Germany

So we are about to head off to Cesky Krumlov after spending a busy few days in Prague. Sadly I found out my Nana has passed away and I won’t be able to get home for the funeral so blog writing will be a great distraction for this train.
To sum up German food it is hearty and HUGE in size (one plate feeds two people or one very hungry person). Things are definitely about meat and potatoes. It’s, I guess, what you would call typical MAN food. It is the type of meal that you should drink a stein of beer with near a fire. It is rustic.

On a side note... beer is a huge thing in Germany. In most places (especially Munich) wine is not considered even remotely as imported as beer. The size of beer is also massive. A normal sized glass is 500ml and a stein 1L. There was an outcry from the Germans at Oktoberfest this year as a stein had been priced at just over the 10euro mark ($16 for 1L of beer)...apparently this is ridiculously expensive! I guess due to the beauty of the beer gardens and beer being cheap it makes sense that beer drinking is such a favourite past-time of a Munich German.

We started our German food quest trying more traditional and well known German Cuisine…. sausages and schnitzel with sauerkraut and potato salad and a slow cooked pork knuckle. It took us only one day before we were sharing a plate each meal and it wasn’t long after that until we couldn’t handle much more of their delicious but heavy cuisine. I have to say that surprisingly Germany does potatoes very well. It wasn't something I was expecting as a potato lover. ( I always thought Ireland and England would be the land of the potato!) The potato salad we got everywhere was delicious with it’s creamy yet tart dressing and occasionally gherkins mixed in for crunch and zing. If our dishes weren't accompanied by potato salad then there was fried potatoes...usually with bacon and/or onions. This definitely reminded me of Dad’s fried potatoes at home and was a much better accompaniment than fries.
Over the first few days in Germany we ate a lot of schnitzel (prepared in numerous ways- with paprika sauce, with mushroom sauce, crumbed and fried). It didn't really matter which way we had schnitzel it always tasted good.
It took Lewis most of the trip to summon up the courage to tackle a pork knuckle. It was frightening in size but too be honest (It is mostly bone but still!) The knuckle was slow cooked and fell apart when pulled with a fork, it was that soft. It was a dish you expected to get back from the middle ages!

The highlight of the traditional food we had on our trip would have to be the schnitzel, especially the schnitzel we got in Heidelberg at Schnitzelhaus. It was so soft that the butter knife just slide through it...the delicious red wine we drank with it may have aided in it being my favourite!
The schnitzel in Germany is different to home. It is usually pork compared to beef and it is tenderised until it is thin and so soft that you have no problem cutting it. I guess I may have undervalued the need for tenderising it at home..well I have learnt my lesson and this definitely wont happen again.

We tried currywurst in Munich and Dresden (not Berlin where it was founded..Whoops). Currywurst is basically a curry flavoured smoked sausage with warm tomato sauce and curry powder on top. It tasted ok but had too much tomato sauce for my liking so tasted really processed.

When we finally arrived in Munich we were in desperate need of some simple and semi-healthy food. I missed my greens!. Fresh food bars became our best friend in Munich and Berlin. We ate numerous salads. Our favourite was definitely Flamingo in Berlin. This place was right near our house had the most excellent soups and main of the day (we had a zucchini veggie soup one day to share and gnocchi with mushroom casserole the other). Both days our dishes were amazing and yes still big enough to share! Our takeaway salad and sandwich for the train also hit the mark. The best part about this place was that we could share a main and feel great afterwards as the ingredients were fresh and in season and we had just enough for two.

Turkish places are a dime a dozen in Germany (especially Berlin). Apparently Berlin was where the Doner Kebab was invented (the Doner kebab here is in a triangle piece of bread cut like a cone and filled with salads, meat and sauce rather than a wrap and is quite delicious…though it is a mission to eat while walking.) I guess it could be considered a cross between our Slovaki, a sandwich and our wrap-style kebabs at home. The falafels with tabouleh and couscous salad are some of the best I have ever had. I was impressed by how amazing they tasted! We haven't had a dry and crumbly falafel since being here. They seem to have a great combination of spices in their flavour and don't have a fattiness taste when you bite into them.

Our search for a good burger was answered in Berlin when we went to Berlin Burger International. I was a bit skeptical when I saw the outside of the shop (it was covered in stickers and tiny in size). But going in and seeing the guys making everything eased my mind completely.The burgers were massive and had pickles (my favourite) as well as large amount of delicious salad. A non-fatty beef pattie, cheese, and sauces rounded off this epic creation. It was juicy without leaving your hands soaked and the freshness of all the salad was the best part in my opinion. We were so hungry at the point when we got them that I forgot to take photos (check out there website if you want to see them). It was hilarious watching people try and delicately eat their massive beast of a burger. They would give Big J's a massive run for there money! There are numerous places renowned for their burger n Berlin…a lot though are the American type of burger (which is quite fatty and salad in the bun is a no-no) rather than the kiwi-style (well in my family anyway) where we pile on the salad and toppings. It was nice to find somewhere that had the more European/less American variety of burger. One of the famous burger joints in Berlin is set up in what was a old public toilet under the subway..didn't think I could stomach that idea even if it was clean.

