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| In front of the tannenbaum on Christmas Eve |
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| Yummy German Christmas food |
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| My lovely Christmas gifts- one of them was a Kindle! Thanks, Liebling! |
This red mixture is called ROTKOHL, which translates into red cabbage. It is fairly sweet.
Liebling’s family drinks champagne during the holiday season. I don’t drink alcohol, so opt for apple juice mixed with sparkling water, called APFELSCHORLE.
This gravy garnished the dumpling and meet dishes. It is simply called SOßE in German, translated as sauce.
I stuffed myself with chocolate and the special star-shaped cookie you see on the left side of this picture. The cookie is traditionally German and called PLÄTZCHEN.
I also loved the cookie in this picture. It is made of cinnamon and called ZIMTSTERN in German.
This chocolate cake resembles the moelleux au chocolat cake native to France. This cake is a Belgian product sold all over Europe called GÜ.
This is deer meat. It has a bit of a gamey taste, and is called REH in German.
And there you have it: my food exploration thus far in Germany! What special things do you eat for Christmas where you live or where you’re from?
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, I assume we eat the same thing being Canadian. But, for a bit of west indian, we also have a drink called sorrel (I know you know about….maybe?) and other Grenadian/west indian drinks. I personally only like sorrel and stay away from things like ginger beer etc.
I LOVE spazle. Um, I can still remember how tasty that is. Very interesting with the goose.
Ooooooo, I love sorrel too AND ginger beer. Can't find either here in Swissland.
When I used to eat meat, German food used to be high on my list of delicious foods. Spätzle, sauerkraut and meat that they cook for hours (can't remember the name) soaked in gravy. Yum!.
pretty cool, since I am from Jamaica you know the things we eat at home. I had many of those dishes this Christmas, twas delish.
This was enlightening. I usually think of German food as sausages and sauerkraut. I have to admit that I tend to shy away from German food, but much of what you pictured here looks great. Let me know if Leibling's family ever wants to have me over for dinner.
Looks like quite the spread!! That deer meat looks so succulent.
How quintessentially German, hah! This post makes me miss it….there's a restaurant here in Seoul that claims to be German, but only serves German beer alongside Korean food!!
Happy holidays, girl!
wow! how interesting! I would love to try some of those things one day!
I LOVE red cabbage!
goodness! All so delicious looking!
SophieBx
I am sooo hungry right now! YUM! I am definitely returning to Germany. As for me,being Guyanese–you know the deal. Although, having been quite Americanised and in the south, I have kind of moved away from tradition. Like Rhona, I have to have my sorrel. I think it's my favourite drink ever (next to passion fruit). Thanks for the post and LOVE the hair btw!
It all looked pretty awesome. My family Haitian so we eat a mix of American dishes with typical Caribbean dishes like rice and peas.
My inner fat girl envies you (wiping the drool from my mouth)
I had Rotkohl once and it was scrumptious! (and that was the in-flight dinner version) so I can imagine how tasty the homemade version must have been!
freeze dry that deer meat and send it to….
The red cabbage, RØDKÅL in Norwegian, is very much a part of the Christmas tradition here in Norway as well.
Unfortunately, I don't particularly care for the Christmas food here. There are three main dishes: Ribbe(Pork) with which the red cabbage is eaten, Pinnekjøtt(Lamb) and Lutefisk(Fish).
I don't eat pork, but even if I did the Christmas pork that is served here does NOT look very appetizing to me at all. They use the most fatty part of the pig's rib cage (I think) so there's actually more fat than meat to eat, then it is roasted until the flabby surface is golden brown and crispy. Once it's done there's a rather piggy scent to it (one of the main reasons why I can't stomach pork) and barely two centimetres of meat. (Google "ribbe matprat" to see pics). It just doesn't look like something I'd want to eat even if I ate pork.
Then there's the lamb. I love lamb, but this Christmas lamb is marinated in salt water for days before cooking, and if it isn't cooked right it can end up being waaay too salty! Not good if you suffer from high blood pressure (like me!) Ugh.
The fish … I also love fish, but man not this kind fish. It's a stinky, flaky kind of fish that I've never been able to swallow again after the first time I tried it.
This is sad because a big part of Christmas is the food. It's basically the one time of year we can stuff our faces and not feel too guilty about it the next day (the guilt comes in the New Year with all those silly new year resolutions).
Anyway, all was not lost. Since I was unable to go Stateside and spend Christmas with my family, I stayed in Norway alone. I could have spent it with friends if I wanted to, but the food kept me away. I've lived here too long to put up with stuff I don't like just to be polite. I stayed home and made myself some Jamaican stewed peas and rice. It was good! Far better than anything I would've been served had I spent the Christmas with friends!
@Rhona: Yes, I know sorrel! But not the biggest fan. I think it's due to what it smells like when it's being made! Definitely am a fan of ginger beer though!
@foosrock: What a shame about not being able to get sorrel and ginger beer! I've never really liked German cuisine but can't deny that these Christmas treats have been fab!
@kimvan: Man, I am DYING for some curry goat. Gonna have to search for it once I get back to London.
@Terri: Will do LOL
@Lola: Not my favourite meat (it reminded me a bit of liver) but it was very well cooked and seasoned and a bit hit at the Xmas table!
@Naomi: Happy holidays lady! Too funny, I'm actually going for Korean food here in Berlin tonight!
