Food Culture and Tradition

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  • Danish Meals and Customs

    MEALS AND CUSTOMS OF DENMARK

    Although Danes adapt readily to new ideas, they still relish foods in season, like tiny shrimps, which they heap on buttered white bread; the first delicate straw-berries; new potatoes; fresh white asparagus. They still believe firmly that the best lunch is smorrebrod and that beer is the best chaser for the best drink – akvavit. Some things are too good to change.

    Danes show their sophistication in elegant table settings and in their fondness for formal entertaining. It is almost second nature to set a table with candles and flowers. Dessert spoon and fork will be placed above each setting; no water glasses will be on the table; no host will wrestle with meat by carving at the table; the artfully arranged main dish platter is always prepared in the kitchen. The success of a dinner party will be judged by the abundance of food, the lateness of the guests’ departure, and whether or not they asked for recipes.

    Breakfast is usually very early since schools start classes and businesses open at 8:00 a.m. Lunch is invariably the smorrebrod, which is any artistic and flavorful combination of thinly sliced foods deftly balanced on thinly sliced pieces of dark rye bread. With beer or coffee, who needs more? Dinner may be a hearty soup and dessert or a multi-course meal introduced with akvavit and beer, nibbles of salted or smoked foods followed by one or two hot dishes, and later fruit and pastries with coffee. More usually dinner at home is a simple two-course meal of meat and potatoes or poached fish with sauce and potatoes or soup and dessert.

    Danes seldom stay at home, and enjoy any excuse that takes them out to have a beer or a coffee, to take a walk, to see friends. Danes love a good joke and a hearty laugh. They love people and conversation and what better way than to enjoy both at the many small snacking restaurants, sidewalk cafes, stalls and booths and pastry shops? But who counts the number of drinks, snacks, or nibbles in any given day? When they talk about their meal patterns, average Danes don’t consciously include them either.

  • Danish Special Occasions

    SPECIAL OCCASIONS IN DENMARK

    Most Danes are Lutherans and the majority of those who aren’t are Roman Catholics. But festivities celebrated are not always of a religious nature. Birthdays, Midsummer Eve, even the start of the crayfish season are all celebrated as avidly as Christmas, Easter, weddings, and christenings.

    Drinking itself can be a special occasion and has a prescribed ritual. All Scandinavian countries share the custom of Shoal (or Shal). The host begins by meeting the eye of his guest. Together they wordlessly down their drinks without shifting their gaze. When the ritual is complete, the glass is raised with a slight bow of the head and lowering of the eyes. Women, particularly a hostess, are usually not part of this custom.

    Although there are some distinctive characteristics in foods and customs from one Scandinavian country to another, festivities bring a delicious blend of wondrous cooking aromas and happy sharing of the very best food. Typically, repeated Shoals echo through any occasion, are washed down with beers and continual helpings of foods, and end with coffee and sips of Cherry Heering or maybe even a Glogg (hot spiced wine punch) or two.

    Early in December, kitchens begin bustling with the furor of Christmas cookie baking, preparation of hams, lutefisk (traditional Christmas Eve dish made from lye-cured cod served with mustard sauce), liver pate – the list is endless. Then there is the special Christmas smorrebrod with its array of fish, pickled and smoked dishes, salads, cold meats and hot dishes, breads of every kind, cheeses, cream-filled cakes, and crispy cookies.

    Christmas foods are unquestionably the most outstanding but every festivity is celebrated with the best one has and always with one more helping. This can be fully understood when one remembers that even a gathering of friends is a special occasion to the gregarious Danes.

  • Danish Domestic Life

    DOMESTIC LIFE IN DENMARK

    The old Danish proverb “First flowers, then food on the table” explains the Danish delight in well-designed table appointments and cookware. These, together with a collection of candles and accessories that is present in most Danish homes, makes it difficult not to set an appealing table. And if flowers are not already a part of the setting, they will likely be brought by dinner guests.

    Although Danes are practical enough to readily accept many convenience foods and labor-saving devices, they still enjoy certain tradition-tested customs. Probably from her mother and grandmother, the Danish homemaker has learned to adjust the embers in her iron stove to the perfect heat for aebleskivers (round puffed cakes) or for a cast-iron pot of yellow pea soup.

    But if the coal stove is still a part of the country kitchen, the city kitchen is more in keeping with the times. Small appliances are widely used, colorful, lightweight cookware is preferred, and gas stoves and refrigerators are all very much a part of the modern kitchen. In fact, many new additions to the traditional Danish kitchen and way of cookery have combined to make Danish dishes just as good as mother’s but prepared more quickly than grand-mother’s! Ekkodanmark, a branch of the Department of Agriculture set up to promote Danish foods, advises on canned and frozen goods, imported foods, and new recipe ideas.

    The problem of food storage and preservation in Denmark, as in most of the northern countries, has always been carefully considered because extreme climate conditions can so easily spell hunger. Curing, salting, pickling, drying, and smoking were arts learned quickly because these techniques allowed meats and fish to last over long voyages or through periods of famine. Today, modern technology and storage methods lessen the need for these age-old approaches, but a distinct preference for salty foods persists, and even today salted meat and fish as well as dried or smoked foods are distinct Danish favorites.

  • Danish Food

    FOOD FROM DENMARK

    DAIRY PRODUCTS

    Milk, whey, or buttermilk are freely used often as refreshing beverages and also in soups and gravies. Cream is used generously in ice cream, whipped cream sauces (savory not sweet), as well as in desserts as sweetened whipped cream. In fact, plain cream, whipped cream, and sour cream are found in almost every dish: soups, salad dressings, meat and fish casseroles and sauces, and certainly in desserts. Coffee, however, is preferred black.

