A great German dinner - But why is this cuisine dying here?

Last night we had two other couples over for dinner. They recently returned from a vacation in Jamaica and were melancholic as a result of the terrible weather here so I went with the winter comfort theme of German food.

Duck and 3 Onion Soup
Baby Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
Sauerbraten
Braised Red Cabbage with Bacon
Spatzle

The meal was complimented by a few bottles of Donnhoff.

One of our subjects of conversation was how preparing traditional German cuisine, at least in the U.S., seems to be a dying art. Most (but not all, thankfully) authentic German restaurants have either closed or "Americanized" their menus. There are still some excellent traditional German restaurants around the country, but for the most part they seem to be a dying breed. Further, it is not too often one hears of people under, oh say the age of 70 regularly preparing traditional German meals at home.

What are your thoughts on why German cuisine is dying off in the U.S.?

[Jenise]

Dave, I've never lived in a Germanic community so have no basic understanding about the difference between the way things used to be vs. the way they are now--IOW, I've not had a front row seat to the dying out--but wouldn't it be a matter of the overall decline we as a nation, with less time for cooking and more interest in health issues, have in long-cooked foods as well as the kind of heavier rib-sticking food German cuisine is perceived to be? FWIW, the only German restaurant I've ever eaten at in the U.S. has been in California's Solvang and here in Washington in the small Solvang-ish tourist town of Leavenworth nestled in the mountains about halfway between Seattle and Spokane. Moreover, if German food isn't even an option for a large portion of America and likely the world, so if familiarity begets desire begets demand, then it's understandable why demand is low except in areas with a significant enough German population to ensure intermarriage between descendants such that the cultural significance of German culinary traditions are learned, understood and passed on.

[David M. Bueker]

There are 2 very good German restaurants just a few miles from me. They have been around forever, with very little changing from when they first opened. I have been going to one of them since before I can remember.

There was a quite passable one in downtown Memphis for decades - Erica's. Good sausage and schnitzel (which I love). It was there all the 20 plus years I was in Memphis. Closed right before I left in 2007.

Not all Teutonic food is slow-cooked. A misconception.

We have three that I can think of around here. All have been in business forever. This area has historically had a large population of people with a German background. We also have a very large population of people with a Scandinavian heritage. The area might have one or two Scandinavian restaurants but I am not aware of them. When I was a small child I remember one of the 'better' hotels in downtown Minneapolis had a smorgasbord that in those days was considered outstanding.

Being brought up in a Danish/German family with first generation parents you would think that I would naturally cook more dishes of these cultures. About the only things I make are gravlox, dilled mustard, red cabbage, and pickles. While I really enjoy the meals my Danish relatives prepare when I visit I don't find myself craving much from those cuisines.

Interesting question

Redding has a locally owned restaurant, run by the two ladies who own it, and also do all the cooking. They have pictures of veterans all over the place and the older guys flock there, as do many locals. They cook great food and it takes a while to get served as everything is home made. One night a month, they cook foods from another country. I hear the German night is a huge sell out each time they have it.
I had a very close German friend long ago. Her food was heavy; lots of sausages...the white ones were gross. I never liked the odor in her home when she was cooking, and our daughter, who was good friends with her daughter, did not enjoy eating there. I make a few German dishes at home and they are very good. Of course, I don't know how true to the German culture they are.

I recently met a German lady in our neighborhood at a Christmas party. She brought a wonderful chocolate cake to share and I loved it, because it was not horribly sweet. She told me that in her country, folks do not use sugar like we do in the US. I think I should pay her a visit, and see if she will share some recipes.

A great menu Dave and a thought provoking question.
When I was at the U of C, a really hot date was driving to Milwaukee to one of the German or Austrian restaurants - then, the only restaurants that Milwaukee was known for. As you say over the years as they lost customers their menus became Americanized and finally many [ ? all but one of the old family owned institutions ] closed. Pity the loss of the wonderful atmosphere and decor of some - much like the Rathaus in many German cities.
Among the reasons - the "heaviness" - the demise of the artisan butcher-sausage maker -the dearth of creative chefs translating new ingredients - the explosion of choice may be the best explaination.
I try to be ecumenical in my cooking and have a very small collection of German and Eastern European cookbooks - Mimi Sheraton's The German Cookbook; Horst Scharfenberg's The Cuisines of Germany; Leslie Chamberlain's The Food and Cooking of Eastern Europe. Two more recent books: The New German Cookbook and East of Paris- the New Cuisines of Austria and the Danube are efforts at bringing this cuisine into the late 20th century but fall terribly short with very contrived recipes. Perhaps the limited pallette of ingredients in that climate have their best expression in the traditional preparations.

