About every second month Samantha’s home in Berlin Neukölln becomes the Krauted Haus, Denglish for a house being crowded by – mainly, but not exclusively – hungry Germans aka Krauts. This endearing term got invented by our British friends early last century because we Germans eat sauerkraut at least 365 times a year, don’t we? Leap years not included.

Anyway, you will hopefully not be disappointed to hear chances are relatively low that you will get served sauerkraut at the Krauted Haus supper club, just for the avoidance of doubt. The culinary concept of Krauted Haus is to make guests explore cooking styles and dishes that are rather hard to find across Germany’s gastronomic landscape. Just replicating existing recipes would however be too boring for Sophie and Sam, the hosts and chefs at Krauted Haus. Their creativity demands for some new flavour to be added, a little tweak or a different spice. The September menu for example was inspired by America. Guests were enjoying a pumpkin soup with spicy marshmallows, home made corn dogs, a type of sausages wrapped into a corn pastry and then deep-fried, and cola-braised ribs. In June the motto was Mexico, and before you start grumbling what’s so special about that, ask yourself: Did I ever have pink gazpacho? Or drunken grilled shrimps? Seems there is more to discover than chilli con carne and burritos. Another event did feature a mix of Cajun, Creole and Southwestern cuisine, each course paired with a different Bourbon cocktail. And last weekend, Krauted Haus invited its guests to Persia. Sophie is half Persian, and together with her mother prepared a menu with no less than 11 single dishes, all inspired by a famous Persian fairy tale, Shâm-e Shehrezad. Just to give you a faint idea: Persian spiced essence of tomato soup, a savoury beetroot and leek cake, and slow cooked duck in a crushed walnut & pomegranate sauce, how does that sound to you? It wasn’t possible for me to be there, but someone who was told me it was absolutely awesome.

The price for each dinner will be set according to the cost of ingredients. But it won’t exceed €50 per person, alcoholic drinks included, as Sophie promises. When she and Sam do their grocery shopping tours, they look for high quality and freshness in the first place. Meat and fish for example they would never buy from supermarkets, only from selected quality suppliers. They also try to go for seasonal and regional products, ideally organic ones, but without being dogmatic about it. More important is to them that an evening at Krauted Haus remains affordable. It’s worth mentioning also that they will always do their best to accommodate people with allergies. And even though Sophie and Sam are both dedicated meat lovers, a vegetarian option is of course available for those who prefer.

The Krauted Haus supper club has been around since late 2010. Sophie and Sam met when both working for an Internet company and found out they share the same love for food and cooking. Sam is a native New Yorker, Sophie as said half Persian and an experienced nomad from an early age on. She has had the chance to eat herself across the globe, so to say, having lived in Hamburg, Sydney, London, Turkey, Dubai and now Berlin. The first few Krauted Haus supper club events took place in her apartment, but that required a lot of moving furniture in order to transform her bedroom into a dining room. Luckily, Sam did then move to a new place with a living room that allows gathering 16 diners around one long communal table, so this is now the home of Krauted Haus. With well over 500 Facebook likes so far, it’s clearly one of the most popular supper clubs in Berlin. And if you want to join the crowds, watch out for new dates to be announced on Facebook or on the Krauted Haus website.

A delicious Persian recipe from Sophie’s collection is available from the Recipe Section on this website.