1. German
Cuisine
History, regional differences
and common everyday foods.
by Hanna

2. Interesting Facts:
 During the Cold War, Berlin was fed entirely
by airlift.
 There are many typical German foods.
 Germany has a commonality between most of
the states.

3. Interesting facts (cont.)
 Germany is well-known for their production of
cheese.
 Ham is a very important meat in Germany.
 The most well-known ham in Germany is the
Black Forest Ham.

4. The importance of meat and Germany
 Survival on potatoes.
 There were years where meat was unavailable.
 Venison was very popular in Germany going back
to the early 1800’s.
 Wurst
 Wurst (sausage) is such a huge part of German
culture.
 There are several popular sausages that you may
have heard of.

5. Daily eating habits in Germany
may include:
 Breakfast (Frühstück)
 Second Breakfast (Zweites Frühstück)
 Lunch (Mittagessen)
 Dinner (Abendessen or Abendbrot)
 Coffee and Cake (Kaffee und Kuchen)

6. German rules at the dinner table
 Germans always use forks at the dinner table, so to
blend in, use a fork when eating your french fries.
 For a sit down meal, use a knife and a fork with every
bite.
 Elbows off the table and no hands on your lap while
eating.
 It is always a good gesture to compliment the
homecook or chef with “das schmekt
gut/lecker/wunderbar”
 When eating and/or drinking with a group it is always
polite to wait to eat until someone says: “Guten
Appetit.”

7. Rules at a restaurant in Germany
 You can always just seat yourself, unless you are
eating at a fancy restaurant.
 If you want ice in your soda/drink, you have to ask.
 They have no such thing as free refills.
 You will typically be charged if you eat anything from
the basket on the table of either bread or pretzels, they
are not complimentary.
 If you are done with your meal, you can place your
knife and fork side by side, if you are just taking a
break, you are to cross them on your plate.
 Leftovers are not common, they may be confused if you
ask for a “To Go” box.
 Tipping is usually around 10%.

8. Thüringen
 A typical Thüringia
Sunday dinner would
have Dumplings as a
main course.
 Dumplings are hand
made and are hard work
and usually the job of the
man of the house.

9. Sachsen
 Coffee was introduced in
the 17th Century in
Europe.
 The coffee-saxons were
nicknamed the
Blümchenkaffee.

10. Sachsen-Anhalt
 The first canned sausage
came from here. It was
invented by Friedrich
Heine.
 They have a very peculiar
cheese which is produced
in Würchwitz. This cheese
is called Würchwitzer
Spinnerkäse (Mite
Cheese).

11. Berlin
 Berlin is the home of the
currywurst.
 They are popular for the
Doner Kebab, which is
Germany’s version of a
fast food item.

12. Brandenburg
 Potatoes: 150 different
varieties of potatoes are
grown in Germany.
 It took until the 17th century for
potatoes to make it on the
dinner table as an accepted
food item.
 They are very well known for
many potato dishes that are
popular today throughout
Germany.

13. Mecklenburg-
Vorpommern
 Most common dishes here may
be marinated eel, roast goose
and fried herring.
 Hotchpotch is very popular in
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
 More common dishes here are
red fruit pudding with milk and
potato pancakes.

14. Schleswig-Holstein
 Known for their fish dishes
including shrimp, codfish,
mackerel, oysters and
mussels.
 They have many cabbage
dishes here.
 They harvest about 80
million heads of cabbage
every year.

15. Hamburg
 They have the freshest
fish market in Hamburg.
 The home of the original
Hamburger.
 They have several
popular dishes in
Hamburg.

16. Bremen
 Famous saying here is:
 “Een beten veel un een
beten good” it means,
Good food and plenty of
it.
 Melitta Bentz lived in Bremen.
She is responsible for
developing the 1st ever coffee
filter.
 Bremen is said to be the
owners of the first coffee house
that ever existed, it was
opened in 1673.

17. Niedersachsen
 If you are visiting
Niedersachsen, you should
expect to be offered tea with
everything.
 Harz Käse (known as Harzer
Roller in the rest of Germany)
is a sour milk cheese.
 It is one of the oldest
types of cheese ever
made.

18. Nordrhein-Westfalen
 A dish that was originally
made from horsemeat until
it was banned in 732 a.d.,
is still popular here today. It
is called Sauerbraten.
 Open sandwiches are a
food item you will find here.
The bread is buttered and
served with a topping such
as ham, salami or cheese.

19. Hessen
 Most known for their green
sauce. Made from 7 different
herbs: sorrel, chervil, chives,
parsley, burnet, cress and
borage.
 Hesse is home of the largest
kitchen in Germany.
 Hesse is known as potato
country. They have a variety of
well-known dishes including
Himmel und Erde and
Kartoffelbloatz
 The name “hot dog” originated
from here.

20. Rheinland-Pfalz
 In the 19th century, there was a
famine here and they had to
survive on just bread and
potatoes.
 They have a saying here: “Liebe
zur Pfalz geht auch durch den
Saumagen” ( Love of the
Palatinate comes by way of the
pig’s stomach).
 A very popular dish here is liver
dumplings.

21. Saarland
 Potatoes were said to have
been introduced here in the
1700s by Walloon
Steelworkers.
 They have a sausage that
they are very well -known for
called Lyoner sausage. It is
very common amongst
miners.

22. Baden-
Württemberg
 They have a saying about bread:
“Wo fried ist, da ist Gott und Brot,
wo Unfried ist, ist der Teufel und
d’Not” it means, “Where there is
peace, there you will find God and
Bread, where there is no peace,
there you will find the Devil and
need.”
 They also have a popular dish
called Spätzle.
 Sauerkraut is widely eaten here,
but sauerkraut did not originate
from Germany as most people
think.
 They have a specialty called
Schupfnudeln (potato noodle).

23. Bayern
 If you were to look at a menu
here, all the restaurants would
most likely be serving Roast pork
and knuckle of pork.
 Bayern is known to not waste
any part of the animal.
 If you don’t want to be kicked out
of a restaurant here and
mistaken for a Prussian, don’t
ever go to a bar and ask for
Weisswurst with potato salad and
ketchup.
 They are well known for their
Nuremberg Bratwurst.

24. Works Cited:
 Book
 Culinaria Germany
by H.F. Ullmann
 Article
 Rumohr’s Falscher Rehsch Legel
by Ursula Heinzelmann
 Internet sites
 www.germanfoods.org
 www.germanfoodguide.com
 www.germandeli.com