[Sar]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

That's you. Most mothers I see in India do this "One for Papa, one more for Nana. OK now one last one for pappu" routine. Most Indian kids are very far from self-sufficient at 2 years. And the question of helping with the house-work and eating with the rest of family does not arise. I'm strictly generalizing of course.

Serious? I wasn't brought up that way, such a shame. I'd best not go OT, could go on and on. The reason I asked about the flowers that we passed some fields of yellow in between all the green that is the norm with the English countryside. We weren't sure if they were just flowers to be sold or grown as crops. Ta.

[TheOne®]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

In a little while it becomes clear to me that Madame is looking for a venue for the shaadi.

... tab tak, aisehi saath mein rahenge - baap re baap (in the words of my various aunties lol.)

Translations please. Thank you!

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

Since the day TheOne started posting in TheYeti's blogs - it has been double the fun. She writes as well as (if not better at times) our own Yeti. And she clicks nicely too.

Wow, thanks a lot for this nice compliment.

[TheOne®]

Originally Posted by Sar

Sam, are those yellow flowers rapeseed flowers?

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

I've been told that they are.

Yes, they are. Rapeseed flowers are grown for various reasons or rather purposes:

1. production of rapeseed oil
2. the so-gained side product from this (left-overs from the "press" process
of rapeseed flowers) are used for animal feed, so-called rapeseed cake
pellets
3. alternative "bio" petrol for cars
4. set-aside of agricultural land

Conclusion:
What a beautiful sight for the eye and oh, so useful!

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by TheOne®

Translations please. Thank you!

Bis dann leben wir in der Suende zusammen, o Gott im Himmel/ Vater, mein Vater - In den Woertern meiner alten Tanten.

[null]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

She puffs hard.

She turns to me, slightly pink with the effort of that, mixed with the joy of having succeeded in blowing it all to smithereens.

Pusteblume!! she says excitedly.

I smile.
Ich weiß. (I know)

Man, you link the story so well. No wonder its a joy reading through the yeti blog(as always).

[travelwriter]

Sam, The One,

For people like me who are not likely to visit Amsterdam or Germany in this lifetime, your posts have brought the places right next to us. Youor writing is so lively that I felt I was at that place, enjoying the beauty, roaming around the streets of Amsterdam, having conversations with the locals and also playing with those lovely children. And, did I feel high!

Please increase the frequency of your visits to each other's country and the frequency of blogs.

[kalpeshc]

The background you gave about the upbringing of the kids at Jenny's house - is it a norm in Germany or an exception in Jenny's family? I've seen kids being brought up like this but is extremely rare in India. As Sam said, instead of eating the kids are brought up and encouraged to 'graze' (a term used by What To Expect - eat, play, eat again, eat all over the place, and so on)

[Sam Kapasi]

It is truly a warm and beautiful day. We drive through the city centre of Bad Nauheim:




Next, we visit Teichhaus, the beautiful cafe by the lake. They are preparing the upstairs, an open air terrace with Sand, properly named "The Beach" - that is only open during the months of summer. We peek around for a while as everyone says hello to Jenny.







We order some delicious waffles and Barley and settle down here for a while, talking about everything (literally) under the sun.



It is almost 2 and time for coffee and cake with Jenny's family at the cafe-on-top-of-the-hill. Those who have read my about previous visits to Bad Nauheim will recognise this cafe immediately. It is these steps going up the hill that I celebrated New Years 2009 on.

We meet Jenny's family and sit around merrily, enjoying the view, coffees, conversations and cakes.











This evening we must visit Frankfurt. We have a short business meeting followed by partying. It is pointless for Jenny to drop us to Frankfurt, as she will not be part of the business meeting.
My colleague and I decide to take the train to Frankfurt.

Sadly, I am convinced by him to leave my camera back home.

[Sam Kapasi]

I feel naked.

It has been a while since I went anywhere without my camera. The minute I reach the cute little train station of Bad Nauheim. I regret leaving without it.

My only solace is that Jenny will bring her little Nikon when she joins us later in the evening.

Jenny's BIL looked it up online on his iPhone and informed us that there would be a train at 1620 from Bad Nauheim. We reach the station at 1615. There is no train listed to Frankfurt at that time.

There is nobody to ask if a train will arrive.

