Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
For me, since I'm a picky eater, it's important to know what types of food are served in Germany for when I visit. One of my biggest problems with traveling to a new place is the type of food. Just to sidetrack for a little bit, when I was in New York for my cousin's wedding, we ate at many different high-class restaurants. The majority of the food, I didn't even know what it was and barely ate at any of those restaurants. Fortunately, McDonalds, Subway and the little carts that vendors had at the corners of the streets helped me not go hungry during my stay there. In the end, I think I would be able to survive when I visit Germany!
After comparing and contrasting the foods offered in Germany and the U.S., the one item that I had never heard of was Nutella. It's very popular in Germany and is mainly used for breakfast as a spread on toast, bagels, etc. To me, it reminds me of peanut butter but it's actually a hazelnut spread. I was shopping one day with my mom at Sam's Club and we happen to stumble upon Nutella and decided to try it. I actually didn't get a chance to try it, but my mom did and LOVED it. Other than Nutella, there are other differences between breakfast foods. What I consider a lunch, is a breakfast in Germany. Using a roll and putting slices of cheese and lunch meat is a typical breakfast item. Salmon with mozzarella cheese, quark with fruit, and eggs are other normal breakfast items compared to pop-tarts, sugar-coated cereal, bacon, eggs, sausage, etc.
Lunch vs Dinner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFqMSOaZS0I&feature=related
I found this to be quite interesting. In the U.S., the main meal is dinner, but in Germany the main meal is lunch. Rather than eat the most around dinner time, Germans mainly eat the most around lunchtime. Of course, the portion sizes are different but I know a typical lunch in Germany includes a roll with sausage and cheese along with a simple side dish. Our lunches can vary and be heavy or light, but for sure our dinners are much heavier dishes. A typical dinner would include some sort of meat (steak, chicken, etc.) and a few side dishes like potatoes, salad, vegetables, etc.
I absolutely LOVE all of the candy in this video (from both sides!), but my absolute favorite is the Toblerone. Everytime I go to Trader Joe's, I always get one!! And who can pass up gummy bears? Obviously in the U.S., we have a huge never-ending selection of different food items, such as candy and bread.
My favorite group from Germany was in the LA area and explained on the radio what American brands of fast food restaurants are in Germany. Even though the majority of fast food places are here (or originated here), the few that are in Germany, include Burger King (http://www.burgerking.de/), Pizza Hut and Subway. It's interesting how many of the junk food items that Americans love are not heard of over there. Once again, it's no wonder why there are so many health and weight issues here in the states.
I never realized how extravagant our grocery stores are. Besides the business hours being different compared to stores in Germany, we also carry so many varieties and brands of items, such as bread and candy. Many of us are used to that (like I was), but I liked watching to see how shocked Germans were at the varieties of items that we have.
Eating at Restaurants: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVKoaf9vXSI
After watching this video, the service in restaurants in the U.S. is completely different than restaurants in Germany. No ice in drinks?! I don't know how that is possible, because ice cold drinks are the absolute best (though Falk disagrees). Also, no refills?! We are definitely catered to in restaurants here, to say the least. Servers are always refilling drinks and bringing bread or rolls out before the meals come to the table. It's no wonder why there are obesity issues, but I was shocked when I learned of the differences between restaurants.
All of this reminds me of when I lived in Gernmany for a month. Nutella was a huge deal there, but I just never could make my tastebuds agree with it. We came home from school everyday for lunch (dinner). My favorite thing to eat there was erdbeere eis :) I liebe eis!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you lived in Germany...even if it was for only a month! How did you like it? Yeah, Nutella is very popular!! I had no clue about it, until Falk mentioned it to me.
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