EBC Culinary Conversation: Icarus
In the fourth instalment of the series, Icarus takes us on a German and vegetarian culinary journey
Written by Lime
So just first off, where in the world are you from?
I am from southwest Germany!
Is there a regional dish or delicacy your region is or should be known for? How is it prepared? Do you know its history?
Well there are these Swabian dumplings called “Maultaschen” (which roughly translates to “mouth bag”), they are usually filled with meat, bread crumbs and vegetables. Their history is actually pretty funny, in my opinion. They are said to have been invented by catholic monks. It is forbidden to eat meat during lent and so they thought they could trick god by hiding the meat under the pasta dough, which is why Maultaschen are also nicknamed “Herrgottsbescheißerle” (roughly translates to “god-cheaters”).
Hmmm, that's very interesting. Not sure if I'm a fan of the name though!! What then, would you say your comfort food is?
Mhhh that’s a hard one, I usually have comfort drinks instead of comfort food, if that is okay?
Sure!
Well my comfort drink would probably be hot chocolate with whipped cream. My mum used to make it in winter and it’s just a thing that automatically makes me feel at home.
Lovely! If I remember correctly you're a vegetarian? Does that ever pose any difficulties for you when it comes to food?
Yeah sometimes. But if there’s stuff with meat, there is almost always a way to eat around it. I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 14, so 6 years by now. You get used to working around it. Germany also has become very accommodating to vegetarians, so usually there is a vegetarian option anyways.
Oh that's interesting! Germany is quite famous for its meats such as sausages, so I was wondering how do you navigate that culture?
It is, but I don’t know if it’s just the part of Germany I live in, because German food is highly regional, but it’s actually not that hard to get around it and in the worst case scenario you can almost always eat fries
Hahaha. Are there any vegetarian German foods we should know about?
Plenty! First of all, Germany has a huuuugeee bread culture, it’s actually the country with the most variety of different bread types! There are bakeries at literally every corner in the bigger cities. If we’re talking meals, there is also lentils with spätzle (Swabian noodles), Kässpätzle and Schupfnudeln with Sauerkraut, all of them are very very good.
Credit: https://www.npr.org/sections/nprberlinblog/2011/08/12/139552924/german-bread-the-dark-truth
Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A4sesp%C3%A4tzle
Credit: https://www.daringgourmet.com/swabian-style-german-lentils-with-spaetzle-schwabische-linsen-mit-spatzle/
Credit: https://www.tourism.de/top-100-most-delicious-german-meals/schupfnudeln-mit-sauerkraut-und-speck/
So the French aren't actually the kings of bread?
They know how to make baguette.
We know how to make bread (for legal reasons this is a joke).A bold claim! Do you have a go to dinner? How do you prepare it?
I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty basic when I have to make a fast meal. I really like Tortellini with a good tomato sauce, making the sauce yourself really makes all the difference and it’s not time consuming at all. Just adding stuff like freshly cut onions, garlic and herbs makes all the difference.
Is there any food that you now associate with NS and/or Europeia?
Mhhh that’s a hard one, the only specific thing that comes to mind is either a) crunching glass and other beautifully cursed things GC has shared with us (please don’t eat glass, it is very bad for your health) and burgers for some reason? I think there might just be the occasional burger pic that gets posted in eurochat.
GC's culinary choices are something else. Let's fast forward to when you're old and grey, what would you choose to have as your last meal?
That’s a good question! Probably something really really unhealthy like apple strudel with vanilla ice cream! Or waffles, waffles would also be really good.
Our fourth instalment may have taught you that there's more to German foods than sausages! We hope you've enjoyed this new culinary trip and that you now know more about our resident vegetarian Icarus!
