As a European transplant to America, I am often asked if I miss my native country. First and foremost, I miss my Dad, his significant other, the rest of my family, and my friends. Staying connected via the Internet or the occasional phone call can, in no way, replace cherished face-to-face time, which happens all too seldom, but at least a connection remains. This was commonly not the case for earlier emigrants who, once they stepped on board the ship that would steam across the Atlantic, were never heard of again. Furthermore, I miss certain places and traditions that have imprinted themselves on my psyche and are associated with an aching sense of nostalgia.
On a lighter note, when we met, my future husband used to tease me about not really being German by birth, as I neither ate meat, nor drank beer, wine, or coffee. He always claimed that I must have been an import. So when American friends wax lyrical about German cuisine and German hops, I can only roll my eyes. I no longer yearn for the typical meals of my childhood, centered around a slab of meat, accompanied by a potato variation, and served with an overcooked, tasteless vegetable slathered in a Fondor-based white sauce (my apologies to all lovers of said dishes).
What I long for instead is German bread. Oval, round, square, or rectangular loaves (not to forget Brötchen). Baked with wheat, buckwheat, rye, barley, spelt, or oat flower. Topped or filled with sunflower, pumpkin, millet, poppy, or flax seeds. With a crunchy crust and a firm yet fluffy core that can neither be lumped into a ball, nor tastes of molasses, or some other sweetener (my apologies to all lovers of American bread). If this sounds like a nightmare for sufferers of gluten-sensitivity, it is a dream for someone who will never embrace a low-carb diet.
Given this somewhat lengthy introduction, it is perhaps relatable that one of my first errands upon my arrival in Frankfurt is a detour to one of the various airport bakeries, followed by many similar errands to similar establishments throughout my sojourn in Germany, be they venerable old-time, locally-owned businesses (those are the best!), supermarket-affiliated chains, or pretzel kiosks at train stations, or in downtown pedestrian zones.
The inimitable, irresistible aroma of freshly baked goods wafting out of a bakery, and the sight of shelves weighed down with myriad shapes and sizes and shades of bread are, for me, the surest signs that I am back in the old country.
Alas, at present, I have to content myself with visual, olfactory, and gustatory fantasies, until our travel plans come to fruition.
Click here for the German version/bitte hier für die deutsche Version klicken:
https://tanjaschimmel.wordpress.com/2018/11/27/deutschlands-gro…henk-an-die-welt/
You write so beautifully! We’ve been living in Germany since the last 6-7 months, and do love the bread here as also the mulled wine. 😀 Do you write as eloquently in German as well? That would be so lovely. 🙂
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Thank you very much for your compliment. You can read my German version by following the link at the bottom of the post. I try to, but do not always succeed in translating my posts.
Best wishes,
Tanja
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I second that, i travel too from South Africa to you with your words.
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Welcome aboard, and thank you for your kind words.
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Ja, das deutsche Brot würde ich auch überall vermissen und das ist eins der Dinge auf die ich mich am meisten freue, wenn wir von irgendwo wieder nach hause kommen. Ich kann das supergut verstehen!
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I get it…one of the things I miss most from Italy is the bread!!!!
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I find it interesting how much little details matter, Valerie. But it shows that we are paying attention, and that our taste buds are discerning. 😊
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Yes, and that we love a really good bread!
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My other German friend (also named Tanja!) was quick to respond when I asked about what she misses most being in Texas: the bread. And for the reasons you so perfectly describe.
I will pass this post along to her. Perhaps you will meet when you visit in April. *wink wink*
Wonderful post and scrumptious photos! It reminds me of winter, what I deem to be the season of warm, crunchy-soft breads here in Texas (my household anyway). After all, what goes better with a warm soup or saucy dish? A vegan brats and sauerkraut? (Not the floppy sandwich stuff, I’ll tell ya!)
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Thank you, Shannon. I am not surprised by my shared passion for German baked goods. And I can imagine that your homemade bread also creates a wonderful aroma and sense of yum. You probably have to bake several at once, and even then, they probably disappear with lightning speed!
