Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Eating in Germany

One of the most pleasurable experiences was sampling some of the fine food that is traditional to Germany. A lot of it seems to be closely related to the food we eat in the United States and I am unsure if the post war occupation had some effect on the variety of food. Nevertheless, the food was always fresh and delicious and after spending nearly a year (4 trips, each about 3 months in duration) have yet to have a bad meal.
My favorite place to eat and the baseline to how every other restaurant is judged is The Wooden Spoon, or Zum Kochlöffel in Sembach, Germany. Gabi is the hostess and usually the waitress and is very good at what she does. To see information about the restaurant, go to http://www.kochloeffel-sembach.de/welcome.html . I always enjoy the same thing when I go there as I have tried most everything on the menu and found my favorite dish. Filetsteak “ Köhlerin “ mit Pfifferlingrahmsauce, Pommes frites und Salat is the best steak I have found. The only difference is that I do not order it with the Pommes frites (french fries) but substitute Spätzle (German dumpling that looks like pasta).


Before the main attraction though is the salad. I think everyone in Germany shares the same type recipe. The bottom of the plate is some type of cabbage with a sour, maybe vinegar dressing. On top of that is greens and other vegetables. The greens are generally fresh and whatever is growing during the time of the year.


I was always a driver (1 beer=DWI in Germany) so Apfelsaftchoerle was my choice of beverage. It is an apple juice spritzer and seemed to go well with the food. Mixing the juice also made the beverage cheaper and that is nice as well.

Finally dessert was not always a given, but for those times when there was a bit of room left, Heisse Himbeeren mit vanilla eis und sahne was my favorite. (The doggone people put raisins in the strudel). The hot raspberry sauce on vanilla ice cream with whipped cream was always great and nary a nasty raisin did I find.


Just a few more notes about dining in Germany: When you are seated at a table, that is your spot for as long as you want it. There is never any pressure to pay and leave or order more items. Dining is casual and enjoyable. Also, I have yet to hear anyone come back to the table to ask if everything is okay. Hah, they know it is okay and do not waste your time with a redundant question.

YA WOHL!

3 comments:

Great Grumpy Z. said...

Well, I should hope that the proprietor's would not hurry the customer (consumer!) out! With all of that good food, one would be advised to plan on taking about four hours to eat and enjoy!

Jawohl!!

Great Grumpy Z. said...

You said about the food, "A lot of it seems to be closely related to the food we eat in the United States and I am unsure if the post war occupation had some effect on the variety of food." Maybe the fact that a lot of Germans migrated to the US, resulting in a lot of our recipes being brought from Germany.

Also, to some extent the GI's in WWII (and WWI) brought back food tastes (and sometimes wives -- one apiece usually!!) from Germany to influence some of the dishes we eat today.

Pawpaw said...

Italian pizza does not resemble anything that is served in this country unless you visit an area corrupted by foreigners. I am also sure that Chinese food is quite different in China (woof, woof). My suggestion was that recipes got tweeked to satisfy the occupation (and receive dollars for the effort). There were however many foods that I enjoyed that I do not think had influence. Black Forest cake was one such food. It is a light brown, almost spice cake with a light, fluffy chocolate frosting and cherries between the layers. (This being the original cake as developed and enjoyed in the Black Forest).