Japanese garden : Dusseldorf 2012

One sunny Wednesday in September , I visited Düsseldorf in Germany, that houses one of the largest concentration of Japanese businesses ( and Japanese who work there ) in Europe.

( click on the pictures for a larger view in slide show and press Escape to go back to the blog )

Not far from the Rhine at the Brüggener Weg, 6 in Niederkassel, a suburb of Düsseldorf, the "Japanese Society for Buddhist Understand" has built the Ekô House together with a splendid Japanese garden , The garden is part of a Buddhist temple complex.


Outside in front of the garden , at the driveway leads up to the Ekô House , past the library and the Japanese Kindergarten, where German and Japanese children are taught together by a Japanese and a German teacher.

The temple gate ( 山門 ) at the entrance to the garden.

 It has a beautiful wooden beam structure, covered by tiles.

At the end of the main pathway , a statue of Prince Shotoku (Shōtoku Taishi, 574-622), faces the entrance. Under his reign , he encouraged Buddhism to make its way into Japan.

The garden is laid out in a strolling garden style , whose main purpose is to let a visitor walk through it via several laid-out paths and enjoy the various views of the garden. The website calls it a 'Pure Earth" type of garden. It's used for ceremonies and concerts by the Eko House.

Several paths cross the garden, each offering different views. To the right a small gravel path leads away from the main path to the top of the garden , towards the Eko House and the Temple.

The gravel path leads  past the wall of the garden to stepping stones that take you to a small lantern.

 

From the stepping stones you get a good look at the dry river bed and a lily pond. In the back you can see the magnificent bell tower.

A stone bridge with two arches takes you across the dry river to a central grass lawn.

On the bridge a view up the stream towards the top part of the path.

View from the double bridge towards the pond and the statue of the Prince.

On the central grass lawn you have a splendid view of the large Buddhist temple (claimed to be the largest of its kind in Europe ). The ground floor of the main hall of the temple is built like the Jōdo-shin Temple in Utsunomiya (north of Tōkyō).

On the central grass lawn , looking across to the bridge from the main path.

From the central lawn : view towards the bottom of the garden.

Walking back from the lawn and going up the path again, a glimpse of the Temple roof through the many Japanese maples across the dry river bed.

Further up, the path winds between  massive rocks up to the top part of the garden and

ends in a stone staircase up to the Eko House.

Looking backward from up here , you can see the dry river bed flowing under the double bridge , and turn to the right towards a lily pond.

In the dry river bed I found this single flower.

The garden makes excellent use of hardy shrubs and maples and very few colourful plants. These Japanese lantern plants (Physalis) are just to the right of the entrance

The water basin at the left past the entrance , serves to purify yourself with water before entering the garden.

Just in front of the basin , to the left of the gate, a small path leads up a small rocky staircase to the bottom of the garden.

On the side of the path an small ornamental apple tree, bearing fruits.

The bottom of the garden contains a winding gravel path across a lawn lined with pines and a few hedges.

From up on the grass lawn at the bottom of the garden , you can enjoy views of the garden and pond below.

 

At the end of the winding path through the lawn , this delightful fountain hides between the shrubs .



 Viewed from the main path ,the water pond lies quietly in the midday sun..

From the bridge , past some beautifully shaped pines , a view of the lily pond.

where the lilies are in bloom.

After crossing the bridge : glancing backwards to the left of the bridge , across the pond towards the entry gate.

From the main path : the bell tower.

The bell tower has a large bronze bell ,which is not just ornamental but used for ceremonies.
The wooden and tiled roof has beautiful ornaments.

Walking across the bridge from the central path you go towards the Temple.

Just like the roof of the bell-tower, the temple roof is ornamented.

View from the temple doors towards the garden.

The Wisteria on the pergola was no longer in bloom but I'm sure it smells wonderful
when it is. 

From the path in front of the Temple , you get a good overview of the garden.

As I visited on a Wednesday afternoon, I was able to park in the underground garage , but I imagine it'll be pretty full during the weekend.
Despite the sunny weather , only about 8 people visited the garden during the 3 hours I spent there.
It's a pretty quiet place.

