I’m going to do something different with this post, and that is speak about food. I’d previously written about the best burgers I’ve encountered around Belfast, and during my travels, but this time I’m going to focus on dishes you should seek out next time you’re in Germany.
When you think of culinary dishes from Germany, sauerkraut, sausages, schnitzels and pretzels probably come to mind, so try these to change your opinion of German cuisine.
Jägerschnitzel
Okay, so schnitzels are your stereotypical German food – but the Jägerschnitzel is special. Breaded pork or veal is then pounded thin and served with a mushroom sauce – though there is a divide from the partition of Germany, with the East German variant of Jägerschnitzel served with a tomato sauce and noodles.
Königsberger Klopse
Originating from Königsberg, which is now Kaliningrad, Russia – Königsberger Klopse are pork (or veal) meatballs served in a creamy sauce with capers. It was considered one of the better dishes of Prussian and East German cuisine, and it is very tasty. Tender meatballs and a delicious sauce. Sehr gut.
Spargelcremesuppe
This translates as asparagus cream soup, but bear with me, it’s a seasonal dish using white asparagus. Topped up with cream, stock and garnishes, it’s a simple, yet incredibly tasty dish.
Currywurst
Okay, so sausages are a stereotypical German dish too. But how about sausages, with curry sauce and fries? Created in 1949 in Berlin when Herta Heuwer received ketchup and curry powder from British soldiers stationed there post-WW2. She mixed the ingredients together with some other spices, added the sausage and magic was born, spreading like wildfire thereafter.
The German Currywurst Museum (why is this a thing?) estimates that 800 million currywursts are eaten every year in Germany, with 70 million in Berlin alone.
Döner
Okay, this may not be a German dish, but the Turkish diaspora in Germany have made it a national meal in Germany. Brought to Germany in the 1970s by Turkish workers invited by the German government to fill job vacancies, they also brought a dish to fill stomachs – and its popularity has been booming since.
