January : Germany

Our country of culinary exploration for January was Germany.

We tried some good food, though the German taste bud preference sure seems to lean toward the sour...

Here are a few of the foods we tried this month. We made them as authentically as we could find ingredients to do so :

Weinerschnitzel and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. 

Everyone's favorite.

Bratwurst in homemade rolls, with mustard and sauerkraut. 

Sandwiches made with rye, sourdough, sliced pork, münsterkäse (muenster cheese), mock allgäuer emmentaler cheese (somewhat similar to swiss cheese), mustards, sauerkraut, and veggies.

 Panierte Zwiebeln : fried breaded onions (quite good)

 Kids in Germany enjoy hot cocoa with their breakfast. We had some with dinner.

And Bretzeln, homemade pretzels. 

Old world Germans used to dip the bretzeln in a solution of sodium hydroxide (lye) and water after shaping, to create a chemical reaction while baking that is similar to caramelization. This is what allows the exterior crust to become a deep rich brown. Now most use a baking soda and water solution (as it is a much weaker alkaline) to achieve similar results. This also gives the pretzels their unique flavor. Interesting to learn. These were pretty good, and fun to make.

A few words we learned this month :

hallo : hello

lebewohl : goodbye

vielen dank : thank you

bitte : please

Ich bin hungrig : I'm hungry

Ich liebe dich : I love you

And probably the one the boys will remember best, and which they use often and laugh their heads off...

sie stinken : you stink

We also caught a Rick Steve's Europe on PBS one night that was on Germany. 

I never realized they had so many castles. Here are a few breathtaking examples :

Germany was never really a country on my list of "must-see's", but it is now. 

Beautiful.