We buy 2 tickets from the machine and go to the platform. We have no idea what platform to go to, we don't even know if there will be a train.

It will be this platform says Jenny quietly.
How do you know it will be this platform when we don't even know where the train is?
Because all trains to Frankfurt stop at this platform.

I stand there sceptically. This is stupid. The time table says there will be no train.
There is no train on the time table.
Maybe it isn't updated she says.
But this is GERMANY!

I say those words and burst out laughing.

I am laughing at myself now. I come from a country where things are never where they're supposed to be and I'm acting more German than her.

At 1618 there is an announcement about an unscheduled train to Frankfurt that will be stopping at Bad Nauheim. Her triumphant look silences my grin.

Our colleague picks us up at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. He intends to drive us to a nice 5 star hotel where we will have the meeting on the terrace of the hotel.
It has a fantastic view he says, you can see all of Frankfurt below.

Oh that's just great I moan to myself. And I have no camera.

Finding a parking spot in the city turns out to be an ordeal as we drive in circles in his 5 series station wagon. 30 minutes later we abort that idea and land up at the Hyatt.
The meeting is interesting and lasts an hour and a half before Jenny calls to let us know she is parked outside.

We leave the BMW parked there and decide to go for dinner in this absolutely HUGE opel station agon that has been loaned to us by Jenny's BIL. (We're not allowed to use the Corsa as it has been de-registered)

What do you guys want to eat? Asks our colleague.
I dunno, some German food.
You want some spicy food, his eyes gleaming.
Spicy german food?
Yes. Spiciest Currywurst in the world.

Are you brave enough?

[straight6]

What do you mean by the Corsa being de-registered? Does every owner get a new registration?

[Sam Kapasi]

A brief background.

Klaus is my best friend in Germany. He is also a colleague in JBL car Audio. He loves Indian food and has been raised on a steady diet of super spicy food. I carry red-chilli, no not the kashmiri kind, those are for wusses, but the resham patta and teekhalal variety which he sprinkles liberally over his food.

Klaus is taking us to a place in Frankfurt that claims it makes the spiciest currywurst in the world.

-------------------------------------------------

How spicy can a currywurst get? Most of the time it's just chopped up sausage in ketchup with a fair helping of curry powder on top.

Nope. This isn't that. This is a special sauce and they have degrees of burning.
Of burning?
Yes. People faint sometimes.

I laugh nervously. Europeans have no clear idea of what spicy is. They go woo woo woo when there is too much pepper and think Tabasco is living hell.
But when Klaus says something is bloody spicy, I cannot let it slide.

A few minutes later we're outside a little snack point. It looks fairly popular.
I take a look at the menu. All they have is currywurst.

It starts with "A" and a description of a delicious currywurst. "B" looks spicier in description.

"C" has warnings with it already.

"D" is called Oralkreiger which translates as Oral-warrior. Klaus jokingly mentions that the true war occurs in the hinterlands the following morning.

"E" says it is sold with no responsibility for health

"F", the menu explains, the short for F.B.I. - the (unrepeatable) burning injection.

We stand in line. The sign says "Best Worscht in town" - Worscht is Hessisch dialiect for Wurst, meaning sausage.



I peep inside the kitchen. The boys inside have "Worscht dealer" written on their Teeshirts and wear a cap that has fire on it. "Born to Burn" says the cap.

Born to burn??




While there is a sense of foreboding, it all appears like it's an elaborate marketing thing. How spicy can things be in Germany anyway?



We want 4 combinations, shouts Jenny over the crowd.
We cannot do 4, says the guy straight faced. We can give you 3 or 5.
Jenny blinks for a minute, then laughs.
Klaus speaks up. Loudly. Too loudly. He's from India and can eat aything on your menu. He's pointing at my head.
Hey! I turn, laughing at his comment. Why are you saying that?

Sahil and Klaus take a "C" combination, wurst, fries and a drink. The dealer suggests a milky drink in case things go bad.
Jenny orders an "A" - no big surprise there.

I am forced, literally forced by the 3 of them, to order an Oralkreiger. The "D". I nod and order an ice tea to go with it.

If your ears start ringing and you feel a little funny, that's a sign that you might faint, he says, handing my plate to me.
Yeah right, I grin.

He's not grinning. My spider-sense begins to tingle.

[Sam Kapasi]

Chili-ness is measured in Scoville.

