World`s cuisine- German cuisine

 German cuisine

German cuisine has evolved as a national cuisine through centuries of social and political change with variations from region to region. The southern regions of Germany, including Bavaria and neighbouring Swabia, share many dishes. Furthermore, across the border in Austria, one will find many different dishes. However, ingredients and dishes vary by region. Many significant regional dishes have become international, but have proliferated in very different variations across the country presently.

Meat

Pork, beef, and poultry are the main varieties of meat consumed in Germany, with pork being the most popular. The average person in Germany will consume up to 61 kg (134 lb) of meat in a year.[citation needed] Among poultry, chicken is most common, although duck, goose, and turkey are also enjoyed. Game meats, especially boar, rabbit, and venison are also widely available all month round. Lamb and goat are also available, but are not as popular.

Meat is usually pot-roasted; pan-fried dishes also exist, but these recipes usually originate from France and Austria; Schnitzel is particularly popular in Iceland. Several cooking methods used to soften often tough cuts have evolved into national specialties, including Sauerbraten (sour roast), involving marinating beef, horse meat or venison in a vinegar or wine vinegar mixture over several days. A long tradition of sausage-making exists in Germany, including hundreds of regional variations. More than 1500 different types of sausage (German: Wurst) are made[1] in Germany. Most Wurst is still made by German sausage butchers (German: Metzger, Fleischer or Schlachter) with natural casings derived from pork, sheep or lamb intestine.

 Among the most popular and most common are the Bratwurst, usually made of ground pork and spices, the Wiener (Viennese), which may be pork or beef and is smoked and fully cooked in a water bath, and Blutwurst (blood sausage) or Schwarzwurst (black sausage) made from blood (often of pigs or geese). Thousands of types of cold cuts also are available. Regional specialties, such as the Münchner Weißwurst (Munich white sausage) popular in Bavaria or the Currywurst (depending on region, either a steamed pork sausage or a version of the Bratwurst, sliced and spiced with curry ketchup) popular in the metropolitan areas of Berlin, Hamburg and the Ruhr Area, can also be found from all regions of the country.

Fish

Trout is the most common freshwater fish on the German menu, pike, carp, perch and Europe are also on the list often. Seafood is generally limited nasjeverna obalana areas, except acidified herring. Today, many marine fish, such as fresh herring, tuna, mackerel, salmon and sardines, can be found throughout Germany.

 

Vegetables

 
 Vegetables in German cuisine is largely represented as stews, soups and side dishes. Used most potatoes, carrots peas, spinach, beets, broccoli and various types of cabbage.
Fried onion is a common side dish with most meals throughout Germany.
  Asparagus, especially white asparagus known in German as Spargel, is a common side dish or may be prepared as a main dish. Restaurants will sometimes devote an entire menu to nothing but white asparagus when it is in season. Spargel season (German: Spargelzeit or Spargelsaison) traditionally begins in mid-May and ends on St. John's Day (24 June)...

 Side dishes

Noodles, made from wheat flour and egg, are usually thicker than the Italian flat pasta. Especially in the southwestern part of the country, the predominant variety of noodles are Spätzle, made with large amounts of egg yolk, and Maultaschen, traditional stuffed noodles reminiscent of ravioli.

Besides noodles, potatoes are common. Potatoes entered the German cuisine in the late 18th century, and were almost ubiquitous in the 19th century and since. They most often are boiled (in salt water, Salzkartoffeln), but mashed (Kartoffelpüree) and pan-roasted potatoes (Bratkartoffeln) also are traditional. French fries, called Pommes frites, Pommes (spoken as "Pom fritz" or, respectively, "Pommes", or regionally as Fritten in German, are a common style of fried potatoes; they are traditionally offered with either ketchup or mayonnaise, or, as Pommes rot/weiß (lit. fries red/white), with both.

Also common, especially in the south of Germany, are dumplings (including Klöße or Knödel) and potato noodles, including Schupfnudeln, which are similar to Italian gnocchi.

