Räuberfleisch is easy and quick to prepare, yet far from fast food. Guten Appetit!

Ingredients:

2 paprika
8 champignons
1 onions
8 pickled cucumbers
4 tbsp tomato paste
800 g pork gulasch
pepper
ground paprika
4 garlic

Preparation:

1. Chop the peppers, mushrooms, gherkins and onions.
2. Lay out a deep plate with aluminum foil and spread the tomato paste on it. Spread the pork goulash on it.
3. Add onions, peppers, cucumbers and mushrooms.
4. Season with pepper and paprika powder. Chop garlic cloves and add.
5. Stew in the oven for one hour at 160 degrees Celsius.
   

Spargelzeit (asparagus season) starts in Germany in April and lasts for two months every year. At this time of the year small wooden huts start popping up across Germany. The message they all bear is simple. It’s just one word. “Spargel.”

German passion for asparagus is unrivaled. One fifth of the entire arable landmass of the country is dedicated to its cultivation. 55,000 tonnes are produced each year in the short spring season, with a gross value of €175 million.

What is it about asparagus that makes it such hot commodity? There are several reasons for that:

1. Because it’s the first fresh vegetable of spring, it gives people a mental boost when they see it on the shelves.
2. What’s more, it is healthy and low in calories.
3. Then there is the tradition. “The Gods ate asparagus; kings and queens ate it… and normal people too,” jokes Manfred Schmidt, who runs the Asparagus Museum in Beelitz.
4. But there is one other reason for its success. “Many people say it is an aphrodisiac. There is a saying here that if a newly wed couple are to have a good wedding night, she should eat asparagus and he should eat celery,” the Spargel historian notes.

Asparagus has been growing in the German countryside for millennia. Writing his “Natural History” in the 1st Century, Pliny the Elder noted the many pale stems which protrude through the Germanic soil, reports Die Welt. Up until the First World War, production grew steadily and in 1908 a co-operative was founded. During the First World War profits fell, although they recovered in the 1920s but the Second World War put an end to the golden years.

The policies of collectivized farming in the 1970s ensured that the farms simply didn’t have the manpower to cultivate the white vegetable – it is highly labor-intensive since the roots must be cut by hand. Cheap labor from Poland has provided all the manpower the farms need, and production has surpassed pre-war levels.

The only question left to answer is how one should best cook one’s Spargel. Mostly it’s all about keeping it basic.

All you’ll need is some asparagus, olive oil and salt and pepper:

1. Heat the oven to 220°C. Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus and discard.
2. Spread the asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Toss the asparagus to evenly coat with oil.
3. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
4. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes on the top rack of the oven. The roasting time will depend on your taste. You can roast until the asparagus are just barely cooked through or quite well roasted and getting a little crispy on the ends. It’s up to you!

Typical German beef soup with bone marrow dumplings, vegetables, noodles and egg custard, so comforting and delicious!

Ingredients:

2 large bread rolls
2 1⁄2 cups bread crumbs
1⁄2 cup finely chopped parsley
2 eggs
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
0.5 kg beef marrow bones
10 cups beef stock
1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 small leek, white and light green parts only, finely chopped

For the egg custard:

4 eggs
120 ml/ ½ cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
a pinch of nutmeg

Preparation:

1. Make the custard: mix the eggs, milk, salt and nutmeg very well. Pour the mixture in a freezer bag, knot the bag very tightly. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, lower the heat, place the bag with the eggs in the pot and simmer gently for about 15-20 minutes, turning the bag a few times in between, until the eggs are completely set. Take out of the water, let cool for a while, remove the bag, slice the eggs thickly, then chop them into small squares or diamonds. Add to the soup during the last cooking minutes.
2. Make the dumplings: place rolls in a bowl and pour warm water over them and let sit until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain and squeeze completely dry. Using your fingers, crumble rolls into a medium bowl. Add bread crumbs, 6 tbsp. parsley, eggs, nutmeg, and salt and pepper; set aside.
3. Using a small spoon or butter knife, scoop marrow from bones into a small saucepan; heat over medium heat until melted. Pour into bowl with rolls and mix until dough forms. Shape into about thirty 1-oz. balls; set aside.
4. Mix stock, carrots and leek in a 6-qt. saucepan, season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium, and add dumplings. Cook, stirring occasionally, until dumplings are cooked through, about 3 minutes.
5. To serve, ladle soup and dumplings into bowls, and garnish with remaining parsley.

