Welcome to my latest A-Z …World Cuisines…where I will be looking at the countries of the world, their food and national dish or their most popular dish around the world…by this I mean some dishes are eaten in many countries as their fame has spread around the world…

Today I am looking at the cuisine of Germany…

A country I have visited a number of times over the years… they are famous for the Christmas Markets and Glühwein…I have memories of holding a warming mug of Glühwein while snow is falling and the brass band is playing while we shop for gifts…it is magical at Christmas…

However, we are here for the food famous for its Bratwurst Sausages although there are at least 1,000 different types, there are over 300 different kinds of bread and over 1,200 types of cake…and in BAVARIA Beer is considered a food officially…

The biggest Beer Festival in the world is Oktoberfest in Munich, Bavaria, where the beer glass size is not 500ml but a whole litre!

The Germans’ love for beer is also expressed through the popular saying, “Durst wird durch Bier erst schön,” which translates to “Thirst is only beautiful when accompanied by beer.”

Whilst there are regional variations in food culture, most German recipes focus heavily on bread, potatoes, and meat, especially pork, as well as plenty of greens such as types of cabbage and kale. Cake, coffee, and beer are all highly popular elements of German cuisine too – which will be good news to most!…

No visit to Germany would be complete without having a slice of Black Forest Gateaux…and who better to give a demonstration than “The Hairy Bikers”…

One of my favourite German Christmas recipes came from a dear friend whose husband was German…Spicy Red Cabbage...

This beautiful cabbage dish can be eaten with hot or cold meats and is a firm favourite in this house the red cabbage is braised with red onions, apples and spices it smells absolutely divine whilst it is cooking just like Christmas…however even though it is something we always have with our Christmas dinner I also make it at other times of the year…Called Rotkohl, Blaukohl or Blaukraut in Germany, depending on the region, this braised red cabbage is a staple side dish that is served throughout Germany.

All that bread, cakes and beer there are more types of bread than in any other country you would think it wouldn’t bode well for the waistline however only 17% of the population is obese, compared to 33% of Americans or 27% of Britons. So how do they stay so thin?…as a nation Germans love to hike…and a walk is not just a stroll around the park but rather a brisk 10km (6.2 miles]) ramble that is likely to include ascending an Alp and drinking copious amounts of schnapps…which all proves my theory that you can eat and drink more or less what you like as long as you do enough exercise.

Plus Germans don’t tend to eat their big meal in the evening. Most big companies have an on-site canteen where employees eat their hot meal for the day. In the evening, it’s Brotzeit (bread time), where people have a couple slices of dark spelt or rye bread with some pâté, smoked meat and cheese with a beer or some wine…sounds good to me and pretty similar to my lifestyle now I eat my main meal before 2pm and don’t eat a meal after that I may have fruit or a brownie for a treat but I eat my breakfast and main meal early in the day and walk a lot…

Sauerbraten is a traditional German roast of heavily marinated meat. It is regarded as the national dish of Germany and is frequently served in German-style restaurants internationally.

It can be prepared from a variety of meats, most often from beef, but also from venison, lamb and mutton, pork and horsemeat…I think everyone has eaten or heard of schnitzel which is meat that is pounded until it is very thin then coated in breadcrumbs and fried…although schnitzel can be made using any meat In Germany and Austria, the name Wiener Schnitzel is protected and can only be made with veal.

Schnitzel made of any other meat is Schnitzel Viennese Style.

All the food so far seems pretty normal or is it? Like many countries, there are foods that may not be acceptable to everyone’s palate I mean I draw the line at eating horsemeat and veal just my personal views but for many, it’s on the menu…

However what about Hackepeter or Mett...many of us have been warned by our parents not to eat raw meat however many cultures do and that is the case here in Germany …Mett has been eaten for centuries and even the EU warns against eating Mett or Hackepeter. This preparation of raw minced pork is often sold on bread rolls and is a classic food that is often found on buffets…

Blutwurst is a blood sausage similar to black pudding…but in Germany, the peculiarity of the German Blutwurst is that it has names like Himmel und Erde(Heaven and Earth)  served with apple sauce and mashed potatoes or Tote Oma(Dead Grandma) where hot Blutwurst is smashed to bloody pieces and mixed with liverwurst and mashed potatoes.

Saumagen(Sows Stomach) is a pig’s stomach stuffed with pork, potatoes, carrots and spices again similar to a haggis which is a favourite Scots dish…

Milbenkäse (“mite cheese”), called Mellnkase in the local dialect and often known as Spinnenkäse (“spider cheese”), is a German speciality cheese. Produced exclusively in the village of Wurchwitzthe cheese is left in a wooden box with cheese mites for about 3 months…the bugs eat the rind and the digestive liquid they secrete ferments the cheese…the cheese is then eaten with the living mites…

I would pass on this cheese and the raw minced pork although to me it is similar to a tartare…and the blood sausages again are eaten in many other countries so I don’t really class them as weird food just food that I’m not partial to…

Thank you for joining me today for this virtual tour of the cuisine of Germany as always I look forward to your comments and thoughts and appreciate any shares…x