German journey

Ciao from Germany, Munich Germany also know as the Bavarian side of white sausage equator: the land of sausage, butter & the infamous Brezel. In Germany breakfast is given the time it deserves. Coffee and some bread (maybe even a Brezel) with butter & kalbsleberwurst (calf liver sausage spread) and jam or perhaps you opt for the classic muesli and milk combination. I, being a breakfast person, have been impressed with the variety of choice when it comes to breakfast. With more than 400 types of bread and all sorts of spread, most Germans walk around with happy bellies in the morning. As stated in the previous blog, I am studying gastronomy or put more simply I am studying (not cooking) food in all aspects of the word and so as I travel I cannot help but wonder about each bite and every sip that goes into my mouth.

Why? Where? How? are all the usual inquiries.

Since being in Germany, it has become ever more clear how closely food and identity are related and how old rituals still have a strong presence. For example the glorious Beer, bretzel, Weißwurst (white sausage) & Weisswurstsenf (sweet mustard) breakfast. This delicious combination is usually eaten before noon. In fact, there is an old saying that the sausages should not be able to hear the church’s noon chimes because a long time ago the meat would not be smoked and therefore was made fresh every day. On Christmas day, it is also a Bavarian tradition to eat this. Not only is tradition a word that rings true of German cuisine but mishmosh as well. A splatter painting in which every color and every stroke is necessary: from the Hungarian goulash to the Austrian knedle; from the french Tarte flambee to the famous Berlin Currywurst, it is difficult to identify a completely “German” dish. A tourist might consider all of the dishes listed above as German but as many Germans will tell you a dish has more to do with a region than with the country as a whole. Instead of asking what do they eat in Germany, one must ask what do they eat in Bavaria or in Berlin? A clear example of this can be seen in a dish as simple as the potato salas. In the south, they use vinegar and in the north mayonnaise. My journey was mostly in the south, but I did get the opportunity to try Kölsch (a beer speciality in Cologne) and the Currywurst of Berlin.

Thanks to regionalization and travel, we are able to be felicitated by all sorts of traditional treats. We enhance our palettes of taste with every new spice, vegetable, animal product and sweet we put in our mouths: expanding our realm of taste, sphere of senses and cultural comprehension.