Everyone has different priorities when they travel, right?  For some it’s the history, and they traipse from building to building in fascination (and when I say “some”, I am talking about myself).  For others it’s the nightlife – getting a take on modern life today in that destination.  Some people like finding cheap, local libation.  But a very popular one is the “food-travel” option.  For some, you haven’t experienced a place until you’ve eaten the weirdest thing on their menu, whether it was last eaten for pleasure 600 years ago or not. If you’re one of those people, this list might whet your appetite for Germany.


Currywurst – Let’s start with a big national favourite, shall we?  Of course sausage is popular in Berlin, we all know that – cue the thousands of sausage jokes.  But currywurst takes it one step further: As the name suggests, the boiled or roast pork sausage gets a little addition – of curry, and then a whole bunch of ketchup.  Mmm, curried ketchup on sausage.  But they really do eat it like there’s no tomorrow, and it’s almost always bought from street vendors, so as a traveller this is a great opportunity to literally eat like the locals do.  And there’re loads of these stalls, so you should never lack for opportunity.  But the cool aspect to this is that often vendors have a little machine into which you put the sausage, and it comes out miraculously hot, spicy and all sliced up for you to sink your teeth into (cue even more sausage jokes).  Is that not German efficiency at its peak?!

Schlachteplatte – A brilliant choice if you’re mooching around the city with a group of friends, this one.  It is, essentially, a humongous plate of meat-and-carb to warm you up.  It takes the form of masses of sauerkraut (that’s the shredded cabbage pickled in lactic acid that tastes a lot nicer than it either sounds or looks from which Germans earned the nickname “kraut”), potato dumplings and then every kind of meat conceivable – the name translates directly to “Butcher’s Plate”.  A great sharing choice that you can all dig into.

Eisbein – No, I wasn’t going to leave this one out.  It’s the most obvious image that jumps into most minds when talking about German food: the knuckle of cured pork.  Sitting there on your plate, you might think there’s a little too much fat, gristle and bone for comfort, but you would be wrong – it is braised (or cooked in some other fashion) for a long time, and by the time it’s done, it’s falling apart in your mouth and absolutely delicious.  It’s cured, as well, so it’s particularly flavoursome – British lovers of bacon and sausage are going to love it.  That is indeed one big hunk of meat, and it’s going to fill you up for the rest of the day – particularly since it comes with the requisite sauerkraut and potato.  Are you seeing a theme, here?  

Pfannkuchen – Let’s finish on a sweet one.  Say “pfannkuchen” out loud.  Got it?  In case your linguistic brain isn’t engaged, allow me to point out that it’s very similar to “pancake”, and indeed we’re really topping off the North European meat-and-stodge fest here.  The sweet treats of Germany tend to be rather heavy, but very delicious, and pfannkuchen is no exception.  It’s a fried, sweet doughnut filled with jam (or some variation) and topped with sugar.  But the best aspect of this is that the filling is added by way of a big syringe.  Fantastically medical.  Apparently it’s the height of humour in Berlin to fill these with mustard by way of a joke, so be careful if you’re with German friends (a street vendor is, let’s face it, unlikely to pull that kind of thing on you).  Look out for these especially in festival/carnival seasons – that’s when they’re most popular.