[Jenise]

Not all Teutonic food is slow-cooked. A misconception.

I understand, hence my qualifier "is perceived to be". But certainly, as a whole, the cuisine is not full of fresh, barely cooked ingredients heavy on fresh spring and summer vegetables as most Americans would know it. Rather, the cuisine leans toward longer than shorter cooking methods but for grilled fare. Which isn't meant as disparaging or implying a dislike on my part--I've loved what I've had. But why our country as a whole doesn't embrace German food, I hve to think it's becaue it's simply out of step with the direction popular food has been going as a rule.

Spargel!

Dave, what a great menu! I would have loved that. (How long did you marinate your sauerbraten? That is my Dad's favorite...may have to make it for him when he comes to visit...)

I happen to love German food. Grew up on it, since my entire family is from Milwaukee (I'm the only one who was not born there.) When I hear most people talk about not liking German food, the word they use (as Christina mentioned) is "heavy." I guess that's true, but I think of it as great winter food. My favorite thing in the world is Schweinshoxen, those pig ankles that you see in all of the touristy restaurants in Munich. Wish there was a place to get those here. I also love German potato salad. My Mom makes the best, but with everyone's cholesterol concerns she doesn't make it often. It also seems that vinegar factors in to many German dishes, so I guess if someone's not into the "sweet and sour" thing, that may turn them off.

My Dad was telling me last week that he had just gone into a German restaurant and ordered a Brat, but it was actually a Knockwurst. That's pretty far off the mark! As you can imagine, he was really disappointed.

A hundred years ago, Jersey City and Newark, as well as much of the NYC metro area, had a very large German population. I have an account of a parade in New Brunswick in 1904 in which most of the speeches were given in German. But there have been population shifts, big ones. When we moved to NJ in 1972, Yorkville in Manhattan still had a German language bookstore and several restaurants. Bremen House was there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkville,_Manhattan

Of course waves of other immigrants came in, the Germans got richer and moved out to the suburbs and other towns. So we don't have much in the way of German food or culture here. I like it, I have enjoyed tasty plates of Pfifferlinge along the Rhein and fish straight from the Mosel. But we don't often take the time to make it, I suppose in a way it's too close to "American" and we're always experimenting with other cuisines. In between Thomas Keller, Julia Child, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indian, Italian, where would we find the time? Or the thyme?

Dave, what a great menu! I would have loved that. (How long did you marinate your sauerbraten? That is my Dad's favorite...may have to make it for him when he comes to visit...)

Hi Carrie,

When possible, I marinate the meat for 3 days. That amount of time seems to be the "sweet spot".

Glad to hear there are some other fans of traditional German food out there!

Perhaps the limited pallette of ingredients in that climate have their best expression in the traditional preparations.

I don't know the cookbook but there is nothing limited about the ingredients available in the Daunbe or in South West Germany.

But certainly, as a whole, the cuisine is not full of fresh, barely cooked ingredients heavy on fresh spring and summer vegetables as most Americans would know it. Rather, the cuisine leans toward longer than shorter cooking methods but for grilled fare..

Well 'as a whole' doesn't have much meaning when we're talking about food and culture, does it!

Plenty of fresh spring and summer vegetable cuisine from the fertile South West regions of Germany.

I certainly don't have the historical background to talk about German cuisine in the US, but it seems to me that it probably fell out of favor as a distinct cuisine as the older folks assimilated and because (as Frank mentions) it doesn't seem very exotic to Americans. Many 'traditional' German dishes have been incorporated as American.

Good comments from everyone. I think Jenise and Christina have made some very perceptive observations.

As a semi-participant to the diminution of German cuisine in Milwaukee---it was still strong when I arrive, but began to decline even then with the old timey places, the classics, slowly going out of business, and the decline steepened in the last several years---I both bemoan the loss and understand it.

