Bavarians don’t just eat beer.  They also eat food.  And it is some of the heartiest, earthiest, heaviest food in Europe.  Heavy in a good way, like an anchor that keeps you from floating away from the beer garden.  Here to make your mouth water, are 5 traditional foods you need to eat when visiting Munich or anywhere else in Germany’s fun province, Bavaria.

Weisswurst and Pretzel:  Hey, it’s breakfast time in Bavaria, so you’re obviously enjoying a Weißbier (a cloudy, slightly sweet wheat beer).  You need something solid to go with it.  Do as the Germans do, and enjoy at weisswurst (white sausage).  Looking a little different than your typical North American breakfast sausage, and boiled instead of fried, it’s a nice “light” (by Bavarian standards) way to start the day.  With a pretzel, please.

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President Obama recently shared a traditional weisswurst breakfast with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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Weisswurst is typically eaten with mustard and a pretzel.

 

Käsespätzle:  Please, don’t call this mac n cheese.  That’s for kids.  Käsespätzle is for grownups, made with small twisty dumplings, emmenthaler cheese, and onion.  Not a hint of orange food colouring in sight.

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Please sir, may I have some more?

 

Schnitzel:  Apparently, you can schnitzel pretty much anything.  Though veal is the most common member of the schnitzel family, there’s pork, there’s chicken… I’ve even had fish schnitzel.  The process is quite simple.  Take your slab of meat, pound the heck out of it, bread it, deep fry it, and eat it.  Food doesn’t get much “heavier” than that!

Wiener-Schnitzel02

What’s the salad for?

Schweinshaxe: No, that’s not the name of a German metal band (though maybe it should be).  This is the grand-daddy of all Bavarian cuisine.  Alternatively called “pork knuckle” or “ham hock”, this is big food. Tuck into one of these for lunch, you won’t be needing dinner.  Takes some serious effort to eat – this is a real food experience.

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I don’t recommend trying to eat two of these at one sitting.

Did I miss your favourite Bavarian food?  Let me know in the comments!
OneLife Tours is dedicated to the absolute best in European travel experiences for our small groups.  If you want your travel in Europe to include authentic, mouth-watering, local cuisine, sign up for one of our unique tours today!
This blog happily shared with you by Craig Bresett (trying not to get Käsespätzle on my keyboard) – owner and chief tour director at OneLife Tours. Contact Craig anytime: craig@onelifetours.ca
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