# german food, anyone?



## turban1 (May 29, 2008)

In much of the trendy West, German food is the culinary 'sin that cannot be named' - unfashionable perhaps, but i love it. Anyone else agree? What do you love, and from where?


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## Phenom (Apr 10, 2010)

On a recent trip to Puerto Rico, my girlfriend and I went to a German/Puerto Rican restaurant near the middle of the island. I stuffed myslef with wiener schnitzel stuffed with ham and cheese, German potato salad, brot knodel and Puerto Rican dishes like mofongo, arroz con gandules and tostones, kegged beer and this view from our table


The only sin committed that day was the one of gluttony. When I return to the island, we will be going back there for the wiener schnitzel.



turban1 said:


> In much of the trendy West, German food is the culinary 'sin that cannot be named' - unfashionable perhaps, but i love it. Anyone else agree? What do you love, and from where?


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## Hanzo (Sep 9, 2009)

German food is definitely my favorite. I had it during my first trip to Germany and since then my love affair has only grown deeper. When I lived in San Diego, I religiously went to a restaurant called Kaiserhof (which my girlfriend of the time called my 'happy place'). The food there was fantastic! Jaegerschnizel, Maultaschen, Schweinshaxe, Lieberknudelensuppe, potato salad, cucumber salad, Spatzl, some the best sauerkraut I've ever had, plus the beers, desserts, schnapps...my mouth is starting to water. 

Since moving to Cincinnati (supposedly a German area...yeah right) I can't find any decent German food so I've had to resort to teaching myself. Its a slow process trying to get it right since I live by myself and cooking a single dish lasts me a week, but I'm trying.


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## Kingstonian (Dec 23, 2007)

Currywurst.

Brot is better than most other countries too.


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## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

Agreed that good German food is hard to find. Due to family background, I am a big fan of its derivative Pennsylvania Dutch treats, including scrapple, Lebanon bologna, and potato (or corn) soup with rivels (small, irregular dumplings). Honey, have you seen my cholesterol meds anywhere?
:devil:


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## Kravata (Mar 28, 2010)

Kingstonian said:


> Currywurst.
> 
> Brot is better than most other countries too.


2nded. My beef with currywurst was always that it comes in a ridiculously small brotchen. The wurst is like 4 times bigger than the bun.

Didn't like german bread really. Coming from the country where you only have fresh bread, that vacuum packed sliced bread was a no go for me. The bread from the bakeries was ok though.

Also, i love bratwurst.


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## jph712 (Mar 22, 2007)

I live in Huntsville, Alabama and we are lucky enough to have 5 German restaraunts. We have 4 in town and if you have a base sticker, 1 is on Redstone Arsenal. We have a heavy German influence here due to the Werhner von Braun's rocket team and NASA coming here in the 50s, first to Redstone Arsenal to do ballistic missile work, and later transitioning to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center where they worked on things like putting men on the Moon. People are surprised by the German restaraunts when they first come here, but then realize what they've been missing out on.


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## CharlesFerdinand (Jun 18, 2010)

Bitte!


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## Centaur (Feb 2, 2010)

I like German food if you include the Swiss and Austrian variants which, in my view, are superior to the pure German. I have been disappointed with German and Austrian wines too often, however, to eat their food with anything other than their beer (which is, of course, very good indeed). Swiss wines are another matter altogether.

I was once taken to a restaurant in the suburbs of Hamburg which specialised in German wartime food - curious and rather disgusting.


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## VictorRomeo (Sep 11, 2009)

Centaur said:


> I have been disappointed with German and Austrian wines too often, however, to eat their food with anything other than their beer (which is, of course, very good indeed). Swiss wines are another matter altogether.


Are you sure you have that the right way around? While there are some very decent wines there, an awful lot of it priced way beyond the quality. You just have to go there to try them as very little is exported. I do and have by the way - I travel frequently to Switzerland.

On the other hand Austria has left it's 'anti-freeze' notoriety well behind it and producing some stunning wines - mostly white and desert but they do have some great reds.


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## Centaur (Feb 2, 2010)

VictorRomeo said:


> Are you sure you have that the right way around? While there are some very decent wines there, an awful lot of it priced way beyond the quality. You just have to go there to try them as very little is exported. I do and have by the way - I travel frequently to Switzerland.
> 
> On the other hand Austria has left it's 'anti-freeze' notoriety well behind it and producing some stunning wines - mostly white and desert but they do have some great reds.


I said what I meant to say Victor - but I'm aware that it's not a fair comparison - Switzerland is expensive in all things, and Austria is cheap by comparison, I know. My wife's family is Swiss and so when we go there, I'm not always aware of how much things cost - and you're right about Swiss wine not being exported, it seems impossible to get at any price in England (please correct me if I'm wrong, anybody). But I've just come back from Austria (quite a remote area, admittedly) and the wine was very poor indeed.

I know there are some good German wines, and I'll take your word that there are good Austrian wines too, but so far they have eluded me. Probably I'm eating in the wrong places, who knows? I just find their beer (which I have a great liking for, especially if I've been outdoors) a much safer bet.