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What you refer to as ‘your homemade bread’ comes from the grocery bakery! They do it so well at a good cost .. all I do is warm it to crisp up the crust (and get that smell!) and voila. All done. Then they do magically disappear.
My daughters are dying to bake homemade, but lately, I haven’t the extra time. Perhaps over the holidays. 😀
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It’s great to find a good bakery, and with your busy lifestyle, it is nice to have food available quickly.
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I surely do understand you, Tanja. The German bread is the only thing I am always missing when I’m abroad. Regards Mitza
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I am not surprised that you can relate, Mitza. I think a lot of us can. 🍞🥨😊
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Unlike you, I have fond memories of the beer and wine. But my best memories too are of fresh bread and rolls from a local bakery each morning.
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You are not alone! I have to admit that I have come to appreciate a glass of wine from time to time, and have started to drink coffee, but I still dislike beer. My husband his happy to drink mine. 😊
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Ahhh!!!
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I am glad you agree, Cathy. 😊
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I’m with you about breads and rolls. When they are good, they are among the best things to eat. In my area, a suburb in which I’ve lived since 2005, I’ve found very, very few places that sell hearty, flavorful, substantial breads or rolls. Usually what they sell is soft and low on flavor!
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I am glad you share my love for baked goods, Neil. I can imagine that there might be a few German/European bakeries in Philadelphia, and one might find a greater variety there. I am actually lucky in that there is one German bakery here in town, so that I can at least get a semblance of German bread on a regular basis. Yet, somehow, it is still not quite the same.
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Interesting and relatable, Tanja. I’ve heard so much about German bakery. Bakery is not very popular in Nepal (my birth country) so I never have been a huge fan, but several years in Europe have made me appreciate some of the fine bakery here. In Poland there’s a wide selection of breads too and I do have some favorites.
You’re really right about it being so much easier after internet to connect at least on some level with folks back home! I cannot imagine how much harder it was in the old times to move away from your home forever and never be connected to the country or people back there again.
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Thank you, Pooja, and welcome back. I have never been to Poland, but can imagine that I would be happy with the bread variety there. I think European countries tend to be more rooted in cereals, rather than in rice, like many Asian countries. Though, come to think of it, one of my favorite breads is naan. 😊
Thank goodness for the internet for all us emigrants!
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It’s December, and I am thinking of my Polish grandmother’s bobka, a round sweet bread with raisins….yum!
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That sounds delicious. Enjoy your culinary memories!
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I do understand your longing.
When I do/did eat bread, it HAD to be rye sourdough or breads with character. Too bad about the after-effects of gluten intolerance. Now I get a very bad reaction, especially in the last 7-8 years, but I love my German rye sourdough still to this day.
When I was a teenager, apart from being a good home cook and growing most of our fruit and vegetables, my Mother used to bake wonderful breads with all different flours, nuts, seeds and whatever. Alas it was a phase, but I certainly remember the breads my Mother bought were always full of texture and flavour anyway.
We were a rare breed of Aussie families who rarely ate white bread, chops and 3 vegetables, like everyone we knew in the 50s and 60s. We ate mushrooms, capsicums, eggplants and other Mediterranean flavours like the European migrants back in those days.
The rare times I’ve eaten white sliced supermarket bread, not only do I feel sick at the sight of that bleached-looking doughy lump of rubbish, my blood sugar soars very high and I literally feel quite nauseous. Must be an awful lot of sugar in that bread.
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Thank you for your detailed comment, Vicki. I would be very sad if I developed gluten sensitivity all of a sudden, and I am sorry you have to deal with it. At least there are many alternatives available nowadays, which was not the case for the longest time!
Your mother’s breads sound absolutely delicious, and I am glad that you still relish your memories. Your family’s diet seems very progressive, and I know that you continue to eat healthfully. Your balcony garden provides you with such gorgeous, appetizing produce.
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Funny, I also miss bakeries in Sri Lanka. We don’t have different varieties of bread, but we have spicy pastries!
