German culinary traditions are legendary. For centuries, local housewives have learned how to cook tasty and unhealthy food so that foreigners who have dined in a restaurant with a national flavor will strive to return to it again and again. What does the daily menu of the average German family consist of?
Bread
In Germany, bread is the basis of every breakfast and dinner. On the shelves of the local bakeries you can see a huge number of varieties of flour products: from black grain bread to almond pretzels.
My favorites are cottage cheese cakes (Käse Kuchen) and wholemeal cereal buns. But I buy them extremely rarely: expensive and not very useful for the figure. But the Germans are accustomed to fully eat only once a day - at lunchtime. Their breakfast consists of buns or toast, which are usually spread with Frisch Käse (fat-free cottage cheese with various additives) or butter/jam/honey. Top, if desired, put sausage, ham or cheese. Dinner - Abendbrot - completely repeats breakfast with only one difference: the hostess can serve salad with bread.
Vegetables
In this country, vegetables make up a significant part of the daily diet. German housewives have great respect for cabbage, carrots, celery, potatoes and asparagus. The wealthier the family, the more vegetables can be found in the home refrigerator.
Most German first and second courses are unthinkable without a side dish of roasted sauerkraut. It sounds exotic, but the taste is quite pleasant. Housewives make such cabbage according to a special recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Fruits and berries
In the North of Germany, it is customary to cook a delicious berry dessert "Red porridge" (Röte Grütze). It is served with vanilla sauce, milk or whipped cream. The taste of the dish is somewhat reminiscent of jelly.
In general, the Germans have a special relationship with fruits. Regardless of the time of year, my neighbors never leave the supermarket without apples or peaches. I also love fruits very much, but I try to buy only those grown in Germany.
Meat
Traditional cuisine is inconceivable without meat. Germans especially love pork and turkey. I do not share this passion because I like beef more: mouth-watering beefsteaks, boiled potatoes and salad are my signature dish. But the husband is happy to eat Kasseler (slightly smoked pork meat that needs to be boiled or baked in the oven).
A German-style lunch is not complete without sausages or a good steak. On holidays, my neighbors cook Eintopf with meat (thick soup), beef roulades with bacon or steaks. Also recently, dishes with a slight Turkish flavor have become popular here: Currywurst (sausages in spicy sauce with curry), Döner (an analogue of shawarma).
Fish
The Germans even cook fish in ... meat broth. Or, at worst, baked on the grill. In general, the Germans have an indifferent attitude towards fish, they will show much more animation at the sight of a good chopped pork cutlet.
The passion for chocolate is legendary. During every trip to the supermarket, I never cease to be surprised: there is not a single cart in which its owners would not put a few bars of chocolate. Locals especially love chocolate-covered nougat and marzipan. The charm of marzipan is difficult to assess from the first meeting, but surprisingly quickly I fell in love with its almond flavor.
Chewing marmalade
A mischievous teddy bear on a pack of Haribo gummies could well become one of the unofficial symbols of Germany. Products manufactured under this brand have been accompanying more than one generation of Germans throughout their lives. I did not understand what is so secret in the composition of these sweets, but in the supermarket my hand involuntarily reaches for the cherished bag.
There are also different cuisines in different German states. This is influenced by political, religious, socio-cultural factors and geographical features of the regions. In any case, for the Germans, the process of eating is associated with enjoying life. For example, at home, guests are offered sweets or pastries to make guests feel comfortable, cozy and feel that the hosts take care of them. Food is a means of social communication. For example, to thank a school teacher, you cannot invite him to a cafe or give a bouquet of flowers, but you can organize a picnic where everyone will come with their own food (gifts to civil servants in excess of 10 euros are considered as a bribe. What can not be given to civil servants - http://www .dw.com/ru).
Breakfast is usually very high-calorie, with a lot of carbohydrates - bread, buns with butter or jam. Served with coffee, tea or cocoa. Sausages, cheese, boiled eggs are also popular. Fruit for breakfast will be more of an addition to muesli than an independent product. Young people increasingly prefer bread with sausages or cheese for breakfast instead of porridge. On weekends, Germans like to buy buns for breakfast in bakeries.
Because Because German schools do not prepare breakfast, children bring their own food from home. The meal between breakfast and lunch is called "second breakfast" or "pausenbrot". Pausenbrot is not necessarily a sandwich. It can be fruits, yogurt or muesli, which are convenient to carry around.
