There is one thing you can count on when you visit Germany and that is the fact that you won’t go hungry. On a recent trip to Germany’s Fairy Tale Road featuring the Grimm Brothers, I had the pleasure of enjoying a number of tasty treats from the northern region in Hamelin where the Pied Piper put the town on the map to Kassel, Germany and Hanau where local specialties ruled the day like Ahle Wurst and Cheese with Music.
German pancakes are not the typical pancake. There is a wonderful restaurant in Hamelin called Fannefkuchen and they serve 42 different sweet or hearty pancakes the likes of Savoury Pancakes with smoked salmon and crème fraiche or bacon pancakes with ham, spinach, and cheese or sweet flavors like pancakes with apples, roast almonds, and cinnamon.
Another common food served in this part of Germany is cheese, but take that a step further and it’s cheese with music. Starting with Handkase translated into hand sour milk cheese formed with one’s hands (and a culinary delight in Hanau) I found out what the music meant too.
It is a small yellow cheese with a strong pungent smell that is served as an appetizer usually topped with chopped onions, which is called "Handkäse mit Musik," which translated means hand cheese with music. In addition to the onions, this dish is normally served with caraway. A story about why this dish is called “Cheese with music” goes that the oil and vinegar containers served with the cheese hit one another and create a musical note.
In Kassel, a restaurant located in the hotel Gude serves a dish that does not get any more regional, the Ahle Wurst. This is sausage made of pork meat and bacon, and in some regions, they also use nutmeg, cloves, garlic, and cinnamon. The Ahle Wurst is most common in the north and is served with potatoes that often include another regional dish, duckefett. Duckefett is a regional sauce made of bacon, onions, and sour cream, indeed, another mixing of German flavors that definitely inspire the taste buds.
Recipe for Germany Pancakes: Makes six servings
Ingredients:
¼ cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and melt the butter into a medium baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix remaining ingredients; flour, milk, eggs and salt and pour it into the baking dish. Bake on center rack in the oven for 30 or until golden brown.