How to Make a Strammer Max !
How to Make a Strammer Max
A recipe for a very fine German based breakfast plus various other rants and raves in . . .
The return of Hot or Not . . .
Take 2 slices of wholemeal bread, toast them, add slices of smoked ham and then put a fried egg on top.
I do a fried egg in a non-stick pan with nothing more than a smear of olive oil - the whole thing takes about 3 minutes and really sets you up
A Cooked Breakfast
Strammer Max
The way to start a day, sets up and and healthy too
The M59
Did the business today on a return visit to the coast, freezing high winds and hail, out walking for 4 hours in it - the M59 laughed in the face of climatic attacks.
Curry Dishes
There can be fewer forms of winter food as tasty and useful as curried dishes.
I make a big pot, full of beans, various pulses and brown rice etc, feeds me for 3 days !
Hints of Spring
Flowers are starting to suggest the end of winter, a might early but bulbs starting to peep out are a welcome sight
The M59 Clad Rangefinder Kid
A Dog’s Breakfast
Valentine’s Day
A survey says most women would prefer a hug to a diamond !
Yeah, right 
Bum Weather Forecasts
I’m sick of premonitions of dire snow drifts which never seem to materialize
I want the snow so it’s annoying but a lot of people and businesses will suffer with wildly inaccurate weather forecasts.
Walking Boots
Will I really have to travel to York again to buy a decent pair of walking boots 
Quantitative Easing
Please stop printing money, I worked hard for my savings please stop destroying them
Horse Meat
This story has legs, if you’ll excuse the pun - I wonder whether they’ll really look into it or try and sweep in under the carpet ?
Eat and enjoy, folks!
Rod
Little Brother said,
February 13, 2013 @ 9:19 am
Rod,
Good list and great recipe!! Brings back memories
You should do your curried pulse recipe too, good cheap food.
Karen said,
February 13, 2013 @ 10:48 am
I imagine it quite hard if not impossible to make a real ‘Strammer Max’ in England unless you have access to real German brown bred (made with sour dough) however what you describe, Rod will be the next best thing, I suppose.
It reminds me how I tried to prepare and cook German dishes when I lived in Grimsby many years ago, before polish shops and such. One Pole on Freeman Street Market sold Sauerkraut in jars.
When I asked to buy Curly Kale there on the market the trader only had a few strands of this cabbage while I wanted a lot. ‘What do you do with it?’ he asked me ‘I only sell it to butchers and fishmongers for decorative purposes, and some people feed their rabbits with it.’
I wanted to boil a large amount of it, it shrinks a lot, together with smoked ham, which was unavailable. I used boiling bacon in the end - the next best thing.
Tried to make potato salad with malt vinegar which wasn’t edible at all, then I found the white vinegar (brandy vinegar, distilled vinegar) at a ships chandler on the docks.
Another article was NIVEA Creme, once in ten years I found a tin of it in London - now we have the daily advert ‘NIVEA - the nation’s favourite skin care.’
)
Back to Strammer Max, I wanted to translate the word stramm for your readers, Max being a male Christian name of course, but I can do no better than lead you here:
Thanks for the varying subjects on your website, I pop in most days to enjoy.
Karen
graham h said,
February 13, 2013 @ 3:11 pm
Rod and Karen,
I have to admit that until reading this I have never heard of strammer max.
With Regards to Karen’s comments on curly kale and white wine vinegar I think it’s the same with lots of food these days. Take Monkfish I went to sea on trawlers in the 60s and 70s and Monkfish was regarded as offal and dumped into what was known as the underfoots on trawlers, now it is classed as prime fish and is one of the most expensive fish species you can buy. I think a lot of it has to do with the programs on television with the modern chefs once they start using a product it becomes popular. Anchovies is another years ago who brought them now they are popular in many dishes.
Regards.
Graham
Rod said,
February 13, 2013 @ 6:43 pm
Karen,
I remember that Polish guy’s stall on Freeman St market, I’d forgotten it until you mentioned it.
I can see those jars of Sauerkraut now, they were behind a window at the side, I must have been a small boy back then.
Thanks for the memories stirred Karen
Regards,
Rod
Karen said,
February 14, 2013 @ 9:15 pm
Just a question, Rod - why has the link I gave in my comment been removed?
Is it not allowed here to point towards an Internet address?
Then I will of course stick to the rules and not do so in future.
