German cuisine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cuisine1 of 111/2/2008 6:20 AM

German cuisine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

German Cuisine

varies greatly from region to region. The southern regions of Bavariaand Swabia share many dishes among them and with their neighbours to the south,Switzerland and Austria.

Contents

1 Meat2 Eating habits3 Fish4 Vegetables5 Side dishes6 Drinks7 Spices and condiments8 Desserts9 Bread9.1 Bread rolls10 Specialities by region10.1 Baden-Württemberg, Swabia (Schwaben)10.2 Bavaria (Bayern)10.3 Bremen and Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)10.4 Franconia (Franken)10.5 Frankfurt am Main and Hessen10.6 Hamburg10.7 Palatinate (Pfalz)10.8 Rhineland (Rheinland)10.9 Saarland10.10 Saxony (Sachsen)10.11 Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt)10.12 Schleswig-Holstein10.13 Swabia (Schwaben)10.14 Thuringia (Thüringen)10.15 Westphalia (Westfalen)10.16 Other famous dishes10.17 Specialities from the former GDR11 Foreign influences12 External links

Meat

The German style buffet

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Pork, beef, and poultry are the main varieties of meat consumed in Germany, with porkbeing the most popular by a substantial amount. The average person in Germany willconsume up to 67 pounds of meat in a year. Among poultry, chicken is most common,although duck, goose, and turkey are also well enjoyed. Game meats, especially boar,rabbit, and venison are also widely available around the year. Lamb and goat are alsoavailable, but are not very popular.Meat is usually pot-roasted; pan-fried dishes also exist, but these are usually importsfrom France. Throughout Germany, meat is very often eaten in sausage form. There issaid to be more than 1500 different types of sausage in Germany. Certain families mayalso make their own sausage for personal consumption.

Eating habits

Breakfast

(Frühstück)

commonly consists of bread, toast, and/or bread rolls (

Brötchen, Semmeln, Schrippen, Wecken or Rundstücke

) with jam ("Marmelade" or "Konfitüre"), marmalade or honey, eggs, and strong coffee or tea (milk, cocoa oruice for children). Deli meats, such as ham, salted meats and salami, are also commonly eaten on bread in the morning,as are various cheeses. A variety of meat-based spreads such as Leberwurst (literally

liver-sausage

) can be found duringbreakfast as well. Muesli (

Müsli

) and cereals such as cornflakes are also popular.Traditionally, the main meal of the day has been lunch (

Mittagessen

), eaten aroundnoon. Dinner (

Abendessen

Abendbrot

) was always a smaller meal, often consistingonly of a variety of breads and meats, similar to breakfast, or possibly sandwiches.However, in Germany, as in other parts of Europe, dining habits have changed over thelast 50 years. Today, many people eat only a small meal in the middle of the workingday at work and enjoy a hot dinner in the evening at home with the whole family.Nevertheless, the traditional way is still rather common, not only in rural areas.Breakfast is still very popular and may be elaborated and extended on weekends, withfriends invited as guests. The extension of the breakfast is then called “Brunch”, amixture between Breakfast and Lunch. It usually consists of the parts of a regularBreakfast but in addition to that people prepare a warm soup or little hot snacks as wellas a smaller dessert. “Brunches” usually start later in the morning and end in the earlyafternoon.Depending on the family of course, there is also a social aspect behind those meals. They offer an opportunity for thewhole family to come together and spend time together.

Fish

Trout is the most common freshwater fish on German menu as well as pike, carp, andEuropean perch are also frequently served. Seafood was traditionally restricted to thenorthern coastal areas except for pickled herring. Today many seafish like fresh herring(also as Rollmops), sardine, tuna, mackerel, and salmon are well established throughoutthe country. Prior to the industrial revolution and the ensuing pollution of the rivers,salmon were common in the rivers Rhine, Elbe, and Oder. Nowadays, thanks to tightenvironmental control, rivers are cleaner than they were a century ago and the fishpopulation of Germany's rivers is gaining back its territory.

Vegetables

Choucroute garnie, a variety of SauerkrautDry

muesli

mix, served withmilk and banana

Rollmops

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Vegetables are often eaten in stews or vegetable soups, but can also be served as a sidedish. Carrots, turnips, spinach, peas, beans, and many types of cabbage are verycommon. Fried onions are a common addition to many meat dishes throughout thecountry. Potatoes, while a major part of the diet, are usually not counted amongvegetables by Germans. Asparagus, especially white asparagus known as spargel, isparticularly enjoyed in Germany as a side dish or as a main meal. Sometimes restaurantswill even devote an entire menu to nothing but spargel, when it is the right season (lateSpring). Spargel season is traditionally set to the month before St. John's Day.

Side dishes

Noodles are usually thicker than Italian pasta and often contain egg yolk. Especially inthe south-western part of the country, the predominant variety of noodles is Spätzle which contain a very large amount of yolk. Besides noodles, potatoes and dumplings (Klöße or Knödel) are very common, especially in the south. Potatoesentered German cuisine in the late 18th century and were almost ubiquitous in the 19th and 20th centuries, but theirpopularity is currently waning somewhat in favour of noodles and rice. Potatoes are most often served boiled in saltwater, but mashed and fried potatoes also are traditional, and Pommes Frites (french fries) have now become verycommon.

Drinks

Beer

is very common throughout all parts of Germany, with many local and regionalbreweries producing a wide variety of beers. In most of the country Pils is predominanttoday, whereas people in the South (especially in Bavaria) seem to prefer other lagers orwheat beer. A number of regions have a special kind of local beer, for example the darkAltbier around the lower Rhine, the Kölsch of the Cologne area, which is light but likeAltbier uses a more traditional brewing process than Pils, and the weak and sourBerliner Weiße, usually mixed with raspberry or woodruff syrup, in Berlin. Since thereunification of 1990, Schwarzbier (black beer), which was common in East Germanybut could hardly be found in West Germany, has become increasingly popular inGermany as a whole. Beer may also be mixed with other beverages:pils or lager and lemonade: Alsterwasser or Radlerpils or lager and cola: Diesel, Schmutziges or simply ColabierAltbier and cola: Krefelderwheat beer and cola: Russ or simply ColaweizenIn the last years many breweries served this trend of mixing beer with other drinks, selling bottles of already mixedbeverages. Examples are Bibob (from Köstritzer), Veltins V+, Mixery (from Karlsberg) and Cab (from Krombacher).

Wine

is also popular throughout the country. German wine comes predominantly from the areas along the upper andmiddle Rhine and its tributaries; the northern half of the country is too cold and flat to grow grape vines. Riesling andSilvaner are among the best-known varieties of white wine, while Spätburgunder and Dornfelder are important Germanred wines. The sweet German wines sold in English speaking countries seem mostly to cater to the foreign market, asthey are quite rare in Germany itself.

Korn

is a German spirit made from malt (wheat, rye and/or barley), that is consumed predominantly in the middle andnorthern parts of Germany.

Obstler

on the other hand is distilled from apples and pears (

"Obstler"

), plums, cherries(Kirschwasser), or mirabelle plums and is preferred in the southern parts. The term

Schnaps

refers to both kinds of hardliquors.

Coffee

is also very common, not only for breakfast, but also accompanying a piece of cake in the afternoon, usually onSundays or special occasions and birthdays. It is generally filter coffee, somewhat stronger than usual in the US though