Visits to the Eko house are 2,5 Euros , but the garden is open to the public for free Tuesday till Sunday from 13-17h ( closed on Monday and during the Easter, autumn and Christmas holidays) , unless they're holding a concert or a ceremony there. So check the website of the Eko house
For professional photography ( ei weddings ) you need a permit.

There's another Japanese garden ( a pond garden ) in Düsseldorf , near the Dusseldorfer Messe , created by Iwaki Ishiguro and son, in the Nordpark ( 51°15'23"N 6°44'40"E ) which I hope to visit the next time I go over there.

Dusseldorf 2012 : Visit to the Japanese quarter

A mere 190 kilometers from where I live lies the city of Düsseldorf in Germany. It has one of the largest Japanese communities in Europe ( because of the large amount of Japanese firms there ) and a Japanese garden.
The last week of my summer holiday on a sunny Wednesday in September, I drove over there for a day-visit. By motorbike it's a little over 2 hours , if you keep to the motorway. 

Düsseldorf is built right on the borders of the Rhine, one of the main rivers in Europe with lots of shipping.

( click on the pictures for a larger view)

When I arrived the weather was quite sunny and right under the bridge , a large herd of sheep and goat were grazing on the river bank.

Across the bridge I arrived in the old town centre and was able to park right there near the Rhine on the Burgplatz, where there is a large FREE parking space just for motorbikes. Great ! 


Walking towards the Immermannstrasse takes about fifteen minutes.
The town is crossed by several pretty canals.

It's interesting to see how older buildings are sitting among the modern ones , like this church
on the Martin Luther Square.

and this house.

In the Japanese "quarter" , most shops are located on and around the Immermannstrasse. This is a book, music and other goods shop.

The Dae Yang group has several outlets in Germany like  this very well stocked one at Immermannstrasse  21. Another grocery and goods shop is the Shochiku at nr 15.

The Dae Yang has a large collection of ceramics. I didn't want to take pictures inside the shop, so I shot this from outside the front window.

There are more shops on the same street , but since I wanted to take lots of pictures of the garden , I didn't go to all of them.

A "must visit" if you are in Düsseldorf , is the bakery "Bakery My Heart" on Marienstrasse 26, where you can buy really good Japanese baked goods and which has a pleasant coffee and tea corner. With all the local Japanese coming in to buy bread, it almost feels like you're in a bakery in Japan. I didn't take any pictures inside or outside, just click the link.

Another place I visited was the "Takagi Books & more" on the same street, Marienstrasse 41 where I bought a few nice books and a Japanese calendar.

After the ride and the walk I wanted something to eat, so I looked around for a nice place to eat.

Tucked away in a corner of the central place of the Nikko hotel on the Immermannstrasse ( walk in past the Nikko entrance ) is

 the very fancy Benkay restaurant.

The menu at the Benkay looks impressive, but I didn't go in. Perhaps next time when I arrive more early and don't want to visit the Japanese garden as well.

The first two courses look real nice,

and the Tukimi course seems to go on forever ! At 80 Euros I would of course expect lots of delicious food :)

Instead I hurried myself over to wait at the Takumi on Immermannstrasse 28 ,across from the Nikko, to open at noon.

At noon you'll find yourself sitting there among Japanese businessmen waiting for the place to open.

The staff are nice and try their best to speak German, but are just as happy when you address them in English :).

This picture was taken in the evening when I went back for another meal and already people are lining up outside, it's that popular.

Apparently on Wednesday  you get two servings of gyoza for the price of one ( small steamed wrapped buns that look like half moons ).
My pork ramen ! Yes it was as tasty as it looks :)
 

In the next post I've posted  my pictures of the Japanese garden in Düsseldorf . So keep visiting my blog :)

Bigos : a famous old Polish hunter's stew .

