I'm going to Germany at the end of May. I know I will see lots of sausages and beer on the menus. But what else should I look for/avoid? I think there is a white sausage made of calf's head that I'd like to avoid. But what else? And what else is delicious? I'll be in Munich and Garmisch-Partenchirsen (sp?).
P.S. I know Germany isn't all sausage, pretzels, and beer but I do want some traditional German foods.
Watch out for their yummy pastries and apple strudel!! :-)
don't eat the "ketchup" at mcdonalds too...I haven't been there in 10 years but I assume the ketchup is still the same..
What's "Pfeffersweine or Pfeffer steak"? I really am looking for something to recognize on the menu, but I want to know what it is too. And I don't speak German. My husband does a little bit, but he doesn't seem to know any of the words for food.
I won't be going crazy about counting calories. I'll sample everything in moderation.
When you see wurst it's meaning sausage
- weisswurst: veal and herb
- leberwurst: liver sausage
- brunswick mettwurst: smoked pork
I would go to google and search German foods to look for further explanations and examples of their menus
I love sauerbraten. If you like sauerkraut, look for dishes with pork cooked in it or as a sidedish. My many German relatives cook sauerkraut with a variety of spices and it tastes completely different than plain sauerkraut.
The relatives were also big on potato dishes too. This may be more from their living and being brought up in farming communities. One set of relatives immigrated from Germany in the mid-1800's so they've lost a lot of the European German culture along the way.
When my dad was fighting in Germany in WWII he was only a few miles from his great-grandfather's home town. It is very likely he was shooting at relatives.
Aside from traditional German food, I understand that there is an incredible amount of Arab food, especially Turkish. My friend lived there (Heidelberg) and said she ate Turkish food mostly.
I haven't had specifically German food but I love Czech food.
viener schnitzel is a breaded veal cutlet. Sometimes you'll see the same idea but made of pork. Jaeger schnitzel is a viener schnitzel that has been covered in a delicious rich mushroom sauce.
Sometimes you can get Naturschnitzel a sauteed non-breaded from of schnitzel sometimes served with a cream sauce.
It's not unusual to find other central European dishes in Germany such as Goulash or Paprikash.
Plus there are the Turkish and Indonesian restaurants about.
Wow. Turkish in Germany....who knew? I don't know a THING about Turkish food.
My family background is Eastern European (Slovak & Polish) so I'll enjoy that cuisine for sure (pierogi, golumpki, halusky).
German restaurant food is pretty heavy on meat and potatoes. In Munich, you can eat pretty much any kind of food you want, one night we had sushi, another Italian and the last night traditional German meal. I live in Germany about half the year so I have the excuse not to eat tradition stuff too much. :) Munich is a rather cosmopolitan city so it is easier to manage to eat well and pretty healthy. There are a lot of tourists in the city so you can get an English language menu in most places. There is place on the Rathaus (city hall) square that is rather cheap but good for traditional stuff, the name escapes me, but has a couple of floors and the inside is decorated with the shield and pictures depicting the different regions in Germany. Garmisch-Partenkirchen is very touristy so you should be able to get English menus in a lot of places. It is only place in Germany I say people watching around in Ledenhose and Dirndl outside Karneval and Oktoberfest. There is a place called Frauendorfer on Ludwigstraße, it is really very touristy, but the food is good and traditional and they have shows of the traditional dancing so you can get the tourist out of your system! Even the North Germans that I was with love the place, they go there everytime they go Garmisch.
For really fatty things, avoid Schweinhaxen (pork knuckle) and Schnitzel that is breaded and pommes (French fries). I think things like Schweinsbraten (roast pork, a southern Germany speciality) isn't too bad because it is roasted, Rouladen (can be beef or pork, rolled with some filling, lightly pan fried and then cooked in a broth) is okay calorie wise and very yummy. A lot of the sides aren't too bad, Rotekohl (red cabbage) is rather good and so is Bayrischer Kartoffelsalat (Bavarian potato salad, flavourful potato salad, shouldn't have mayo). I am not sure what white sausage is made of calf's head, Weißwurst (white sausage) is ground veal and pork bacon and probably what you thing of sausage, bretzel (pretzel) and beer. It is okay, I prefer to eat other kinds of sausage. I live in the north so maybe the calf's head sausage is a regional thing from another region. My favourite sausage is Nürnberger sausage, they are small and taste a bit like a combo of American breakfast sausage and what the Americans call Bratwurst.
