Recipe: Soup with roasted capsicum and lentils

Yes, yet another soup. But I eat loads of soup in wintertime! And this certainly is a perfect winter dish: smoky and satisfying.

I’m not especially fond of cooked capsicum but prefer it raw, but then again I just l o v e anything that’s been roasted. Capsicum turns incredibly sweet and charismatic when roasted; plain cooked it’s just sweet and dull. Smoked paprika and Peruvian pepper complement the capsicum’s sweet and roasted flavours in a wonderful way. I paired the sweet soup with a goat’s cheese cream, and probably needless to say that the marriage of salty and sweet certainly is a merry one. To boost the soup’s nutritional values, I added some red lentils. Yum!

Roasted capsicum and lentil soup
Serves 4–5

3 red capsicums
1,5 dl red lentils
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
200 gr sour cream
vegetable broth
smoked paprika, Peruvian pepper (crushed)

1. Preheat the oven to 250°C. Deseed the capsicums and cut them into large chunks. Place them on an oven tray and bake them until the skin turns black. Leave the capsicums to cool and “sweat” in a dish covered with e.g. tinfoil, and when they are cool enough, peel the skin off.
2. Sauté the onions and garlic.
3. Add the lentils and vegetable broth and cook until the lentils are (over) done.
4. Add the capsicums and leave to simmer for a while.
5. Purée the soup with a hand blender or like until it is as smooth as it gets, and then pass it through a sieve to achieve the most lean and silky consistency ever. It really is worth the effort.
6. Add the sour cream and spices, buzz it once more with the blender to get it all smooth and fluffy. Serve with goat’s cheese cream (soft goat’s cheese, yoghurt, water) or crumbled goat’s cheese.

Bliss!

Reminiscence

Yaay, last dreaded exam over! It was a short lecture course exam, only 30 minutes, and I was a bit anxious that I wouldn’t have enough time, especially since we were supposed to answer in German. But it went surprisingly well and I’m sure I’ll pass, so this semester is pretty much over and done with :)

After the exam, I went for a walk (how surprising!) and walked past a farm or stable with horses grazing outside. I was suddenly overcome by a flood of memories and started thinking about how much life has changed in the past five years.

In February 2006, I had not yet enrolled at the university, but the horrendous entrance exams were only ahead. I was almost daily at the stable, as I still had my mischievous little horse. We had spent almost a decade together already, and he was the most important thing in the world for me. I had yet no clue that in just a few months, his legs would be in such a bad condition that I made the tough decision that it would be his last summer. I also did not know that in half a year, I would have enrolled myself at the university as a political history fresher, finally after two failed attempts. I was also moving to my first own home – now that I no longer had a horse to take care of, I could afford moving out.

In February 2011, I’m fulfilling two of my dreams. I’m doing my master’s degree in fields I am extremely passionate about. My studies also have brought me to the city I fantasised about living in for so, so many years, and I’m loving the city more by every minute that goes by. Strangely, also my love and appreciation for Helsinki has grown stronger during my time abroad.

During the past five years, I have met so far the most important people in my life (in addition to my family, of course), and I don’t even have the words to express my gratitude and love for my friends. There have been ups and downs in my life, quite rough ones, too, but it all has contributed to my growth as me – someone very different from who I was five years ago. I certainly have not only developed and refined qualities, but developed some new, previously unknown bad sides. But I guess that’s part of being human, and keeps the never-ending process in motion.

I was suddenly really overwhelmed by emotions and seriously thought of finding a small private spot where I could cry it out just a little. I don’t even know why I would have cried – I didn’t feel sad, despite also painful memories. There’s a time for everything; even if I’ve had the most wonderful moments in the past, they’re good to be there, left behind. Now is good just as it is. I guess that’s what I would have cried for. Not for grief over things being in the past, but for gratitude that they have happened, and brought me to this present state. I certainly would not describe myself as a fatalist, but sometimes, pieces just do seem to fall in place, building something really good, bit by bit.

Heh, I certainly at least have grown a lot more emotional during these years. Or maybe I’m just on better terms with my emotions and let them exist in the first place.

