Beyond Bratwurst: A History of Food in Germany (Foods and Nations)

Ask about German food and most people think of beer and sausage, or pretzels and Limburger cheese. However, the 82 million inhabitants of modern-day Germany do not all live exclusively on Oktoberfest fare. In fact, as in most modern countries, Germans have a long tradition of taking outside influences into their cuisine, and there is a wide variety of food eaten within the various regions of the country. Beyond Bratwurst traces the many traditions that have combined to form German food today. From their earliest beginnings, food and cooking in Germany have been marked by geographic and climatic differences between north and south, as well as continuous cultural influences from bordering countries. The book shows that the openness and receptiveness Germans have shown towards these influences have resulted in the frequent reinvention of their cuisine, and a food culture with a remarkable flexibility. The regional variations of today are based as much on political, cultural and socioeconomic history as on geography: the story of German food includes the back-to-the-land movement of the late nineteenth century and the development of modern mass-market products by Justus von Liebig and Dr Oetker, as well as rationing and shortages under the Nazis, post-war hunger and divisions between East and West. Beyond Bratwurst describes who eats what, how, where and when in Germany, telling the stories of many German specialities such as beer, stollen, rye bread and lebkuchen, as well as more surprising German favourites. --Publisher's description.;German food : a complex dish -- From gruel to sourdough bread : the neolithic, bronze and iron ages -- Fresh meat and Lac concretum : the Roman age, 1st century BC to 5th century AD -- Christianity, social stratification and medicine : the early Middle Ages, 5th to 11th century -- Luxurious feasts and terrible famine : the high Middle Ages, 11th to 14th century -- Butterbrot and saffron : the late Middle Ages, 14th and 15th centuries -- German food writing : the early modern period, 1500 to 1648 -- Coffee, sugar and potatoes, 1648 to 1815 -- Potatoes without salt and soup kitchens : pauperism, 1815 to 1871 -- Stock cubes and baking powder : the industrialization of food, 1871 to 1914 -- Hope and hunger, Vollkornbrot and Swedes, 1914 to 1949 -- Kasslerrollen and Toast Hawaii : post-war indulgence, east and west, 1949 to 1990 -- Spaghetti and rouladen : regionality in a globalized world, reunified Germany since 1990. Thanks to Oktoberfest and the popularity of beer gardens, our thoughts on German food are usually relegated to beer, sausage, pretzels, and limburger cheese. But the inhabitants of modern-day Germany do not live exclusively on bratwurst. Defying popular perception of the meat and potatoes diet, Ursula Heinzelmann's Beyond Bratwurst delves into the history of German cuisine and reveals the country's long history of culinary innovation. Surveying the many traditions that make up German food today, Heinzelmann shows that regional variations of the country's food have not only been marked by geographic and climatic differences between north and south, but also by Germany's political, cultural, and socioeconomic history. She explores the nineteenth century's back-to-the-land movement, which called for people to grow food on their own land for themselves and others, as well as the development of modern mass-market products, rationing and shortages under the Nazis, postwar hunger, and divisions between the East and West. Throughout, she illustrates how Germans have been receptive to influences from the countries around them and frequently reinvented their cuisine, developing a food culture with remarkable flexibility. Telling the story of beer, stollen, rye bread, lebkuchen, and other German favorites, the recipe-packed Beyond Bratwurst will find a place on the shelves of food historians, chefs, and spätzle lovers alike. One of the first books in a new Food Histories series from Reaktion, Beyond Bratwurst takes a close look at food culture in Germany, illuminating the surprisingly exciting and diverse culinary history and contemporary appetite of the European Nation.