    Danish cheeses, noted for their buttery richness and mild nutty taste, are exported all over the world. The Danes themselves enjoy cheeses for breakfast, as part of lunch, and often as a dessert with fruit or as a late evening snack.

    FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

    Fresh fruits in season are preferred, but fruits are also enjoyed when stewed then thickened with corn or potato starch and served with cream. The staple vegetables are potatoes and red or green cabbage although the former are preferred. String beans and white asparagus are enjoyed when available, as arc pickled cucumbers, pickled beets, a variety of summer vegetables, canned or fresh peas, and carrots Danes use other vegetables, which are lovingly pre-pared: cauliflower, Belgian endive, onion of ever) type, kale, celeriac, and a great variety of local mush-rooms. To the staples of potatoes and cabbage arc added pickles or root vegetables in winter and green: in summer. Salad to the Danes means a mixture laden with meat or fish and bound with mayonnaise. Tossed salads with light dressings are largely ignored except by aristocrats.

    MEATS AND ALTERNATES

    Danish meat dishes are served moist and juicy. If the meats are naturally dry, they are accompanied by gravy or sauce. Broiling or dry-roasting methods an seldom used in meat or fish cookery. Though fish is plentiful, meats are the staple. Of these, pork is the favorite and all parts are used. Offal, sausages, and ground meats are often served for economy. Blood is used in soups and for sausages. Fish include shrimp, eels, herring (used in countless ways), salmon, trout, mackerel, turbot, plaice, cod (fresh, dried, or salted).

    Eggs are used occasionally for a light meal such as an omelet but mostly as an ingredient in or garnish for other dishes. The only legumes used widely are dried yellow peas, used at least weekly for a soup, gule aerter. Nuts are used in bakery and then almost always almonds.

    BREADS AND GRAINS

    Gruels or porridges of barley or oats are used only in rural areas or by children or invalids. Rice and pasta are also seldom used. Some oats are found in desserts or as oatcakes accompanying the traditional butter-milk soup. Most grains are eaten in the form of breads, rolls, and crisp breads. Heavy, dark, moist rye bread is sliced especially thin for smorrebrod.

    Gruels and porridges of barley or oats still do form the staple peasant diet together with cabbage and potatoes and the very occasional addition of small amounts of fresh or cured home-raised pork.

    FATS

    Butter is used generously for everything. Unsalted butter is preferred. Danish margarine is also of fine quality and taste and is being used increasingly.

    SWEETS AND SNACKS

    Danes enjoy cakes, pastries, and crisp cookies often as snacks with coffee. The characteristic lightness and crispness of Danish bakery is attributed to hartshorn salt (ammonium carbonate) used instead of baking powder. In Canada and the United States it can be purchased in drugstores. Thick and sweet preserves as well as powdered sugar are often used to garnish desserts, especially pancakes.

    SEASONINGS

    Danish food is not highly seasoned. Cream, butter and eggs, mustard, horseradish, dill, onions, and leeks are favored. Poppy seeds and caraway seeds are used mainly in or on breads or rolls. For baked goods, the lightly spiced aroma familiar to Danes is the pungent one of cardamom, saffron, and toasted almonds.

    BEVERAGES

    Black coffee in copious quantities vies with beer and akvavit as the favored drinks. Akvavit is a strong clear liquor distilled from grain or potatoes and always served ice-cold. In fact, it is traditional to serve akvavit from a frozen block of ice, syrupy, thick, and potent. Taken straight it is often followed by a chaser of beer and then nibbles of salted foods. Children consume large quantities of soft drinks; this is recent, not traditional. In cases of overindulgence, the Danes take a “cure” in the form of gammel Dansk bitter, a medicinally bitter brew (suspected of being alcoholic), said to clear the head and stomach.

  • Danish Food and Culture

    Food and Culture in Denmark

    The mainland of Denmark, together with its surrounding islands, juts into the cold and stormy waters of the Skagerrak and the Kattegat, the North and Baltic Seas, yet within the hearts and the homes of the Danes there is a special warmth. The Danes have their own word for it: hygge. It describes, in one word, that pleasant sensation when one is at ease with oneself and the world. Hygge is a feeling, an atmosphere, and a way of life. It is evident in the meticulously groomed dairy farms of the low rolling countryside. It is even reflected in the apparent contentment of the animals the Danes raise. The cows produce some of the world’s finest milk, which is churned into butter and fermented into cheese. The pigs, which are cured into pork products, are of unparalleled quality. And chickens
    produce eggs so fresh, they are proudly date-stamped.

    Today’s Danish farmers are related to the early conquerors and rulers of England (1013-1035), and later expansions saw them ruling many shoreline areas of the Baltic Sea, Iceland and, even for a brief period, Norway and Sweden (the Kalmar Union, which lasted until 1523). Sweden won her independence then but it was not until 1815 that Norway, by the Congress of Vienna, was taken from Danish control only to find itself then ruled by Sweden. About this time, Danish trade expanded to the West Indies. (Perhaps the Danish fondness for rum desserts dates from this time.) But in 1917, Denmark sold the Virgin Islands to the United States and about the same time granted Iceland her independence.

    The adventures of the Danes were not limited to northern Europe or even to the West Indies. As early as 1619, Captain Jens Munk landed at what is today Churchill, Manitoba, and claimed the land for Denmark, calling it Nova Dania. It is uncertain why his claim was not taken seriously, but what is known is that most of his crew succumbed to scurvy. Captain Munk and only two members survived that tragedy. Over 200 years later, more Danish ships brought settlers to establish what is today a community in Victoria County, New Brunswick.

