Germany What to Eat
You have no need to worry about going hungry in Germany. In every town you will find a wide range of eateries, ranging from the open-air Imbiss fast food stalls to the exclusive gourmet restaurants. Portions are generous. For a quick snack, cafés or bistros serve soup, sandwiches, salads and cakes. A Gasthaus or Gasthof usually offers the traditional specialities of the region. Pubs are popular with those locals who want a snack or a home-made meal to accompany their beer or wine, but drinking is the main activity.All regions have their own specialities and these can differ greatly. If you want to sample the local fare, then ask about the regionale Spezialitäten. If you prefer Italian, Chinese or Indian food, that will be no problem in the cities, where international restaurants are plentiful. Note, however, that Internationale Küche usually means popular dishes from all over the world mainly with meat, such as pasta and Wiener Schnitzel and menus that are not very imaginative.
Many German hams and sausages have achieved worldwide fame, notably the Frankfurter and Westphalian ham, but there are scores of regional varieties that are equally delicious but not so well-known. There are said to be some 1,500 different varieties of sausages or Würste, to give them their proper German title. A Wurst is not necessarily the same as a British "banger", although some such as Bratwürste are fried or grilled. A few varieties are boiled, such as Knackwurst, Bockwurst and, of course, the Frankfurter. Many others such as Bierwurst (goes well with beer) or Fleischwurst are sliced thinly or spread and eaten with some bread. Preserved sausages Rohwürste are made from lean pork, bacon and beef, and then smoked or air-dried to give them a long life. These can often be seen, together with the many different hams, hanging behind the counter at market stalls, delicatessens and so on. The best known are Käsesalami, Pfeffersalami and Cervelat.
The Germans are very fond of their cheeses. Hartkäse is a hard variety, such as Emmental, Schnittkäse is sliceable cheese like Tilsit, Pilzkäse is blue cheese like Bergader and Weichkäse is soft cheese, like the French varieties Brie and Camembert.
Quark is a type of curd cheese unique to Germany. Made from skimmed milk, it is generally low in fat. Although it comes in many different flavours (such as with garlic, horseradish and chives), it is often served as a fruit-flavoured dessert and is used to make German cheesecakes.