I love making “food memories.” By this, I mean I love eating delicious food with people I love and then enjoy reminiscing about the way this food tasted for months and years later. In this post, I share one of my newer food memories with you.
But first, a quick note on German cuisine as I understand it. German food is heavily based on pork, cabbage and potatoes. However, with globalization and increased immigration, grocery stores and restaurants now offer all sorts of produce. Fruits like persimmons and mangos, I am told, are recent staples. Hummus comes in several flavors and brands, here. Because of migration during the GDR, Vietnamese restaurants and African shops are pretty common in this region. But if you go to a traditional German restaurant, you will find pork, beer, potatoes and cabbage or other cooked vegetables.
I was going to go for something more “German” but a friend of mine told me that Döner/Shawarma Laden stores are so prevalent that they have now become part of mainstream German culture. He told me that if I didn’t share this food with you, I would not be accurately reflecting Germany today.
Just one concluding note: while food can be the source of bringing people together, it can also be a source of conflict. For instance, many people in the political group I research are anti-Islam.
