America vs. Germany Part VI. Weird eating habits.

Hallo meine Lieben,


I hope you are all having a wonderful and sunny day! I know, the weather in Germany is not very nice at the moment but I am sure it will be better soon! Wann wird's mal wieder richtig Sommer? Hopefully soon! Ach, Rudi Carell! Herrlich. 

Okay. Food is important. I love to eat and to cook. I am a terrible baker but I think my cooking is fine. I can't find all the things I like and used to eat in Germany here but I think I found a good way to deal with it. I am glad that I found my Maggi Würze here in America. It hurts a bit that I have to pay 4 Dollars for a 100ml bottle but okay. I love it, I need it, I use it for everything (by the way, I can get a 1000 ml bottle for 3 Euros in Germany. Man.).

I miss German Bretzeln though. One time I bought an American pretzel (why do you spell it wrong, America?) and there was sugar on it. I want salt! Or sunflower seeds! But not sugar. 

I found some fantastic vegan Würstchen though! Good job, America! That makes it a lot easier to grill out! By the way, David says that the German Bratwurst in America never tastes like German Bratwurst. 

As you can imagine there are many differences between German and American food. I could talk about this for hours but I just want to mention a few that really stand out to me. Please write me if you have any other suggestions. 

★ Chips for lunch

When I first came to America I thought that's just a thing that David does. He sometimes eats chips for lunch. For example he has a hot dog on his plate and next to it a handful of chips. As a side. For me chips is not a side. In Germany you get vegetables or rice or salad or whatever as a side but I have never seen chips on a plate. I don't know why you would do that. Because it's easy? I mean, you just have to grab a bag and but the chips on your plate, no cooking etc. And no, it's not just David. Everybody eats it. I have seen other people do it, I have even seen it on TV. Walter White eats chips for lunch. 
It's so weird for me. Really. I mean, for me chips is something you eat in the evening in front of the TV when you watch a movie. Or at parties. 
I know that people eat fish and chips in England but as far as I know these "chips" are fries or something similar to that. And it's hot, not cold plain chips.
So yeah, it is really weird for me to see people eat chips for lunch together with their other food. And I am not sure if I will ever get used to it. For me it's an evening snack. 

★ No coffee after a meal.

I know, I know. People drink coffee in America too. That's not what I mean.
But when I go out for lunch or dinner in Germany I order a coffee when I am done eating. It's a ritual. I need that after a meal. Every restaurant has a menu with different coffee specialties. You don't see that in America very often. To be honest you rarely even see a "Getränkekarte", a card that lists all the different drinks the restaurant offers. Like different wines, beers, coffee etc. 
And I have never seen people order a coffee after a meal. That's weird because for me drinking a coffee is a perfect way to end a meal. Okay, when I go to my favorite Pizzeria in Germany I drink a coffee first and then get some free alcohol when I want to pay. That's nice. I never get free alcohol in America. It's a little mean if you ask me. 
My grandfather always said that "Alkohol ist gut für die Verdauung", Alcohol is good for your digestion. 
For me it's a very nice and cozy thing to drink a coffee after a meal in a restaurant. But it's just not possible to do that in America because a) they don't offer it and b) they bring you the check as soon as you finished eating.
I have said that before, going out for dinner is an experience for me....nothing you do in a rush. I want to sit in a restaurant for hours and talk. With a nice hot cup of coffee. 

★ leftovers

I have to say that this bothers me a lot because I just can't understand it.
One time I went to a restaurants with David and his parents. It was a buffet. As far as I know you can stand up and go to the buffet as often as you want. There are no limitations. That means you can go, get something, eat it and then decide if you are still hungry and then go again. Sounds easy. 
But I have to say that I was a little shocked! The place was not very crowded and there was so much food and I am sure that it was enough for everybody. But the other customers went to the buffet and came back having their plates (yes, plates. Not just one plate) full of stuff. I felt like I was in the middle of a war, food was short and you have to grab whatever you can. That's what my grandmother told me about World War II. You can't be picky, get as much food as you can carry, you never know when you will be able to get food again.
But we're not at war and hey, it's America. There's lots of food so you can be sure that you don't have to starve in a restaurant. 
I really don't know why people do that. All the tables were full of plates. Don't get me wrong, people can eat as much as they want! Really. Take as much as you can eat! But the problem is that people don't eat all their food! You see so many leftovers on the plates and I really wonder why people got all that food in the first place. I understand that people just don't like some of the food but you could try it first and then decide if you want more. 
David calls my plate "the European plate". I always try not to leave any leftovers.


★ real cheese

It's so funny for me to see that every American food that contains cheese says "With real cheese". It is a running gag in our house that we always make fun of the "reeeeeeaaaaaal cheeeeeese". It's really weird for me that every package says that it contains real cheese and not fake cheese. Shouldn't that be normal? 
Okay, in my opinion American cheese is NEVER real cheese but that's another story. 

★ baking = opening a package

I have never seen so many baking mixtures before. Really. It's overwhelming when you go to a grocery store and see hundreds of different packages. I never use them but I have seen that you get a package for every kind of cake, muffin, cupcake you want. 
And I feel like everybody uses these mixtures. I rarely see homemade cakes. I admit that I have seen homemade pies at Thanksgiving but what about a Schwarzwälderkirschtorte? Seems like people always buy cakes but rarely make them on their own.
And I know that Americans LOVE  their frosting. I just can't understand why.

★ no bakeries

I know, I have said that before....I miss my German bakeries! Bread, Laugenbretzeln and my Dinkelapfeltasche (spelt-apple-turnover). Every German village has a bakery, no matter how small it is. Only 700 people live in my home town. There is no supermarket, no nothing. But we have a bakery! People need a bakery. I want to go to a bakery on Sunday morning (yes, a lot of bakeries are open on Sunday mornings even when all other stores are closed) and get my warm crunchy Brötchen and eat it with yummy marmalade. 

★ no fat

Nothing contains fat in America. At least the packages say so. One time we went to the supermarket and I looked at yogurts (David likes yogurt, he eats it with his lunch by the way, not as a dessert or snack). Every single yogurt said "no fat". There was NO normal yogurt. I mean, you get non-fat yogurt in Germany too but that's the exception, not the standard. In America you don't even have a choice. Everything is non-fat and non-taste. Let's be honest, Fett ist ein Geschmacksträger, fat is a flavor-carrier. The fact that the food is fat-free might look healthy. But isn't it a little weird that all the yogurts contain lots of sugar instead? But it seems like people fall for it.

★ everything German is Bavarian

That's another weird thing for me to see. It seems like Americans love everything from Bavaria. Yeah, Bavaria is a great state! I love it. But not every German food comes from Bavaria. I mean, in Germany you don't buy "bayrisches Sauerkraut", you just buy Sauerkraut because it's a German thing and not a Bavarian thing. But I guess it sells better in America when it says that it's from Bavaria. It's a good advertising strategy.....but for Germans in America it's weird to see that all German food is Bavarian food. 

Do you like German food? What's your favorite food from your country?
Have a wonderful day!

PS: You can find more here:


America vs. Germany Part I
America vs. Germany Part II
Mein Baby gehoert zu mir, ist das klar?
Shoes from hell.
America vs. Germany Part III
America vs. Germany Part IV.1
America vs. Germany Part IV.2
America vs. Germany Part V