Italy Meets Germany

In our everyday lives it is crucial that we go out an explore the world because there is so much to world then just staying in one place. I believe everyone should be able to get out and explore it. But it’s not only the new places that people get to explore but it’s the culture itself that makes the destinations so inspiring and rich. Most importantly what helps bring cultures and worlds together is food. The culture of food from around the world plays a big role in how we live our everyday lives. Since the beginning of time the influence of food from around the world has brought people together. Whether it’s a holiday or a family get together, it’s what brings us together as we are all able to sit down with one another and discuss what goes on in our everyday lives.

Going abroad at 16

I first began my quest for a taste of the worlds culture when I was 16 years old when I participated in the German exchange program at my school. I was really excited to go because my heritage is German, and I really wanted to learn more about my culture and the people that live there. When I first landed in Frankfurt, Germany, and I met up with my host family we first dined out at an Italian restaurant. At the restaurant we ordered a margherita pizza and a tuna niçoise salad. When the pizza arrived at the table it was not what I was expecting at all but it definitely excited me. The pizza actually had no cheese on it all and traditionally in America a margherita pizza actually has mozzarella cheese on it but this one just had tomato sauce and basil leaves. It was surprisingly really tasty and it didn’t feel heavy since it had no cheese on it. Then when I got to try the tuna niçoise salad I was truly captivated at how healthy and fresh all the ingredients were in it. The salad had just simple ingredients fresh tuna, sliced red and yellow bell peppers, and cucumbers. It was truly unique that just simple ingredients could be so refreshing and delicious. My exchange student Isabel also told me that there was a lot of Italian influence that has played a major part in the culture of their food. In Germany, a lot of people thrive for eating healthy and always using the healthiest of ingredients. But not every recipe in Germany is 100% healthy but it’s how they prepare the food that can make it at least somewhat healthy to eat. Another recipe where I got a taste of Italy meeting Germany was when we had a potluck at a local park. It was a tomato and mozzarella salad, and the recipe was very simple. I know it obviously had tomatoes and mozzarella, but it was all diced up and mixed in a bowl and then we added balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil and blended it all together. The final part was to add the seasoning which consisted of salt, fresh ground black pepper, fresh garlic, fresh basil, and parsley, and that was all. Just simple recipes like this I have incorporated a lot when I want to make a quick healthy dinner at home. Most of all not every recipe has to be over the top with having a lot of ingredients because even the simplest recipes will please anyone.

Food Reinvented

Through out the rest of travels exploring Germany I got a chance to taste so many different foods that really brought me close to my culture. It did not take me long and neither did my classmates to know that the people in Germany love to eat a lot of bread, meat, and cheese. In the morning, my host mother would always prepare brotchen for breakfast which is a German roll. With the brotchen you could add salami or turkey on it with cheese or even jelly. But for me I always loved putting Nutella on my brotchen and believe it or not Nutella is a big staple in Germany. Nutella plays a big role for the culture of their food because it is used a lot in their deserts and candies. Even though it may sound a little unusual to have a dinner roll with meat and cheese for breakfast I recommend it because, it is quick and easy for on the go during a busy morning. To me it is Germanys style for a breakfast sandwich. To this day I still miss having brotchen rolls for breakfast but every once in a while, I will find some and put Nutella on them just like I did when I was back in Germany. But soon I was about to discover that there was a large criss cross culture of the foods in Germany.

It was summertime in Germany and the weather was always changing like one day it was cold and rainy, and then one day it would be warm and sunny. On this one particular day after school me and Isabel decided we would go do some shopping and then we would go get some ice cream. If Italy didn’t already play a part in the everyday meals they also played a role in their deserts too. At the ice cream shop I was caught off guard at the fact that they literally had spaghetti shaped ice cream called Spaghettieis. It was unbelievable at how much the German culture loves and appreciated the Italian culture so much that they created their own ice cream to honor Italy. To make the ice cream shaped like spaghetti they take the vanilla ice cream, and they extrude it through either a modified spaetzle press or a potato ricer; spaetzle is also a German pasta dish. After the ice cream is pressed through the spaetzle presser it is then stored into the freezer, so it does not lose it shape. After cooling off in the freezer for an hour it is ready to be served and it is topped off with a fresh strawberry puree sauce or a raspberry puree sauce to imitate the marinara. Sometimes they would also make little chocolate balls, or they would make chocolate munchkin donuts to replicate meatballs. They not only made ice cream look like spaghetti, but they also made ice cream shaped like lasagna. The ice cream in Germany is so good even buddy the elf would eat this everyday. I know from a distance when we perceive just a regular bowl of spaghetti as like a typical lunch or dinner food just seeing this recreated like this made a little hesitant to try it at first. But after taking my first bite of the Spaghettieis my mouth was exploding with flavor the quality of the ice cream was so good it was unforgettable. Sometimes you have to overlook the appearance of dish to just sit down and indulge what is right in front of you. You just never know until you get out and try it for yourself.

