Famous
German dishes

what to order
 

Clickable page directory

Main dishes
Sausages
Side dishes
Soup
Sauce
Hor d'ouevres
Cheese
Sweets
Street-vendor food

Main Dishes

Gansebraten

"Roast goose". Usually stuffed with apples and prunes.

Hasenpfeffer

"Pepper Hare". Today, it's still well peppered, but is usually made with marinated rabbit, not hare.

Himmel and Erde

"Heaven and Earth". Made with sliced or pureed apples and potatoes with blood sausage.

Kalbshaxe

"Veal knuckle". The shank is slowly roasted, resulting in a crisp exterior, succulent interior.

Kalbsvogel

"Veal Bird". The veal is stuffed and rolled with bacon, spinach and chopped hard-boiled egg.

Kasseler Rippchen

Roasted smoked pork loin. Supposedly originated in the German city of Kassel.

Konigsberger Klopse

"Meatball from Konigsberg". Mixed-meat balls (pork is usually included) are poached and served in a thickened white sauce flavored with lemon and capers.

Labskaus

This sailor's favorite is a hash of meat, fish, onions, potatoes and beets topped with a fried egg.

Maultaschen

A ravioli-looking specialty. The dough stuffed with cooked minced meat and spinach.

Sauerbraten

Long-marinated, sweet-and-sour beef pot roast. Potato dumplings, red cabbage, and stewed fruit are traditional accompaniments.

Schweinsbraten

"Roast pork". The meat (typically shoulder) is slowly cooked and served with sauce, dumplings and sauerkraut.

Schweinshaxe

The bone-in shank is moist inside, crisp outside thanks to slow roasting.

Spanferkel

Spit-roasted whole suckling pig. Spanferkel also refers to a feast featuring the pig.

Weiner Schnitzel

"Vienna Cutlet". Borrowed from Austria, but now an entrenched German dish. The thin veal cutlet is breaded and pan fried in butter.

Sausages

Bauernwurst

"Farmer's sausage". Made with pork.

Smoked.

Blutwurst

"Blood sausage". Minced pork is mixed with blood and a filler such as breadcrumbs.

Bockwurst

Made with veal, pork and milk. Subtly seasoned.

Bratwurst

"Roast sausage". Made with pork, sometimes mixed with veal.

Knackwurst

Prepared with pork, veal and lots of garlic, then smoked.

Leberwurst

"Liver sausage". Usually made from pig's liver. Easy to spread over crackers and toast.

Mettwurst

Another spreading sausage. Made with pork and pig liver. Smoked.

Weisswurst

"White sausage". Made with veal and pork. Mildly seasoned.

Side dishes

Bratkartolfen

Fried potatoes are enhanced with bacon and onions.

Kartoffelsalat

"Potato salad". The German version uses vinegar and oil, not mayonnaise.

Reibekuchen

Pan fried potato pancakes served with apple sauce.

Sauerkraut

"Sour Cabbage". Vegetable is shredded then pickled.

Spaetzle

Small, hand-made noodles dropped in boiling water.

Soup

Aalsuppe

This sweet-sour mixed vegetable-fruit soup doesn't necessarily have to include eel (aal) despite its name. "Aal" means "everything" in an early German dialect.

Sauce

Grune Sosse

A green sauce made with a mixed variety of herbs.

Hors d'ouevre

Rollmopse

A pickled herring filet is rolled around a pickle or onion.

Cheese

Limburger

Quite pungent or odiferous. Originally made in Belgium, but currently produced in quantity in Germany.

Munster

Created in the Vosges Mountains in France, but now very much a German staple. Relatively mild for a German cheese.

Tilsiter

Semi-firm, pale yellow cheese. Modest creamy texture.

Sweets

Baumkuchen

This treat is known as the "King of Cakes" in Germany.

Marzipan

An almond-sugar-egg-white paste is molded into the shapes of fruits, flowers and animals.

Rote Grutze

A raspberry puree partnered with cream, whipped cream or ice cream.

Schwarzwalter Kirschtorte

Chocolate layer cake augmented with sour cherries and whipped cream.

Stolen

Christmas cake. Originated in Dresden, but it is now admired throughout Germany.

Street-vendor fast foods
with foreign influences

Currywurst

Sausage chunks doused with a curry sauce.

Donar Kebab

Turkish inspiration invented in Berlin, now sold around the world. Mass of ground lamb is grilled on a vertical spit, then sliced and served on pita bread.

Links to my other
German cuisine pages

German cuisine home page
Famous German beverages
German menu translator
Regional German cuisine

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