German stuffed cabbage rolls, or Kohlrouladen, are the quintessential German comfort food.

Ingredients:

1 large white cabbage about 1800 g
600 g of ground beef
1 bread roll
1 egg
1 egg yolk
150 g of chopped onion for meat
150 g of chopped onion for gravy
1 beef cube
2 tablespoons of crème fraîche or sour cream
2 teaspoons of salt
½ teaspoon of paprika (hot)
½ teaspoon of black pepper
750 ml of water
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
3 tablespoons of corn starch
baker’s twine

Preparation:

1. Remove the bottom core of the cabbage head with a knife. Place the cabbage in a large saucepan of boiling water and cook for 2–3 minutes. The leaves will loosen. When done, place the cabbage in a colander and rinse with cold water. Carefully separate the leaves and dry them with a paper kitchen towel. If there is some of the core remaining on the leaves, cut it out with a small kitchen knife. Use eight large leaves (if the leaves are not large enough, you can use two leaves) and spread them out on your work surface.
2. Soak the bread roll in the water. Place the ground beef in a bowl and add a half of the diced onions, egg, egg yolk, paprika, pepper, and salt. Wring the water out of the bread roll. Spread the bread roll pieces over the meat and mix all the ingredients together.
3. Divide the meat into eight portions and place each rounded ball on a cabbage leaf. Wrap the leaves around the meat by folding the right and left sides over the meat so that the meat remains contained in the leaves. Use baker’s twine to hold the rolls together.
4. Heat up the oil in a roasting pan and fry the cabbage rolls until slightly brown. Remove the cabbage rolls from the pan and set aside.
5. Sauté the other half of the diced onions in the roasting pan until they are transparent. Fill the pan with the water and add in the tomato paste. Crumble the beef cube and add to the water. Mix with a whisk until tomato paste, and beef cube is dissolved. Place the cabbage rolls back into the roasting pan and cover it. Simmer for about 35–40 minutes. As the water evaporates, add more from time to time. Use kitchen tongs to remove the rolls and place them on a plate. Keep warm.
6. Add crème fraîche or sour cream. While the gravy is heating, stir with a whisk. Dissolve the corn starch in a cup with a little water and add the dissolved starch slowly to the gravy while constantly stirring. Continue until you have reached your desired texture for your gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste along with some paprika.Serve with mashed potatoes and cucumber salad.

Red cabbage is often used raw for salads but can also be eaten cooked. This German vegetable dish is a favorite and can be served with Rouladen, Sauerbraten or Buletten. For those who find sauerkraut a little too strong or sour, Rotkohl is a sweeter, less pungent alternative. Basically a sweet-and-sour braised red cabbage, Rotkohl is very easy to make and it tastes great.

Ingredients:

1 head red cabbage, shredded
1 apple, grated (you can leave the skin, just remove the seeds)
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp black pepper
a pinch of cloves
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
4 Tbsp butter

Preparation:

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat until foamy and golden. Add the shredded red cabbage, grated apple and toss to coat with the butter. Sauté until slightly wilted, about 5 minutes.
2. Add sugar, apple cider vinegar, cover and simmer. Sprinkle sugar and cloves over the cabbage and toss to coat evenly. Add the vinegar and lemon juice to the pot. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and simmer until the cabbage is completely tender, stirring often, about 30 minutes total.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. If making sweeter version: brown the butter in a small saucepan by cooking it over medium-low heat until foamy and golden. Remove from heat and stir into cooked cabbage mixture with the lemon juice.

Pork roast is the staple of German cuisine. If the skin and the underlying fat is included in the cut, it is  called Krustenbraten, where the skin is made into a crispy crust.

The roast is served with vegetables of the season, a salad and dumplings (bread or potato) or red cabbage.

Ingredients:

1.5 kg pork shoulder with rind
2 carrots
2 onions
1 clove garlic
salt, pepper, nutmeg, caraway seeds to taste
rosemary sprigs for garnish

