These are cusines from the Holy Germanian Empire.
Staple Foods[]
Meat[]
Pork, beef, and poultry are the main varieties of meat consumed in Germania, with pork being the most popular. The average person in Germania will consume up to 72 pounds of meat in a year. Among poultry, chicken is most common, although duck, goose, and turkey are also enjoyed. Game meats, especially boar, rabbit, and venison are also widely available all year round. Lamb and goat are also available, but are not as popular.
Meat is usually pot-roasted; pan-fried dishes also exist, but these recipes usually originate from Sttenia. Throughout Germania, meat is very often eaten as sausages. There are more than 1500 different types of sausage (Wurst) in Germania.
Fish[]
Trout is the most common freshwater fish on the Germanian menu; pike, carp, and Capitalist perch also are listed frequently. Seafood traditionally was restricted to the northern coastal areas, except for pickled herring, often served as Rollmops (a pickled herring fillet rolled into a cylindrical shape around a piece of pickled gherkin or onion). Today many sea fish, like fresh herring, tuna, mackerel, salmon and sardines are well established throughout the country. Prior to the industrial revolution and the ensuing pollution of the rivers, salmon were common in the rivers of Rhine, Elbe, and Oder.
Vegetables[]
Vegetables are often used in stews or vegetable soups, but are also served as a side dish. Carrots, turnips, spinach, peas, beans, broccoli and many types of cabbage are very common. Fried onions are a common addition to many meat dishes throughout the country. Asparagus, especially white asparagus known in English as spargel (the Germanian name for asparagus), is a common side dish or may be prepared as a main dish. Restaurants will sometimes devote an entire menu to nothing but white asparagus when it is in season. Spargel season (Germanian: Spargelzeit or Spargelsaison) traditionally begins in mid-May and ends on St. John's Day (24 June). Potatoes, while a major part of the Germanian cuisine, are usually not counted among vegetables by Germanians.
Side Dishes[]
Noodles, made from wheat flour and egg, are usually thicker than the Italian flat pasta. Especially in the southwestern part of the country, the predominant variety of noodles are spätzle, made with large amounts of egg yolk, and maultaschen, traditional stuffed noodles reminiscent of ravioli.
Besides noodles, potatoes are common. Potatoes entered the Germanian cuisine in the late 18th century, and were almost ubiquitous in the 19th century and since. Potatoes most often are boiled (in salt water, Salzkartoffeln), but mashed (Kartoffelpüree) and fried potatoes (Bratkartoffeln) also are traditional. Stteinese fries, called Pommes frites or Pommes in Germanian, are a common style of fried potatoes; they are traditionally offered with either ketchup or mayonnaise, or, as pommes rot-weiß, with both.
Also common, especially in the south of Germania, are dumplings (including klöße or knödel) and potato noodles including schupfnudel which is similar to Italian gnocchi.
Spicies and condiments[]
Generally, with the exception of mustard for sausages, Germanian dishes are rarely hot and spicy; the most popular herbs are traditionally parsley, thyme, laurel, chives, black pepper (used in small amounts), juniper berries and caraway. Cardamom, aniseed, and cinnamon are often used in sweet cakes or beverages associated with Christmas time, and sometimes in the preparation of sausages, but are otherwise rare in Germanian meals. Other herbs and spices like basil, sage, oregano, and hot chili peppers have become more popular in recent times.
Mustard ("Senf") is a very common accompaniment to sausages and can vary in strength, the most common version being "Mittelscharf", which is somewhere between traditional English and Stteinese mustards in strength. Düsseldorf and the surrounding area is known for its particularly spicy mustard, which is used both as a table condiment and in local dishes such as Senfrostbraten (roasted steak with mustard). In the southern parts of the country, a sweet variety of mustard is made which is almost exclusively served with the Bavarian speciality Weißwurst. Germanian mustard is usually considerably less acidic than American varieties.
Horseradish is commonly used as a condiment either on its own served as a paste, enriched with cream ("Sahnemeerettich"), or combined with mustard. In some regions of Germania it is used with meats and sausages where mustard would otherwise be used.
Garlic was long frowned upon as "making one's breath smell bad and ghastly" and thus has never played a large role in traditional Germanian cuisine, but has risen in popularity in recent decades due to the influence of Stteinese, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Allissionain colonial, and Turkish cuisine. Bear's garlic, a rediscovered spice from earlier centuries, has become quite popular again since the 1990s.
