Since the day my Mom gave me a confirmed date of her trip to Germany (around the first days of January, I think), I began planning every little detail of her trip to Europe. She's coming along with my sister and my bati-cousin, Mariano, and they are two extra reasons to make an already amazing trip more fantastic. You might think I'm kidding, since you might be one of the readers who (a) does not know me, (b) does not know the new me, who plans every single minute of every single day, or (c) does not believe that I am actually as plan-phillic as I am making myself to be... well, to all of you, I am not kidding. I shall not attach it here (for the sake of my seeming to be a normal person, with sporadic unplanned events in my life... [I plan sporadic events, btw...]), but trust me when I tell you that my Excel table with 17 days of traveling around Europe is something to be proud of.
I have chosen countries, cities, landmarks, parks, specific events and tours; I have planned visits, tea-drinking (which is of course only a matter of speech; there might be coffee or Apfelschorle drinking) and cookie-eating (that is of course not a figure of speech - there will be cookies. There shall always be cookies), and spazieren-gehen and other types of activities. There will be sleeping-in (scheduled, of course), there will be lazy-time, there will be staying-at-home-time, and "unplanned time", which is of course planned.
But I have to admit I've had a little trouble with one tiny, kleine issue... What will I feed my family? I've recently learned to cook (recently = past 8 months), but I specialize in Colombian cuisine, because Honey and I like feeling we're somewhat at home. But my family lives in Colombia and they eat Colombian cuisine every day; and as much as they'd like to see me cooking (to get living proof of my cooking), I don't think they'd really, truly appreciate it. So, then, of course I think, "We have to feed them German food!"
Which brings me to my little pickle: What do the Germans eat?
The Germans love pizza, and I love pizza, and my Mom's favourite meal is pizza, so that's an easy one. Except - oh, wait, pizza is not German. Dismissed.
The Germans love Dönner, and Honey looooves Dönner, and my sister will love it, so that's another easy one. Except - oh, wait, Dönner is not German. Dismissed.
The Germans love hamburgers (especially in Hamburg - ha ha! See what I did there? It's a joke!), and everyone loves hamburgers, so that's yet another easy one. Except - oh, wait, neither McDonald's nor Burger King are German. Dismissed.
The Germans love Bratwurst, but I can't imagine feeding my Mom a sausage. I can imagine feeding her a hot dog, which I know she loves, and she will especially love the German kind. But those are not German, they are Danish. And if I'm going to feed her anything European, it will be either pizza or [insert German food here]. Nothing Danish! Unless we go to Denmark... which is not in my initial schedule, so I doubt it. But I can revise...
The Germans love... uh... pickles. My sister loves pickles. I think. But I can't feed her just pickles for dinner.
The Germans love... Kartoffeln. But we have over 1,500 different kinds of potatoes in Colombia, so I don't think my family will be particularly nuts about potatoes.
The Germans love... Rotkohl and Grünkohl (I'm not even sure that's how they are spelled...), but, again, those are side dishes, I can't just feed them vegetables. We need a dead animal with those dead plants!
The Germans love... yogurt. But my Mom is not a fan of yogurt, and after my operation I've experienced problems with yogurt. Also dismissed.
So... yeah. What do the Germans love? Please send me your suggestions! Otherwise, I'll have to feed them sandwiches with Emmentaler, Jarlsberg, Tilsiter, Mozarella, Gouda... and, yeah, it will be amazing, but I can't feed them sandwiches for three weeks!
Bitte, helfen Sie mir!
I have chosen countries, cities, landmarks, parks, specific events and tours; I have planned visits, tea-drinking (which is of course only a matter of speech; there might be coffee or Apfelschorle drinking) and cookie-eating (that is of course not a figure of speech - there will be cookies. There shall always be cookies), and spazieren-gehen and other types of activities. There will be sleeping-in (scheduled, of course), there will be lazy-time, there will be staying-at-home-time, and "unplanned time", which is of course planned.
But I have to admit I've had a little trouble with one tiny, kleine issue... What will I feed my family? I've recently learned to cook (recently = past 8 months), but I specialize in Colombian cuisine, because Honey and I like feeling we're somewhat at home. But my family lives in Colombia and they eat Colombian cuisine every day; and as much as they'd like to see me cooking (to get living proof of my cooking), I don't think they'd really, truly appreciate it. So, then, of course I think, "We have to feed them German food!"
Which brings me to my little pickle: What do the Germans eat?
The Germans love pizza, and I love pizza, and my Mom's favourite meal is pizza, so that's an easy one. Except - oh, wait, pizza is not German. Dismissed.
The Germans love Dönner, and Honey looooves Dönner, and my sister will love it, so that's another easy one. Except - oh, wait, Dönner is not German. Dismissed.
The Germans love hamburgers (especially in Hamburg - ha ha! See what I did there? It's a joke!), and everyone loves hamburgers, so that's yet another easy one. Except - oh, wait, neither McDonald's nor Burger King are German. Dismissed.
The Germans love Bratwurst, but I can't imagine feeding my Mom a sausage. I can imagine feeding her a hot dog, which I know she loves, and she will especially love the German kind. But those are not German, they are Danish. And if I'm going to feed her anything European, it will be either pizza or [insert German food here]. Nothing Danish! Unless we go to Denmark... which is not in my initial schedule, so I doubt it. But I can revise...
The Germans love... uh... pickles. My sister loves pickles. I think. But I can't feed her just pickles for dinner.
The Germans love... Kartoffeln. But we have over 1,500 different kinds of potatoes in Colombia, so I don't think my family will be particularly nuts about potatoes.
The Germans love... Rotkohl and Grünkohl (I'm not even sure that's how they are spelled...), but, again, those are side dishes, I can't just feed them vegetables. We need a dead animal with those dead plants!
The Germans love... yogurt. But my Mom is not a fan of yogurt, and after my operation I've experienced problems with yogurt. Also dismissed.
So... yeah. What do the Germans love? Please send me your suggestions! Otherwise, I'll have to feed them sandwiches with Emmentaler, Jarlsberg, Tilsiter, Mozarella, Gouda... and, yeah, it will be amazing, but I can't feed them sandwiches for three weeks!
Bitte, helfen Sie mir!
Schnitzel!! With noodle, of course.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33o32C0ogVM
Yeah, I know it's set in Austria.
They eat Sausages..... and of course as mentioned Schnitzel...and depending on what region of Germany you may have a variety of different types of cuisine. Some regions borrow from nearby areas, like France, or Austria or Eastern Europe but all are generally agrarian based and heavily influenced by grain. You also have Spaetzle and, various types of Würst and so on and so forth.. any recipes you looking for Nattie?
ReplyDeleteDont you guys have some fish up there in the north? :-)
ReplyDeleteBtw, just a suggestion from ym experience when my parents came for the first time: dont plan too many countries in too little time, at the end you see a bit of everything, but how much will you enjoy every place?
Better to visit "less" countries/cities and really get to know what they are all about :-)
And i do hope Vienna will be one of your destinations!