Vallendar, Germany: The Food

Germany, as with any country, has a family of stereotyped foods. Bratwurst, sauerkraut, sausages, schnitzel, and lots and lots of beer, are what typically come to mind when people mention German cuisine. And you know what? Schnitzel truly deserves the acclaim, as do so many well-fried foods. What is also delicious, and often overlooked as a boring side dish, is spaetzle: a sort of short egg noodle that almost always accompanies a crispy schnitzel and is best used for soaking up leftover gravy or champignon sauce. A similarly popular beverage that is completely unheard of in the U.S. is a mix of cola and orange soda called Spezi, which exists as the actual brand name or as generics such as Mezzo Mix (which I purchased from the vending machine to fuel my finals studying). And of course, Germans eat their fries with mayo and put dill in their salad dressing. Apart from these very obvious differences and new elements which are noticeably absent from mainstream American cuisine, many of the German food habits that I have experienced while abroad have been far more nuanced and intriguing in origin.

Firstly, grocery shopping in Germany can be both fun and confusing for those unused to the layout and variety of German grocery stores. Rewe, Lidl, Aldi, and Netto are the four most common grocery stores in my area, and have varying degrees of “quality”, marginal price differences, and different lines of products. However, any grocery store in Germany will expect you to bring your own reusable bag (or to buy one of theirs) and bag your own items as the cashier rings them through. This makes for a very stressful situation as most German cashiers will send things through the scanner at an incredible speed before reading you your total (a long affair, due to the structure of German numbers). Figuring out the end of a grocery shopping trip without looking utterly foolish therefore takes place on quite the learning curve.

Germans will typically buy their meat at the Metzgerei, and their delicious breads at the Backerei. Two other staples–milk and eggs–are still typically found in the grocery store. However, they’re usually sold on the shelf. Early on in my semester abroad, I tried to understand the process behind German milk and eggs that allows them to avoid store refrigeration (the milk is ultra-pasteurized and can last for several months while the eggs are beyond me), but ended up refrigerating them just in case. Another dining difference is the lack of tap water at restaurants; German restaurants will usually offer water “with gas” or “without gas” on the drinks menu, but are uncomfortable with the idea of serving water from the tap in spite of its extremely high-quality filtration system. At the same time, you are not allowed to drink your own beverages at a dining establishment, and they will tell you so if they catch you sipping from the very American reusable water bottle. As a result, you’re often forced to purchase either water or other drinks to send your food down. The mundanity of these experiences is reflective of my many lessons learned abroad: a buildup of small, new habits of life made for a gradually modified way of living that I was able to experience slightest taste of, and which shapes much of German culture today.