Recipe - Raspberry Currant Coulis (Rodegruett)

2 One half cup Red currants, stems removed,
washed
1 One fourth cup Raspberries, washed
3 cup Water
1 cup To 1 One half cup sugar (depending
on tartness of the berries)
One half Vanilla bean
5 tablespoon To 6 tablespoon cornstarch,
dissolved in Three fourths cup cold
water

Cook the berries for 15 minutes in the water until they are quite soft.
Press through a fine strainer; add to the fruit juice the sugar and the
vanilla scraped out of a slit bean, bring to a boil in a nonreactive pot,
and reduce while stirring vigorously. Add the dissolved cornstarch to the
sweetened fruit juice. Bring to a boil once more, then transfer the
'Rodegruett' to a glass baking dish that has been rinsed with cold water.
Chill in the refrigerator and serve.

Note:

Nowadays it is more customary to serve 'Rodegruett' in individual bowls
rather than a giant familysize trencher. Serve with cream, cold milk, or
cold Vanilla Sauce which only should be poured over the 'groats' before
you're ready to eat.

Make sure the 'groats' are not too thick. The correct consistency is
somewhere between that of a pudding and a puree (like thick pea soup). When
you first taste 'Rodegruett' made according to these specifications, it may
easily seem too sweet or the berry flavor may seem a little overwhelming.
However, bear in mind that after the 'groats' have cooled off a bit and
milk or cream has been poured over them, the taste will be considerably
milder.

Variations:

Some or all of the strained berry pulp may be replace with an equivalent
amount of fruit juice, and quickfrozen berries or preserves will do just
about as well as fresh ones. Cherries, morellos (sour cherries), and black
currants are often used instead of or in addition to red currants and
raspberries. Many cooks like to hold back some portion of the berries until
after the straining so they don't cook down like the others and you can
still taste them while eating the dish.

Tapioca is often used as a binding agent, and there are those who maintain
that this is the only 'authentic' method of making 'Rodegruett'. In Saxony
and East Prussia, red griats have been made with farina (semolina) for a
number of years now, and since the words for farina ('Griess') and groats
('Gruetze') are closely related, sometimes even used interchangeably, it is
no less possible that this is in fact the 'original' version. All questions
of authenticity aside, a deluxe fortified 'Rodegruett' can be made by
stewing the berries in red wine or with some higherproof alcoholic
beverage.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

From: THE CUISINES OF GERMANY by Horst Scharfenberg, Simon &
Schuster/Poseidon Press, New York. 1989 Posted by: Karin Brewer, Cooking
Echo, 8/92

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini