I didn't Just Learn German--Part Four

I grew up with "Southern Comfort Food" with a Midwest flavor . We had mashed potatoes, white bread, green beans, meat with gravy and iceberg lettuce salad or a jello salad with shredded carrots at just about every dinner meal. I was never a very adventurous eater, but that changed quickly when living in Germany. I was quite surprised at some of my favorite foods while I lived there. Pictured above is Wiener Schnitzel mit Salat---my all-time favorite--and I'd never eaten veal before in my life---it did taste a little like fried chicken, though.

Before living in Germany, the only alcohol I'd had were "mixed drinks"---Screwdriver, Rum and Coke, Seven and Seven. But, these did not exist in Germany at the time. I once tried to explain Seven and Seven, but wound up with carbonated water (soda) and a shot glass of Scotch (whiskey). So, I developed a taste for beer. I started out drinking a Radlermas---basically Seven-up (Limonade) and Beer. Eventually I move on to just beer which is probably my preferred alcoholic beverage today. Actually, the Germans called it "Liquid Bread" because it was made from all of the same ingredients--grains, yeast, water. I am such a fan of bread----baked or liquid!

Then, I tried wine---white wine only. It took me about 30 years to develop a taste for red wine. But, my wine of choice then was Riesling or Liebfraumilch---both of which are too sweet for me now. I still love the glasses wine was served in with the rings of colored glass stems.

I grew up on Wonder white bread or Brown and Serve rolls at every meal. My teeth had a hard time adjusting to the delicious crusty bread which I still enjoy.

I never imagined that I'd learn to eat Kraut! But, I instantly liked Rotkraut with bits of apple cooked with it. Eventually I learned to enjoy Sauerkraut too, but, alas I do not know how to fix either of them.

Finally, I grew up eating fish at least once or twice a week---tuna fish salad, fish sticks or fried fish that my grandfather caught in our local lakes and rivers (catfish, crappy, bluegill, bass)---and, we weren't even Catholic. It took me awhile to get up the courage to eat steamed fish---usually I had to cover the head with a napkin. But, I did eventually learn to enjoy baked or grilled fish. (Fried fish is still my favorite, but . . .)
My daughters would yell "foul" if I didn't include Toblerone candy. I'd never eaten European chocolate before---I've hardly eaten American chocolate since.

Although the pastries and cakes were delicious, they were really a little rich for my palate. And, don't even start with German Chocolate Cake---it's not German but was made with the brand of German (that was the name of the company not the country of origin) Chocolate. End of lesson.

There were several things I NEVER did learn to appreciate---organ meats, Schnapps, mint tea, sugared pop corn, pickles, beets, pickled herring, German cookies (I craved Toll House cookies all of the time. My family tried to send them to me but they were just crumbs by the time they got to me). But, more importantly, living in Germany broke me out of my Southern-Mid-Western eating habits making me more willing to try other cusines.