German cuisine is not that familiar to foodies in the city, well, save for the umpteen local versions of Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte – that’s Black Forest cake, by the way! Young participants of the summer camp at Goethe Zentrum had the opportunity to learn a bit about the cuisine from German home cooks Jennifer Nausch and Katharina Gelves.
MetroPlus caught up with the duo while they were demonstrating how to make Kartoffelknödel. “It’s actually potato dumplings. It’s a traditional dish that is said to originate in Bavaria but it is popular across the country, not so much in the North as it is in the South. Kartoffelknödel is a typical side dish served with roasted and braised meats, fish or vegetables,” explains Jennifer, a teacher from Hamburg, who has been teaching German language in India for the past year or so. “I am not a trained chef but I enjoy cooking and eating all the traditional cuisines,” she says. Katharina, who hails from Würzburg in Northern Bavaria, meanwhile, is a student of Indology on a field trip to India.
“It’s difficult to define what German cuisine is exactly. It is really a wonderful amalgamation of various styles of cooking that harks back to the historical and political past of the area when it was made up of principalities, collectively known as Fürstentümers. German cuisine is also heavily influenced by the cuisines of nine neighbour nations, namely France, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Czech Republic and Luxembourg. Thus, each region in Germany has its own specialties and variations. Hamburg, which is a port city in the North of the country, for example, has a lot of fish and seafood dishes. One of my favourites is matjes or soused herring, soaked in mild preserving liquids,” says Jennifer.
As she puts the potatoes to boil for the dish, Katharina says: “We Germans like to eat hearty meals that include ample portions of meat and bread. Potatoes are the staple food, and each region has its own favourite ways of preparing them.”
Once the potatoes are boiled for the Kartoffelknödel, she explains that they will be pressed through a potato ricer and then mixed with cornflour, egg yolks, brown butter, salt and nutmeg to form smooth potato dough. Subsequently, the mixture will be made into dumplings filled with toasted bread and boiled again until firm. The duo are demonstrating how to make Kasespatzle, a variety of noodle salad, a dish popular in the South of the country.
Another thing that the Germans love is sausage. “”Did you know there are over a 1,000 varieties of sausage in Germany?” asks Jennifer. Called wurst , they are to be found in restaurants and street stalls across the country. Berlin, for example has currywurst, which is a sausage with curried ketchup on the top. Bavaria has weisswurst, a white sausage that comes accompanied with sweet mustard.
One of Nuremberg’s most popular dishes is grilled rostbratwurst, served with fermented shredded cabbage known as sauerkraut…Then, of course, there are the famous German desserts such as apple strudel (a pastry filled with apples that are flavoured with sugar, cinnamon, raisins and breadcrumbs) and tortes, a multi-layered cake. “I was surprised to see Sachertortes and Schwarzwalder Kirschtortes in bakeries here,” says Jennifer. Guten Appetit!