  • Czechoslovakian Food Glossary

    GLOSSARY OF FOODS AND FOOD TERMS

    Bramborove Knedliky: potato dumplings.

    Briosky: brioches. A rich light yeast bread or roll made with cream and egg yolks, shaped with the characteristic round knob on top.

    Bryndza: cheese made from sheep’s milk.

    Buchty: sweet yeast buns baked with Povidla (thick plum jam) or apricot filling. Thin rolled squares of dough are dabbed with the preserves then pinched together so that the jam is sealed within, then baked.

    Cevabcici: seasoned ground pork shaped into fingers, grilled, and eaten with onions and dark bread.

    Chlebova Polevka: caraway-flavored soup thickened with stale rye bread crumbs and garnished with diced smoked meat or sliced sausages.

    Dusene Zampiony: mushrooms sauteed with butter and caraway.

    Falsche Polevka: an intriguing name, literally, “false soup,” suggesting that any soup not made with meat is unreal! Actually a soup made with a vegetable stock, but a browned roux, or butter or goose-fatbrowned onion helps to give the taste of meat.

    Houskove Knedliky: one of the most popular dumplings made of flour, milk, and butter-browned bread cubes patted into a sausage shape and strung in a napkin for steaming. When cooked it is sliced with a strong thread and served with gravy by itself, or accompanying almost anything.

    Husa: goose.

    Jelita: blood sausage, served fried.

    Jiternice: a sausage of lung and liver, served fried.

    Kachna: duck.

    Kapani: small drops of soft dough either poached or fried before adding to soups. Similar to the Austrian Spaetzli.

    Kapr: carp.

    Karbanatky: patties of ground meat, breaded and fried.

    Kapr na Cerno: whole carp or steaks of carp served with the famed black sauce made from beer, sugar, vinegar, prunes, and raisins.

    Klobasy: thick-skinned sausages that explode juicily when eaten.

    Knedliky or Knedlicky: dumplings. The variety made is staggering. Anything that will form a stiff dough and can be steamed or poached seems to qualify — rice, potatoes, many vegetables alone or in combination, chopped or mashed, bread crumbs or cake crumbs, brains, liver, ham, smoked meat, mar-row — all combined with enough egg, milk, and flour or crumbs to be shaped. May be served alone with sour cream, cream, chopped nuts, caraway seeds, poppy seeds, gravy, fruit sauces, or served with meats, fish, or in soups.

    Kolace: round flat yeast buns with a dimpled hollow that is filled with jams, usually Povidla.

    Kynute Houscove Knedliky: yeast dumplings with sauteed bread cubes blended into the batter before steaming.

    Kynute Knedliky: simple yeast dumplings poached in salted water. Sliced with a thread to serve. Leftovers are breaded and fried.

    Kure: chicken.

    Liptovsky Syr: known as Liptauer cheese, a specialty of the Slovakian peasant. A delicious soft blend of sheep’s milk cheese (sometimes cottage cheese) and seasonings. Served with dark bread and beer or wine.

    Ovesna Kase Slana: a supper dish of oatmeal served with browned onions on top, eaten as a main dish.

    Ovocne Knedliky: dessert dumplings filled with fresh or preserved fruit then boiled and served hot with sugar and butter or cottage cheese, sour cream, or buttered crumbs.

    Parky: sausages. They are eaten at any meal and at any time as a snack, and people who live in Prague generally insist that all sausages, wieners, and frankfurters were invented there.

    Pecena Husa: roasted goose, often accompanied with bread dumplings and red cabbage or sauerkraut. Traditional Christmas Day dinner.

    Polevka: soup.

    Polevka z Hovezi Ohanky: lightly spiced vegetable and oxtail soup. The meat is served separately.

    Povidla: thick preserve of dark plums, usually simmered for two days. It is lightly spiced with cinnamon and anise.

    Prazsky Salat (Prague Salad): julienne strips of meats, pickles, onions, and tart apples bound with mayonnaise. Other versions may include fresh or cooked vegetables lightly tossed with a vinegar and sugar dressing.

    Pudink: pudding.

    Raznici: thinly sliced ham or pork, grilled and served with chopped onion and dark bread, and eaten as a snack.

    Slivovitz: clear potent plum brandy.

    Smetane: sour cream.

    Svacina: late afternoon snack of coffee and sweet breads.

    Svickova: beef marinated in spices and vinegar then braised. The pan juices are blended with sour cream. Result: tender beef in sour, creamy sauce.

    Uzenazstvi: beer taverns, where good beer and good talk is enjoyed.

    Veprova Pecene se Zelim: roasted pork served with sauerkraut and flavored with caraway seeds.

    Vursty: another name for sausages. Similar to the German Wurst.

    Zajic na Cerno: cut-up braised hare simmered in a spiced sweet-and-sour sauce similar to the black sauce used on carp.

    Zavin: stretched strudel dough.

  • Czechoslovakian Meals and Customs

    MEALS AND CUSTOMS

    Traditionally, Czechs and Slovaks prefer all meals to be served hot. When a variety of food is not abundant, they are satisfied with coffee and breads for breakfast; a quick hot lunch may be based on sausages or a potato or vegetable dish; dinner may be a soup with a second course of meat and gravy and a small dessert of dumplings, or a quick meat sandwich with pickles and potato salad.