When the winter enters the land and the nights grow long and cold, this famous old Polish hunting dish will be perfect to keep you going!
It's basically a hunter's stew of lots of white cabbage , sauerkraut, apples, some mushrooms, dried prunes , water , a little wine and plenty of pork or other leftovers of cooked meat.
You make this dish one day in advance, because it has to be cooled down and reheated before served.
Every reheating will make it more tasteful! ( so my Polish cookbook says )

These are most of the ingredients
(except for the white cabbage,  this picture shows about half the required amount of ingredients )

For 6 (really large) to 8 ( still quite large) portions of this hearty dish you'll need

A large cooking pot ( 4 to 5 litres )

1 kilo of white cabbage
1 kilo of sauerkraut ( 2 bags like the one in the picture)
2  nice stewing apples ( these are Belgian Boskoop apples)

a handful (10-15) of dried prunes ( pitted)

3 to 4 onions, red or white
a glass (0,15 l) of a hearty red wine ( dry , not a sweet one ! )

0,75 litres of boiling water
10 juniper berries , crushed ( if you can't find these don't worry you could substitute a teaspoon of gin , which get its flavour from juniper berries )

10 black pepper corns, whole
4 dried bay leaves
a handful or two of mushrooms , dried or fresh
a tablespoon of honey
500 grams of Polish sausage ( or another tasty sausage )
500 grams of cooked ham or stewed bacon
500 grams of braised pork
a tablespoon of oil or butter

( you can use other kinds of cooked meat, as long as they can be stewed ) 
Some recipes recommend dried sausage, but I've found that that becomes too hard and chewy when stewed.


Cut the cabbage in four and remove the stem.

Cut the cabbage into fine strips.

Put the cabbage in a sieve and slowly pour boiling water over it.

Peel the apples, remove the cores and dice them.

If the mushrooms are dried, put hot water on them till they're fully covered and let them soak for 15 minutes.
Then cook them for 30 minutes and keep the water they're cooked in.

Once when preparing this dish, I was so lucky to be able to buy this wonderful collection of fresh mushrooms : you clean them off with a soft brush and cook them slowly for 30 minutes in water. Keep the cooking water and slice the larger mushrooms into half before adding them.

I have also used these collected mushrooms which come pre cooked in glass jars. They taste quite nice too.

You just add water and use them like this, or slice up the larger ones.

Chop the onions not too finely and brown them in the pot in a tablespoon of butter or oil over a low heat, to keep them from burning.


I chop my onions by cutting them in half, slicing the halves

and while keeping the sliced halves together, cutting across the slices. There are other ways to do it, this is just the way I do it. With my razor-sharp Japanese knife , it's a fast way :)

Drain the sauerkraut  ( leave some of the juice on it ) and add it to the onions.
Add the cabbage strips, the diced apples, the whole pepper corns, the bay leaves, the prunes, the mushrooms and their cooking water and the 0,75 litres of boiling water.

Your cooking pot should be about half full by now.

Cover the pot with a lid and let everything simmer slowly for 1 hour.


In the meantime , cut the meat into cubes about as tick as your thumb and the sausage into slices , about as thick as your little finger.

After one hour of simmering,  pile the meat on top and  pour the wine and the spoon of honey over it.

Stir the meat and the cabbage well and let it simmer without the lid for another 40 minutes or so. Stir from time to time , pushing what's on top to the bottom, so all the meat gets stewed...
When done, the cabbage should be very nice and tender.
You'll have almost 4 kilos of stew ( that's why you needed a BIG pot )

Cover the pot and let everything cool off during a night in the fridge or like I do it : cool it off outside in the garden with the lid securely tied on,  if it's below 8 degrees and not  freezing outside.

Reheat the dish till it cooks and simmer for another 10 minutes : the cabbage will be wonderfully soft, slightly sour ( much less poignant than pure sauerkraut ) and the meat very tender.

Serve it with thick slices of brown bread ( to dip in the wonderful juices ) and a small glass of cold Polish vodka, which is supposed to let you digest it better. The vodka will also boost your confidence as a hunter and improve your aim immensely when you go hunting after eating :)

If you don't want to heat the entire pot , you can also reheat just the amount you want to eat by putting your serving in a soup plate , covered with a dinner plate and cooking it at half the strength of your microwave (350 watts for about 12 minutes or so), which heats it through and lets it simmer long enough to blend the tastes nicely.

Życzymy smacznego (Enjoy your meal) !