Regards
Karen
Rod said,
February 14, 2013 @ 9:22 pm
Hi Karen,
sadly other people ruin it for genuine people, links are stripped out because I get hundreds of people a day leaving comments just for links
http://www.rodcollins.com/wordpress/posting-guidelines-comment-guidelines
Hope you understand
Regards,
Rod
Karen said,
February 15, 2013 @ 8:53 am
Yes, I understand this very well.
Therefore I copied some of the information from the link and will insert it here underneath.
Strammer Max is not really a breakfast dish but rather ‘pub grub’.
Interesting is the name this snack has in the Netherlands ‘uitsmijter’, which must translate into the German ‘Rausschmeißer’ literally translated into English: Thrower out, meaning one eats this just before leaving the pub, is thrown out. Like ‘one for the road’
Citation from a search machine:
“The term Strammer Max (literally “stiff Max” or “tight Max”) originated in the 1920s in Saxon slang, where it initially referred to an erection, the male name “Max” being often used as a slang word for penis (similar to the English “Dick” or “Willy”). The term was adopted into Berlin street slang and applied to a dish that was supposed to be especially strengthening to the sexual prowess of the person eating it.
The original Strammer Max is a slice of bread, sometimes fried in butter, covered with ham and fried egg. The ham may also be pan-fried; it is also possible to replace the ham with a slice of roast beef, in which case the dish is sometimes called Strammer Otto. Cheese and tomato are sometimes used, but these are later additions to the original recipe.
Local variations
Outside of the Berlin region, the term is also used for several other dishes. Regional variations of the term are not set in stone, and it is not always possible to tell in advance what dish will be served after ordering Strammer Max in a restaurant.
In Bavaria, a Strammer Max is usually a slice of Leberkäse accompanied by fried egg and potato salad.
In the Netherlands, the equivalent dish is known as an uitsmijter.”
Karen
swin said,
February 15, 2013 @ 12:43 pm
Rod
I know this dish better as uitsmijter as it’s one of my regular breakfasts when I am in the Netherlands. On many occasions though the bread is not toasted and I always opt for a slice of ‘oud’ cheese as well as the ham and eggs - lovely!
Rod said,
February 15, 2013 @ 3:15 pm
Swin,
I like the idea of the cheese addition, might try that
Best
Rod
swin said,
February 15, 2013 @ 3:27 pm
It’s got to be ‘oude’ (old) cheese - very very full flavour, darkening colour and grains of salt forming in it (’Old Amsterdam’ is the best - Tescos occasionally have it) none of your tasteless rubber Gouda slices mind
Rod said,
February 15, 2013 @ 7:46 pm
thanks Swin
Best
Rod
History Hunter said,
February 16, 2013 @ 1:22 am
Mmmmmmm! Strammer Max = Bacon and egg on toast then???
Rod said,
February 16, 2013 @ 8:23 am
HH,
it’s a great combination - just about to re-test it in fact now that I’ve finished dealing with last night’s website spam
Best
Rod
v said,
February 16, 2013 @ 8:59 am
Rod, this just supports my belief that we should actually be starting our day with PROTEIN and amino acids. I know cereal is quick ( although I totally detest it
) but I don’t think it provides the same nutrition to start off a day as meat ,fish, eggs, cheese.
We have just had a high energy week at a Cheshire arts week and I made sure I had either bacon, eggs or cheese each morning to see me through the day. Seriously, I don’t think I’d have survived a week like that otherwise.
minnie said,
February 16, 2013 @ 11:34 am
The version of this I had in Austria was 2 slices of smoked ham with scrambled egg on brown bread and tomatoes, I have also seen it with ham and cheese. The version I do at home is split a wholemeal breakfast muffin and toast it, two slices of Suffolk ham or a couple of slices of grilled proper dry cure bacon, put the bacon/ham on the muffin and top with the scrambled egg and serve with tomatoes. Sometimes I add a few mushrooms, I dont reserve this as a breakfast tho I am not that fussy what time of the day I eat it
Rod said,
February 16, 2013 @ 12:58 pm
Minnie,
that sounds outstanding, all round to yours for breakfast I say
Best
Rod
Rod said,
February 16, 2013 @ 1:01 pm
V,
it does make sense, provides some protein and energy to start the day - what doesn’t make sense is taking a main meal at night when you least need the energy it will release - it’s bizarre and goes some way to explain why so many people are tired, lack energy during the day and overweight due to your main calorie intake coming a few hours before you sleep
Best,
Rod