, my old home, the Wenzel trail, the Scotts, the Pirate Ship in the park, the Chi-Chis and the Rives... Saturday, we drove from Berbuerg to Larochette, Ettelbrück, Heinerscheid, where we went to the Cornelys Haff and checked out the Ourdaller micro brewerie including some beer tasting of course. We had a nice "Waarm Ham mat Saubounen" and baked apples and after filling completely stuffed, we continued through Clervaux, Vianden, the Our valley, Müllertal back to Berbuerg and Hagen. You'll find the pics here.

Am I the only one who thinks this is pathetic?

The famous mon810 GMO maize got banned in Luxembourg, depite European regulations allowing its cultivation. I'm not mad about this per se. Mon810 is a somewhat useless crop, its reductions in pesticides are not significant and that's about all there is about this particular crop. All the GMO opponents are cheering. My problem is this maize got banned for ridiculous reasons: To please a scared and sceptic nation. What this decision tells us is that GMOs are dangerous and not to be trusted, which is just as ridiculous as saying plants can be toxic (yes some can!) therefore we should ban them all. People are scared of new technologies they can't understand. But not a soul is interested in analyzing the situation in a scientific way. People always rush to say that we don't have any longterm studies (there are, and they are just as contradictory as the people trying to promote them (also the people demanding longterm studies are the same that try to ban testing exactly this)), without really understanding the difference between the "GMO" and a "traditional" artificially selected plant. All of our food sources are genetically modified by humans over the ages. GMOs differ in that these changes are controllable and known.
Maybe this ban has its good sides. It should make the industry think of what people want and need. My fear is that when at some point we do have a GMO crop that can produce significantly more mass or nutritional value or needs no external pesticides added, people are so misleaded by populistic politicians and unknowledgeable activists that these crops, that could change the fate of ours lands but mostly those of third world countries, will simply not given ANY chance (cf. Golden Rice, that's been basically killed by Greenpeace fascists). And that's what's wrong with this decision. I hate it when politics is unscientific, which is the case too many times!

Another cooking Sunday! Another Luxembourgish favorite: Rieslingspaschtéit, basically a meat pie/terrine with Riesling, a white wine that's very common in Luxembourg. First off, you gotta prepare the pastry. For this you need 75g lard (Schmalz, I prepared it simply by frying bacon), 75g butter that I melted, 375g flour, 50ml Riesling and 50ml water, some salt. You mix it, knead it and it will feel like a very crumbly dough, but that's ok, you put it in the fridge for 1-2h afterwards. Then you take 500g minced beef, add 2 eggs, parsley, mustard, 50ml oil, chopped onions (to annoy Pazit), salt, pepepr, worcestershire sauce, balsamico vinegar, breadcrumbs and some cognac (although I prepared it with Bushmills and it turned out perfect). You chop up a 400g porc steak into tiny pieces/cubes, do the same with 250g of ham and mix it, and add some more Riesling. You put this in the fridge for an hour or two. In the meantime, you prepare the pastry on a buttered form (take 2/3, the rest is for the cover. You add your meat into the form, add your lid and seal it with moist fingers. Then you add a hole in the middle of the form so that the water can evaporate during baking. Also you cover the outside of the lid with egg yolk. Put it in the preheated oven at 190-200° for some 90 minutes, then let it cool down for a couple of hours. Finally you prepare some aspic (Sülze, Jelly, you can use gelatine as well), heat it up with some white wine and bouillon cubes and pour it through the hole in the lid. Turned out pretty good.  

Yeah I know the title doesn't make any sense. Anyways, since I really like rhubarb pies, I tried getting a decent recipe from my mother last Friday. As usual, I wasn't too satisfied with the two I got, so I combined elements from them and other I found online. I liked the idea of combining raspberry with rhubarb, so here goes: I took for 1 pie two big rhubarb thingies, peeled them and cut them in 1cm pieces, which I covered with brown sugar for an hour or so. In the meantime, I prepared the dough from 300g white flour, 50g Saracen flour (Heidekornmehl, Welkeschmiel), 150g sugar, 180g butter, salt, 2 eggs, lemon juice and 3/4 of a pack of baking powder. Once the butter is warm, you can form a nice dough with your hands and plate it in a buttered pie form. Add the rhubarb and raspberries. Then combine 3 eggs, some 200ml cream, some milk and 100g sugar and pour in onto the pie (I didn't use all of this mix). Put the pie in the oven at 180°C for 50'-60'. Halfway thgough, I poured some more brown sugar onto the pie, which caramelised and formed a yummy crust.

Last Monday, we had nothing better to do than to bake 5kg of "Gromperenkichelcher", apparently called potato pancakes in the US, for some lucky 10 people joining Movie Mondays. This is a very famous recipe in Luxembourg and I was happy that I got some help from the busy bees that help me peal and grate a massive pile of potatoes. I added a big hand full of oat meal, some breadcrumbs, 8 eggs, parsley, 2 big onions, some garlic, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and fried them in a pan in lots of butter. In Luxembourg, you would traditionally serve them with salt or apple sauce, but to satisfy the Polish standarts we included sour cream as well. The Italian fraction suggested Nutella, and since I hve my own way of eating them, I also brought powdered sugar. I think (to my astonishement) that the salt/powder sugar mix enjoyed the most success.

