Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [57]
Other typical mixes include raisins with cabbage, honey with pork, and plums with duck. Even the typical Eintopf (stew, often a potato version) is served with sugar and vinegar on the side.
Bread pudding is a very popular dessert throughout the state, but visitors might prefer the more unusual and delicious Sanddorn (sea buckthorn). Nicknamed the ‘Mecklenburg lemon’, this is a shrub berry with a subtle citrus flavour, and is used to great effect in teas, ice creams and other dishes (as well as beauty products).
BERLIN
Alongside Hamburg, Berlin has one of the country’s most cosmopolitan restaurant scenes, but it can still lay claim to a few local delicacies. First on the list comes Eisbein (pigs’ knuckles), then Kohlsuppe (cabbage soup) and Erbensuppe (pea soup).
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The New German Cookbook: More than 230 Contemporary and Traditional Recipes by Lamar Elmore, Jean Anderson and Hedy Wuerz, and The German Cookbook: A Complete Guide to Mastering Authentic German Cooking by Mimi Sheraton are two handy little recipe numbers to have on your kitchen shelf.
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Ironically, the Berliner doughnut, which President John F Kennedy once claimed himself to be, does not emanate from the capital. For something sweet, locals are much more likely to tuck into the coffee cake known as Kugelhupf (also spelled Gugelhupf). Berlin is also where you’ll find the country’s highest concentration of Turkish doner kebab (Dönerkebab) spots, an essential end to any drink-fuelled night out on the town.
SAXONY & THURINGIA
These regions are slightly less meat-obsessed than some of their cousins. Kartoffelsuppe (potato soup) is a favourite, and Leipziger Allerlei (Leipzig hotpot) often comes in vegetarian versions. There are even lentils to be found in such dishes as Linsensuppe mit Thüringer Rotwurst (lentil soup with Thuringian sausages). For dessert, you can try Quarkkeulchen, made from curd, boiled potatoes, flour, sugar, and raisins – although these have spread to other parts of Germany, too.
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Seasonal Specialities
In an era in which fruit jets around the globe clocking up frequent-flyer miles, and high-tech farming boosts year-round supplies, Germans remain touchingly devoted to their seasonal specialities.
No period ranks higher on the culinary calendar than Spargelzeit (asparagus season), when Germans devour great quantities of mostly white asparagus, which they generally consider tastier than the green variety. The season kicks off with the harvesting of the first crop in mid-April and lasts until 24 June – the feast-day of St John the Baptist – which is fitting, given the almost religious intensity with which this ‘king of vegetables’ is celebrated. You’ll find restaurants with separate asparagus menus and whole books devoted to the subject, while many towns and cities even hold asparagus festivals in May and June.
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FALSE FRIENDS
When ordering food in parts of the country, sometimes a little knowledge of German can be a dangerous thing. So, don’t expect half a chicken when you order a Halve Hahn in Cologne – it’s a rye-bread roll with gouda cheese, gherkin and mustard. Kölscher Kaviar is similarly confusing – it’s not caviar, but black pudding. And Nordseekrabben in Hamburg and Lower Saxony? They’re small prawns…of course.
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Herring weeks are frequently held on the Baltic coast in spring. Other notable seasonal specialities include Pfifferlinge (chanterelles) and Kürbis (pumpkin), an autumn treat.
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Sweets
Germans more often exercise their sweet tooth over Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cakes) than they do after a meal. Desserts (Nachspeisen or Nachtische) are usually light affairs, say custard and fruit, Rote Grütze (a tart fruit compote topped with vanilla sauce), ice cream or a fruit salad.
However, let’s not forget that this is the country that brought the