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Germany Information · Joined: 21 Oct 2006 Posts: 27 Home Country: germany

FOOD & DINING IN GERMANY

Though traditional dishes like dumplings, wurst (sausages), pastries, and beer may make Germany seem the worst possible place to eat healthily, in reality, restaurants are offering foreign foods and neue Küche (modern cuisine). Chefs trained in Switzerland, France, or Italy return to Germany to open Continental restaurants, and Italians and Turks, many of whom originally came to Germany as "guest workers," own restaurants featuring their own culinary traditions.

Regional Specialties

Bavaria & Franconia: In southern Germany, you can feast on such hearty fare as Leberkäs (a chilled mold of minced pork, beef, and liver), Knödel (dumplings or soaked bread), Haxen (pork or veal trotters, most often consumed with sauerkraut), Rostbratwürste (small finger sausages), and Leberknödel (large liver dumplings in a clear broth). Schweinwürstl mit Kraut (pork sausages with sauerkraut) is another unforgettable local dish.

Lower Saxony & Schleswig-Holstein: Here in northwest Germany, with its maritime tradition, a typical local dish is Aalsuppe -- sweet-and-sour eel soup flavoured with bacon, vegetables, and sometimes even pears and prunes (or perhaps other fruits). The sailor's favourite is Labskaus, a ground-together medley of pork, salt herring, and beef, along with potatoes and beets. The traditional topping is a fried egg and a side dish of cucumbers. Bruntes Huhn is salt beef on a bed of diced vegetables, a robust winter favorite. Rollmops, pickled herring rolled in sour cream, is another local specialty, as is Finkenwerder Scholle (plaice) and oysters, raw or baked with cheese.

Berlin: During those cold nights in old Prussia, Berliners took comfort in their soups, notably Kohlsuppe (cabbage soup) and Erbensuppe (pea soup), along with dark bread, especially Westphalia pumpernickel. Hase im Topf is a delicious rabbit pâté. Other favorites are Bratwurst, a pork sausage, and Regensburger, a spicy pork sausage. For dessert, Berliners like Kugelhupf, a marvelous coffeecake, and Käsekuchen, or cheesecake. But probably the most typical Berlin delicacy is Eisbein, pigs' knuckles.

Hassen & Westphalia: Famed for its hams, this region eats food guaranteed to put hair on your chest. Sample their Sulperknochen, made from the pigs' trotters (feet), ears, and tail, and served traditionally with peas pudding and pickled cabbage. Try Tüttchen, a ragout of herb-flavoured calves' heads and calves' brains or settle for Pickert, sweet-potato cakes flavored with raisins.

Baden-Württemberg: In the southern region around Stuttgart, begin with such dishes as Schneckensuppe (snail soup), Spätzle (egg-based pasta), or perhaps Maultaschen (ravioli stuffed with ground meat, spinach, and calves' brains). A dish beloved in the area and widely consumed is Geschnetzeltes (slices of veal in a cream sauce). The favourite local dish in Stuttgart itself is Gaisburger Marsch, a beef stew. Another commonly served dish is Rostbraten, braised beef, invariably accompanied by sauerkraut or Linsen mit Saiten, lentil stew cooked with sausages.

Saxony & Thuringia: In eastern Germany, you can feast on everything from Linsensuppe mit Thüringer Rotwurst (lentil soup with Thuringian sausages) to Rinderzunge in Rosinen-Sauce (calves' tongues in grape sauce). Kartoffelsuppe (potato soup) remains a favourite of the district, as does a baked appetizer, Quarkkeulchen, made from curd, boiled potatoes, flour, sugar, and raisins, topped with cinnamon and served with applesauce. Each city in the district also has its own popular local dishes. Leipzig, for example, has its Leipziger Allerlei, a blend of carrots, peas, asparagus, cauliflower, mushrooms, crayfish, ox tails, bits of veal, and dumplings.