Adults also have a snack between breakfast and lunch - "brotzeit", bread time, when they eat snacks.
Bread is traditionally a separate type of food, like potatoes. For centuries it was believed that bread emphasizes the social division of people - white, wheaten, for the rich, black, sour bread, for the poor. In northern Germany, they like to eat sour bread as a separate dish, brushed with salted butter or jam.
At the turn of the century, when the industrial revolution took place and it became possible to bake bread in large quantities, it became so cheap that even workers could eat wheat rolls. Here the representatives of the rich class were indignant. All were reconciled by Hitler, who made whole grain bread popular: it was universally available, since its recipe called for the use of any kind of grain. Now in Germany there is a high consumption of whole grain bread - 10% of the total market (for comparison - in England and the countries of Southern Europe this figure is 3%).
The Germans love to cook together and eat together, they don't want to think about calories at this time. This is reminiscent of the Russian habit of alcoholic feasts, when they drink not because the blood alcohol level has dropped, but because drinking alcohol in company is fun. And no one counts how much was drunk.
The Germans find surprising the habit of other peoples to eat hot breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
Now spaghetti bolognese, pizza and shawarma are very popular among Germans. These dishes are easy to prepare or buy ready-made.
The German tradition provides for a break for lunch between 12 and 14 hours. At this time, you can not make noise and rattle. Lunch is the main hot meal of the day. Although these days the Germans often eat hotter not for lunch, but for dinner. Often for lunch they eat potato salad with sausages or meatballs. Potato salad is a mixture of finely chopped boiled potatoes, ham and mayonnaise.
Also for lunch, they often eat local noodles fried in oil, schnitzel, fried vegetables, fried fish sticks with mashed potatoes. Pork or poultry is eaten every day. Green beans or carrots are served daily as a side dish. White cabbage and green peas are also very popular. Potatoes are served in all forms - french fries, fried, boiled, potato dumplings, mashed potatoes... Rice and noodles are also very popular.
The very word "potato" comes from the word "truffle": the Germans considered that if edible tubers grow in the ground, then they are relatives of the earth fungus. Frederick the Great popularized potatoes in the German-speaking countries by posting an armed guard near his field with potatoes. People decided that only something valuable and tasty can be protected in this way ...
The Germans consume the same amount of buns per year as they weigh themselves - 87 kg. For comparison, in England, Spain and Ireland they eat about 50 kg of bread a year. In 2000, most bread was eaten in Turkey - 200 kg per person per year, 3 times its mass. In Serbia and Montenegro - 135 kg, in Bulgaria - 133.
About the density of bakeries in the country: in Ireland, for example, there are 7 bakeries per 100,000 people, in Germany - 47. It is impossible to walk several streets in a row without smelling hot bread. Often, part-time bakeries are cafes where tables are set out on the street. If in other countries bread is treated as an addition to soup, as a way to collect sauce from a plate, then in Germany it is treated as a staple energy product.
In 2010, England and Germany together baked 60% of bread compared to all of Europe. France, Holland and Spain together baked 20% of the bread.
If in 1955 there were 55,000 bakeries in Germany, then in 2015 there were
To the question "what do the Germans eat?" many, without hesitation, answer: sausages, what else! After a little thought, they can add: sauerkraut. Or: potato buns with baked pork.
The Germans are really big meat-eaters. Each of them eats 1094 animals in their entire life, of which 945 are chickens. The most notorious meat fans live in the state of Thuringia. Only 3% of the country's inhabitants have completely abandoned meat and sausages, and bear the proud name of "vegetarians".
Germans eat hot meals once a day, usually for lunch. For breakfast, they prefer rolls and bread, most often with marmalade. You can read about it
Dinner often also consists of bread products. No wonder that one of the translations of the meaning of "dinner" into German is the word Abendbrot= evening bread. Therefore, the Germans are not only the most sausage, but also the most bread nation. How much bread they eat and which one they prefer - read in this article.
Germans spend less and less time preparing food. Only 41% of residents do it daily. Others often use semi-finished products. Or quick meals: pasta or pizza from ready-made dough. Here is a look at the hit parade of the most favorite dishes of the Germans...
What do the Germans eat: favorite dishes
- Spaghetti - bolognese, or just with tomato sauce - is the most favorite dish of the inhabitants of Germany.
