GERMAN Cuisine

1. GERMAN Cuisine

2. The third largest country in European Union lies in the heart of the Europe Four regions Northern Plain: from the board of Netherlands to that of Poland: flat plains dotted with small lakes, marshes, heaths and undulating hills on the east. The Central Mountain Range:complicated patch work of mountains, rivers, and valleys (Mittelgebirge). Alpine Foothills: triangle shaped, boarded by the Danube in the north, Lake Constance in the west, city of Passau in the east South: small section of Alps-highest mountain in Germany. Physical Geography

3. Climate and land use • temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm foehn wind; Moselle and Rhine valleys have mild climate where vine grows, the southern and eastern parts and high elevations have cold winters of continental climate, microclimate of island of Mainau in Lake Constance even permits the palm trees and lemons. • 55% for crops, meadows, and pastures, 30% forest, 14% cities (2004 est.) • Dense populated country (589 people on every square miles compared to 70 in the U.S.)

4. Agricultural • Crops: sugar beet, wheat, barley, potatoes, rye, and hops. • Meat: a main source of income for most German farmers; pig farming in the north and west, cattle, sheep in the south and poultry in the south and east. • Agricultural meets 80% of its population needs, imports are fish, butter, eggs, fruit, and vegetables.

5. Staples Food Potatoes: King Frederick (17th century) announced that those peasants who refused to plant potatoes would have their nose and ears cut off. Bread (wheat, rye): not as side, but as main food especially in breakfast Vegetables Cabbage, turnips, dried split peas and lentils Fruits cooked with meat, as relishes, in salad, and desserts Apples Pears peaches Nuts are used in appetizers, entrees, sauces, and sweets

6. Meat Creative ways of using meat: tongue is extremely popular, also brains, sweetbreads (the thymus of a young animal), heart, liver, kidneys, neck bones, the knuckles, skins, feet, and ears; beef marrow used in dumplings and in stews. Pork Veal Deer Rabbits Wild games

7. Food changes • Past eating habit: diet of potatoes, sausages, and sauerkraut (washing down with beers). • Recently became international: 1960s immigrants from countries around the Mediterranean (Greek, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Yugoslavian); Chinese, Thai, Indian are also around. • New generations became more health conscious and turned to lighter food

8. Staple cuisines cannot be replaced • German bread (200 kinds) • Sausages (1,500 varieties) • Potatoes (more methods to prepare it than any other western food) • Typical breakfast: butter, cheese, salami, sliced meat, boiled eggs, tea or coffee, orange juice, cereal, yogurt, rolls (crunchy-crusted Brötchen). • Lunch is the hot meal: meal of the day • Four o’clock: coffee and cake time (numerous selection of sweets) • Dinner is light: bread, cheese, sliced meats, salads, pickled cucumbers.

9. Bread: has a bread museum • Weuzenbrot: light,crusty baguette-style French bread • Roggenbrot: rye bread made from sourdough. • Vollkornbrot: made by rough ground kernels • Leinsamenbrot: a rye bread with linseed • Pumpernickel: baked long time 16-24 hours) under a low temperature • Brötchen: rolls • Stollen: Christmas bread (or cake) with sugar on the top, dry and rich, filled with nuts and fruits.

10. Sausages • Each region has different specialties mostly made with pork products and some with beef and other meats • Leberwurst: coarse, pork liver and pork sausage. (use as a spread on a piece bread) • Bratwurst: pork and veal (for frying) • Knockwurst: smoked, heavily seasoned with garlic, spicier than hotdog • Weisswurst: white veal sausage made with cream and eggs (boil) • Frankfort (hotdog) • Blutwurst: blood sausage or pudding • Hot mustard, sauerkraut, and horseradish are common condiments

11. Regional Sausages styles • North Germany – spicy sausage • Nuremburg (Southeastern Germany)– finger size sausage – all sausage has to come from the city Examples: • Berlin • Munich • Frankfurt

12. Berlin • Berlin Currywurst (diced bratwurst) • Fast food – served at lunch stands everywhere • Sausage cut into sections, covered in tomato sauce, sprinkled with paprika and curry powder

13. Munich • Weisswurst ( white sausage, also called bockwurst) • Made of calf’s head, veal, and seasoning - boiled • Tradition says you must eat it before you hear the chimes at midday • Weisswurst etiquette – remove sausage from bowl of hot water, cut in half, dip in mustard, then suck the sausage out of its casing • Only eaten with pretzels and beer – nothing else!