... Thierry for writing exactly what I feel and think!

This one goes to my Luxembourgish readers I guess: A friend of a friend will be doing an internship in Luxembourg in the European Court on the Kirchberg. She will be there from February 28th till July, and we all know that it can be quite difficult to find a decent place to live for a couple of months, especially in our Grand-Duchy. So maybe anybody knows somebody who rents a room for a decent price, that would be awesome! She can speak Polish, English, French and some German (and probably tons of other languages that are not too relevant). So please, if you know anyone, just pass me a comment or mail. Thanks a lot!

Since most of the people from the international student community in the Biozentrum had significant doubts about beers made in Luxembourg, I imported (with the help of Anne) a selection of 10 Luxemburgish beers, which still did not include all of the beers produced in our country, but still gave a very decent impression of its dynamic range. So yesterday before Movie Mondays, we finally found some time to devote our taste buds and other sensory inputs to the task of evaluating the whole lot. Results are interesting and will leave a lot of interpretation and analysis to statisticians and beer makers for years to come, but still, here they are, ranked from lowest to best. If your wondering about the origin of our international beer tasting committee U=De; D=It; Aa=Us; J=Us; S=Ch; T=Ch/Us. There was also a Polish judge who preferred not to give any comments but just contributed to the rating. Pix are here btw.

1. Battin Edelpils:        3.86±1.57 out of 10. Smell: beerish (U.), ... (D.), bitter Pils (Aa.), strong wheaty smell (J.), pilsy (S.), beer (T.). Color: gold, slightly blurred (U.), just yellow (D.), dark for a pils (Aa.), golden (J.), bright gold (S.), yellow (T.). Taste: OK, average (U.), plane (D.), bitter, flavorless (Aa.), watery, bitter to the tongue (J.), thin (S.), bitter blond (T.). Comments: Good aftertaste (U.), there are better pils (D.), If we had a dump bucket, I would not drink this (Aa.), not something I'd want to drink again if I can help it (J.), a little bitter, thin average (S.)
   
2. Mousel: 4.14±1.35 out of 10. Smell: unconspicuous (U.), intense (D.), cheap beer (Aa.), again slightly grape-like (J.), weak beery (S.), ... (T.). Color: OD 0.1-0.15 (U.), gold clear (D.), hazel light (bad) (Aa.), clear gold (J.), yellow (S.), light, slightly green (T.). Taste: ... (U.), sweet adieu (D.), plain (Aa.), tangy, bitter(J.), fresh but body-less (S.), bitter light (T.). Comments: ... (U.), tlight beer, to drink quickly if you are in a hurry (D.), Pilsner but lacking (Aa.), not a fan (J.), similar to the Diekirch, a bit weak, no after taste (S.)
   
3. Bofferding: 4.80±1.3 out of 10. Smell: sourish (U.), low PH taste (D.), young wine/beer (bad) (Aa.), kind of wheaty, not strong (J.), little plain (S.), ... (T.). Color: pale (U.), yellow, light (D.),light super (Aa.), very light gold (J.), LB + Amp (S.), ... (T.). Taste: fresh (U.), plane, very light (D.), young, unexperienced (Aa.),  no after taste, just beery (J.), sour, refreshing (S.), ... (T.). Comments: ... (U.), blonde beer, acid adieu, if you don't like you can't appreciate it (D.), like a virgin, doesn't know what it wants (Aa.), ok, nothing spectacular (J.), similar to Braugold, no help at all, I know (S.)
   
4. Simon Dinkel: 4.80±2.59 out of 10. Smell: malty (U.), intense, gets your attention (D.), yeast with floral (Aa.), strong yeasty smell (J.), milky (S.), sourish (T.). Color: pale, slightly blurred (U.), yellow, yellow (D.), yellow (Aa.), golden, slightly cloudy (J.), turbid (S.), turbid (T.). Taste: fresh (U.), little sweet (D.), deep but sweet (Aa.),  slightly sweet - vanilla like hues (J.), sour, fermenting, milky (S.), half-fermented, chemical (T.). Comments: ... (U.), drinking beer, doesn't bother you (D.), could be a great beer but falls short with finish / sweetness (Aa.), a bit of an after taste, but a nice beer (J.), very special beer, guess you like it or you don't... I don't... sorry dude (S.), brr (T.)
   
5. Diekirch Premium: 5.29±1.8 out of 10. Smell: hoppy (U.), clear (D.), bitter (Aa.), bitter, slightly grape, stella (artois) like (J.), sour (S.), ... (T.). Color: golden (U.), light yellow (D.), light (Aa.), clear gold (light) (J.), yellow-apple (S.), ... (T.). Taste: slightly bitter (U.), dry, long (D.), surprising, not bitter, smooth (Aa.),  dry, slightly bitter (J.), light (S.), ... (T.). Comments: ... (U.), good if you are thirsty, light alcholoic (D.), good, different but smooth (Aa.), all right, but not something I would pick for myself (J.), very light, no distinct aftertaste, a juggy beer (S.), ... (T.)
   