Simply put, a chili sauce with a Scoville count of 100 will need to be diluted with 100 times water/sugar syrup, till the hotness is no longer detectable.

To give you an idea, regular Tabasco red sauce is about 2000 - 4000 Scoville.
Pepper spray that is used in self-defence is about 200,000+ Scoville. That is serious stuff.
Jalapeno peppers are between 2500 to 10,000 Scoville.

This place uses Habanero chillies for its sauce. Spiciest chillies in the world that are generally around 300,000 Scoville.
Informations, news and warnings are stuck all over the glasses at the place.

I receive most of my information from the young lad that cooked up my currywurst on his break. Unfortunately this is after my ordeal.

We have a laboratory that concentrates and reduces Habaneros. The scoville rating of the "C" sauce is 1,20,000 making it about 30 times hotter than Red Tabasco sauce, he says grinning.
What's your hottest sauce? asks Jenny.
We sell an "F" sauce here with 1.2 million Scoville, but we have even hotter at our other branch.
1.2 million?
Yes, you need to dilute one drop of that sauce with 1.2 million drops of water to neutralise it.
Do people really faint?
Yes.

I wait for the smile. It doesn't arrive.

He's not joking.

[Sam Kapasi]

We're at our table. I'm laughing nervously as we place our currywursts on the table.
I have taken only mayonnaise with my fries as a precaution.



I munch on my fries as everyone is making conversations and jokes. Jenny takes in a piece of her currywurst and turns into a healthy pink.

This is already too spicy for me, she speaks through the tissue paper.
My eyes open a little wide. You can't eat it? Didn't you order an "A"
Oh I'll eat it, but it's spicy.

Perhaps my face gives me away as my colleagues are doubling up in laughter as they point at me.

Why the hell do I have to eat a "D" anyways?
Oh come on, you said so yourself, it's all marketing drivel.
I nod. I know Jenny is terrible at eating spicy food, so I shouldn't go by her opinion.

I watch as they eat their first piece of "C" sausage.
Oh (unrepeatable) says Sahil. That is spicy, grabbing his milkshake and taking a sip.
Klaus grins. He has turned red as he eats his portion.

They finish their bites and look at me expectantly.

Oh what the hell. I take a piece of sausage with the plastic fork and place it on my tongue.
It is not that bad. My mouth is not alien to the curry flavour and there is a hint of sweet and bitter and...
I'm not sure what that is.

It's not all that bad, say I.

I can sense something rising in my mouth. Hurriedly I take the second piece and fork it into my mouth.

Jesus Mary and Joseph!

That unsure rising sensation is BURNING. It is BURNING. My mouth explodes and my tongue turns numb. What the hell is THAT??



Boys and girls, what ensued in the next few minutes is neither repeatable in a family forum as ours nor displayable.
I was stamping my feet into the sidewalk and screaming out loudly.

Conscious that my language may be frowned upon, I start yelling out L's, B's, G's and M's at the top of my voice. An Indian family in the vicinity would be horrified.
But the sensation is still rising.

My tongue is numb and I can shout no more. I am dancing, stamping my feet. I turn to the kitchen and the boys are watching me with amused expressions on their faces.
My colleagues and Jenny first laugh, then Jenny realises it isn't funny any longer and rushes to my help.

I down the entire bottle of ice tea, but the ice tea burns too.

I have eaten spicy food in my life. In India, in Thailand, In Singapore - I've done it all. I have never tasted something like this.

10 minutes later my mouth it cools a little.



I pick up another piece of currywurst from my plate. I wipe it clean with my paper napkin and eat it.

It's dance time again. This time my eyes are watering in a free-for-all. I don't care how ridiculous I must look and I don't care how hungry I was.

My mouth is afire, my chest is burning and I feel like I need to vomit immediately. I somehow reach out for the box of milk on the table and gulp a little. It doesn't help.

So much for dinner.

While leaving, my colleague buys a bottle of their "C" sauce explaining that sometimes in India we have unwanted guests at a party....

[sammyboy]

Sam, just reading about the chillies and looking at your pics is enough to deter most people from even trying them in their dreams . Awesome writeup, as usual, Sam.

[srijit]

I want to thank whoever took the last two photos (Jenny probably). These made my afternoon. Along with the descriptions, of course.