    These three simple meals will he complemented by hot snacks of sausages and beer or assorted pastries with coffee. Gastronom counters and taverns as well as pastry shops and coffeehouses and the famed uzenazstvi are present everywhere in cities and towns.

    Friday was traditionally a meatless day, not as much for religious reasons as for a way to economize on meats. Friday dinner would be a traditional “false” soup with fruit dumplings for dessert. A “false” soup is made with a meatless vegetable stock, often starting with browned onions to add a pseudo meat taste.

    Even in difficult times the Sunday dinner is almost always the biggest hot meal of the week. A rich hearty soup is followed by a special dish of pork or beef (or roast fowl) floating in smooth thick gravy, garnished with poached fruit or a huge sliced dumpling. The meal is completed with light sweet fruit dumplings served hot.

    FOODS COMMONLY USED

    Traditional Czech and Slovak cuisine borrows heavily from both Austrian and Hungarian tastes and are rich and satisfying. Plain meats, fresh crisp vegetables, fresh fruits, or small servings have no place here. The rich production of dairy products are ingredients in many baked goods, creamy gravies, and smooth sauces. Both vegetables and fruits are preferred well cooked and probably well garnished with appropriate sauces and syrups. Sour-cream-smothered vegetable dishes and fruits cooked in syrup predominate. A great variety of grains and flours are used in many types of breads and rolls, cereal side dishes, and especially in the many dumplings that can be found in soups, beside sliced gravy-rich meats, or on a dessert plate graced with a sweet fruit sauce or whipped cream. Whether one turns to Austria or Hungary, there is never a lack of richly elegant desserts. Beer is considered the national beverage for Czechs, while the Slovaks prefer wines.

  • Greek Food and Culture

    FOOD AND CULTURE OF GREECE

    Pleasures drive out pain and excessive pain leads men to seek excessive pleasures… – Aristotle

    The above was spoken by a Greek, and more than twenty centuries later it is still the core truism of Greeks everywhere. No characteristic is more typically Greek than the inherent ability to balance pain and pleasure delicately and live life to the fullest.

    Ten million Greeks living on the mainland and on 1,400 Greek islands suffer the daily realities of existence in a harsh meager land where political problems simmer and where poverty and hardship are old neighbors. But while the body may subsist on bread, cheese, and olives as rural daily fare, the Greek soul is spiritually nourished by the mystically dazzling landscape of endless blue skies, the clarity of a strong white sun, and the warmth of rustic red earth.

    These are the same elements that bore witness to the “Glory of Greece.” This included a brilliant span of 200 years from 500-300 B.C.E. when Athens became the light-source of the western world and spawned a plethora of literature, philosophy, mathematics, democracy as well as a sophistication in style of living seldom equaled. While the rest of the world was gnawing on roasted meat, the Greeks were savoring many varieties of fruits and seafood, experimenting with cooked mixtures of meats and vegetables, developing sauces and dressings (white sauce, mayonnaise, marinades of oils and seasonings), blending seasonings, and even writing cookbooks.

    Because reminders of Greece’s past greatness are everywhere visible in the civilized world of today, the past and the present are one reality to the Greek. It doesn’t matter what subject is under discussion, Greeks will have an opinion – and a word for it. It is the incredible blending of past greatness, living the present to the fullest, and unflagging faith in the future that makes simple survival the ultimate Greek pleasure. With bold words and classic gestures, with intense curiosity and endless enthusiasm together with an age-old ability to dramatize, the Greek brushes aside pain and troubles, gently disdains time, and plunges fully into the enjoyment of life.

    Others may point to the closeness of Greek family life or to the stability of the Greek Orthodox Church as central to Greek optimism and self-confidence. But it is all of these factors and something more. It is an ancient tradition that Greece is somehow more than a land or a people but rather a special image that was nurtured by the ancient gods of Greece and preserved for all eternity by an
    omnipotent “god of Greece.” That innate Greek faith is rooted firmly in the belief that while other gods may be alive or dead, the “god of Greece” will somehow forever intervene just when things seem hopeless. And a glance at Greek history bears out this philosophy.

    When the great Hellenistic age came to a crushing end with the Roman Conquest of 197 C.E., Greek schools declined and Greek democracy disappeared, yet Greek language and culture survived. The novelty of Greek cuisine – varieties of wild animals, fruits, and seafood, the ingenious uses of sauces and seasonings, recipes and utensils – was a revelation to the Romans. They unabashedly adopted Greek foods, together with Greek art and architecture, Greek philosophy and refinements. And they valued their Greek chefs above all. While the Greeks helplessly watched as Athens gave way to Rome as the center of the western world, they must have also experienced some satisfaction in seeing that Hellenistic influence proved stronger than armies.

    The embers of Greek language and culture that flickered during the Roman domination were fanned to a bright flame during the thousand years after the fall of Rome. The period of the Byzantine Empire with its center in Constantinople actually took its name from the ancient Greek community on which it stood: Byzantium. Christianity was introduced by the Emperor Constantine as the state religion of the Roman Empire around 325 C.E., much to the credit of the early Christian theologians who incorporated many Greek ideas into Christianity that the latter flourished even though Rome was later sacked by hostile pagan tribes.

    Again, however, this Greek flowering of influence was abruptly cut off in 1204 C.E. as the Crusaders captured Constantinople and parceled it out to Frankish knights. The new rulers crushed everything Greek. Latinization was the goal, Greek ships and trade were turned over to the Venetians, and strong attempts were made to impose Catholicism. It did indeed seem that the Franks dominated every aspect of life, with one exception. Greek women quietly saw to it that the children they bore never forgot that they were Greek.

