06 August 2009

Germany Food List

I'm not usually a tag-doer, but Andromeda tagged me to name 7 German foods I love and 7 German foods I hate and I've decided to do it because I get a lot of questions about food in Germany. One problem with this list, though, is that a lot of things I have learned to love here are just as existent in the U.S., I just never got to know them because of the eating habits of my family (my mom is a great cook, but she stuck to her classics and didn't push us to accept a lot of exotic or vegetable-filled things).

Like:

1. Nutella. But most readers know already that I have given up chocolate (and I include nutella in this list) until further notice.
2. Weisse Wurst. These white sausages have gotten the best of me even before I knew to take off the outside layer and despite my dislike for a lot of meat. I mostly only see them in Southern Germany, though.
3. Rouladen. Again, the meatiness of this food surprises me. It is flat pieces of pork (I think?) rolled up with pickles and mustard inside, cooked for a long while, left to get cold, and cooked again.
4. Leberwurst. Spreadable meat. What is with the meat here? Yum.
5. Klöse. How can I describe these? Extremely gooey/sticky potato-dough dumplings that go well with pork gravy and rotkohl.
6. Rotkohl. I remember using rotkohl for a science experiment assignment in junior high and not being able to believe from the smell that people would eat it. But it's a bit different here, kind of pickled. I love it.
7. Peppers. I never knew I liked them. And I never knew they were sweet. The red, yellow, and orange ones are the best.
8. Raffaelo. Yes, I know I'm up to 8. These little balls of joy also surprised me because I don't like cocoanut and I don't like nuts. So a cocoanut shell with cream surrounding a nut seemed like a no-go. On the contrary.

Don't like (this list is so much harder; you're not picky when you're a student):

1. Thin gravy. This has almost nothing to do with the taste (unless it's too salty). I just like it thicker. I don't know if this is a German thing, though. It might just be a Mike thing.
2. Toastbrot. Somehow, though Germans complain about Americans' wussy bread, they have the worst bread I've ever seen to make toast with.
3. All drinks that involve carbonation. And that's most of them. Why, oh why? I'd really rather drink from a bathroom tap than drink carbonated drinks. (That goes in America, too.)
4. Cigarettes. Okay, so they aren't a food, but for an awful number of people here, they seem to be. (I've heard people make jokes that Europeans are thinner than Americans because they smoke more.) And not like I've ever tried them, I've just suffered through chronic throat pain because they are everywhere. And I'm deeply hateful of that fact, and that the offenders also litter the streets with them.
5. I'm stopping at 4.

I'm tagging anyone who wants to be tagged who reads this blog.

3 comments:

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  2. Referring to how your mom stuck to her classics and didn't force exotic or vegi-filled things - you should probably interpret that as "she mostly stuck to what her husband would eat." Remember when she made that delicious zucchini?

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  3. Sorry, mom, to me, zucchini will never be delicious by itself. I had it yesterday in a casserole and I liked the casserole, so you can be proud of me.

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