The ties of German-ness are slowly slipping away as the older folks die out and the younger ones assimilate. Add in what Jenise mentioned about the basic simplicity and heaviness of German cuisine (and I speak as one who lived there as a teenager and loved it, and went back several times throughout my life) and you can see why it's trending that way.

Yes, there is spargel (and now is the time on Sprockets when we dance!!!), and it's a great tradition. But the constant reality is meat (in one form or another, often preserved or long-cooked) and heavy starch---spatzle, knoedle (now, there's a glob of starch, a noodle much like a soggy softball as a side dish), yellow potatoes, sliced potatoes, boiled potatoes...you get the drift.

When my wife visited Germany for the first time and we dined in Koblenz she asked me to translate the menu for her (we were in a very traditional restaurant). I commented how easy that would be since every item pretty much finished with -fleisch. The menu was a litany of all the different types of meat they had, and that was pretty much it.

On another occasion, in spargel season, we were at a fancy resort hotel and had a meal of blanquette de limoux, spargel in white sauce, and spatzle. Thought I would go snowblind. Had to bolt and go look for a pizza joint.

Add in that one of the base ingredients of German cooking is veal, and you have another problem. Veal doesn't enjoy nearly as much universal popularity in the US...and especially when the primary method is coating it in milk and breadcrumbs and frying it and serving it on a bread roll...maybe with spatzle.

Plus, from my point of view, a cuisine that exists largely without corn (still considered oh-oh in classic German kitchens) and garlic and tomatoes...well, that's not a cuisine I want to live with exclusively, thank you.

Mind you, I love the classic German/Austrian, but I just don't want it as a steady diet. Even Karl Ratsche's I wouldn't want as a steady diet. Or John Ernst. Or Maders. Grilled Bratwurst, yes. Often, with good mustard. But my wife wouldn't eat that more than once a month maybe.

Plus---and here's a big kiss of death: the wines you drink with classic German/Austrian are actually fairly limited.

Plenty of fresh spring and summer vegetable cuisine from the fertile South West regions of Germany.

Oh oh. Danger. Danger ! Now you're trying to say Bavarian food and German food are the same thing. Better watch out there, bud.

Especially if you're talking to a Bavarian.

Oh oh. Danger. Danger ! Now you're trying to say Bavarian food and German food are the same thing. Better watch out there, bud.

Especially if you're talking to a Bavarian.

Well, just trying to say that "German" food is an oversimplification. As always.

And when I visit relatives near the North Sea it is pretty hard to find meat on menus (slight exaggeration) because of all the different fish and seafood.

[Jenise]

Plenty of fresh spring and summer vegetable cuisine from the fertile South West regions of Germany.

I certainly don't have the historical background to talk about German cuisine in the US, but it seems to me that it probably fell out of favor as a distinct cuisine as the older folks assimilated and because (as Frank mentions) it doesn't seem very exotic to Americans. Many 'traditional' German dishes have been incorporated as American.

Rahsaan, I'm sure there are, and as a vegetarian you would have been sure to experience them. But as a traveller in Germany myself I saw very little of that side of their cooking.

Rahsaan, I'm sure there are, and as a vegetarian you would have been sure to experience them. But as a traveller in Germany myself I saw very little of that side of their cooking.

It is true that German restaurant cuisine does not have the same diversity as places like France where the restaurant scene has such a long tradition. In fact, I always find it very telling that the German word for restaurant is 'restaurant' pronounced as if it were a French word.

That said, Berlin has lots more interesting and diverse food than Paris. At least for those who don't eat meat. But then vegetarianism is much more developed in Germany in general.

But I would still rather eat in Paris for the cheese, pastries, and bread.

Jenise's post on lemon bagna cauda seems relevant to me here in this discussion......not sure this will make sense or that I totally understand what I'm thinking
Bagna cauda is an essential, elemental dish from the Piedmont but it can and has been very effectively updated with the key elements and techniques preserved. The same with many other Italian classics. This kind of thing doen not seem to happen with German dishes - this is the reason the cuisine is dying - it just does not lend itself to the same type of elaboration/experimentation that goes on in other cuisines that keeps it alive, perpetuated and growing.

