Wednesday, July 8, 2009

"Deutsche Küche" (German Food)

I know a lot of you are looking forward to this post, so after a few days' preparation, here it is! One of the main things I miss about Germany when I'm at home is the food. Therefore, when I'm here I tend to pack on the pounds. I figure once a year isn't so bad haha.

My absolute favourite German dish is "Schnitzel". The following picture is from dinner this evening. Schnitzel is basically a fried porkchop, except a thousand times better. The breading that is used has a certain seasoning in it and the grease (yea I know, real healthy!) that it is fried in makes the whole thing very tender. It is usually served with french fries or roasted potatoes. I think I could probably eat this every day of my vacation. I'm not really a big meat eater anyway, so I think that says something!

Schnitzel and french fries

German cuisine is very meat-and-potatoes. It has evolved from rustic farm cooking to popular cuisine. There is an emphasis on pork, whether fried or roasted or cooked or stewed.

The area of Germany where my grandparents live (and where I'm currently staying) is famous for its "Altbier". Düsseldorf was one of the original places where the brew originated. I'm not much of a beer drinker, so it really does not appeal to me much, but I can tell you that it tastes a little thicker then say a typical North American beer and has more of a malt-y taste to it. To learn about the history of Altbier, you can find out more here

Altbier

I love the coasters that most restaurants use, straight from the old Breweries


Coke comes straight from a glass bottle instead of a fountain. I swear it tastes better this way!

Traditionally in German culture, the "hot meal" is served during the lunch hours and the evening meal consisted of cold sandwhiches. Usually the table is set with various meats and cheeses and you make your sándwhiches accordingly. The following is a typical example of the sandwich table.

Perhaps the best part of being in Germany, is the chocolate! I'm really not much of a sweet-tooth normally, but here I really pig out. The Leibniz cookies in the front are kind of like buttery sugar cookies covered in chocolate. Available at most Canadian (and I'm presuming American) grocery stores. The package in the back are my favourite. They are little marshmellow figures covered in white, milk or dark chocolate. If I could find these in Canada, I'd be in heaven.


I think that's a good overview of German food for now, I may go more in depth in the coming days.

19 comments:

  1. okay, i love this post cus as you know i'm all about the food. hahaha! ;P i think i would really enjoy german food since i love meat and potatoes! anything potato whether baked, fried, french'd, scalloped.. love em all! haha! and the chocolates.. i love chocolates as well. drooools. :P

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  2. OMG, my mouth is watering! YUM.

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  3. Now I have to visit Germany! Looks scrumptious!

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  4. I've tasted "Schnitzel" in a local, German-inspired resto, and it was nice. I know it tastes waaaay better there, but I can settle for an "imitation" in the meantime. Hehe.

    That's it, gotta rush to the cafeteria! Thanks Ella, for making me drool! :)

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  5. I like the Bavarian food we tried in Munich. I was in absolute heaven when I hate the food and drank the delicious beer. I forgot the name of the beer but it has a lemon taste...amazing!

    The cold table reminds me of Danish cold buffet where people put their own stuff on their bread. I personally am not a fan of cold dishes.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  6. I LOVE SCHNITZELS! <3

    we have a lot of german places back home - in SAfrica - so i grew up with this food. what i wouldnt give for a schnitzel right about now.

    are dutch and german food similar, ells? do you know? what is dutch food? random question :p

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  7. @ Kym - oh I'm all about the potatoes too! I could probably eat just those every single day

    @ Ali & Jordan - I'm glad you like it! :)

    @ Jessica - If I could even find imitation Schnitzel back home, I'd sooo settle for that too! haha

    @ Bluefish - That's interesting that its similar to Danish, I suppose it must be a european thing

    @ Sarah - So glad you likes this post! Hummm, I think German and Dutch food are pretty similar. That is an interesting question! Ohhhh, you should ask Life Abroad! she's living in Amsterdam at the moment

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  8. yum! i love schnitzel with roasted potatoes. the food in germany is SO GOOD! it's so hearty and comforting to eat, i wish there were more german restaurants in the netherlands...but surprisingly they are few and far between. we collected tons of coasters from our trip to germany, they're so beautiful and all of the breweries are so authentic!

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  9. love the post ella. love your blog as well. yes i have to admit, GERMANY RULES SO BAD!

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  10. omg... those dickmanns... hahaha we have that in the netherlands as well!

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  11. That looks amazing! I'm now officially starving. ;)

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  12. So informative and now I will eat!

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  13. Ella, I must say that the division: hot meal for lunch and cold dishes for dinner is exactly the same in Poland! In Poland,"Schnitzel" is called "sznycel" and I hope it tastes exactly the same because I love it! : ) As for sweets, I know Leibniz!!! They are very popular in both: Poland and Italy!

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  14. Yummy :) I actually really want to go to Dusseldorf, as my ex-host-sister is from there.. I doubt I'll have time anytime soon though!

    Keep enjoying your trip! Love hearing about it!

    Ps. When are you going HOME??!

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  15. OH my goodness- you got me starving over here!
    I could really go for some good chocolate right now :)

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  16. Hey! I left you an award on my blog! Check it out.

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  17. a lot of times, coke in a bottle uses a different recipe than our american coke... something about the sugar? I don't know, I've heard that, and it makes since, because coke in the glass bottle tastes soo much better :)

    love the schnitzel!! we lived in Germany when I was very little and I swear, that's why I'm so meat & potatoes :) definitely not the healthiest diet, but soooo good!! glad you shared!!!

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  18. ELLAAAA this is drool-worthy oh my gosh. SCHNITZELS aaaaaaahhhh!!!! So so so delicious. Mmm lucky you getting to indulge in all the delicious German food for a few weeks.

    Plus Coke from the bottle? A million times better. Fact.

    {Also woohoo ShyBoy date when you get back!!! So I'm guessing the long-distance summer is going okay still??}

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  19. Ich liebe Deutsche Kusine!! Lecker!!!

    http://yummyanonymous.blogspot.com/

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