Over the Christmas break I had lots of new experiences when it came to food. I spent the holidays with my boyfriend's family in Bayern, Germany (Munich primarily) and in the Austrian Alps near Zell am Ziller, Austria.
I have to say, German food is fantastic. I could live on it and be completely content for the rest of my life... as long as I continued to walk everywhere. We spent between 3 and 7hrs walking around every day, which definitely helped keep off the baked goods, the Spätzle, Semmelknödel with creamy mushroom sauce, and the most fantastic dairy products I've ever had in my life.... oh yeah, and beer that didn't make me want to throw up ;)
I'm also not a huge pizza person, but we had delicious pizza from an Italian place in Munich.
Tomatoes, Mozzarella and ARUGULA. I'd never think to sautée arugula, let alone put it on pizza, but yum yum yum
Germany is a big meat place, but in southern Germany, I had no problem finding vegetarian food. Every restaurant had at least 2 vegetarian options. Some many more. We went to a great place called Marc and Frankie's for my birthday dinner, where I had Vegetarian Schnitzel (Turnip based... I normall am not a fan of turnip, but felt being in Germany, and having a vegetarian schnitzel option, I was required to try it. Extremely delicious. Great seasoning, crispy exterior with a tender interior:
My Veggie Schnitzel
The boyfriend's Viennese Schnitzel
There were lots of delicious snacks to be had in the Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Markets):
I forget what these are called, Gebrannte mandeln
the container says "Erdäpfel" Well... assorted nuts.
which means potato...
It's cooked like potato chips but
still tender, and served with a delicious
sauce.
polenta, it's made with a bunch of veggies and spices, then it's fried and they serve it in a homemade bun with arugula and your choice of this herbed yogourt sauce or spicy red pepper sauce (I got yogourt) yum yum yum
Waffle with cherries pretzel with camembert
gingerbread cookies
assortment of baguettes
Salzberger Nockerl
Speciality of the Mozart Café in Salzberg, Austria
Meringue with a cranberry jam-type sauce.
Impressed with their meringue height... not impressed with the taste.
It was just okay.
Vanilla and Strawberry ice cream with mangos, pineapple, the best grapes I've ever had and melon.
During the trip I was also on a mission to try German or Austrian Goat cheese. Every Fromagerie I checked, and had no luck finding German or Austrian goat cheese. I knew it existed, it's supposed to be some of the best goat cheese, and yet I was having no luck.
The boyfriend's mom found it at the grocery store, and it was the best ever (and really cheap. It's incredible how inexpensive dairy products are there compared to Canada!)
I'm hoping to do a summer internship in 2014 in Germany (preferably Bayern) so I can get some research experience while exploring more. Here's hoping!
The last picture of food I ate will be the multi-cheese Spätzle I had my last night in Germany:
I couldn't finish it all, I was so stuffed.
Now, I'm not a pop/soda drinker, but Apfelschorle which is sparkling apple juice is great. Also, I wasn't a big fan of Glühwein which is the Christmas wine they serve at all the Christmas markets. We had apfelglühwein which is like hot apple cider, but with pear or plum schnapps added to it. (German Schnapps is hard alcohol not liqueur)
You can also get: apple, apple-cherry, black currant, rhubarb, passion fruit, mango, cherry, elder-apple, bear, raspberry mixed with sparkling water at some restaurants. Sparkling passion fruit juice is addictive.
For the meat eaters out there, here are a bunch of photos of meat dishes... and a roasting pig.
stay healthy!