I would get a guide book with a good menu guide, that will be helpful. But you are will be in a place if they don't an English menu you can ask them in English what it is. They are used to tourists and they wouldn't be annoyed if you are polite about it. Some Germans are shy about their English because they think they should know more than they do because they had for a long time in school but most of them are very helpful so they will give it a go. One thing I love about Germany is how helpful people tend to be, it is only country where I have been in major cities were the people have offered me help if I looked lost or not knowing what to do without even asking. :)
Germany has a lot of yummy pastries and cakes as healthnuttie said. It is okay to indulge if you are getting a lot exercise exploring the city :D
They have great salads too! Fresh vegetables, beetroot, redcabbage. Go to the Ratskeller(town hall) in Munich. Food is good and the menues are in 4 languages and they have vegetarian options! Go figure.
Original Post by mrsdagle:
Aside from traditional German food, I understand that there is an incredible amount of Arab food, especially Turkish. My friend lived there (Heidelberg) and said she ate Turkish food mostly.
I haven't had specifically German food but I love Czech food.
Mrs. Dagle, are you Czech, by chance? I wish I loved the food too... I've been living in Prague for the past 2 years and I have to say the cuisine has been the biggest bummer for me. I'm a vegetarian so it's complicated (veggie options are usually fried cheese or fried veggies) and I've had to learn to cook.
Anyway, I've been to Germany a few times and have to rave about their breads! I know it's not low-carb-friendly but I always live on bread when I go to Germany. They have plentiful farmers' markets too, though, so you can stock up on great fresh veggies and fruit and balance out the carbs and sausage :) Have a great trip!
I'm trying not to be completely jealous as I write this! My husband and I lived in Germany for 3 years and we loved it. You're right, though, German cuisine leaves a lot to be desired....for example, it's rare to find actual vegetables on the menu there. I used to eat the garnish that came on my plate!
OK, for what to have and what to avoid: yes, the fruit & veg. markets should be open then. Just know that they will consider you rude if you walk over and start touching their produce. They expect you to tell them you'd like 1 kilo of peaches or whatever, and then they will pick them up, weigh them and pkg. them for you. In German restaurants, I always looked for sauerbraten or roladen/rouladen. Both of which are braised, unbreaded meats and positively delicious. Also the red cabbage is served with almost everything and that's good for you, and even if you don't like the sauerkraut in the U.S., try it in Germany. It's somehow "sweeter" over there. I don't know how to describe it, except that over here it tastes like wet, limp cabbage in vinegar and over there it doesn't. And that should help you with your fiber content, too.
As for other restaurants, authentic Italian restaurants are in abundance over there, and you can find some really good Greek food, too. If you've never had Turkish food, just think "kosher" with some really great flat bread.
What else? I went to an Italian restaurant over there once, and they asked me if I wanted "erbsen" (I think that's how it's spelled) in my calzone. Naturally I thought they meant herbs, until someone sitting nearby told me it meant peas. Peas inside a calzone didn't sound good to me that day! Also, beware of something else that's common in Germany: while they do have really good breads, including the high fiber "vollkornbrot", they like to serve it with something called speck. This is lard, and they use it in place of butter or margarine. So, if you don't want them giving you lard with your bread, be sure to order it "keinespeck" (KY-nuh SHPAYk). Oh! And finally, if you order bottled water (and I recommend you do) they will serve you carbonated mineral water unless you ask for it KY-nuh GAHZ. (without gas). It's a funny note to end on, but I'll stop there. Enjoy your trip!
just some notes and comments:
In most big cities, if you have a young waitress/waiter they should speak some english.
Asking for a doggy bag or something if you don't finish you meal is NOT okay.
Tipping is generally 7-10%, so basically just rounding up.
If you are in a group, most places will let you pay seperately (getrennt) and they will do the math for you.
I don't know much about the food in the south, but Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) can be very very good. Pretzels are good. The Chocolate and Haribo candies are good. There isn't really very much i'm going to miss about german food I'm going to miss when I leave later in the year, except the relatively cheap prices for western europe.
if you want to get groceries and stuff, Aldi, Lidl, Plus and Penny are super cheap.
I wouldn't worry too much about the lard thing, I've never seen it given out.
I also only ever drink tap water (leitungs wasser) cause it is free!
Have fun!
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