German Cuisine

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German- Cooking and Food

Overview of German Cuisine History
Germany has a long and tumulus history. Culture and traditions play a significant part in influencing the cuisine as well. In most German areas there are large plantations of potatoes, oats, wheat, sugar beets, barley, and rye. Cabbage and carrots are the most important vegetable crops, and are used in almost all dishes, from soups to stews and even roasted meat. Fruit crops range from apples, pears, currants, strawberries, and raspberries, and are particularly used for jams, sauces for pancakes, or used fresh in cakes. Along the course of history, on German lands was easier to grow grain and take care of cattle on their vast pastures. The fertile lands provided all necessary water and supplies for maintaining herds of sheep, cows and pigs. Milk and dairy products have been part of their diet, as well as beer made out of barley. After the Second World War, foreign workers have come in large numbers in all German regions, influencing culture as well as eating habits. Pizza, spaghetti, and French fries are all part of the legacy left by those foreign workers coming from Italy or France. Turkish immigrants have brought the kebab dish, and oriental influences have started to show lately, such as Indian or Thai foods. Today, meat, especially sausages made from pork, game birds and rabbit are considered traditional food in the German cuisine.

Cuisines of Germany


By Geographic Area and Style:



Add an German Article or Recipe: createpageform-german Cuisines found all over Germany differ in some ways depending on the region, not only because of different crops growing on fertile lands, but because of traditions and culture that have suffered differences along the course of time and history. In northern parts of Germany, cuisine includes crops available near the Black forest regions, ingredients based on that type of agriculture. Specific meals in these areas are snail chowder flavored with herbs, beef roast stewed with wine and a typical Black forest cake. In Bavaria the main elements in locals’ diet are beer, different kind of meats, and dairy products. Spannferkel roasted baby pig, Handkaes, a typical molded cheese with sour cream, and Schwaebische Kasespaetzle, dumplings topped with cheese and butter are the main dishes served for dinner. In Bremen and Saxonian regions you will definitely find cake with a simple flat layer covered with seasonal fruit, and the Welfenspeise (vanilla flavored dessert made with wine). In regions nearby Hamburg, meat in aspic made with fish gelatin is a delicates worth trying to taste, as well as the Helgoland shrimp salad or pickled eggs. In areas opened to the Baltic Sea, large variety of seafood dishes are available, cooked in specific traditional ways, mainly grilled and seasoned with pepper, lemon and garlic.

German Food Glossary
Finding the ingredients for a German Recipe is not so easy when you do not know the names of the ingredients. Take time to make a list of ingredients and the name they may be found under at the Local Markets.


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Preparation Methods for German Cooking
Cooking a traditional German dish requires you not only to know the recipe that you prepare, but to be able to choose the right bottle of wine that goes with that meal, the perfect dessert after lunch, or the appetizer to start dinner with. You also have to know how to master the cake sorbets and mousses decorating art. Desserts are usually topped with whip cream or glazed caramel for a pleasant display of the respected dessert. There are also specific techniques for preparing irradiated, sous vide, frozen, freeze-dried, and oven-dried foods. German people like to eat in fast food restaurants because of lack of time for lunch break. So re-heating a meal requires you to know the specific pots to do that in. the sausage making process is a complicated but interesting one. Usually, they are made in big factories, but can sometimes be home made. The pig’s guts are used for filing them with the grounded meat blended with condiments and spices.

Special Equipment for German Cooking
When you plan on cooking in German manner, you will be in need of a lot of pots and serving spoons, spatulas, forks, turners, scrapers and tongs. Big pots that can be placed over open fires are specific to this cuisine. Also, baking pots and dishes are very popular in the German cuisine, since a lot of meals are prepared in the oven rather then on a electric fire. Ceramic dishes and plates with floral design are representative for a German cuisine, and there are also wooden spatulas that are frequently used in the cooking process. Food processors, mixers, grinders and splatters are of great utility in this cuisine, especially in the sausage making process, and for grating hard condiments like black pepper or cinnamon. Deep serving dishes are required for the traditional German soups. You need to consider cover lids and insulated food carriers to keep the temperature of the food constant, if you plan on serving the dishes at their optimized temperature.

German Food Traditions and Festivals
As a tradition, a German meal is very consistent and has more than just one course served for lunch or dinner. Among the most important food traditions, the wedding celebration has few rituals involving food, such as rice being thrown after the newly brides leave the church, or the wedding cake being ornamented and whip-creamed. Every season has its own special food festival, some of them differing on regional basis, local fairs and festivals being expressed with variations. There is a fruit festival in September, taking place all over Germany, a spring festival when deli meats, such as Black Forest ham and proscuitto, along with local soft-ripened cheeses are being served, summer barbeques where German sausages are everyone’s favorite and the famous Oktober Fest, when drinking specific German beers is as important as having dinner. Christmas is also a time for food related traditions, when families prepare Christmas sweet fruit bread, cinnamon stars, fruit and nut-filled cookies called Printen.

People in German Food
Germans are gourmands by their nature, and many of them love to cook and put their personal mark on the food they prepare. Chefs have a great sense of flavor, and they know the secrets to a delicious beef or pork recipe. Stews and pot-roast meats are very much appreciated among Germans. The many recipes and even more methods of preparing special traditional German meals are basically due to the feeling that a chef adds to the cooking process. There are over a thousand types of sausages in Germany, and most of them are made by chefs that add ingredients according to their personal taste. Combining available ingredients depends on the chef’s personal method, and can result in German dishes that will become even more original and delicious than the already spectacular ones.
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