created: 30.09.2004
last modified: 30.09.2004
Like every country Germany has its regional culinary specialities. The German cuisine consists of a variety of regional styles of cooking and has far more to offer than just pork roast with dumplings and kraut - which is the common cliché in many a film. But German specialities can easily be confusing: If you order a "Halve Hahn" in cologne (which means "half a chicken" if translated literally) you won't get served any poultry but a rye bread roll with cheese. And what are "Himmel und Erde", "Käs'spatzen" or "Kohl und Pinkel" actually?A brief journey throught various German parts and their specialities:
Hamburg / North Germany
Well - known specialities from the north are Hamburger Aalsuppe (eel soup), Labskaus (Corned Beef or salted beef with mashed potatoes, herring and fried egg), Birnen, Bohnen und Speck (pears, beans and bacon, cooked together), Kohl und Pinkel (kale and sausages), Hannoversches Blindhuhn (stew with bacon, potatoes, vegetables and fruit), Matjes-Hering (young herring fillet), Rote Grütze (red fruit with vanilla sauce or cream).
Brandenburg
Teltower Rübchen (small turnip from the area of Teltow), Mohnprielen und Mohnstriezel (sweet leavened cake with poppy seeds), Eberswalder Spritzkuchen (small cakes, baked in fat).
Berlin
Eisbein mit Sauerkraut und Kartoffel- oder Erbspüree (boiled pig's shin with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes or peas), Buletten (meatballs), Berliner Leber (liver with onion and apple rings), Eierpfannkuchen (pancakes), Kartoffelpuffer (hash browns) und Berliner Weisse mit Schuss (beer with woodruff or raspberry syrup).
Westfalen and northern Rheinland
Rheinischer Sauerbraten (marinated pot roast), Himmel und Erde (mashed apples and potatoes) with Flönz (a kindof black pudding) and Röstzwiebeln (roasted onions), Halver Hahn (rye bread roll with cheese), Reibekuchen (potato fritter, grated raw potatoes fried into a pancake) with Apfelmus (apple puree), Mettbrötchen (bread roll with smoked pork or beef sausage), Berliner (doughnut).
In Westfalen among others Räucherschinken(smoked ham), Mettwürstchen(smoked pork or beef sausage) and Pumpernickel (black wholemeal bread), Apfelkraut (apple syrup), Pflaumenmus (plum jam) and Aachener Printen (ginger bread from Aachen) are served.
Sachsen
Leipziger Allerlei (mixed vegetables, typically consists of peas, carrots, asparagus, beans, cauliflower and kohlrabi) is very famous, and also Dresdner Stollen (rich Christmas cake with marzipan and fruits), Speckkuchen (substantial cake with bacon and onions) und Quarkkeulchen (dessert made from potato dough).
Sachsen-Anhalt
Lehm und Stroh (sauerkraut with mashed peas), Köhlersuppe (bread cubes, kidney suet, onions and mushrooms), Baumkuchen (layered cake with marzipan and rum).
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Plum'n un Klüt (plums and dumplings), Spickbost (smoked goose chest), Teewurst (fat meat paste)
Thüringen
Thüringer Rostbratwürste (roast sausages), Hefeplinsen (pancakes with raisins, sugar or jam), Streuselkuchen (cake with apples, plums, poppy seeds or curd).
Frankfurt und Hessen
Rippchen mit Sauerkraut (pork ribs with sauerkraut), Frankfurter Würstchen (roast sausages), Frankfurter grüne Soße (spicey sauce with mayonnaise), Zwiebelkuchen (substantial cake, served with a young white wine, the so-called "Federweisser"), Frankfurter Kranz (buttercream tart decorated with almond brittles).
Pfalz and Baden
Saumagen (porks stomach), Schlachtplatt e(a meal that consists of various pork and beef dishes of the slaughter of the day), Leberknödel (liver dumplings), Weinsauerkraut (sauerkraut marinated in wine), Kartoffelsuppe mit Zwetschgenkuchen (potatoe stew with plum cake), Dampfnudeln (big dumpling from sweet leavened dough served with jam), Rotweinkuchen (red wine cake), Zwiebelkuchen (onion tart), Weinsuppe (wine soup), Flammkuchen (substantial cake with bacon and onions), Badische Schneckensuppe (soup with escargots), Bachforelle (trout), Schwarzwälder Schinken (gammon from the Black Forest) Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (a cream tart with chocolate and cherries from the Black Forest).
Stuttgart and Swabia
Maultaschen (Swabian ravioli), Spätzle (a sort of pasta), Bubenspitzle ("Spätzle" made from potato dough with bacon and sauerkraut), Zwiebelrostbraten (onion roast), Schwäbisches Schäufele (smoked shoulder of a pig).
Munich and Bavaria
Leberkäs' (meat loaf, doesn't contain liver), various dumplings, Käs'spatzen (pasta with cheese and roasted onions), Spanferkel (pigling), Spießbraten (skewered roast), Weißkraut mit Kümmel (white cabbage with caraway seed), Schwammerln (forest mushrooms with dumplings) mit Knödeln (forest mushrooms with dumplings), Leberknödelsuppe (liver dumpling soup), Nürnberger Rostbratwürstchen (roast sausages), Weißwurst mit süßem Senf (white sausages with sweet mustard), Brezn (Pretzel), Obatzder (spread made from camembert, butter and onions), Bayrische Creme (Vanilla cream), Strudel (filled cake made from very tin dough that's rolled), Nürnberger Lebkuchen (ginger bread from Nuremberg), Steckerlfisch (skewered trout, grilled).
The generally wide variety of food and drinks in Germany should include something for everybody. The advantage for diabetics is that they hardly have to limit themselves. In restaurants you'll always find light dishes as an alternative to the typically German meals, which indeed are quite substantial and contain a lot of fat; normally various salads and low-fat meat products are offered. Apart from that you will find international cuisine almost everywhere in Germany. So there's no problem if you need a little taste of home.
German bakeries offer a big choice of bread variety, so a diabetic can always choose between various wholemeal rolls and bread. Many ice cream parlours are also prepared for diabetics and offer ice with sugar substitutions.
