Unique German food you should not miss out on

Categories: General Travel Info

Sauerbraten – a very popular Sunday dish in Southern Germany

[ source: Wikipedia]

When you ask Americans to name unique German delicacies, surely you will get beer as an immediate answer. People who have visited the Oktoberfest or some other German fair, will probably also know and appreciate Bratwurst and pork knuckles, but aside from these immensely popular foods, foreigners often have no idea what else German cuisine has to offer.

In traditional German restaurants the menu often consists of two or three appetizers, which are Bratwurst and soup, and then a number of roasts, served with sauce, some kind a of potato side dish and vegetables. Most of these pork, beef and other meet dishes that you can get in any German restaurant, could not be found on any American menu. However, some of these dishes are certainly more exotic to American taste buds than others, but definitely worth a try.

First to name is the Sauerbraten, which is a pot roast of beef that is marinated for days before being cooked. What makes this roast so special is that the marinade consists of vinegar — hence the name sour roast — and German gingerbread, which is a favored Christmas cookie.

Next to the usual potato dumplings, Spätzle are a very popular side dish. The literal translation of Spätzle is little sparrow, but they actually are a type of noodle, consisting of flour, eggs, water, milk and salt — a German version of Italian pasta so to speak.

If you don’t like meat, you should have a go at a trout dish, the most common ones being poached trout and smoked trout. With both dishes you are served the whole fish, head and all. The first kind is cooked in water and vinegar, which gives the trout skin an artificial blue shimmer. The second kind is wrapped in foil together with various vegetables and then cured for several hours.

Finally, I would like to introduce a typical Sunday dish, which is surely not for everybody. It is hardly known in Southern Germany but immensely popular in the North and called Lapskaus. Its main ingredients are salted beef, potatoes, herring, onion and beetroot. Traditionally salted beef, herring, beetroot and onions are mixed and grinded and then cooked in seasoned water. After that you mix it with mashed potato and serve it together with a fresh herring, gherkins and a fried egg on top of it all.

Guten Appetit! Bon appetite!

About this Article

This travel guide has been written by Kathrin Wagner.

She grew up in a small town in Bavaria and then studied Media studies, Literature and History in Erlangen and Munich. As a student she already spent half a year in London and moved back there after graduation in 2006. She is still living in London, where she works in publishing.

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