When I visited Heidelberg recently, I told my friend that I wanted an immersive cultural experience, and plenty of opportunity to sample local food. Naturally, this is what she provided, meaning that I ate a lot of meat and a lot of bread!
The first night I arrived we started off with weisswurst (white sausage) with brezn (bread pretzels), salad and sweet mustard. This was very tasty, and a great start to the weekend. I have never before eaten sausages which you have to peel before eating (!) so this provided some amusement. I’m also not a fan of mustard, but the sweet mustard went incredibly well with the sausage. Something I have been learning to embrace more over the past few years (having been quite a fussy eater as a child) is that when going somewhere new it is best to forget what you like and don’t like, and just try it.
The following day started with continental breakfast, complete with cheese and homemade rhubarb jam. Despite a reasonably large breakfast, we still managed a quick trip to a bakery to have elevenses so that my friend could try puddingbrezel, whilst I opted for a horseshoe shaped almond pastry. Dinner that evening was linzenspaetzle (fat egg noodles with lentils) which we made ourselves – and the making was just as much fun as the eating!
My final evening also felt very traditional as we made our way to Vetter’s, a local restaurant and microbrewery. Unfortunately (especially as I was in Germany) I don’t drink beer, but I was delighted that my apple juice was still served in a tankard and I now know the correct way to hold such a drinking vessel! Partly because it was my last night, and partly just because I was intrigued, I ordered fleischpfanne (pictured below). This came served in a pan (one of the main reasons I ordered it!) and was basically fried potatoes, topped with meatloaf, sausages and schnitzel. I couldn’t finish it all, unsurprisingly, but am glad I tried it. It pretty much summed up German food – stodgy and meaty!
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