    The continuing benevolence of the god of Greece was about to meet the strongest test. On Tuesday, May 29, 1453, the Byzantine Empire was crushed completely with the capture of Constantinople by the Turks. So deep is the memory of that terrible day that even to the present, Greeks consider Tuesday a bad-luck day and the entire month of May fraught with grim symbolism. Yet historians see a positive aspect in that the mass dispersal of thousands of Greeks throughout Europe (as a direct result of the Turkish conquest) may have been responsible for the revival of learning that led to the Renaissance.

    The suppression and cruelty of the Ottoman domination lasted 400 years. And while the Greeks learned, among other things, to enjoy sipping Turkish coffee, smoking the narghile (water-filtered smoking pipe), and preparing meat on skewers, which they called souvlakia (from the Turkish sis kebab), the Turks, who were previously a nomadic people, very quickly developed a taste for Greek cookery Not surprising then, in the manner of all conquerors, they also gave Turkish names to classic Greek dishes.

    It seems the Greek’s hopeful confidence, that age-old faith in the god of Greece, was to be renewed again. In their 400-year occupation, the Turks made two fateful errors: first, they gave the Greeks concessions in trade, shipping and administration, at once unwittingly creating Greek leadership and a Greek navy; and second, they decided to place the Orthodox Church leaders in charge of their communities. The Greek leadership and navy were the seeds of the subsequent Turkish downfall, while the authority and strength of the Church in small communities unified Greeks everywhere and served to preserve their language and culture. While the rest of the western world at that time became a blend of Roman and Turkish culture with only echoes of Greek taste apparent, to the Greeks themselves their vital roots remained strong.

    When people are suppressed, their only daily concern is survival. They have neither the time nor freedom to devote to the arts, literature, philosophy, or the delicacies of the palate. Choice lands were cultivated by the Turks and the Greeks were forced to retreat to barren rocky lands and mountain areas, often surviving on cheese made from the milk of mountain goats, wild herbs, olives, and whatever crops they could nudge from the unwilling land. The Turks called the Greeks Rumis and it is from this bitter time that Greeks still refer to the noble and creative part of themselves as Hellene and any bursts of stubbornness or selfishness as Romios.

    Of necessity, then, Greek cuisine became an art of the past. It was so successfully adapted, transformed, and renamed mostly by the Turks and Italians that its Greek origins were all but forgotten. Yet one piece of ancient writing remains: The Banquet of the Learned (Deipnosophists), written in 200 C.E. by Athenaeus, a Greek philosopher living in Rome. His detailed descriptions of foods eaten, their methods of preparation, and even cooking utensils and cutlery as well as menus for dinners and banquets are remarkable in their sophistication. It is from Athenaeus that we learn of kakavia. A seafood stew introduced to Marseilles by seafaring Greeks, kakavia later became world-renowned as bouillabaisse. The book discusses sauces in loving detail: that emulsion of eggs, lemon juice, and olive oil called mayonnaise; a thick white sauce called bechamel; and even cruets of oil and vinegar to be set on the table and used to dress fresh or cooked vegetables. The use of blends of curry probably was introduced in Alexander’s time after his conquest of northern India, but Greek cooks were already long familiar with fragrant thyme and oregano, mint and marjoram, and the Isle of Rhodes was noted for a ginger-flavored bread.

    There is more. The general acceptance of small nibbles of food with drinks as “provocative to eating” not only added graciousness to dining but may even be the ancient root of the Greeks’ predilection never to drink without the accompaniment of food.

    Athenaeus further describes many stuffed, baked vegetables and leaves, tiny meatballs called kefthedes, light crusty breads and thin crispy pastries, polenta and dumplings, capers and pine nuts, force-fed geese, herb-grilled fish and seafood, and unusual combinations of meats cooked with vegetables. The flavored beverage was a light drink of wine diluted with fresh water and sometimes flavored with honey or spices. It is incredible to think that these commonly known culinary cornerstones of today were part of daily fare even before 200 C.E.

    The Greeks have been suppressed and forced to survive on meager rations for so long that it was often Greek emigrants rather than native Greeks who revived interest and pride in culinary pursuits. The first large wave of Greek emigrants followed that fateful Tuesday in May 1453. But other events in Greek history have spurred waves of emigrants, especially to North America. In 1891 a combination of serious crop failures, especially in Laconia and Arcadia, as well as fear of conscription in Turkish lands, sent emigrants out of the country in waves that continued even after the First World War. The combined shortages and suffering that the Greeks endured during the Second World War and during the subsequent civil strife once again sent them to seek a better, more peaceful life elsewhere. Arguably, it is this recent memory of pain that motivates Greeks in North America to take every advantage of the results of hard work, enterprise, and education.

    Greeks know and treasure their deep roots in the past. Against a backdrop of painful history, their own pride and determination, together with the help of the god of Greece, have kept alive and vital a culture, language, and cuisine that have few equals. Despite an occasional fretful fingering of the worry heads, the Greek has learned to find pleasures in day-to-day living and to brush aside the painful events of the past with a hopeful sigh to the future. It is a feat of survival and pride that Aristotle himself would enjoy reading the many Athens newspapers of today, Greeks from the Byzantine Empire would be at home in the worship and rituals of the Greek Orthodox Church, and even Athenaeus would he happily familiar with today’s Greek table.