Knock knock

Forgot to mention a funny habit: instead of clapping their hands when showing appreciation for a lecture, presentation etc., people knock on the table with their fists :)

“First” impressions of studying in Berlin

Oooh, I feel very tempted to wonder how time flies so fast, but I somehow have the feeling I’ve done that in some most posts already. So I’ll try to restrain myself and just state that the winter semester is over by next week (one exam remaining), which means that I’ve lived here for almost half a year. I.. I... uh... must... sorry. Just can’t hold it back. Wtf, where’d 6 months go?!

There, it’s out. Now I can proceed to something I intended to do some months ago already. I had planned on writing a post about first impressions of studying in Germany, but now I guess I can with a good conscience leave that ”first” out already.

Naturally, I have only my studies in Helsinki to compare with, and judging on conversations with other Finns, experiences vary quite a lot. I find studying here A LOT easier than in Finland. I really haven’t been doing much more than just slacking for the past months (save these past two weeks, but that’s still quite a nice ratio), whereas at home, I’m used to slaving my ass off. Of course, it’s partly just a matter of attitude: I really have allowed myself to be lazy as hell, which surely has done me good... but maybe I could get just a teeny-weeny grip by the time it’s time to return home in July (which will be in just a jiffy! Sorry. Just had to.).

It seems that book exams just don’t exist here, for which I am very grateful – I hate them, from the bottom of my heart. Most courses seem to be seminars for 20–30 people, with lots and lots of discussion. Depending on the ECTS score, they also include holding presentations, writing a Hausarbeit (an 15–25-page essay) and/or writing a protocol of one lecture. This is something completely unheard of in Helsinki. We mainly have anonymous mass lectures where no other voice than the lecturer’s is heard, or then these damn book exams. Never ever have I held a presentation at the university before, and seminars in which you actually engage in a discussion with other living people are definitely a rare treat.

I find the way of teaching here waaay better than that in Finland. I, at least, learn much better through discussion and writing than just reading hundreds and again hundreds of pages, of which you slightly panicked try to remember enough of to make it through the exam, and then forget 99% by the following week. I have to admit, though, that the German system makes it also very easy to slack it through the courses without doing really much anything. In principle, students are usually required to prepare for lectures by reading given articles etc., and of course you get a lot more out of the courses if you do that and are able to take part in the conversation. However, no one really checks whether you’ve read anything or not (I, as a rule, have not), nor does anyone force you to open your mouth. So being the lazy bastard I’ve turned into, I’ve mainly just been sitting there once a week without saying much and just listening to others (or, more likely, been daydreaming and surfing on Facebook), and for that I’ll score 3 ECTS. Kthxbai!

Luckily, most students seem to be very highly motivated here and take their studies seriously. They clearly do the preparatory work required, discussion is pretty much always very active, and the habit of holding presentations clearly shows. People are really relaxed with public performances, hold really coherent and clear presentations and are also quite good at conducting the following conversation. I stand in awe!

I’ve been wondering where this difference in attitudes stems from. In Finland, it’s not that unusual that people have an “oh whatevs, I just need to pass this course” attitude and accordingly don’t put that much effort to it. I believe the reason to lie partly in the demotivating teaching methods, partly in that most students work while studying and thus aren’t full-time engaged (time- or motivation-wise) with their studies.

Students do work part-time in Germany, too, but it doesn’t seem to be that common. Actually, parents are obliged by law to finance their children’s first degree, or until the children are 28 years old. Yes, you read right – welcome to a Western country in the 21st century. Germany does have study grants (BAföG), but due to this obligation, they’re tied to the parents’ incomes. Afaik, the income levels are quite high (and of course it’s only the gross incomes that count, debts etc. are disregarded) and thus not that many are entitled to a full BAföG. An option then would be to work part-time. Too bad the unemployment rate in Berlin is about 20% and even way higher for young people, and that own incomes affect the BAföG...

The solution remaining are study loans or scholarships, of which there are several different types to choose from (that is, apply for). The effective interest rate can be as high as 9% (mostly around 6%) and repayment must start according to the agreement – no matter if you’re still studying, unemployed, sick or for some other reason have low or non-existent incomes. At best, you’ll end up having huge solvency issues. Scholarships and many loans do not allow changing school or field of study, or taking a break in studies, but do require good notes and graduating in time.

All this taken into account, it maybe is not that surprising that most students (i.e., people who finally end up studying) are very motivated to carry out their studies in time and with good notes – and that only around 20% of Germans have a university-level degree (OECD average around 35%, Finland around 45%), most of them coming from better-off families...