Deutsches Essen

It will probably come as no surprise that German food is quite different from American food. Given that it's such a big cultural part of my experience, I thought it might be interesting to review some of the typical German foods I've had since I've been here.

Dӧner Kebab: I posted a picture of my first Dӧners on here back in January. For those of you who missed that post, a Dӧner is a Turkish specialty that consists of lamb, veggies, and yogurt sauce in a pita. It is BY FAR the most popular fast food in Germany (which is why it makes the list of German food). It's not uncommon to hear "Yeah, I've already three Dӧners this week, but I could go for another." I haven't had quite that many, but they're delicious regardless.

Wurst: There is no way to make it through life in Germany without eating Wurst. It comes in hundreds of varieties and is available EVERYWHERE. Unlike in the U.S., the sausages here don't have a reputation for being sketchy. You can see Germans of all stripes eating Wurst on any day of the week, usually on a bun with the sausage sticking out a few inches on either end. I've tried several different types, including Bockwurst, Bratwurst, Wurst mit Kräuter, and others. I have not been disappointed once.

Currywurst mit Pommes: Currywurst is obviously another type of Wurst, but it's special and deserves its own category. Currywurst is basically sausage that is cut into little pieces, doused in ketchup, and dusted with curry powder. It's usually served with french fries (Pommes). It's something of a national phenomenon in Germany - there's even a Currywurst museum in Berlin. We can get it at the Döner shop near my flat and it's always delicious. The best I've had so far was in Berlin during our first field trip. We ate at a little shop right near the Holocaust Memorial and spent a good portion of the meal raving about the Currywurst. I highly recommend it.

Quark: Quark is a dairy product that is officially classified as cheese, but looks and tastes a bit more like yogurt. One of my German flatmates gave me a slice of fresh bread topped with butter, honey, and Quark yesterday and it was SO GOOD. It's something I've never seen before in the U.S., but it's incredibly common here. I'm looking forward to eating more.

Brot: Germans are famous for their bread and rightly so. There are thousands of bakeries all over the country and even more types of bread. The typical loaf is dense, baked fresh, and often covered in some kind of seed. You'd be hard-pressed to find Wonder bread here, and it'd be sacrilegious to even ask for it. Most Germans go to the bakery several times a week (and often every day) to get the best quality, and a lot of them call bread the most important part of their diet. If we had such good bread in the U.S., I'd probably do the same.

Berliner: Berliners probably peaked out in popularity after JFK's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. A Berliner is a jelly doughnut, and even though I don't really like doughnuts that much, I have to say they're delicious. You can buy them fresh at any bakery - you'd never buy them en masse in a sealed package like you would back home.

Brezeln: I've never been a fan of hard pretzels, but the soft ones are another story. I loved them in the U.S. and they're a hundred times better here. While I can usually only find them at certain stores or at amusement parks back home, you can get them fresh-baked anywhere here. It's common to buy Butterbrezeln, which are soft pretzels sliced in half and spread with butter. Healthy, no. Delicious, absolutely. My flatmate says that best pretzels come from Mainz and I would seriously considering making a special trip there just to eat one. They're really that good.

Bier: I'm sure I don't even need to extol the virtues of German beer here. It's world-famous for its quality and for all the different varieties. There are 1,300 breweries in Germany (second only to the U.S.) and so many delicious types of beer. Germans adhere to the Reinheitsgebot, which is the German beer purity law dating back to the 1500s. It says that beer can only contain water, hops, and barley. The obsessiveness about beer quality is definitely a good thing - I've never tasted better beer anywhere else! Bäden-Wurttemberg has quite a few excellent local varieties as well. One of my favorite things to do here is hang out in the kitchen with my flatmates and drink a good local beer. Once the weather gets nice, I think a Biergarten will be an even better location.

Feldsalat: For some reason, Germany has many more varieties of lettuce than you can find in the States. I love Feldsalat in particular - it's this type of lettuce that looks like clovers. My friends and I always make a salad with it for our Friday night dinners. Considering that much of my diet here consists of carbs, it's great to be able to find some delicious and original produce.

Spätzle: Germans love pasta as much as anyone else, but they go a step further with yummy egg noodles known as Spätzle. They result in what is possibly the easiest, fastest, and tastiest meal for college students on a budget. It's really common in restaurants as a side dish, although they tend to put much more effort into it than I do when I'm just cooking for myself. Regardless, they're a new staple. We always have tons in our fridge.

Mensa food: The Mensa is the student cafeteria in Freiburg. We eat lunch there quite often and while it's better than American cafeteria food, it's not the highest quality in the world. Germans are much more liberal with salt, butter, and sauce, which becomes all too evident in mass cafeteria production. Even still, we always have a good time there. Even when the food sucks, the Mensa has better soda than anywhere else.

Leberkäse: Alright - I saved the worst for last. Leberkäse literally means "liver cheese". It's similar to pâté, but it's made with pork instead of goose liver. Germans LOVE the stuff, but I was forced to try it yesterday and didn't think it was that good. I just have issues with meat that can be spread with a knife. It wasn't horrendous, but I would never purchase it myself. I suspect it's an acquired taste, but I don't think there's enough time in the world for me to come to like it.

That's it for the first installment. I've tried some other German foods back home, but I only want to post what I've tasted in Germany. I'll be back in a few weeks with another food update.

It's finally Friday and I'm done with class for the week. I have no set plans for the weekend yet, but that's fine with me given my cold and everything. It's great to be back in Freiburg and I'm sure I'll have a good time no matter what.

Bis dann!