  • German Food

    DAIRY PRODUCTS
    Milk is not a favorite beverage except for children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers. Milk is used in custards, puddings, and cream fillings. In East Germany where the cuisine tends to retain its traditional tastes, there is a more prominent use of sour cream than in the rest of Germany. In Northern and Eastern Germany buttermilk is often used to marinate and tenderize game. Breakfast and afternoon kaffee (coffee) is taken preferably with canned milk. Sour cream called schmand is added to soups and gravies.

    Many fine imported cheeses are available and these are enjoyed mostly as a dessert, especially after a cold meal. Sometimes sliced cheeses join platters of assorted cold meats and sausages for a light supper with rye bread to form open-face sandwiches, which are eaten with a knife and fork. Topfen, the farmer’s firm fresh cheese, is widely used in baking and cooking. Quark is a creamy form of fresh cottage cheese.

    FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
    Apples, pears, cherries, and plums are produced in quantity in many areas of Germany. Increasingly, more varieties of fresh vegetables and exotic fruits are filling market displays. The Rhineland is famed for grapes and these are pressed into many varieties of fine wines. Fruits are enjoyed fresh as a snack but most often are cooked into compotes, that is, wedges of fresh fruits poached in sugar syrup sometimes scented with fresh lemon zest or lightly spiced.

    Dating from olden times, dried fruits still play an important and interesting part in the German cuisine. They can be made into jams and spreads, fillings for tarts and yeast dough, and they can also add their natural sweetness and color to many meat and game dishes. Fruits such as crushed pineapple, orange wedges, or chopped apple are often also added to sauerkraut dishes. Cold fruit soups and soups made from fresh crushed berries, sweetened and slightly thickened with cornstarch, are popular especially in Northern and Eastern Germany. Dried fruits may also be cooked as a colorful compote and then served as a side dish with game or meat roasts. Raisins and apples are frequent tasty partners to quick suppers of liver or sausages. And of course fresh fruits and nuts are a special treat at holiday time.

    In Germany, vegetables are treated with the respect due their special “status.” Cabbage, turnips, and potatoes can be mashed, sliced, grated, shredded and cooked, boiled, fried and braised into dozens of delicious dishes. But the highest praise is reserved for Germany’s flavorful wild mushrooms and exquisite white cultivated asparagus. Mushrooms and asparagus are considered company treats. Many varieties of cabbage, cauliflower, hop sprouts and cabbage sprouts, carrots, turnips, and peas find their way into the German vegetable pot.

    If the vegetables are not intended to add their flavor to a soup or a stew then they are cooked in the special German way. First a thorough cleaning then shaping and cutting as desired, a quick tossing in hot bubbling butter, a little addition of moisture and the vegetables steam to a perfect tenderness, forming their own sauce. Old or fibrous vegetables may be cut up and boiled first then given the glorious butter and steam treatment. Sometimes a little flour, toasted bread crumbs or a dollop of sour cream adds the final flourish. Vegetables cooked this way are served separately as they deserve to be.

    MEATS AND ALTERNATES

    All over Germany pork reigns supreme. The Germans have found so many delicious ways to serve every morsel of pork that the variations are endless. Beef and veal find a smaller place on the menu, but Germany’s plump chicken, duck, and especially goose are famed. There is also some competition from wild game and fowl, which is plentiful in Germany’s mountains and forests, and which is marinated to tenderness and slowly cooked in covered dishes that bring out the best flavors. Every part of the animal is used: tongue, brains, ears, kidneys, heart, lungs, tripe, milt, sweetbreads, palates, heads, shanks, tails, hocks, trotters, and udders. The quality of Germany’s smoked bacon and cured hams is legendary.

    The seemingly endless varieties of wurste (sausages) can, however, be placed in general categories: rohwurst is cured and smoked sausage ready to slice and eat; bruhwurst is sausage that is smoked then scalded and usually eaten heated; kochwurst is smoked sausage already well cooked and may be eaten as is or heated; bratwurst is the large category of sausages that are sold raw (but may be spiced, smoked, and cured for flavor) and usually pan-fried before eating. Animal intestines are often well cleaned and used as casings for sausages; animal blood too finds a place as fried blood (gerostetes blut) or more commonly in black or blood pudding (sausage).

    Almost as important on the menu (but not quite) is herring. In Emden it is even possible to be served an entire meal with appetizer, main dish, and salad made with herring. Fresh caught herring is called “green” and is often served fried. Herring salad may be prepared by mixing diced herring with chopped cooked potatoes; herring may also be served jellied, grilled, cooked au bleu, grilled or fried in wax paper packets, chopped and spread on toast. Nor does the list end there. There are also rollmops or Bismarck herring, fillets of herring rolled around onions and pickles; brathering, fried sour-pickled herring, and matjeshering, a quality fat herring served simply with boiled potatoes.

    Herring is not the only fish consumed here. German waters provide crayfish, lobster, eels, mussels, flounder, plaice, turbot, sole, and the noted salmon and trout especially from the Rhine River. Forelle blau or trout au bleu is a method of fish cookery reputedly devised in Germany: live fish (scales and all) are plunged into acidulated water to cook briefly and then are served immediately. Traditional German accompaniments to all fish dishes are potatoes in some form, usually simply boiled and garnished with minced parsley or chives and fresh butter. Other partners with most fish meals are cucumbers, asparagus, and green salad.

    Eggs are widely used not only soft-cooked for breakfast but also at other times in many forms, most under the heading of eierspeisen. These include scrambled, fried (spiegeleier), poached, as plain or fluffy omelets, eggs with sauces, and kaiserschmarren – “torn” (pulled into irregular pieces with two forks) egg pancakes served with cinnamon sugar and buttered raisins. Eggs are also used generously in savory and dessert soufflés, blended into soups and sauces, and add their golden richness to the many fragrant baked goods.