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Spicy pastries sound delicious, Nirmala. I think some foods become part of our subconscious, and we continue to crave it throughout our lives.
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All that bread looks fabulous….my weakness!
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Mine, too, but one that I embrace. 😊
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What a great article. I’m sitting here in cold wet Scotland with a piece of Selkirk Bannock fresh from the oven. Mmmmm.
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Thank you, Mary. I had to look up Selkirk Bannock – it sounds scrumptious. Please have a slice for me. 😊
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I miss German bread too! If you think American bread is sweet, don’t ever eat the bread in China
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I have not had occasion to try Chinese bread, but I take your word for it. It is one thing to crave and expect something sweet, another to want a hearty base for cheese, or some other savory topping. Even so-called hearty breads such as rye have far too much sugar. I will never get used to that, nor do I want to!
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When they make western bread in China they just put a lot of sugar in it. More than even American bread.
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It does not sound appealing!
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No it’s terrible!
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Bread is something it’s always difficult to adapt to when going to different countries. Many places bread is simply a disaster if you are used to “real” bread. So even if I am not German myself, I do understand your craving.
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Bread was such a staple growing up, it seems to have left an indelible mark in my culinary memory. 😊
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Oh ja, das kann ich verstehen. Nach jeder Amerikareise freue ich mich auf mein Bauernbrot, außen kross und innen lecker weich und der Geruch ist einfach einmalig😊
LG Andrea
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This confirms I am missing something in my life……German bread! 🙂
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I did not intend to imply that your life was incomplete, Donna, but German bread on occasion might enrich it even more. 😊
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I am positive it would! 😊
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Es ist wahr, dass es so schwierig ist, sein Brot in einer deutschen Bäckerei auszuwählen! Sie sehen alle köstlich und origineller aus als jeder andere!
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Wäre es nicht schön, eins von jeder Sorte auswählen zu können?! 😊
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Oh yes! Awesome post! There’s nothing like an enjoyable bread roll while bird watching. 😊☕❤
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Great suggestion, especially on a cold winter’s day when I am sitting watching our feeder birds from a warm room. 🙂
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I am literally drooling just looking at your pictures, Tanja. I love bread! Good bread. And yes, the year I spent in Germany is forever marked in my memory as “bread heaven”. Thank goodness, we find good bread in Abu Dhabi. Not plentiful, but still good. Nowadays, when I go to South Africa, I am disgusted by the bread. Overly sweet and tasteless mostly, unless you are lucky enough to find a little artisan bakery.
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I knew I was not alone in my appreciation of delicious bread, Jolandi. “Bread heaven” reflects my sentiments exactly. I am glad that you have access to some good baked goods at your current home.
Bon appetit!
Tanja
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Tanja – I LOVE this post. I could smell the dough and the baked bread coming out of the oven. It made me hungry just reading about these breads. Your pictures are gorgeous too. -Jill
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Thank you, Jill. I try not to imagine that smell too much, as it makes me toooooo hungry. 🙂
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I know! I had to go get a cup of tea and a slice of toast after reading this post. Wonderful bread!
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I have heard about the German Bread and it’s fabled aroma or delicacy. If I am not mistaken, every region or city of Germany must be having some unique variant of German bread. Can you tell me the local and traditional German bread variants to look for in Munich?
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I think there are regional differences, but since I haven’t visited all of Germany, I am not qualified to talk about them. Some of the basic variants seem to be universal, such as wheat or rye bread, but then there are countless variations with added seeded seeds and nuts, etc. I think it’s best to walk into a bakery and try different baked goods that appeal to you (I hope you don’t have gluten sensitivity!).
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Point noted Madam. Indeed I shall visit a bakery and understand about the bread (and thankfully, I don’t have gluten sensitivity)
How should one have German bread to get the best of the flavour and aroma? Does the German bread pair well with normal butter, or it needs some other food as it’s pair? Does it go well with wine or beer?
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I think it’s great however and with whatever and you would like to enjoy it. 😊
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Great to know that…Thank you so much Madam once again.. ☺️
Have a great day..!!
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