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## JJR512 (May 18, 2010)

turban1 said:


> In much of the trendy West, German food is the culinary 'sin that cannot be named' - unfashionable perhaps, but i love it. Anyone else agree? What do you love, and from where?


I don't even know what that means. "Sin that cannot be named?" If there's anything wrong with German food, it's news to me.

Anyway, I like German food in general. I like veal.

My favorite type of food is Mexican; my second favorite type is probably Chinese, although I suspect I would change that to Japanese if I had a little bit more experience with Japanese food from which to form a more solid opinion. What I like best about these types of food is the variety of flavors and textures going on in my mouth all at once. German food is definitely in my Top Ten, but I'm not quite sure where it ranks exactly. By the way, my opinion on ethnic foods comes from a person who has never left America, except for once when I walked into Juárez, Mexico from El Paso. I don't recall eating any food there, though. I've eaten at a number of places (in America) that claim to offer authentic cuisine from whatever country they're representing, but I have no idea how accurate those claims were or weren't.


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## VictorRomeo (Sep 11, 2009)

Fair enough. Swiss wine is somewhat different to the wines we're broadly used to - it's heavy and.... murky, if you can imagine that. And yep - like most all else there, it's crazy expensive. But the Swiss like it that way and are obsessive about it's production (and consumption). I have tasted some very good reds but they cost a fortune. For a €100 pinot in Geneva you'll get a better pinot in M&S for £30. Austrian wine though has dramatically improved since the big scandal in the 80s. When in Austria look for the classification 'Prädikatswein' and you'll find some of the best wines you've ever had.


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## VictorRomeo (Sep 11, 2009)

JJR512 said:


> I don't even know what that means. "Sin that cannot be named?" If there's anything wrong with German food, it's news to me.


For those of you who might have spent any lenght of time in Germany, you will have no doubt come across the odd and unusual toilet bowl so popular there (I lived near Dusseldorf for 18 months). Though it's probably the most unpleasant 'way to go', it serves a purpose that tells you all you really need to know about the average German diet!

(note: the food is good, but for any lenght of stay there make sure you eat ALL your vegetables. Lord knows, you won't get a lot of them!)


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## turban1 (May 29, 2008)

*poppycock*

i have had Schwabian reds that were light and delicious, but i was told that they were all drunk up before they reached the provincial border.


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## Peachey Carnehan (Apr 18, 2009)

I get German food confused with some Jewish dishes...I like potato pancakes with applesauce, which I had at a German restaurant. Another time, I was at a Jewish deli in Brookline and had practically the same thing which they called lattkes. I thought Lattke was the mechanic on Taxi.


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## Sophia123 (Apr 22, 2010)

Thank you guys for sharing the information. I really like you posting. I also want to share black forest cake with you all guys. It is famous german cake. This great-looking Black Forest Cake is originally called _Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte. _As for me, this name itself is very juicy and delicious as the cake! 
*R**ecipe**: * *Ingredients:*
*===============* 
PASTRY:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (butter-) milk
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Schwarzwaelder Kirschwasser (I used home-made cherry liquor)
FILLING:
1 cup sugar powder
1 pinch salt
1 can (0.5 liter) pitted cherries, drained
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon kirschwasser
TOPPING
1 square semisweet chocolate, or remaining crumbs
*Cooking**:*
*==========*
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line the bottoms of two 8 inch round pans with parchment paper circles (since I didn't have such paper, I just greased the pans). Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture, alternating with milk, beat until combined.
Pour into 2 round 8 inch pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool completely. Remove paper (if any) from under the cakes. Cut each layer in half, horizontally, making 4 layers total (as you can see from my picture, I chose not to cut the layers because they looked too fragile to cut them). Sprinkle layers with 1/2 cup Kirschwasser.
In a separate bowl, whip the cream to stiff peaks. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon Kirschwasser. Add sugar powder, and a pinch of salt. Beat again. Spread first layer of cake with 1/3 of the filling (use 1/2 of the filling if you have only 2 layers instead of 4). Top with 1/3 (2/3) of the cherries. Repeat with the remaining layer(s).
Frost top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with chocolate curls made by using a potato peeler on semisweet baking chocolate. Or you can use the remaining crumbs to sprinkle the sides of your Black Forest Cake.
Now, get your cup of tea or coffee, and Guten Appetit!


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## Hanzo (Sep 9, 2009)

Sophia123 said:


> Thank you guys for sharing the information. I really like you posting. I also want to share black forest cake with you all guys. It is famous german cake. This great-looking Black Forest Cake is originally called _Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte. _As for me, this name itself is very juicy and delicious as the cake!
> *R**ecipe**: **Ingredients:*
> *===============*
> PASTRY:
> ...


My mother and I teamed up in May to make a Black Forest Cake for my birthday. I'd have to pull out the recipe, but it looks very similar to this one. It was fantastic! Although the cake isn't as difficult to make as it looks just by reading the recipe, the problem is that you need a lot of people to help you eat it. It's VERY rich and due to using real whipped cream, it doesn't last for an extended period of time.

But, yes, a slice of this heaven and some good strong coffee is pure joy. By the way, probably want to keep this away from the kiddies. There's enough Kirsh in there to get you a bit loopy.


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