Food loves kindled or rekindled on our Germany trip:
1.) Ostfriesentee (East Frisian tea)
Ostfriesentee is a very dark Assam blend, strong enough to keep its flavor when using cream and sugar in it like the East Frisians do. This is a real kick-in-the-pants blend that can hold its own against strong coffee when it comes to getting the synapses kick-started in the morning. (East Frisia has a strong tea culture–they consume about fifteen times the German annual average, and East Frisians consume the most tea per capita in the world.)
2.) Hefeweizen (wheat beer)
I’ve not been a huge fan of hefeweizen before, but on our trip, my brother liberally plied me with Erdinger, and I’ll be damned if my tastebuds didn’t get used to it. Hefeweizen is the least hoppy of all the beers I know. All of a sudden, I find it exceedingly drinkable. The closest thing I can find to Erdinger locally is Harpoon’s UFO Weissbier (UnFiltered Offering). It’s not quite the same–it has a sort of citrus-y note that Erdinger lacks–but it’s close enough.
3.) Broetchen
Broetchen are the breakfast rolls you can get just about everywhere in Germany. Bakeries have them. Grocery store bread counters have them. Gas stations have them. They’re crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, and they’re the primary staple of a proper German breakfast. You slice them in half and spread jam or Nutella or cream cheese on them, or slap a few slices of Schinken (prosciutto) or other cold cuts on there. Simple as they look, they’re really hard to replicate in a home baking setting. Even the Germans don’t bother–Broetchen are so widely available everywhere that nobody goes through the effort of trying to make them from scratch, which is why it’s hard to even find a recipe for plain Broetchen.
4.) Frikadellen
Frikadellen are a cross between a burger patty and a meatball. They’re the perfect “hand food” for snacks on the go, and there isn’t a pub in Germany that doesn’t offer them as beer food. Unlike Broetchen, Frikadellen are easy enough to make at home, though, and recipes are ubiquitous.
If that list gives the impression that we spent our time in Germany mostly with eating and drinking, you would be absolutely correct. Yet despite all the excess, I only carried an extra 3/4 pound home with me, and I’m already back down to where I was before the trip. I’m guessing that all that running around had something to do with the fact that I didn’t gain ten pounds while we were there, because I put away a lot of calories.
Look around for up-scale liquor stores in your area. At Friar Tuck’s (an Illinois chain) I can get anything from mini-kegs of Köstritzer to six-paks of anything brewed by Weihestephan.
@Sennin, that’s a recipe for Semmel. 🙂
@Marko – Sierra Nevada’s Kellerweis is also pretty close to Erdinger (although I’m a Schneider Aventinus man).
It’s funny… for all that I *loved* all of the German food I had when we visited, I think my favorite thing I had there was a doner kebab from one of the many Turkish immigrant places. I’ve found places in German village that will do a decent facsimile of most of the native German stuff, but we don’t have any good Turkish places in town.
There’s a Danish bakery down here that makes a close version of brötchen. They are closer to bretzeln, but close enough until I can get back to Germany.
We regularly wonder why we can’t get broetchen here. Man that’s a good way to start the morning.
Broetchen? SURELY you mean “Schrippe”…:D
Only 3/4 pound extra? Hell, that’s well within the scope of a good bowel movement.
You didn’t gain during the essenfest because all that tea was a laxative…
BROTCHEN (German Hard Rolls)
Printed from COOKS.COM
1 pkg. yeast
1 1/4 c. lukewarm water
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. shortening
1 egg white, stiffly beaten
4 c. flour
Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. In mixing bowl combine yeast, 1 cup water, salt and shortening. Fold in stiffly beaten egg white. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Let dough rise twice until doubled, punch down and let rise again. Punch down and divide into 10-12 pieces.
Form into slightly flattened balls and place on greased baking sheet. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and bake 20 minutes. To ensure a hard crust, place pan with boiling water in bottom of oven during baking. Serve warm with jam, or cold. A German staple.
I do not understand the American obsession with putting citrus in hefeweizen. Makes me BONKERS. I lived in Heidelberg for almost 7 years, I got a taste for the hefeweizen and have to specifically ask every microbrewery if they add the orange or lemon crap to their wheats before I order it. *gag*
LL, I blame the Belgians and Blue Moon.
@LL – That sticks in my craw as well. In all my years of living in Bavaria, I never got a lemon/orange slice with my Weiz’n.
That’s because adding lemon to a Hefeweizen is greatly frowned upon in Bavaria.
Paulaner Hefeweizen for the win!! ‘Tis from Munich. And is excellent.
Lots of good food. My sister-in-law of Danish descent makes the frikadeller on occasion; hers are made with veal and are quite good.
Jaegerschnitzel, Spatze (not Spaetzle), Rolladen, Schwartzwaldekirschetorte…..