Another observation in the same vein -Ming Tsai has a wonderful recipe for a brined pork loin and suggested accompaniments for the whole menu. I made the meal and it was revelatory - an Asain choucroute ! He was able to perfectly adapt the idea of an Alsatian dish to something Asian. He does this very well with many other dishes and cuisines.

Not sure this makes any sense or is relevant to the question but there is something different with German cuisine that keeps it buttonholed to the ages.

Not sure this makes any sense or is relevant to the question but there is something different with German cuisine that keeps it buttonholed to the ages.

Oh, you mean like the tradition of spreading lard and bacon fat on heavy dark bread, Christina?

Very astute depiction of the situation of German food.

There's still a place in my heart, though, for a platter of Schweinehaxen und kartofflen with steins of beer! (Probably somewhere around my clogged right coronary artery.)

Not sure this makes any sense or is relevant to the question but there is something different with German cuisine that keeps it buttonholed to the ages.

No.

Try going to some of the more contemporary restaurants in Germany.

Now I don't want to come off as too much a defender of the cuisine because I'm not even a huge fan of it myself.

But I think the main reason it doesn't pop up in American fusion restaurants is because it doesn't have the same marketing cachet as other cuisines. Which in part is because the government has not been very aggressive about touting 'German' culture/cuisine (unlike the French government which is very aggressive on these fronts) for obvious reasons after WW2.

And choucroute is German cuisine.

But there are also these same debates about why French cuisine is so buttonholed to the ages in comparison to Spain. And I'm not sure that either is true. Depends what kind of cuisine and what kind of restaurants in each country.

Difficult to sort out.

[Jenise]

The same with many other Italian classics. This kind of thing doen not seem to happen with German dishes - this is the reason the cuisine is dying - it just does not lend itself to the same type of elaboration/experimentation that goes on in other cuisines that keeps it alive, perpetuated and growing.

Is it the seasoning, do you think? There are a lot of herbs and aromatics that give Italian, French and various categories of Asian foods a very specific character that can be borrowed as a reference point to create instant and recognizable fusion. Consider lemon grass, sweet basil, tarragon, star anise. Does German cuisine have anything besides sauerkraut that has that kind of instant identity?

Is it the seasoning, do you think? There are a lot of herbs and aromatics that give Italian, French and various categories of Asian foods a very specific character that can be borrowed as a reference point to create instant and recognizable fusion. Consider lemon grass, sweet basil, tarragon, star anise. Does German cuisine have anything besides sauerkraut that has that kind of instant identity?

Are you asking why foreigners don't add German elements into their cooking as a way of creating fusion with Germany? Or why the German classics don't add foreign elements as a way of updating their cuisine and creating fusion?

For the former, I agree that Germany probably has fewer identifiable traits and seems less desirable as something that an Asian cook might want to combine with their cuisine. So to make their dishes French they might add cream, to make them Italian they might use olive oil, or to make it German they might add pickled cabbage, to use your example.

But Christina's post of why bagna cauda is being updated and why German classics are not being updated doesn't strike me as very accurate. If anything, I would think that the lack of prestige for German cuisine means that their new chefs are more interested in looking abroad to update their dishes. In comparison to the traditional chefs in France and Italy.

So you will find plenty of these creative updates in the German urban centers. Where you would expect to find them. (Although definitely not in the Mosel hinterland, where I too became quickly bored with monotonous menus).

(Although definitely not in the Mosel hinterland, where I too became quickly bored with monotonous menus).

But you always found some mighty fine wine!

And I'd agree that the German cuisine scene is not entirely moribund; it's simply not a dynamic force in world cuisine for the reasons many of us have mentioned.

In the urban centers there are different influences than in the small towns and decentralized villages, as a rule. So we're not saying there are not fine restaurants, and there's not good food. I dined some (okay, many) years ago at a place called....I think Vier Jahreszeitsen?---that was wonderfully creative. And I've experienced some incredible good northern Bavarian food.

Also as you get over to Austria, things can change dramatically, with lots more eastern and slavic influences that have been left imprinted in the culture.

I think much of this whole discussion was captured wonderfully by the movie "Mostly Marthe" (the one that was so dreadfully, abysmally copied in the Hollywood style as a star vehicle). There the action takes place in Northern Europe, the drear and severe Germany, but ends up in the sunny and delightful south, in Italy. Both in terms of place, and of cuisine.