2. Schnitzel is nothing more than a breaded pork (rarely turkey) chop. As a side dish, the Germans most often serve this dish with french fries.
3. Guess what's in third place? Ta-dam: pizza. Housewives spend their time less often preparing the dough for this product, more often they buy ready-made dough, and even more often they buy ready-made frozen pizza, which can only be sent to the oven.
4. Meat rouladens. What is this? These are meat rolls - usually from beef meat, stuffed with onion and pickled cucumber.
5. In fifth place are dishes from one vegetable very beloved by the Germans - asparagus. How the Germans cook it, you can find out from the article.
6. Sauerbraten is pork baked in a piece. But a week before cooking, sent to marinate in wine, wine vinegar, seasonings and even vegetables. To achieve a sour taste. The most common side dish for this dish is red cabbage and dumplings - potato or bread balls.
7. Oh, and the Germans love Italian cuisine. Italian restaurants here can be found in every small town - sometimes more than one. So, in the seventh place in the hit parade of the favorite dishes of the Germans is located - lasagna!
8. The Germans - like true meat eaters - could not but name steaks among their favorite dishes. In summer, most often steaks are sent to the grill.
9. Pasta casseroles. Pasta rules in German cuisine!
10. Kohlrouladen! And in our opinion it is: cabbage rolls. They are prepared by German housewives, maybe not very often, but with love. And all Germans consider cabbage rolls to be a traditional German dish.
At the same time, the Germans did not mention any sausage in the hit parade of German dishes. Although they really eat a lot - not a single street party, Christmas market, children's birthday passes without her participation. And the most popular dish that the Germans order during lunch in cafes and canteens is sausage with curry sauce. These are the Germans - they eat it almost every day, but they have not included it in the category of their favorite dishes.
Just don’t say that you don’t consider sausage a full-fledged dish - how! In any German cookbook you can find more than one recipe with her participation, and the fact that there are 1500 of its species in the country already says a lot.
The Germans are rarely fond of soups. As one German friend of mine says: only when someone is sick at home. Although there are a huge number of interesting German soups. One of the most famous is Eintopf, a very thick soup with lots of ingredients and little liquid. More like a roast.
In general, the food of the Germans varies from region to region - and each of them has its own typical dishes that are not so popular in another region. For example: "maultaschen" - the famous pockets with meat or vegetables, very similar to dumplings - are eaten mainly by the Swabians, who inhabit most of Baden-Württemberg. I will definitely write a separate note about regional German cuisine.
And also, depending on the season, the Germans have their favorite dishes - for example, in the fall, the Germans are happy to cook and eat here this cake. And in the summer they throw in a piece and cut themselves a potato salad for a side dish.
When buying products, the Germans pay attention to the origin of the goods. And for many of them, it is important that vegetables and fruits are German - moreover, from the region where they live. As many as 92% of respondents confirmed this, and as many as 75% are willing to pay more for products from their own region. Statistics say that the most favorite vegetable for the Germans is the tomato, the fruit is the apple.
45% of Germans eat regularly - twice a week - prepared semi-finished products! The Germans themselves even admit that they are too lazy to spend time and energy on cooking. French neighbors do not save on cooking, and delight the household with a three-course dinner. And at this time, the Germans eat defrosted pizza, while watching cooking shows with pleasure, which are huge on German television and they are terribly popular. Here is such a paradox.
What do the Germans eat: about sweets
In addition to the fact that the Germans are meat eaters, they are also big sweet tooth. What is coffee drinking without a piece of cake, or a cake. Moreover, the Germans have cakes - solid, with heavy cream. The British - accustomed to their fluffy cheesecakes - rarely finish their typical German cheesecake - Käsekuchen.
Even if the hostess has prepared a fruit pie that would seem not very harmful to the figure, she will definitely add a decent portion of whipped cream to a plate with a piece of pastry. Many Germans supply even a cone with ice cream with a circle of these very fatty creams.
Each German eats 32 kg of sweets every year. Most of all giving preference to chocolate in different variations: tiles, sweets and bars. 23% of Germans do not spend a day without sweets, and 51% of the country's inhabitants always have a stash of sweets and cookies at home.
Well, all sorts of holidays are simply not possible without sweets: before Christmas, the Germans bake cookies and lebkuchens, in February they overeat Berliners, at Easter they buy chocolate bunnies and on ordinary days they do not deny themselves the pleasure of chewing on their favorite childhood gummy bears - Gummibärchen.