Rhineland: The Rhineland features dishes that have made Germans the subject of good-natured ridicule, especially in neighbouring France. For example, there's Saumagen, stuffed pork belly with pickled cabbage. Also beloved is Schweinepfeffer, a highly seasoned and spicy pork ragout that's thickened with pig blood. After that feast, it's on to Hämchen, pork trotters with pickled cabbage and potatoes, or else Sauerbraten, beef marinated in wine vinegar and spices. Postwar Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was a Rhinelander, and one of his favourite foods was Reibekukchen, small potato pancakes with a blueberry or applesauce. Taverns along the Rhine fill up when Federweisser, partially fermented new wine, comes in. They drink it while devouring onion tarts.

Beer & Wine

Beer -- For variety and quality, German beer is unequaled. The world's oldest brewery is in Bavaria, but other regions in Germany have proud beer-making traditions. Export beers and the rather more bitter Pils, the most popular type of beer, are also produced in Berlin, Hamburg, the Ruhr, Hesse, and Stuttgart. Altbier, a very early product of the brewer's art, can be found today all over Germany.

In Germany, if you go into a beer hall and ask the bartender for ein Bier, you'll probably get the standard stock beer, Vollbier, which is 4% alcohol. More potent is Export at 5% or Bockbier at 6%. Connoisseurs specify the type of beer they want and often the brewery. The following is a bit of beer vocabulary. When the malt has been darkly roasted and fermented for much longer, it becomes dunkles Bier, or dark beer. Doppelbock is an extra dark beer with a 6% alcoholic content. Helles Bier is light and brewed from malt dried and baked by the local brewery, or Brauerei. Many Germans, especially the citizens of Bamberg, like their beer "smoked." If that appeals to you, request Rauchbier. In nearby Bayreuth, Richard Wagner's old hometown, locals prefer a "steam beer" known as Dampfbier. The denizens of Düsseldorf and Frankfurt can often be heard requesting Alt, a brown, barley-malt brew. Kölsch is a light beer drunk mainly in Cologne in tall fluted glasses. Hefeweizen is a yeasty wheat beer consumed often with a squeeze of lemon. Berliner Weisse is made from wheat, like a Bavarian white beer, but with a dash of raspberry or woodruff syrup. Dark and sweet, malt beer has hardly any alcohol, whereas Starkbierzet is a powerful beer served when the barrels are opened after the post-Lenten celebrations in March. It has the highest alcohol content of them all. Finally, Pils, or Pilsener, beers are light and contain more hops. Dortmund has earned a reputation in this field.

Wine -- Germany has produced delightful wines for centuries, but sometime in the 1970s, German wine became the butt of jokes. The postwar German economic miracle had led to a boom in wine production. Many new vineyards sprung up suddenly, and quality was not always their first priority. Cheap, cloyingly sweet table wines flooded the market. One label in particular, Liebfraumilch, began to sully the reputation of the entire industry; the mere mention of its name to anyone in the know met with a knowing titter or contemptuous sneer. Today, however, German viticulture has many smaller producers producing excellent wines.

Good German wine is renowned for its natural lightness and its delicate balance of sweetness and acidity. Most vineyards flourish on steep hillsides, protected from harsh winds by wooded neighbouring hills, especially on the banks of the Rhine and the Mosel rivers and their tributaries. The vineyards profit from the warmth reflected off the sunlit water. The slow maturing of the grapes gives German wines their typical fresh, fruity acidity.

Germany does produce red wine, but as a rule it's better to stick to white or perhaps a rosé. Trocken (dry) or halbtrocken (semidry) are often given on the labels; look for them if you want to escape anything sweet. This avoidance, however, should not extend to the dessert wines, which resemble nectar.

The overload of information on a German wine label is often puzzling to foreigners, but it's not really that hard to decipher. First of all, the grape variety should be indicated. Legally, German wines are only required to contain 85% of the declared variety. The classic is Riesling, which can range widely in taste from fruity to spicy. Other grapes include Weisburgunder, used to make dry wines, often with an aroma of melon or pear, and Scheurebe, which produces delicious, high-quality wine with the aroma of red currant. No grape reference on the label often means a poorly blended, inferior quality wine.

"Vintage" refers to when the grapes were grown (not harvested). The question of origin is also something to keep an eye on. It's best if the label gives a single vineyard, but these can only be distinguished from the less specific vineyard zones if you are in the know or can consult a pocket guide, such as Johnson's.