When two Worlds Collide

While I was in Germany it was not just Italy that played a major role on their foods it was also the Turkish culture as well. In Germany there is a large community of people from Turkey and when they came over to Germany, they introduced a lot of their middle eastern cuisine to the German community. There they invented a huge German street staple called the Doner which is a Turkish kebab pita sandwich. In the sandwich it contains fresh gyro meat which can be chicken, beef, lamb, or a mix of both. Then the sandwich is topped off with cabbage or lettuce, tomato, and tzatziki sauce. It is so popular you could find a street food cart in any major German city selling Doners around every corner. It was unique because the German culture with food is so open to welcome other influences of the world take part in how the cook and prepare their meals. But most of all it unites these cultures and brings them together. For me it became a huge reminder that we all live in this world together and we can share our cultures through our foods as sit and dine together with one another.

In Germany I did at least get a chance to try the German foods of my heritage at a couple of German pubs. I got a chance to try wiener schnitzel which is a deep-fried pork loin, and it was served with sauerkraut and potatoes. I loved it so much my father makes it for me occasionally, for dinner. It is very crispy and with just a pinch of salt it just melts in your mouth along with the buttered potatoes it was a good hearty dish. Some other traditional German foods I got to try as well was currywurst which is a deep-fried pork sausage and then it is cut up into huge slices and is seasoned with curry ketchup and it is served with a side of fries. To make the curry ketchup sauce it starts with ketchup and then it is topped with curry powder and other spices. That sauce has a good heat that is flavorful, and it is not overpowering with heat from the curry it is a good sauce that I helped introduce to my family and we use it all whenever we make burgers, hotdogs, or even French fries. Trying all what Germany had to offer with the culture of their food was one part of the trip that I loved that I could bring back with me home. I was taught a lot of recipes by my host family that I have shared a lot and I love cooking them for our family get togethers and for the holidays. But of course, if there was one dish, I loved being able to learn how to cook the most it was definitely the pretzels, and you can’t just go to Germany and not have a pretzel. Believe it or not they are actually very easy to make you take 1 ½ cups of warm water, salt, sugar, dry yeast and mix it all together and then let the dough rise for an hour. After words you then roll the dough into the pretzel shape and then you take some baking soda and a pot of boiling water and place the rolled-out pretzel’s dough into the pot. After it is boiled for 30 seconds it is ready for the oven and with a little melted butter on top and salt its ready to be indulged just plain as it is or with a side of mustard. If you ever want to try something different you can also stuff it with cheese or even top it off with garlic and parmesan cheese to give it a little Italian influence.

Impact of the Worlds Culture

I may have been in Germany but the culture of Italy playing a part in the culture of the food was very surprising and eye opening for me. Because just like in America we want to be able to savor the foods from all around the world. There is so many kinds of food out there that is just waiting to be indulged. But after seeing my heritage in a whole new perspective especially with other cultures coming together on the food it reminds me that we all live in this world together. Now whenever Oktoberfest rolls around I always love getting in the German spirit and I get to make my favorite German foods.

After seeing two cultures coming together to create something new for the world to see and taste really did teach me that it truly is an art in how you put things together. The influence of the two cultures coming together has really taught me the meaning of unity and that we all must get along in this big world we live in. For me I have taken all the recipes I have learned overseas, and I love cooking what I tasted. It also keeps me close to my roots to never forget where I come from and never forget my experience I had while I was there. So now whenever I travel to a new destination whether it be overseas again or even just across the country, I am always looking out for new things to try. If there is one thing that I learned from being in another country is that you don’t get the whole experience and influence of a culture unless you go out and try it for yourself. Indulge in not just culture itself but also the food as well because the flavor profile of different foods from around the world can say a lot about a person’s country.