14. Frankfurt • Frankfurter – made all over Germany, but must be called frankfurters in this region • Made of lean pork, bacon fat, salt, and spices • Put into a casing and smoked, has a yellowish tint – long and thin sausages

15. Based on two cooking books

17. Based on two receipt books

19. Cooking Methods • Meat is usually roasted • Sausages are grilled, pan fried, sautéed • Vegetables boiled, fried, sautéed

20. Sauces • Horseradish, Sauerkraut, and remoulade sauces are common • Others include anchovy, beetroot, carrot, asparagus, cucumber, cauliflower, egg mustard, onion, mushroom, herring, nuts, fruits. A sauce is often made of the liquid of vegetables and vegetables served in the sauce

21. Popular dishes • Sauerkraut • Klosse • Spaetzel (fluffy egg) • Stollen (Christmas cake)

22. Sauerkraut • Cabbage that has been salted, shredded, and fermented for weeks • Word means “sour cabbage” in German • Chinese invented it over 2300 years ago

23. Klosse • Light bread balls • Consists of bread, eggs, herbs, and either meat, poultry, or fish • Not to be confused with English dumplings which are heavy, Klosse are light, puffy bread balls (sometimes made of potatoes)

24. Spaetzel • Traditional German pasta • Thicker noodles than Italian pasta • Made with eggs, flour, butter, water, salt • Traditionally egg based, but modern times has seen outside influence and more pasta is made with wheat

25. Stollen • Hundreds of German bread recipes • Bread is an important part of meals, eaten for breakfast and not considered a side dish • Stollen popular – traditional Christmas bread • Is a dry, rich cake with powdered sugar on top – can be made with fruits and nuts

26. Beer • Often consumed during meals (2 quarters of beer in one evening is not uncommon) • All regions have their specialized beer (ranging 2 to 28% alcohol); Each town has at least one brewery, and local people drink local beer • Pilsner beer: most commonly brewed • Lighter beer is called “hell”, darker ones called “dunkel” • Beers delivered to customer in Munich like milk was delivered, except customers bring out their own jugs to be filled. • Bavaria has 1600 brewers (beer county) • North Germans: lighter in both alcohol and color and drink chilled beers; south Germans: dark and sweet beer at room temperature • Most German beer in the US comes from the North – Becks • Germans frown upon imported beers – because they don’t adhere to the Reinheitsgebot – a source of pride of Germans • Reinheitsgebot: early years’ type that used barley, hops, and water (no yeast used)

27. Munich • Paulaner • dark wheat (weizen) beer • Don’t chug beer like this • Oktoberfest favorite • Hefeweizen and strong Bock beers also popular

28. Berlin • Berlin Weisse (white beer) • Fruity/tart wheat beer • Most kinds have fruit syrup added

29. Hamburg • Dry pilsner lagers – unlike sweet pilsners in Bavaria • Czech brewers in their town of Pilsen took legal action against German brewers • Shortened to Pils in Germany

30. Dussledorf • Alt beer (old beer) • Bitter beer • Often consumed with cheese

31. Cologne • Kolsch beers • Pale ales • If your in Cologne, you drink Kolsch and nothing else – as the locals do • Bad form to ask for it in a pub, wait to be offered a beer • Kolsch as a name can only be used in Cologne – extends for entire EU

32. Wine and other spirits • white wine is most popular, and Riesling wine is the predominant kind, which is also the dominant cooking wine • Weinbrand (burst wine) is the German name for brandy made from wine. Example: Asbach Uralt • Spirits are made from fruits such as cherries (Kirsch- nicer than sleep pills), pears, plums, raspberries, blackberries.

33. Pork knuckles

34. Eels, fried potatoes, eggs (northern German)

35. Anderson, Jean and Wurz, Hedy. The New German Cookbook. New York: Harper Collins, 1993 • Bernstein, E. Culture and Customs of Germany. Greenwood Press., Westport, Connecticut, 2004. • Lewis, D., J. Schwitalla, and U. Zitzlsperger. Contemporary Germany. Arnold, London, 2001 . • Wason, B. The Art of the German Cooking. Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1967. • Whitfield, Nella. Cooking the German Way. New York: Spring Books, 1958 • http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Cuisine-of-Germany • http://www.geometry.net/basic_g/german_cooking_page_no_2.php • http://www.krispkraut.com/glkraut/about+kraut/faq/default.asp • http://aquanic.org/publicat/govagen/fas/gm5062.htm • http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Cooking%20by%20Country/Sauerkraut.htm • http://lerayonvegetarien.chez.tiscali.fr/recettes/spaetzel/11.jpg • http://www.absolut-mecklenburg.dc/root/portal/public/3/pics/klosse100.gif • http://sbbakingco.com/products/images/stollen.jpg • http://www.thehouseatthebridge.com/TravelInfo/CurryWurst.html • http://www.frommers.com/destinations/munich/0099020001.html • http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A653744 • http://www.internationalreports.net/europe/germany/hesse/2003/thefrankfurter.html • http://www.esn-network.com/46.0.html • http://www.germanfoods.org/consumer/beerforeverypersonality.cfm • http://www.germanbeerguide.co.uk/styles.html • Acknowledge: Jeffery A. Foster contributed material and pictures