6. Battin Cambrinus: 5.43±1.62 out of 10. Smell: not very strong (U.), ... (D.), wheat (Aa.), wheat (J.), beery (S.), non existant (T.). Color: yellow (U.), gold, limpid (D.), golden (great) (Aa.), golden (J.), bronze goldish (S.), dark yellow (T.). Taste: ok, but a bit blond (U.), dry, bitter (D.), sbalanced (Aa.),  wheaty, slightly crisp (J.), bitter, dry (S.), old sock (T.). Comments: ... (U.), good for company drinking in a crowded and smoky pub (D.),good mouth feel (Aa.), good, drinkable, everyday beer (J.), it's great for hot sommer days, sitting at the pool (S.), next... (T.)
   
7. Simon Pils: 5.6±1.41 out of 10. Smell: malty (U.), ? (D.), Classic Pils (Aa.), not a very strong smell, slightly sweet (J.), fresh, bitter (S.). Color: pale, slightly blurred (U.), very light yellow (D.), hazel blond (Aa.), light (J.), gloriously yellow (S.). Taste: Bitter (D.), great fullbodied Pils flavor (Aa.), very smooth (J.), light but with a nice after taste (S.). Comments: Can't rate it, ate shortbread before (U.), something more from a pils, the bitter doesn't last too much (D.), nice finish, filling (Aa.), little after taste with a nice finish (J.), aftertaste was interesting, excellent choice of name, all in all a very satisfying beer (S.)
   
8. Simon Régal: 6.2±1.3 out of 10. Smell: normal (U.), ... (D.), missing (Aa.), ... (J.), somewhat like me (S.), ... (T.). Color: yellowish (U.), full yellow (D.), light gold (Aa.), golden (J.), applemint candy blue (S.), ... (T.). Taste: very nice, well balanced (U.), full, bitter (D.), strong, unexpected (Aa.),  very strong, a bit wheaty (J.), sourish (S.), ... (T.). Comments: ... (U.), impegnative high alcholic beer, good if u wanna get drunk quickly (D.), strong on tongue, middle and finish, great mouth, taste... low expectation on smell but surprising flavors (Aa.), the taste is very sttrong, but very hard to describe... kind of wheaty, kind of not... no real after taste (J.), a nice beer for drinking all night long (S.), ... (T.)
   
9. Diekirch Grand Cru: 6.5±1.95 out of 10. Smell: ... (U.), ... (D.), ... (Aa.), slightly sweet (J.), undistinctive (S.), ... (T.). Color: dark amber (U.), ambroise (D.), cooper (Aa.), median amber (J.), copper dark (S.), ... (T.). Taste: great! malty, strong, sweetish (U.), soft, smooth (D.), off sweet (Aa.),  wheaty (J.), malty, slightly sweet (S.), ... (T.). Comments: ... (U.), sweet too long (D.), cooper ale, nice but blond, too sweet on finish (Aa.), very smooth, a bit of an aftertaste which lingers with you (J.), somewhat weak in taste (S.), ... (T.)
   
10. And the winner is: Wëllen Ourdaller: 7.21±2.04 out of 10. Smell: malty (U.), wild (D.), acidic off and flavorfull (Aa.), sweet yeasty (J.), strong (S.), myxococcus lutens (T.). Color: intransparant (U.), torpid amber (D.), unfiltered copper (great) (Aa.), cloudy amber (J.), amber (S.), turbid dark yellow (T.). Taste: like unfiltered beer (U.), bitter begin, sweet adieu (D.), a little off (Aa.),  slightly sweet, smooth (J.), strong, very tasty (S.), sweet yeasty (T.). Comments: yeast is clogging! (U.), excellent meditation beer, not to drink in company or hurry, just take time to tast it (D.), unique but off putting too (Aa.), very nice beer, strong tastes but not overwhelming, extremely drinkable (J.), very nice, completely different to the rest (S.), ... (T.)
    

Ps: The Luxemburgish delegation preferred to remain neutral, as did the Israeli and Indian.
Pps: I also uploaded the pix from Poker night.

How else should you call this extremely clever move by Luxembourg's most disgusting political party.

Well do you agree with the constitutional change that takes away the right of the monarchical Grand-Duke to decide by his own gut feeling which laws are good and which are bad? So far 47% are in favor of this change, please help pushing this higher!
EDIT: RTL has a similar one here (though better options and 51% thinking : Why do we even need a monarchy)
EDIT II: Audiocommentary by Gaston Vogel (sometimes I have to agree with him). DA SOLL E GOEN!

Pianocktail is taking up the fight for a better Web2.0. Bravo! However I'm with Grommel on that subject, i.e. that a web 2.0 community should fight against extremisms from left and right. I welcome this action nevertheless, being fed off after so many Facebook groups where Luxembourgish nationalistic views just seem to flourish.

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