From iced floral coffee to fermented tea pesto – the House of Food attracted Berlin foodies to the Bikini House last weekend to present the latest culinary delights. foodmagazin.de took a look around.
The Bikini House in Berlin
Photo: Johannes – lebensmittelmagazin.de
Not just “Ciao Cocoa”
Food can be so much more political than culinary hedonists and hip foodies can imagine. This was demonstrated by various product ideas in the House of Food. For example, Grandma’s Muckefuck from the post-war period, i.e. coffee made from grains instead of coffee beans, could experience a renaissance in view of the increased raw material prices for coffee – at least if you take the Hamburg startup Ciao considered. The Italian greeting or final formula could stand for ‘Goodbye global luxury’ and ‘Hello regional alternatives’, because the Ciao iced coffee is now available as iced based on barley, rye, chicory and dandelion root with oat drink and the extra shot of synthetic caffeine Cappuccino or hazelnut latte. In their product marketing, the founders referred to sustainability aspects in connection with coffee cultivation. Alternatives seem to be in vogue, remember this year’s international confectionery fair in Cologne, where a cocoa-free chocolate, the likes of which was last available in the GDR, was named the winner of the ISM Consumer Award.
Regular chocolate bars
The Luna Balance Bars from are dedicated to a completely different topic no³: In Spain there are extra vacation days during menstruation, in this country women have to stay afloat if they have problems with home remedies or, in the worst case, medication.
nu³ with their Luna Balance Bars
Photo: Johannes – lebensmittelmagazin.de
Nu³ is actually a nutritional supplement company, but the founders want to particularly support women with their new product from the functional food category: enriched with lemon balm, vitamins as well as zinc and iron, the chocolate-peanut date bar is intended to prevent cramps and more Symptoms don’t get quite as bad.
One seaweed chocolate please!
Aisice cream with algae, from Convenience in Hanover offers a surprising solution to the political mandate of sugar reduction. The company presented ice cream with spirulina, which can reduce the use of sugar by 30 percent without losing the sweet taste. In addition, the anti-crystalline properties of sugar and the creaminess of cream are compensated for by the long-chain algae molecules.
The hazelnut, strawberry and especially chocolate varieties were very tasty. By the way, the microalgae are grown near Dresden. CEO Ernst-Dieter Eickhoff proudly reported: “At the Food Night at the start of Berlin Food Week, our ice cream was served as a dessert and received generally good feedback.” That’s not all, the managing director conjured up a jar of spirulina-based currywurst sauce from under the table, which also saves sugar and salt. Algae are food-related miracle bags that, according to the manufacturer, would fit wonderfully into the Planetary Health diet.
Chickpea instead of soy
The Berlin startup is also relying on an alternative raw material Stuns. They presented a tofu based on chickpeas, whose cultivation is already more established in Europe than the main imported product soy. During the tasting, there was no difference in taste or texture between the chickpea version and the soy original.
The Berlin startup Omami with their chickpea-based tofu
Photo: Johannes – lebensmittelmagazin.de
The usually tasteless chickpea tofu does justice to the brand’s similar umami in that it is available in a variety of marinades, in addition to classic natural and smoked tofu, also as sweet chili, pepper, BBQ and very tasty: Greek salsa with lemon, garlic and herbs. Great respect for the fact that the company has made it directly into the food retail sector within just a few months since its founding!
Seaweed to spoon
It’s also about umami and algae Charcoalor the seaweed soups with wakame and shiitake or chicken. Here too, the raw materials come from Europe, because the wakame algae are not only certified organic, but also come from Spanish waters. The proud founder also offered typical marinades for Korean cuisine, such as the beef dish Bulgogi. Self-made woman Sung-Hee Kim said: “My parents ran the first Korean restaurant in northern Germany in Hamburg and my sister and I were only known as the Arang sisters, which is the name of the restaurant.” The soup tasted round and pleasant. Last winter self-optimizing people drank hot bone broth from to-go cups, this soup could definitely be an alternative to that.
The founder of Arang presents her seaweed soups
Photo: Johannes – lebensmittelmagazin.de
On the plate instead of in the cup
The tea pesto comes from not quite as far east, namely from Myanmar Laphetwhich means fermented tea. The basis for this is lactic acid-fermented tea leaves, comparable to sauerkraut or kimchi. These are a classic food in Myanmar that are fried with pork, for example. The fermented tea is imported by Laphet directly from the local farmer and producer. At the House of Food they presented it as a flavor bomb in the salad. Tea fans will be excited to be able to enjoy tea in this version. This year there was already the Peta Vegan Award for this.
This year’s House of Food, as a small, curated exhibition instead of a large trade fair, managed to present the variety of food on offer, be it drinks with and without alcohol or meat alternatives and meat specialties. On the other hand, it is precisely the innovations shown there – whether functional or novel food, international flavors or regional raw materials – that manage to satisfy possible current needs. And algae can hardly be stopped as a trend.
Article teaser image (above): Berlin Food Week
