Meat and fish: from organic beef to whitefish from Lake Constance
Regional meat and dairy products are fundamental to German cuisine. More and more German meat is being produced organically, so it is healthy and tastes delicious. German farms are just as likely to have cows (from the Alpine cows of southern Germany to the black and white Frisians of the North German coastal plains) as they have pigs - the basis for Germany's many different types of sausage and specialities like Black Forest ham. Typical regional products, such as meat from the heathland sheep of Lüneburg Heath and the blackheaded sheep from the Rhön hills, are also provided by specialist suppliers. You're equally spoilt for choice in Germany when it comes to fish and the regional connection is strong here too. Enjoy sprats, herring and shrimps on the North Sea and Baltic coasts, eel in Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg, pike-perch from the Oder and Elbe rivers, carp and trout from Franconia and the Black Forest and whitefish from Lake Constance.
Fruits from the tree and the soil
Plum jam, red berry compote and Black Forest gateau are German specialities made with typically German fruits. These are not only grown on large fruit farms but also in the orchards dotted around the countryside.
Many German dishes are based on apples. Wellknown appleproducing regions in Germany include Baden and Lake Constance, the Rhineland, the Altes Land in Lower Saxony and the Oderland in Brandenburg. Apples are not only used in salads and delicious cakes; in Hessen, tangy apple cider is a refreshing food accompaniment and the inspiration for refined sauces.
"Apple of the earth" (Erdapfel) is a rather misleading German term for something different altogether:
the potato. Although potatoes have only featured in German cooking for a few centuries, potatoes are very popular in Germany. Regional specialities include boiled potatoes with pears, beans and bacon in Schleswig-Holstein, potatoes with celery and cream in the Palatinate and potato flan in the Sauerland. Mashed potato, apple sauce and black sausage, known locally as "Heaven and Earth", is a speciality of Cologne.
Typical German vegetables: asparag us, cabbage and mushrooms
In the spring, asparagus appears on menus throughout Germany. The creativity of Germany's chefs extends well beyond the classic asparagus with hollandaise sauce to asparagus soufflé, asparagus confit and green asparagus ice cream.
Cabbage is perhaps the most typical vegetable used in German cooking. It is grown mainly in the north of the country and appears most famously in the form of sauerkraut, a vitaminrich accompaniment to traditional meat dishes. Curly kale with pinkel sausage is a speciality of Lower Saxony. Cabbage was once considered "poor man's food" but today it is enjoying a renaissance:
it is tasty, versatile, low in calories and rich in vitamins and minerals. Cabbage features in traditional German dishes and is also highly prized in modern haute cuisine. On the theme of haute cuisine, other vegetables traditionally grown in Germany and used increasingly in a variety of dishes include mangold wurzel, parsnips and horseradish. Like cabbage, pumpkins come into their own in the autumn; their orange flesh brings a bright note to many a German dish, sweet or savoury. German cuisine without onions would be unthinkable.
Not only do they spice up lots of recipes, they're also extremely healthy. In the autumn, a popular south-German speciality is bacon and onion flan (Zwiebelkuchen), which is traditionally enjoyed with a glass of fresh new wine (Federweisser). Mushrooms are widely used in sauces and soups, especially in southern and eastern Germany. In Swabia, mushrooms are served in a cream sauce with Bavarian dumplings.
Mushroom soup (Schwammespalken) is a speciality of the Vogtland.