Another unusual try (well unusual for us) was the dumplings from Momo’s in Berlin. They were Nepalese style dumplings (to me they seemed more like ravioli than Asian dumpling). They were so good with their tomato dipping sauce, especially the spinach and ricotta kind.

Now on to some sweet discoveries I made while in Germany (Yep I left the best for last!).

A traditional food we found in Heidelberg was called a snowball. It was basically a deep-fried pastry/biscuit coated in a chocolate flavoured icing and with a flavouring in the middle (e.g. Nutella, strawberry, etc). I think we ended up eating minimal amount of it as we couldn't stomach the sweet and fattiness of it. This thing was fat and sugar laden and I would be surprised if anyone could really consume a whole one without feeling sick. They looked awesome and pretty though.

In Munich we found the amazing and crazy ice-cream man, Der Verruckte Eismacher. His ice-cream was deliciously creamy and flavoursome as I have said in a previous Munich post. The place definitely had a Giapo feeling about it though without the additional toppings. It was just about the ice-cream and creative flavours. The decor was adorable with its Alice in Wonderland theme throughout the store including pink lavish chairs and mushroom tables. I was in heaven! The taster we were given with our choice was bratwurst sausage ice-cream. It definitely tasted like bratwurst and even had a slight grainy sausage texture. It wasn't unpleasant but was definitely weird eating ice-cream with sausage in it! Our normal flavours of elderberry drink and Oreo were amazing! I understand that he had made Beer and Almond flavour for the duration of Oktoberfest to sell near the tents. Yum!

Finding amazing strudel was a mission in Germany. My first was in a random restaurant in Berlin. It was delicious! The pastry was slightly crunchy. The apple and cinnamon mixed in a perfect ratio with the apple pieces still intact while staying soft and moist. The side of vanilla sauce (custard) topped it off perfectly and made this desert even all the more delicious!

Our one chocolate place visited in Germany was the amazing Faussbender and Rausch. This is one of the biggest chocolateries in Germany and formed when two chocolatier joined forces and amalgamated their companies. They had delicious hot chocolate that was thick, luscious and creamy! I enjoyed every mouthful, especially considering we battled the cold and rain to get there for this delicious morsel. We had gateaux made of white chocolate and raspberries. I now understand why this is a perfect combination. The balance of sweet with tangy and creaminess hit the mark of perfection. This gateaux consisted of an amazingly thin white chocolate shell, a soft sponge, fresh raspberries as well as a deliciously tangy raspberry sauce and white chocolate mousse that melted with every mouthful. We enjoyed every spoon of this magical combination. I got the chance to watched one of their chefs create some chocolate creations while we visited and discussed why they had the chocolate kept at a rather cold temperature (30degrees) when decorating (…it is for control) and why they choose their particular chocolate for there creations (they have eight different types of cocoa from all the round the world..availability and taste preference). While watching I got to sample a few of her chocolate creations. My favourite was banana dark chocolate which is hilarious considering I am not the biggest fan of banana. It was the tart crisp dark chocolate outside with the white chocolate banana puree creme in the centre. The banana creme was exceptional and what made this little chocolate beau delicious! There massive chocolate creations of famous landmarks around Berlin were something to behold..most were over 300kg of chocolate and had more than 120 man hours to complete! That's dedication!

The best cake of Germany was had in Dresden where we went to the delicious cafe called Cafe Schinkelwache and had two different types of Torte (Lewis the Schokoladen-Sahne Torte and me the Eierschecke, a Dresden speciality). My cheesecake was exceptional and not what I was expecting. It was so light and not typical of what you would expect from your normal cheesecake. It was made of a layer of pastry base with a thin layer of cheese then a layer of meringue/sponge with a hint of lemon. With every slice it had the tartness of the cheese with the crispness of the base and finally the soft slightly lemon hint of the meringue. It was heavenly!

Salzburg also had an amazing cake shop Schatz Conditorei. It was here that I finally got to try poppy seed cake. The Mohntorte I had was amazing and Lewis Sachertorte I'm sure was just as good as the original. The original was ridiculous price...like 22euro for a piece...I don't think so! The Mohntorte had a crunchy poppy seed textured filling topped with the smoothness of meringue. This was a great combination of textures and flavours.

Our Salzburg adventure also meant we got a few novelties...like spaghetti ice-cream! It was a perfect treat on a hot day and how often can you say you have had spaghetti ice-cream! We also had Almdudler of course...it tastes exactly like Chi! So of course it is delicious and just what you need as a pick me up on a hot day.

German cuisine overall definitely had it's perks. I found something exciting to discover in each new place we visited. I definitely got my schnitzel and potato fix for a while. It's the perfect cuisine for when you feel like hearty rustic fare.

xx