Now you know what the Germans eat. But in this article you will find that they prefer to drink ...
Recently they showed a program about. The winner in the top of the most common German morning meals was with confiture (in German it sounds like Marmeladenbrot)!
It really surprised me. I was sure that sausage would win. Although I have already managed to observe the people, and have seen more than once what local burghers choose.
My mother-in-law has been eating Marmeladenbrot for breakfast for centuries - always, every morning! It doesn't matter where she woke up and it doesn't matter that spring rolls, pies, and various omelettes can be served there. No, she is faithful to a piece of bread with jam.
Confiture, of course, changes - sometimes strawberry, sometimes apricot, sometimes apple. But I still wouldn't be able to eat the same thing for breakfast all my life, even my favorite pancakes with condensed milk.
Well, a woman loves and chooses such a breakfast, I thought. But no ... My husband's friends who stayed with us overnight also always asked for a roll with butter and confiture + coffee in the morning. At the same time, I thought that they simply didn’t want to bother me, offered both scrambled eggs and porridge, and put sausage on the table. No, they want their Marmaladebrot and they don't need anything else.
I, in turn, also began to eat such a jelly-like jam - I will call it that. My mother always cooked (and continues to do so) liquid jam with pieces of fruit or berries. I have never liked such a product, except for tea with raspberry jam when it is snowing outside the window. You can’t spread liquid jam on bread, and boiled fruit never made me hungry.
Of course, I tried confiture even before my German life, but we didn’t have jars at home. And here, in Germany, I discovered confiture in all its glory, tasted and fell in love with some types. A discovery and favorite for me was kiwi confiture.
Now I always have several jars of jelly-like jam at home, although I can’t have breakfast with them every day, but from time to time I take it out and make myself a bright sweet sandwich, and my son, at the sight of the cherished jar, asks me to give him too.
Despite the richest assortment of this product in shops and supermarkets, some Germans prepare such a jam at home. For this, special cute jars are on sale. So, our friend Heike from Frankfurt approaches the production of confiture with special love. She not only prepares different varieties, mixes berries with fruits, finds new unusual tandems - she also pays attention to the design of the finished product.
Heike makes hats for each jar: from thin colorful paper or from fabric. And also signs each container with marmalade jam, prints an inscription for each jam: “Spezialität von Heike” (“Heike’s signature product”) + jam type + exact release date. And in each of our visits, we get just such a piece of heart from Heike. In Germany, in general, everything that is done with one's own hands is very much appreciated.
What else do Germans eat for breakfast?
- a sandwich with sausage (where would it be without it, darling), ham or cheese;
- eggs, boiled and scrambled eggs;
- dairy products: yogurt or cottage cheese (but not solid, but liquid);
- bread with nutella - they love to give children very much, as if there is something useful in it, and first they spread butter, and chocolate cream on top - by the way, yes, it’s tastier, butter is still a strong flavor enhancer;
- and some have fruit for breakfast, mainly bananas and apples;
- muesli - you can find it in any store: with fruits and nuts, even chocolate muesli - I don’t understand them at all, despite my great love for chocolate;
- ready-made sweet pastries: buns with cottage cheese, nuts or fruits, or just cookies;
- and some just snack on a chocolate bar;
- Well, coffee, where without it, for my German husband, breakfast is just 4-5 cups of coffee with milk, without sugar, and that's it.
Habitual for Russian people, semolina and oatmeal are not on the list. Even kids don't cook them. No, well, half-year-old baby dolls, of course, are given ready-made porridges from Hip or Beblivita.
But as soon as the child becomes good at chewing, they put him at the common table and give him a sandwich for breakfast!
In this article you will learn:
The Germans work meticulously, have fun on a grand scale and eat with taste. Traditional cuisine in Germany is famous for its great variety. In addition, each German land has its own original dishes, which are their calling card. For example, these are the well-known sausages for which Bavaria is famous or the soup with snails in Baden-Baden.
Features of national cuisine
The variety of gastronomic preferences is explained by the influence on various regions of Germany of the cuisine of other nationalities. So in the south-west of the country, French notes clearly appear. Here, white wine is not only drunk, but also added to all kinds of dishes. Many soups, dishes in clay pots and puddings are prepared.