    Legumes are also important in the German cuisine. Yellow and green dried peas are used in thick soups or as side dishes of pureed peas. Lentils and white beans are also used both in soups and in many one-dish (eintopf) meals.

    BREADS AND GRAINS
    Bread is on the table at all meals whether in the home or at a public dining room and it is the undisputed “staff of life,” only slightly more important than the ubiquitous potato. While chewy dark breads made of rye flour come immediately to mind, German bakeries also turn out an incredible array of soft and hard, crisp and chewy, seeded or plain breads and rolls of every shape and size. Rye and wholewheat flour, barley and oats all have a place in German breads and rolls. Many are sprinkled with cracked wheat grains, coarse salt, and crunchy sesame or poppy seeds.

    With such an array to choose from it is not surprising that dry breakfast cereals are not too popular, although children are sometimes served hot cooked oats or rice at breakfast, usually sweetened with sugar and raisins and sometimes flavored with cinnamon. Pastas are increasingly popular, especially as quick light meals – more so in cities than in rural regions.

    FATS

    Lard, bacon fat, and butter head the list of most used fats in Germany. Olive oil is used only infrequently for special salads or dishes. Vegetable shortenings and margarine are gaining popularity among health-conscious Germans. Many homes (especially in the country) still enjoy the taste of fats rendered from geese, ducks, and chickens and these are used as spreads on breads and in general cooking. Fats for deep-frying include lard, rendered fat from fowl, and even horse fat.

    SWEETS AND SNACKS
    Sweet preserves with the breakfast bread, plenty of sugar in the kaffee, something sweet to finish the midday meal – and how depressing it would be to contemplate a day without afternoon kaffee that included at least a little kuchen, strudel, or torte! And what kind of a holiday would Christmas be without the warm aromas of weihnachtsgeback and konfekt?

    It is all right to list beer, sausages, kraut, and potatoes as hardy old traditional German staples, but let no one forget the rich baked goods available if not from mother’s oven, then from any number of exquisite konditoreien, where one can relax, chat a while, and sip delicious kaffee while choosing from a bewildering display of sweet nibbles.

    One is further reminded – in the nicest way – of the German sweet tooth with the serving of many meat and fish dishes gently afloat in sweet and sour sauces and sometimes including a mélange of dried fruits to heighten the tart-sweet tastes. Don’t forget, too, that not only are many popular German summer soups made with fresh fruits, but if none of these is available the canny hausfratt will use sugar and vinegar.

    SEASONINGS
    After Charlemagne encouraged the monasteries (in olden times very advanced in both the growing and preparation of food) to plant herb gardens, it did not take long for the people to use the fragrant herbs – lovage, woodruff, parsley, chives, garlic, and dill – in many dishes. Seeds quickly found a place in German cuisine too: caraway, dill, sesame and poppy seeds.

    German cookery could generally be described as hearty but bland. Strong flavors and strong seasonings are not the rule; even garlic is used with a heavy hand only in certain sausages, while onions, chives, and leeks are preferred. Adding a distinctive touch to German cuisine is the prevalent use of sweet-sour, usually created by blending vinegar or lemon juice with brown sugar. The best of German cookery relies on the delicate natural taste of fresh ingredients: fresh eggs and butter, choice meats and fish, tender young vegetables, fragrant ripe fruits. Sweet and sour dishes are often further enhanced with the addition of raisins or currants and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, and thickened with the dried crumbs from honey cake or gingerbread. Other frequent tastes include: anchovies, apples, capers, fresh dill weed, horseradish, juniper berries, and many varieties of mustards.

    The tang of sour cream and dark rye bread and the smoky taste of bacon permeates many meals especially in Northern and Eastern Germany.

    BEVERAGES

    Beer is the favorite German beverage and if natural thirst and good fellowship are not enough, there are any number of salty, sour, tangy, or tart vorspeisen (appetizers) to lure the thirst. German thirst is not only first and foremost quenched by frothy mugs of beer, the containers come in different materials and sizes (from a small glass to a huge stein) and the beer itself comes in many tastes and brews from mild to strong. If that is not enough, there may be a schnapps to drink before the beer and even fruit syrups to add to them for variety Germany is considered to be “the greatest brewing country in the world and Munich the greatest brewing city” but every area and every town and, in many cases, most homes brew specialties of their own. Types of beer include among many others: Helles, light Munich beer; Dunkles, dark; Heller Bock, strong and light; Dunkler Bock, strong and dark.

    Many fine German wines are also produced, both reds and whites, but the whites are more widely known than the reds. Rhine and Moselle wines offer many delicate flavors. The sweetest ones are for sipping while the drier fruity types are for special occasion meals. Generally, Germans have a preference for sweet rather than dry wines.

    Kaffee begins the day as a warming, stimulating breakfast drink. The coffee served in the late afternoon usually has the connotation of a friendly hospitable gathering to which is added the sweet touch of fine pastries. Coffee and a sweet is a German tradition. Tea has a medicinal connotation and is usually taken to “cure” something. Of the many types of herbal teas, camomile and mint are among the favorites.

  • erman Foods Glossary and Foods Terms

    GLOSSARY OF FOODS AND FOOD TERMS IN GERMANY

    Apfelkuchen: a short rich pastry is pressed into the bottom and sides of a springform pan. Sliced apples, bread crumbs, currants flavored with rum and grated lemon rind are arranged over the pastry, then baked. Twenty minutes before removing from the oven a creamy egg custard is poured over the cake to form a topping.

