German Cuisine

When we think of German food, several gastronomic delights come to mind - hefty sausages, cold mugs of beer, hot pots of filter coffee, thick layers of pancakes, loaded dumplings, as well as the Apfelschorle and Spezi brand of colas - diverse yet all of them gratifying.

Hankering for a taste of Germany is understandable. The many regions of this country have a wide offering of their own traditional cooking, using fresh ingredients the country folks themselves grown and raised, like potatoes, corn, vegetables, poultry, pork, beef and chicken.

The southern regions of Germany have cuisine and cooking similarities with their neighboring countries like Austria and Switzerland, characterized by heavier and richer dishes. The southwest part, meanwhile, is heavily influenced by French cuisine, while food characteristics prevalent in the Eastern European nations can be found in the eastern German regions. In the northern part of Germany, Scandinavian tastes and preferences are prevalent. Generally, German cooking is dominated by meat and potatoes.

With such diversity, appreciating the distinct qualities of German cuisine takes an understanding of the equally distinct culinary landscape of its many regions.

When in Germany, you can never go wrong with these popular, authentic German choices:

1. Knödel (Dumplings) - They are the steamed or boiled heavenly ball-shaped German dumplings that are ubiquitous in any German meal. The knödel is versatile and can be eaten as an appetizer, main dish, side dish, soup add-ons or dessert (the sweet variety called quarkkeulchen). There are plain varieties while some fill them with nuts, fruits and other fillings. Knödel dough may be made from potato flour, bread flour or semolina.

2.Wurst (Sausage) - Wurst is synonymous to Germany and is a major part of German culinary landscape. Germany has the largest selections of wurst in the world, including not only hundreds of sausage varieties (blutwurst, weiiswurst or frankfurters), but a wide array of cold cuts or Aufschnitt. Wursts are either boiled or grilled and are often accompanied by bread, salad, horseradish or mustard. leftovers are used in soups and stews.

3. Käse (Cheese) - German delicatessens and rural backyards in Germany produces the best cheese varieties in the world - more than 600 varieties including Edelpilzkäse, Handkäse, Harzer Käse, Bavarian Blu, Bierkäse, Butterkäse, Cambozola, Camembert and Edamer, among many others. German cheeses are major export products of this country. The Bavarian and Alpine regions produces rare and extremely ambrosial cheese varieties like the Allgäuer mountain cheese and the Emmentaler cheese.

4. Beer - Like the wurst, beer is a German trademark, with the global fare Oktoberfest conquering almost all countries in the world with a month-long happy hour of overflowing beer. Germany's 1,200 breweries (and more) produces the best beer varieties in the world, especially those coming from the regions of Bavaria and Dortmund. There are literally thousands of beer varieties to taste and enjoy: Alt, Pilsner, Bock, Mailbock, Dunkel, Export, Eisbock, Hell, Kölsch, Kollerbier, Lager, Leichtbier, Malzbier, Gose, Märzen, Sticke and Weizenbier, and these are just a few.

5. Wines - German wines are noticeably sweeter, and at times even spicier than other European wines. Most German regions have climate that is conducive for the cultivation of grapes, like Bavaria. However, white grape varieties are more abundant than red ones becuase of the cool German climate. Germany's trademark wine is the Riesling, dubbed as the the queen of German wines. It is favored by many local folks and visitors because of its combination sweet, spicy and fruity.

6. Bread - Germany is a bread nation, and bread is a part of everyday life and a permanent fixture of the German dining table, like the butterbrot (buttered bread slices) German bakeries produce many varieties of bread, and there are distinct bread types that are also synonymous with Germany. Pretzels (originated in Munich), pumpernickel bread (originated in Osnabrückwhole, these are dark-colored and coarse grain bread from rye flour), brötchen (a small roll of bread made of wheat flour), weissbrot (white bread made from ground wheat flour) and the kastenweissbrot (loaf bread), among many others.

7. Kuchen (Cakes) - Germans are sweet-toothed by nature, and cakes are a common fixture of the afternoon Kaffee un Kuchen (coffee and cake) break time. Visitors in Germany will find that this version of the Spanish siesta is very much alive in German cities, especially around 4 pm. Even busy German employees would always find time for this age-old tradition. Filled with fruits, nuts and glaze, fancy cake eaters also love the Torten cake variety, more elaborate layers of cakes laden with heavy creams.