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 200° C.
2. Prepare the roast by first cutting a criss-cross pattern into the rind. If the rind is too soft to cut, place the meat in the freezer for 10 minutes.  This hardens the rind enough to cut the pattern.  Season the meat with salt, pepper, and caraway seeds.
3. Wash and peel the carrots and chop them into small cubes. Peel the onions and garlic and chop them up into small chunks. Place all the vegetables into the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the meat on top of the vegetables, rind side down.  Add 2 cups of water.
4. It’s important that during the first part of baking the rind remain moist. Only at the end of the baking period is the roast turned around, the oven temperature is increased, and the rind is allowed to get crispy.  This ensures that the rind doesn’t get gooey and tough.  But, be sure to keep an eye on your roast. With the high oven temperature, the rind can burn very quickly.
5. Roast the pork for 1 hour in the oven. At this point, make sure that there is still liquid in the roasting pan.  If not, add a little more water. Reduce heat to 180° C and continue roasting the meat for another 1 1/2 hours.
6. At this point, turn the roast over so that the rind is up and out of the liquid. Turn up the heat to 230° C.  Bake uncovered an extra 5 to 10 minutes or until the rind is crispy and brown (but not charred).
7. Remove the roast from the pan. Keep it warm but do not cover it.  With a little extra water, loosen the pan drippings and pour this through a sieve into a small sauce pan. Season the gravy with salt and pepper to taste.
8. To slice the roast, turn it rind-side down for easier cutting.Tip: Krustenbraten should be eaten immediately, otherwise the rind begins to absorb liquid and salt from the meat, softening it.

Spundekäs is a Mainz specialty. This is a smooth cheese paste, partly made from quark and seasoned with pepper, salt and sweet paprika. When you order Spundekäs, it will normally come with chopped onion sprinkled on top and with crackers and mini pretzels on the side for dipping.

The perfect match is Riesling or Müller-Thurgau wine, from the surrounding Rheinhessen region. Another cheese that is a bit more challenging is Handkäse, which is often marinated in vinegar and has a powerful aroma.

Ingredients:

½ cup (120 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup (120 g) sour cream
½ cup (120 g) quark or fromage blanc, or drained Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon onion powder, to taste
½ teaspoon garlic powder, to taste
2 teaspoons paprika
a pinch of smoked paprika (optional)
salt and freshly milled pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a fork until smooth and well combined and no white specs remain.
2. Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

When you think of German cuisine, generally two things come to mind: sauerkraut and something including meat. Germans love meat. Minced meat especially. They love it so much, they even eat it raw, especially in the North, where it’s spread on a bread roll, sprinkled with chopped onions, and eaten for breakfast.

Mett is a German delicacy of raw minced pork, which is often purchased from the butcher already spiced with salt and pepper, sometimes garlic and ground caraway. In northern Germany, it is known as Hackpeter.

If raw onion is added, then it is called Zwiebelmett. If onion and rubbed marjoram are added, it is known as Thüringer mett. Legally, German Mett is not allowed to contain more than 35% fat. Unless pre-packaged, the German Lebensmittelhygiene-Verordnung (“food hygiene/health directive”) permits Mett to be sold only on the day of production.

Raw Mett is normally eaten on bread bun (Mettbrötchen) or sliced bread, frequently with a garnish of raw onion rings or diced raw onion. The cultural importance of raw pork should not be underestimated. Some companies allow, or positively encourage, Mettwoch, the custom of eating Mettbrötchen on Mittwoch (Wednesday).

At buffets, Mett is occasionally served as a Mettigel (Mett hedgehog, also Hackepeterigel or Hackepeterschwein). This form of serving Mett was especially popular in the 1970s. To produce it, a large amount of Mett is shaped as a hedgehog, quartered onion rings or pretzel sticks are used as spikes, olives as eyes and nose.

In parts of Southern Germany Mett (Mettstange) is served on a Lye bun instead of a regular bun.

Eating raw pork and raw beef is common in Germany, but Mett can also be cooked. It should be handled like any spiced, bulk sausage meat bought in the store. It can be mixed with other meats and baked into meatballs, meatloaf, or sausage patties.

While serving Mettbrötchen, not much has to be done. The Germans usually eat them raw or by simply using the seasoning of salt and pepper. There are indeed other more elaborated methods of cooking and presenting but the simple love for minced meat overpowers everything else.

Ingredients:

Minced pork: 1 kg
Salt and white pepper to taste
Caraway or marjoram (crushed): 2 grams (optional)
Bread rolls: as per requirement
Onion: 1 large
Pickles for garnish

Preparation:

1. Cut the rolls into halves.
2. Generously spread minced pork on the top slice using a fork and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Chop or slice the onions and place on top of the Mett.
4. Slice the pickles and place on top.

   Mettbrötchen are now ready to be served. The usual accompaniments are tea or coffee if they are served during breakfast or otherwise just about anything else will do.