    Auflaufe: soufflé.

    Braten: the favorite German technique for cooking most meats. If necessary, meat is larded first then browned in a heavy pan with fat, onions, and seasonings. Liquid is added and the dish is covered to cook slowly. To finish, the gravy is thickened with potato paste, bread crumbs, or flour. Sometimes wine, beer, or sour cream is added. Meat is sliced and served with accompanying vegetables and sauce.

    Baumkuchen: a many-layered egg-crusted log glazed with chocolate. A Christmas specialty.

    Der Westfalische: a Westphalian pudding made of grated chocolate, pumpernickel crumbs, lemon zest, cinnamon, and slivered almonds blended with eggs and baked. It is served with vanilla sauce.

    Einbrenne: used as the basis for most German sauces and to thicken soups, vegetable liquids, and gravies. Flour and fat are heated and blended together, then the liquid slowly added. This differs from the French roux, because the German Einbrenne always has the flavor of onion. Chopped onion is added to the fat while heating or a half onion is allowed to brown in the fat for flavor and may then he removed before blending with the liquid.

    Eintopf: a one-dish meal related to the casserole, usually of meat, vegetables, and gravy.

    Feinkostgeschaft: literally a “fine food shop,” and actually the next step up from the usual delicatessen in that such a shop carries not only an exceptionally wide range of fine local and imported foods, but also foods which feature exceptional quality and unusual packaging.

    Gans: goose. But in Northern Germany a goose is not just a goose. It may be Spickgans, pickled and smoked goose breast; or Ganseklein, bits of goose meat stewed with vegetables and finished with dried cooked fruits and finally served with dumplings; or Schwarzsauer von Gans, goose blood and vinegar thickened with flour and spiced. Or it could be a dish of pickled goose stomach minced and blended with onion and seasonings and used as a spread on bread.

    Hausgebackenes: home-baked goodies, cakes, and small cookies.

    Himmel and Erde: South German specialty of pan-fried apple and potato slices served with fried slices of Blutwurst (blood sausage).

    Huhn im Topf: chicken simmered with wine and vegetables.

    Kalbfleisch: veal.

    Kartoffel: potato.

    Kartoffelpuffer: potato pancake.

    Kase: cheese, of which the two most used types in Germany are Topfen, a dry farmer’s cheese, and Quark, a moist creamy cottage cheese.

    Kasseller Rippenspeer: roast pork served on sauerkraut with mashed potatoes and a rich wine and sour cream gravy

    Klopse, Knodel, Klopse, Klosschen: only a few of the many names for dumplings. Klopse are those made with finely ground meat; Knodel is the South German name for the North German Klosse, which are fluffy potato dumplings, while Klosschen is an endearing name for little dumplings.

    Konfekt: a confectionary, a place where sweets of all kinds can be purchased.

    Konigberger Klopse: an example of dumplings fit for a king. Mixed finely ground meat and soaked bread (in milk) is shaped into small balls and poached, usually in a light broth, then served with a cream sauce. What sets the dumplings apart are the anchovies and capers in the sauce.

    Kuchen: generic name for yeast dough, pastry or cakes baked with fillings and shaped in a log, square, or round.

    Napfkuchen: fruit cakes.

    Pfefferpotthast: a beef short-rib stew with onions, knob celery, and carrots all browned in bacon fat. Served with potatoes and beet salad in the winter but with a fresh salad of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers when they are available.

    Pickert: a yeast-risen wheat or potato-flour bread. A specialty in the central region.

    Potthucke: a baked pudding of raw and cooked potatoes, eggs, and milk, sliced and fried to serve.

    Rindfleisch: beef.

    Rostbratl: roasted pork basted with dark beer.

    Rotwein: red wine.

    Sauerbraten: a marinated pot roast of beef with a rich dark gravy sweet with sugar and gingerbread crumbs and sour with a touch of vinegar. Traditionally served with cooked red cabbage and fluffy potato dumplings.

    Schinken or Speck: cured bacon or ham.

    Schnippelkuchen: a large egg-rich potato pancake served in wedges.

    Schwarzwalder Kirschentorte: Black Forest cherry cake. Layers of chocolate cake filled with whipped cream and cherry preserves, the layers having first been given a dousing of rum and/or kirsch. The cake is coated with whipped cream, the sides pressed with chocolate flakes, and the top decorated with chocolate-dipped cherries.

    Schwein: fresh pork.

    Soleier: pickled eggs, a common snack in most drinking places in Germany.

    Strudel: a log of thin stretched dough enfolding juicy fruit or cheese filling. Favorites are sliced apples and currants, cherries and almonds, or cottage cheese and raisins. Reputedly of Austro-Hungarian origin, and never forgotten by those who have tasted it!

    Suppen: soups.

    Susspeisen: the general name for all the sweet dishes that may happily end a meal – puddings or farina, rice or tapioca, apple or fruit pancakes, apple or fruit dumplings served with sauces, egg custards, sweet egg omelets or soufflés, and finally wine or fruit jellies.

    Topfbraten: a thick stew made from pigs’ ears, snouts, kidneys and heart with the sauce thickened with both gingerbread crumbs and plum jam. A specialty of “Slaughtering Day”

    Vorspeisen: appetizers, either hot or cold. Germans prefer a one-plate appetizer rather than a choice of many small bites.

    Weihnachtsgeback: this includes all the special bakery for Christmas – especially the crisply delicious array of small cookies.