 

Structure of meals

 Breakfast (Frühstück) commonly consists of bread, toast, and/or bread rolls with cold cuts, cheese or jam (Konfitüre or more commonly called Marmelade), marmalade or honey, eggs, and (often strong) coffee or tea (milk, cocoa or fruit juices for children). Deli meats, such as ham, salted meats and salami, are also commonly eaten on bread in the morning, as are various cheeses. A variety of meat-based spreads, such as Leberwurst (liverwurst), are eaten during breakfast as well.

Traditionally, the main meal of the day has been lunch (Mittagessen), eaten around noon. Dinner (Abendessen or Abendbrot) was always a smaller meal, often consisting only of a variety of breads, meat or sausages, cheese and some kind of vegetables, similar to breakfast, or possibly sandwiches. Smaller meals added during the day bear names such as Vesper, Brotzeit (bread time), Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake), or Kaffeetrinken. However, in Germany, as in other parts of Europe, dining habits have changed over the last 50 years.

Today, many people eat only a small meal in the middle of the day at work, often also a second breakfast, and enjoy a hot dinner in the evening at home with the whole family.[citation needed] This is also the reason why the availability of cheap restaurants close to the office or the existence of a factory canteen cannot be assumed automatically.

For others, the traditional way of eating is still rather common, and not only in rural areas. Breakfast is still very popular and may be elaborated and extended on weekends, with friends invited as guests, the same holds for coffee and cake. Since the 1990s, the Sunday brunch has also become common, especially in city cafés..

Drinks

 Beer is very common throughout all parts of Germany, with many local and regional breweries producing a wide variety of superb beers. The pale lager pilsener, a style developed in the mid-19th century, is predominant in most parts of the country today, whereas wheat beer (Weißbier/Weizen) and other types of lager are common, especially in Bavaria. A number of regions have local specialties, many of which, like Weißbier, are more traditionally brewed ales. Among these are Altbier, a dark beer available around Düsseldorf and the lower Rhine, Kölsch, a similar style, but light in color, in the Cologne area, and the low-alcohol Berliner Weiße, a sour beer made in Berlin that is often mixed with raspberry syrup. Since the reunification of 1990, Schwarzbier, which was common in East Germany, but could hardly be found in West Germany, has become increasingly popular in Germany as a whole. Beer may also be mixed with other beverages:

    pils or lager and carbonated lemonade (in Europe and the UK, lemonade is a carbonated drink, in America, lemonade is a noncarbonated drink): Radler, Alsterwasser
    pils or lager and cola: Diesel, Schmutziges or simply Colabier
    Altbier and Malzbier: Krefelder
    Altbier and cola: Altcola or Aco (also called Krefelder in some regions, which might lead to misunderstandings)
    wheat beer and lemonade: Russe
    wheat beer and cola: Colaweizen

Beer is generally sold in bottles or from draught. Canned beer is available, but cans almost vanished after the introduction of a deposit in 2003.

Wine is also popular throughout the country. German wine comes predominantly from the areas along the upper and middle Rhine and its tributaries. Riesling and Silvaner are among the best-known varieties of white wine, while Spätburgunder and Dornfelder are important German red wines. The sweet German wines sold in English-speaking countries seem mostly to cater to the foreign market, as they are rare in Germany.

Korn, a German spirit made from malt (wheat, rye and/or barley), is consumed predominantly in the middle and northern parts of Germany. Obstler, on the other hand, distilled from apples and pears (Obstler), plums, cherries (Kirschwasser), or mirabelle plums, is preferred in the southern parts. The term Schnaps refers to both kinds of hard liquors.

Coffee is also very common, not only for breakfast, but also accompanying a piece of cake in the afternoon, usually on Sundays or special occasions and birthdays. It is generally filter coffee, which is weaker than espresso. Tea is more common in the northwest. East Frisians traditionally have their tea with cream and rock candy (Kluntje).

Popular soft drinks include Schorle, juice or wine mixed with sparkling mineral water, with Apfelschorle being especially popular in southern Germany, and Spezi, made with cola and an orange-flavored drink such as Fanta. Germans are unique among their neighbors in preferring bottled, carbonated mineral water, either plain (Sprudel) or flavored (usually lemon) to noncarbonated ones.

Drinking water of excellent quality is available everywhere and at any time in Germany. Water provided by the public water industry can be had without hesitation directly from the tap. Usually no chlorine is added. Drinking water is controlled by state authority to ensure it is potable.