@liveletlive: Where did you have it?
@Sophie: It was tasty for sure!
@kvowels: Thanks! I'm trying to grow it out but it's a slow process!
@B: Gosh! I haven't had rice and peas in so long!
@globe trotter: Send me the address and I'll make sure to send it next time haha.
@Shells: Oh no! Sad that you couldnt go home for Xmas but glad you were able to cook up some comfort food! What are you doing in Norway if you dont mind me asking? Are you studying? The food doesnt seem too appealing! It sounds really similar to some other Scandanavian foods though- very pungent and salty!
Hi Oneika, I don't mind at all. You can ask anything you like.
I've lived in Norway since 2001 (I'm half Jamaican/half American). I came here with my job, and never intended to stay longer than 2 years, but before I knew it 10 years passed just like that!
I then decided that I wanted to go back to school so I quit my job and moved to the UK in 2009 to do my Masters (in Int. Mngment) and to go to film school. Came back to Norway in April of this year (2011).
I'm not going to lie and say I absolutely love it here in Norway, but I'm stuck here for the time being due to circumstances beyond my control. One thing I do like though is its close proximity to mainland Europe and other destinations.
Now that I've finally found a job after months and months of searching I can start travelling again!
I can't believe none of the folks of Caribbean extraction mentioned the Christmas fruit cake. I love sorrel too, my mom's roast beef and roast pork, gungo rice and peas and lots and lots of chocolates and desserts. Those are the things I need to eat and drink to feel like it's Christmas.
Jules
@Shells: Hello friend! Nice to meet another person of Jamaican extraction here! Jamaica to di werl!! LOL. I would love to hear more about your experiences in Norway. For example, what made you choose to go there? And have you been able to learn the language? I hear it's a doozy!
@Jules: Ah!! Black rum cake! I haven't eaten that in a while! That definitely makes it feel like Christmas, and now that you mention it, that's strange that nobody mentioned it either!!
Jules, don't you worry, girl. I love me some Jamaican rum cake and sorrel! Man, I can't tell you how many times I called my mom during Xmas and that was all I lamented about … hehe. I wish I was still in England where I could eat Jamaican food to my heart's content. When I was there for school a few months ago, I gained about 15lbs stuffing my face with all the goodies that don't exist in Norway. Those were good times.
As for the main course, I debated where I should cook rice and peas or stewed peas and rice for my Xmas dinner. I love rice and peas, but I opted for stewed peas and rice because that's my absolute favourite Jamaican dish. I never get tired of it.
Oneika (forgot to tell you by the way that I love your name! Before Nikki Minaj, I've never heard this name before — very unique), I didn't really choose to come to Norway, Norway kinda chose me. I know that sounds corny, but its actually nothing but the truth.
You see, back in 01 I was looking for opportunities to work in Europe. At the time I was fluent in both Spanish and French, and wanted work in either France or Spain to speak these languages with even greater skill. I sought employment in each of these countries, but couldn't find anything. Just when I was about to give up the search, a Swiss-Norwegian family got in touch with me and asked if I wanted to move to Norway to help them run their busy Bed & Breakfast.
I'd heard of Norway, knew where it was and such, but wasn't too excited to go. Then I thought to myself, when will you ever get an opportunity like this again? So I jumped on a plane and the rest as they say is history.
Here I am 10 years later, 10 years wiser. It's been a journey of great joy … but also sorrow (unfortunately).
As for the language, yep I speak it fluently. I have an ear for languages so it wasn't difficult for me to learn once I set my mind to it. When I first came here I had a boyfriend from Austria and I'd just came from spending a year with him. My German was just starting to settle, and German being such a bloody hard language to learn, I wasn't too willing to start learning Norwegian on top of it.
Eventually though the bf and I parted ways and Norwegian came pretty easily. It's a Germanic language so a lot about it is similar to German, which made things somewhat easier on me.
Yum! They do presents on the 24th in Chile too, and I just don't like it because it's not what I'm used to. It was great to celebrate on the 25th again this year in England.
YUM!!!!
So I cannot wait for Christmas this year because I will be in Germany!! So excited I found your blog, and so really excited you have posts about Germany, as I have no idea what the winters are like there and how to dress for it. How much did you have to layer when you were in Berlin?
I am at home at Saskatchewan for Christmas this year….(-40C with the windchill but let’s not talk about it…) I too spent last Christmas in Germany!!! I was in North Bavaria for a week with a friend and her family. I too had the dumplings, red cabbage for Xmas lunch but we had duck. My friends prefer duck over goose. And I had the apple juice/sparkling water drink and loved it – I now make it here. Lots of sweets and wine!! Lots of good homemade food and cake and coffee for a week…I think I gained ten pounds!!! We opened our gifts Christmas Eve which like you is something I am not used to. We went to lots of Christmas markets…I loved it!!!
Funny as I just wrote a post on my experience last year – although I don’t have the detailed photos you have so really enjoyed those!
Enjoy the rest of the Christmas season!!!
Laurie recently posted..A European Christmas
Very cool! Funnily enough, it’s strangely warm here in Toronto- 0 degrees C! Wild, eh? I also gained a ton of weight the last two Christmases in Germany, and was surprised they do Christmas on the 24th, though the more European people I talk to, the more I realize that it’s common to do so there. Stay warm in SK!!!