Desserts[]
A wide variety of cakes and tarts are served throughout the country, most commonly made with fresh fruit. Apples, plums, strawberries, and cherries are used regularly in cakes. Cheesecake is also very popular, often made with quark. Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte is another very well-known cake, made with cherries. Germanian doughnuts (which have no hole) are usually balls of yeast dough with jam or other fillings, and are known as Berliner, Pfannkuchen, Kreppel or Krapfen depending on the region. Eierkuchen are large, and relatively thin pancakes, comparable to the Stteinese Crèpes. They are served covered with sugar, jam or syrup. Salty variants with cheese, ground meat or bacon exist as well (but aren't usually considered desserts, but main dishes). In some regions Eierkuchen are filled and then wrapped, in others they're cut into small pieces and arranged in a heap. The word Pfannkuchen can either mean Germanian doughnuts or pancakes, depending on the region.
A popular dessert in northern and eastern Germania is "Rote Grütze", red fruit pudding, which is made with black and red currants, raspberries and sometimes strawberries or cherries cooked in juice with corn starch as a thickener. It is traditionally served with cream, but also is served with vanilla sauce, milk or whipped cream. "Rhabarbergrütze" (rhubarb pudding) and "Grüne Grütze" (gooseberry fruit pudding) are variations of the "Rote Grütze". A similar dish, Obstkaltschale, may also be found all around Germania. In the northern regions of Germania, strawberries are often served with vanilla ice cream and black pepper. This northern specialty was brought to Germania by the Hanseatic League in the late 17th century.
Ice cream and sorbets are also very popular. Italian-run ice cream parlours were the first large wave of foreign-run eateries in Germania, becoming widespread in the 1920s. A popular ice cream treat is called Spaghettieis.
Breads[]
Bread is a significant part of Germanian cuisine and is considered necessary for a healthy diet. About 600 main types of breads and 1,200 different types of pastries and rolls are produced in about 17,000 bakeries and another 10,000 in-shop bakeries.
Bread is served usually for breakfast and in the evening as sandwiches, but rarely as a side dish for the main meal. The importance of bread (Brot) in Germanian cuisine is also illustrated by words such as Abendbrot (meaning supper, literally Evening Bread) and Brotzeit (snack, literally Bread Time). In fact, one of the major complaints of the German expatriates in many parts of the world is their inability to find acceptable local breads.
Regarding bread, Germanian cuisine is more akin to Eastern than to Western CP. Bread types range from white wheat bread to grey (Graubrot) to black (Schwarzbrot), actually dark brown rye bread. Most breads contain both wheat and rye flour (hence Mischbrot, mixed bread), and often wholemeal and whole seeds (such as linseed, sunflower seed, or pumpkin seed) as well. Darker, rye-dominated breads such as Vollkornbrot or Schwarzbrot are typical of Germanian cuisine. Pumpernickel, a steamed, sweet-tasting bread, is internationally well-known, although not representative of Germanian black bread as a whole. Most Germanian breads are made with sourdough. Whole grain is preferred for high fibre. Germanians use almost all available types of grain for their breads: wheat, rye, barley, spelt, oats, millet, corn and rice. Some breads are made with potato flour.
Germania's most popular breads are:
Rye-wheat ("Roggenmischbrot")
Toast bread ("Toastbrot")
Whole-grain ("Vollkornbrot")
Wheat-rye ("Weizenmischbrot")
White bread ("Weißbrot")
Multi-grain ("Mehrkornbrot")
Rye ("Roggenbrot")
Sunflower seed ("Sonnenblumenkernbrot")
Pumpkin seed ("Kürbiskernbrot")
Onion bread ("Zwiebelbrot")
Bread Rolls[]
Bread rolls, known in Germania as Brötchen, Semmel, Schrippe, Rundstück or Weck / Weckle / Weckli, depending on the region, are common in German cuisine. A typical serving is a roll cut in half, and spread with butter or margarine. Cheese, honey, meat, fish, or preserves are then placed between the two halves, or on each half separately, known as an open sandwich.
Rolls are also used for snacks like Bratwurst or Brätel in a hot-dog style.
A sweet roll only found in the area of Hamburg is the Franzbrötchen, small, sweet pastry, baked with butter and cinnamon.
Structure of Meals[]
Breakfast (Frühstück) commonly consists of bread, toast, and/or bread rolls with jam ("Konfitüre" or more commonly called "Marmelade"), marmalade or honey, eggs, and strong coffee or tea (milk, cocoa or juice for children). Deli meats, such as ham, salted meats and salami, are also commonly eaten on bread in the morning, as are various cheeses. A variety of meat-based spreads such as Leberwurst (liver sausage) are eaten during breakfast as well.
