Glossary B
Bliemch'ngaffee more popularly called Blümchenkaffee" refers to a Leipzig term for coffee with too much water that the flower design of the Maißer coffee cup used can be seen, means too much water for just few coffee, weak coffee as opposed to a strong dark coffee.
Blümchenkaffee is now a term used in other parts of Germany to which is used indicate a weak coffee. If someone tells you that the coffee you serve is Blümchenkaffee it means you serve a weak coffee.
Maißer Porzellan is a famous maker of porcelian products in Germany and one of their typical designs is dainty flower.
Our visitors also called the coffee my husband and I serve for our Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) invitation as Blümchenkaffee because my husband does not want to put so much coffee into the coffee-making machine, instead of three full coffee scoopsfuls, he just used 2 scoopfuls, as he finds 3 spoonfuls so strong for him. Bremen is well-known for a very dark and strong coffee.
As regarding the Maißer Porzellan, I dream of owning a coffee set from them because of their dainty designs which reminds me of our old porcelain set when we I was young youndg back in the Philippines, but even at Ebay where I bid for some Maißen pieces, the price becomes too high for me to win the bid. I made a number of bids so I can own one, with no success, I hope to be able to own one someday.
Bethmännchen sometimes also referred to a Frankfurter Bethmännchen refer to a German pastry of marzipan balls which originated from Frankfurt am Main. This pastry is generally prepared for the Christmas Holidays, not only in Frankfurt, but all over Germany. It is one of the sources of pride among the Frankfurters. Bethmännchen is named after the family of Simon Moritz von Bethmann, but the inventor was actually Jean Jacques Gautenier, a Frenchman who worked as a Chef at the Frankfurt banking family of the Bethmann. It is said that Jean Jacques Gautenier who was a Parisian pastry Chef developed the recipe at his home in 1838.
Bethmännchen which is a German word which literally means "little Bethmann" (perhaps representing the 4 sons of the Bethmann) is a made from marzipan with almond, powdered sugar, rosewater, flour, and egg. The three (3) almonds that decorate the marzipan balls represents the three (3) sons of Simon Moritz von Bethmann who was the head/leader at that time of the Frankfurt Stadtrat. He and his wife have actually four (4) sons and it was said that the wife actually decorated the marzipan balls with 4 almonds, but when one of his sons died, the almonds which decorated the marzipan balls were reduced to three (3), representing her 3 remaining sons.
Bijao (Calathea spp) refers to green and large leaf which comes from an amazonian palm, similar to the platano leaf which is used to wrap and package foods for cooking and eating, and can also be used as decorations.
In Peru, Bijao is also used to prepare the dish called Patarashca a dish of fish covered with Bijao leaves and roasted and other dishes, like Juanes.