The Rhineland is dominated by the traditions of Belgian and Dutch cuisine. They are represented by blood sausages, horse meat dishes, potato pancakes and rye cheese buns.
In Bavaria, there is a clear presence of the cuisine of Austria and the Czech Republic. A variety of flour dishes are especially common here. Variety of noodles, dumpling soups, salty cheese pretzels. Also popular are sauerkraut, which is added to many dishes, and liver pates. And, of course, the famous Bavarian beer.
The northwest of Germany is famous for its rye bread, and various root vegetables and fish are used to prepare various dishes. And in the northeast, pork dishes and an abundance of sweets predominate. Even the omelets here are mostly sweet.
In the nutrition of the Germans, as in all areas of their life, they cannot do without their national practicality and thoroughness. The Germans love plentiful, tasty and satisfying food. Perhaps this is due to ancient traditions, when chefs liked to prepare dishes that had to look very appetizing and have a great taste. In addition, traditional German beer has always been combined with the use of not only salty, but also smoked and fatty dishes.
Sausages with sauerkraut
Daily, popular main dishes include meat rolls with mushrooms and other fillings, schnitzels and, of course, sausages. For a side dish, pasta, french fries and stewed cabbage are more often used. Sauerkraut occupies a special place in the national cuisine of Germany; it is considered a favorite dish of the Germans. And they cook it here in all known ways. In addition to adding to salads, it is boiled, fried, stewed and even mashed.
It should also be noted that special dishes served on major national holidays and prepared in full accordance with old recipes. These include: asparagus with braised pork in gravy, stewed pork leg with garnish of potatoes and sauerkraut, and roasted suckling pig.
Dessert dishes occupy a special place in German cuisine. Sweets amaze with variety: fluffy buns, shortcakes, fruit muffins, biscuits and custards, rice puddings, waffles, and gingerbread. This is just a small list of common, daily desserts.
german rice pudding
But there are special sweet products that are usually eaten only on Christmas holidays. These include stollen - fruit bread. It is a hard cake with candied fruits, nuts and marzipan added to the dough. It is baked a month before consumption, and aged until it acquires a special taste and aroma. German confectioners add strong alcoholic drinks to many of their recipes. They believe that it reveals fruit aromas in a special way, sets off the taste of almonds and chocolate.
German fruit bread - stollen
From drinks, in addition to traditional beer, prepared with special love and according to ancient traditions, the Germans use cider, schnapps and mulled wine. Good wines are also popular.
German mulled wine with cinnamon stick
If we talk about the diet, then the Germans are used to eating up to five times a day. These are traditional breakfasts, lunches and dinners, as well as several intermediate snacks.
Breakfast in German
No German breakfast is complete without bread or rolls. Special attention is paid to these products in Germany. How many varieties of bread there are, no one will undertake to say. It is made from a variety of doughs (for example, potato, carrot) with the most unusual additives (olives, pumpkin seeds). Fresh pastries are served with jam, honey, ham and cheeses.
Breakfast can be supplemented with eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt and fruit. Drinks are traditionally coffee or tea.
As a rule, this happens from seven to eight in the morning. Breakfast times can of course vary depending on people's work schedules.
Dinner
The Germans begin to dine at twelve o'clock in the afternoon. A full dinner table consists of soup, main course, starter and dessert.
Snacks are represented by varieties of sandwiches. For their preparation, sausages, cheeses, fish and, of course, butter are used. Many snack dishes from eggs, which can be boiled, stuffed, served with sauce. Omelettes with a variety of additives are very popular. Herring and sardine snacks are very popular.
Soups also amaze with the variety of ingredients: beer, potato, cheese, lentil, fish, noodle soup. A component for the soup can also be pumpkin, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli. Ginger is often used as an additive.
The main course consists of grilled or stewed meat, schnitzels, steaks, fish or ground meat dishes. Served with vegetables, potatoes or rice.
Desserts can be very different: cakes, muffins, gingerbread, marzipans and a huge variety of options. They can be served with compote, which is prepared from a large number of fruits with a minimum amount of water.
Dinner
Dinner takes place from six to seven in the evening and mainly consists of cold dishes. But, nevertheless, it is quite satisfying and plentiful. These are fish dishes, baked pork, beef rolls with sauerkraut and pickled cucumbers, sausages and cheeses. During dinner, the Germans allow themselves to drink traditional beer.
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