Next, check for the level of ripeness. German law distinguishes between Tafelwein (table wine) and Qualitätswein (quality wine). QbA (Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete) on a bottle means the wine is made from the approved grape varieties, which will give it the particular and traditional taste of its region. QmP refers to Qualitätswein mit Pradikat (wine with distinction) and carries one of six special attributes. These, in order of ascending price, are Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Berrenauslese (BA), Eiswein, and the exclusive Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA).

As a classification, Kabinett was first used by Eberbach Abbey in 1712 to denote quality. This wine is especially good as an aperitif with light snacks or veal. The mildly sweet and fruity Auslese from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region and the rich Spätlese are well suited to richer dishes such as duck, smoked fowl, and oysters. Those trocken and halbtrocken Rieslings from the Rheingau and Mosel-Saar-Ruwer are perfect with pork, sausages, and sauerkraut as well as with mild cheeses. A fuller-bodied Riesling Spätlese and Auslese Trocken from Rheingau or Pfalz goes excellently with wild boar and lobster. The rarest vintages, those sweet wines carrying the BA and TBA designations, are best left for anything oily or pungent in flavor, such as gooseliver pâté or rich cheeses. They are also wonderful with desserts.

Many foreign visitors tour one of the wine-growing districts. Since reunification, a number of wine districts have emerged in eastern Germany; however, the traditional German wine country, stretching from the middle Rhine at Bonn down to Lake Constance on the Swiss border, is still the most charming, with its classic scenery of imposing castle ruins, elegant spas, and Brothers Grimm villages replete with spires and black-and-white gabled houses.

Schnapps

For a start: the typical measure is two centilitres - in Bavaria called a "Stamperl" (a shot glass). If need be it can also be served as a double - that is 4 cl (centilitres). The glasses are calibrated for this amount, in northern Germany as well as in the south. But the content of the glasses differs quite considerably, also from the eastern part of Germany to the west.

Should you drink on the North Sea coast an Enzian (schnapps made in the Alps) with plaice? Enzian is much more fitting with a hearty snack in the south. Just as a Kirschwasser (cherry schnapps) is served with ham in the Black Forest and in Berlin a Doppelkorn (corn schnapps) with knuckle of pork, sauerkraut and mashed peas.

Just as with food, the preference for high-proof spirits depends on the region. In general schnapps means a clear liquid. But in the northern and eastern part of the country grain is mostly distilled, whereas in the south fruits from the orchards of the Rhine valley and the Lake Constance area are distilled to obtain fruit-flavoured spirits and the berries from the Black Forest are used to create fine, scented spirits.

Schnapps is the generic term for all spirits that warm you up and make you feel good. No matter whether they are clear or coloured, bitter or sweet. A schnapps is always appropriate - as an aperitif, an after-dinner drink or simply when you feel like it. Especially in the north people love to drink it together with a beer. It is called "Lüttje Lage" (little round) in Hannover and "Lütt un Lütt" (small and small) in Hamburg. Monks discovered that alcohol has medicinal properties. German physicians and chemists cultivated the idea with dedication. Their formulas are still bottled today, from Ettal monastery in Bavaria to the Harz region and on to Rostock.

Bread

Each region is proud of its own specialities. The smooth loaf from Franconia and the crusty bread from the Black Forest come in a perfect round. The short bread from Paderborn, the dark Holsteiner Katenbrot (baked in a tin) and the Schwarzbrot from Oldenburg are rectangular. All three are deliciously filling and contain a lot of roughage.

All German breads boast an abundance of vitamins, mineral salts, protein and carbohydrates. It does not matter whether they are baked from light wheat flour like the mild Kasseler or from rye flour like the slightly sour tasting country loaves from Berlin, Mecklenburg and Thuringia.

The grainy black pumpernickel is a wholemeal bread from Westphalia and tastes fantastic with cooked ham. It belongs to the category of speciality breads just like the onion, the sweet raisin, the spice and the low-calorie crispbread. Breads which contain sesame or sunflower seeds are becoming more and more popular.

Very typical for Germany is the salty pretzel. In the bakery you will find it among crispy fresh rolls in different shapes which may be garnished with poppy or caraway seeds.

A shrimp toast from Sylt, a dinkel bread with aromatic smoked trout or a poppy-seed soufflé from Saxony are just some of the mouth-watering treats in store for you.


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