Brisbane's Culinary Diversity: 52 cuisines in 52 weeks: Week 7: Germany

Friday 6 September 2013

Week 7: Germany, Land of the Black Eagle.

(Disclaimer: My keyboard cannot type an Umlaut.)

Here in Australia, we went to the Polls today. I helped to distribute "How To Vote" cards at one of the polling booths, and could sense an air of optimism and excitement, as the people of Australia realise the privilege of casting their vote. With political fever running high, it was interesting to learn that the first Greens Party was established in Germany in 1979, that the term "ecology" was coined in Germany in 1866, that 35% of Germany's energy is powered by wind turbines..... but the most interesting political fact about Germany is that there is a Barbie Doll named after Angela Merkel.

Germany is the most populous country in Europe, with 82 million people. What I did not know, is that there are 898,700 people who identify themselves as having German heritage living in Australia.
That is 4,5% of our population. Two of them own Black Forest Restaurant in Highgate Hill, a suburb 2km south of the Brisbane River with some of the best city views.

Wearing Lederhosen, our host simultaneously welcomed and handed us the beer menu. The interior of Black Forest is quintessentially German. The timber chairs, cuckoo clocks, Beer Steins (ceramic German beer mugs) displayed on high shelves, German flags.....and the music. We could have been sitting in Leutkirch im Allgau........or somewhere.

While waiting for Keith and our friends Jo and David to arrive, the boys and I each ordered a different beer (Boetie's non-alcoholic, of course, and actually not that bad!), each arriving in an appropriately shaped glass to complement the style of beer. This was accompanied by a platter of cold meats and pickles (kleine Wurstplatte). Given the fertile farmlands and consequent high yields, storing excess produce by pickling vegetables and smoking meat became an integral part of German cuisine. Everyone knows Sauerkraut (shredded cabbage preserved through the natural process of lacto-fermentation) and German Speck (smoked pork belly), widely used to flavour stews and soups.

Having been to Germany, the food was predictable and did not disappoint. So here we go: Mahlzeit!

Nielen made sure he was the first to order the Jagerschnitzel with homemade noodles; Boetie opted for the Wildschwein Pfeffer (wild boar ragout) which he devoured; Jo, who I am happy to announce had her first beer EVER, gave the thumbs up to her Bayrischer Zwiebelrostbraten, complete with a secret Gruenwald sauce, green beans and potatoes; David expressed surprise on how much he enjoyed his Schweinefillet in Rahm (pork fillets in a rich, creamy mushroom sauce); I had the Tiroler Schweinbraten with sauerkraut and dumplings. Keith, ordering last, settled for the Bayrischer Bauernschaums, essentially a huge plate featuring a handfull of the 1000 different sausages available in Germany, served with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. The food was freshly prepared, extremely tasty, quite rich and very filling. The portions were huge. So much so, that we all skipped dessert. We simply could not face the puddings and crepes and tortes...not even the Black Forest Cake.

We had a most enjoyable evening, made even more so by the sharing of fun facts about Germany. Jo shared her professional wisdom on German prosthetics, I bored everyone with useless statistics, Keith again presented his facts with visual support, Nielen pointed out that the tallest cathedral in the world is situated in Ulm, Boetie dissected the German flag....and we honestly could have done without David's vivid description of exploding toads and attacking crows!

Time for a change of pace: next week we travel from punctual Germany, to laidback Jamaica, mon!