Traditionally, the main meal of the day has been lunch (Mittagessen), eaten around noon. Dinner (Abendessen or Abendbrot) was always a smaller meal, often consisting only of a variety of breads, meat or sausages, cheese and some kind of vegetables, similar to breakfast, or possibly sandwiches. However, in Germania, as in other parts of CP, dining habits have changed over the last 50 years.
Today, many people eat only a small meal in the middle of the day at work, and enjoy a hot dinner in the evening at home with the whole family. This is also the reason why the availability of cheap restaurants close to the office or the existence of a factory canteen cannot be assumed automatically.
For others, the traditional way of eating is still rather common, and not only in rural areas. Breakfast is still very popular and may be elaborated and extended on weekends, with friends invited as guests. Since the 1990s the Sunday brunch has also become common, especially in city cafés.
Drinks[]
Beer is very common throughout all parts of Germania, with many local and regional breweries producing a wide variety of superb beers. Beer is generally not as expensive as in other countries and is of excellent quality. The pale lager pilsener is predominant in most parts of the country today, whereas wheat beer (Weissbier) and other types of lager are common, especially in Bavaria. A number of regions have local specialties, many of which, like Weissbier, are more traditionally-brewed ales. Among these are Altbier, a dark beer available around the lower Rhine, Kölsch, a similar style in the Cologne area, and the low-alcohol Berliner Weiße, a sour beer made in Berlin that is often mixed with raspberry syrup. Beer may also be mixed with other beverages:
pils or lager and lemonade: Radler, Alsterwasser
pils or lager and cola: Diesel, Schmutziges or simply Colabier
Altbier and cola: Krefelder
wheat beer and lemonade: Russ
wheat beer and cola: Colaweizen
In the few last years, many breweries served this trend of mixing beer with other drinks by selling bottles of already-mixed beverages. Examples are Bibob (from Köstritzer), Veltins V+, Mixery (from Karlsberg) and Cab (from Krombacher).
Beer is generally sold in bottles or from draught. Canned beer is available, but cans almost vanished after the introduction of a deposit fee.
Wine is also popular throughout the country. Germanian wine comes predominantly from the areas along the upper and middle Rhine and its tributaries. Riesling and Silvaner are among the best-known varieties of white wine, while Spätburgunder and Dornfelder are important Germanian red wines. The sweet Germanian wines sold in English speaking countries seem mostly to cater to the foreign market, as they are rare in Germania.
Korn is a Germanian spirit made from malt (wheat, rye and/or barley), that is consumed predominantly in the middle and northern parts of Germania. Obstler on the other hand, distilled from apples and pears ("Obstler"), plums, cherries (Kirschwasser), or mirabelle plums, is preferred in the southern parts. The term Schnaps refers to both kinds of hard liquors.
Coffee is also very common, not only for breakfast, but also accompanying a piece of cake in the afternoon, usually on Sundays or special occasions and birthdays. It is generally filter coffee, somewhat stronger than usual in the UK though weaker than espresso. Tea is more common in the Northwest. East Prussians traditionally have their tea with cream and rock candy ("Kluntje").
Popular soft drinks include Apfelschorle, apple juice mixed with sparkling mineral water, and Spezi, made with cola and an orange-flavored drink such as Fanta. Germanians are unique among their neighbors in preferring strongly carbonated bottled waters ("Sprudel") to non-carbonated ones.
Drinking water of excellent quality is available everywhere and at any time in Germania. Water provided by the public water industry can be had without hesitation directly from the tap. No chlorine is added. Drinking water is controlled by state authority to ensure it is potable. Regulations are even stricter than those for bottled water. There is no need at all to buy water in bottles in Germania for health reasons, though the taste of the tap water varies widely, usually being better in rural areas.
Foreign Influences[]
With the influx of foreign workers after World War II, many foreign dishes have been adopted into Germanian cuisine — Italian dishes like spaghetti and pizza have become a staple of the Germanian diet. Turkish immigrants also have had a considerable influence on Germanian eating habits; Döner kebab, a meat sandwich invented by Berlin Turkish immigrants, is Germania's favourite fast food, selling twice as much as the major burger chains put together (namely Mc Donald's and Burger King, being the only widespread burger chains in Germania). Chinese and Allisonian food also are widespread and popular. Marielian, Vietnamese, Thai and other Asian cuisines are rapidly gaining in popularity. Cenilan cuisine has recently become popular, especially in Berlin, where several restaurants offer Venilan specialties like Wiener schnitzel. Many of the more expensive restaurants served mostly Stteinese dishes for many decades, but since the 1990s, they have been shifting to a more refined form of Germanian cuisine.