Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [55]
* * *
Return to beginning of chapter
Bread
In exile in California in 1941, German playwright Bertolt Brecht confessed that what he missed most about his homeland was the bread. That won’t surprise anyone who has sampled the stuff. German bread is a world-beater, in a league of its own. It’s tasty and textured, often mixing wheat and rye flour, and is available in 300 varieties.
‘Black’ rye bread (Schwarzbrot) is actually brown, but a much darker shade than the slightly sour Bauernbrot – divine with a slab of butter. Pumpernickel bread is steam-cooked instead of baked, making it extra moist, and actually is black. Vollkorn means wholemeal, while bread coated in sunflower seeds is Sonnenblumenbrot. If you insist on white bread (Weissbrot), the Germans have that, too.
Fresh bread rolls (Brötchen in the north, Semmel in Bavaria, Wecken in the rest of southern Germany) can be covered in poppy seeds (Mohnbrötchen), cooked with sweet raisins (Rosinenbrötchen), sprinkled with salt (Salzstangel) or treated in dozens of other different ways.
Brezeln are traditional pretzels, covered in rock salt.
* * *
Living in the USA? Shop for Brot und Wurst as if you’re in Germany at www.germandeli.com.
* * *
Return to beginning of chapter
Potato
Germans are almost as keen as Russians about the potato. The Kartoffel is not only Vegetable Nummer Eins in any meat-and-three-veg dish, it can also be incorporated into any course of a meal, from potato soup (Kartoffelsuppe) as a starter, to potato waffles (Kartoffelwaffeln) or potato pancakes (Reibekuchen) as a sweet treat.
In between, you can try Himmel und Erde (Heaven and Earth), a dish of mashed potatoes and stewed apples served with black pudding, or potato-based Klösse dumplings. Pellkartoffeln or Ofenkartoffeln are jacket potatoes, usually capped with a dollop of Quark.
Many potato festivals are held throughout the country.
* * *
Discover 101 things to do with a pig in Olli Leeb’s Bavarian Cooking, jam packed with cultural and culinary insights into one of Germany’s most distinctive regional cuisines.
* * *
Return to beginning of chapter
Sauerkraut
Finally comes a quintessential German side dish that many outside the country find impossible to fathom: sauerkraut. Before the 2006 FIFA World Cup, one football magazine suggested, with typical abrasiveness: ‘It’s pickled cabbage; don’t try to make it sound interesting.’ Okay, we won’t. It’s shredded cabbage, doused in white-wine vinegar and slowly simmered. But if you haven’t at least tried Rotkohl (the red-cabbage version of the white-cabbage sauerkraut), you don’t know what you’re missing. Braising the cabbage with sliced apples and wine turns it into Bayrischkraut or Weinkraut.
Return to beginning of chapter
Regional Dishes
Although contemporary German restaurants offer as much of an international mix as anywhere in the world, the country’s traditional cuisine has been much more resistant to outside influences than that of, say, Hungary or Italy. Consequently, traditional regional variations remain quite noticeable.
The food in southern states features many pork and veal dishes, accompanied by noodles or dumplings. It’s in the northern states that root vegetables such as potatoes predominate, and there’s a much greater focus on fish.
Towards the country’s borders, its cuisine does take on French, Scandinavian and even Slavic flavours. But it’s a subtle difference and the taste usually remains recognisably German.
* * *
Germany’s most famous TV chef, Tim Mälzer, updates some standards in his best-selling book, Born To Cook, such as making Kalbshaxe with star anise and Labskaus with poached salmon.
* * *
BAVARIA
The Chinese say you can eat every part of the pig bar the oink, and Bavarian chefs seem to be in full agreement. No part of the animal is spared their attention: they cook up its knuckles (Schweinshax’n), ribs (Rippchen), tongue (Züngerl) and belly (Wammerl). Pork also appears as Schweinebraten (a roast) and the misleadingly named Leberkäse (liver