Popular Blends and Flavors of German Cuisine
German Cuisine and Food Culture
Germany offers a ready mix of main dishes, deserts and starters in its cuisine. Thinking about
German food most people imagine sauerkraut, massive sausages, and foaming mugs of beer. It's true a lot of Germans love that, but it's by no means the whole story. Most of the German land is very fertile land with lots of water available and a stable climate, meaning that meat and dairy products have always been abundant. With the availability of all the natural resources to grow food, the food here is in abundance, hence German food is 'preserves' - smoked, marinated, salted, and pickled food.
German cuisine varies according to each German state's culinary tradition, to its regional agriculture, and to the new tastes of new Germans who have settled in the reunited Germany. Nordrhein Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland and Baden-Wuertenburg's traditional specialties, for example, include ingredients typified in the agriculture around the Black Forest and the Rhein River, and by a wine tradition influenced by the proximity to Belgium, France and Switzerland. They include dishes like the "Badener Schneckensuepple" (a snail chowder flavored with herbs), "Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte" (Black Forest cake), and "Rheinischer Sauerbraten" (beef roast stewed with wine).
| Beverages |
 |
|
|
|
| |
| Main Dish Seafood |
 |
|
|
|
German Spices & Special Ingredients
Germans would eat five meals a day but now people usually eat three. The regions first meal is probably breakfast (Frühstück). Which is usually based on bread and rolls with any choice of honey, jam, cheese or cold meats, plus fruit, muesli, cornflakes, boiled eggs, yoghurt, cream cheese (Quark) all washed down with plentiful coffee or tea. For the lunch (Mittagessen), there can be an appetizer (Vorspeise), a hot soup, a main course usually consisting of potatoes, vegetables and meat, side dishes (Beilagen), and finally a sweet course called Nachspeisen. Dinner (Abendbrod) is usually cold and is served from about five to six o'clock.
| Sauces and Condiments |
 |
|
|
|
| |
| Soups and Stews |
 |
|
|
|
German Specialty Cookwares and Kitchen Appliances
A
German kitchen differs slightly from an American one. Germans still cook more meals at home and generally don’t eat or drink in their cars. German cuisine has developed over hundreds of years, but with a few exceptions. Historic German cooking tools are nearly the same as those used today. One major exception is the oven. Throughout medieval German society, most homes didn't have ovens. Hence bread dough was prepared at home and then taken to the local baker for baking. But things have changed in this part of the world and more modern and equipped kitchens are now found in almost every German house.
Most historic German kitchens made do with little in the way of food preparation tools. A mixing bowl, a bucket, and a strainer or sieves were common items, along with cutting and serving boards. Early
German diets relied heavily on stews and other easily prepared dishes, like breads, root vegetables and cheese. In the manor kitchens, cooking was much more involved. Mortar and pestles were used to grind herbs and spices. Cheese graters, waffle irons and sugar cutting tongs were found in the more well-equipped kitchens, as were Dutch iron handmills, a machine like a pepper mill that was used for grinding mustard seeds.
| Breakfasts |
 |
|
|
|
| |
| Main Dish Meats |
 |
|
|
|
| |
| Main Dish Poultry |
 |
|
|
|
| |
| Potato and Noodle Side Dishes |
 |
|
|
|
| |
| Vegetable Side Dishes |
 |
|
|
|
| |
| Quick and Yeast Breads |
 |
|
|
|
| |
| Desserts |
 |
|
|
|
| |
.jpg)
