Iconic German foods are both comforting and familiar.
Many of these foods made their way over the Atlantic thanks to German immigrants who earned the slightly misnamed moniker Pennsylvania Dutch. (Hey, it’s easy to confuse Dutch with Deutsch.)
Some globally famous German food doubles as bar food while other dishes are picnic and barbecue staples. And, it goes without saying, most taste best with mustard (or senf, as it’s called in German).
1. Brezeln (Pretzels)
Germans bake each brezeln with five basic pantry ingredients – flour, malt, salt, yeast and water. But, once it’s knotted, boiled and baked, this simple treat ‘rises’ from raw dough to global icon status.
You’ve probably eaten brezeln if you live in the USA where they’re called pretzels. German immigrants introduced them to America centuries ago but they didn’t stop the spread in America. We’ve eaten bready knots in countries as far away as South Africa just like we’ve done many a time in Philadelphia.
Discover more Philadelphia food favorites.
You won’t have to look hard to find a brezel in Germay since the carbalicious treat is sold at markets, train stations and bakeries throughout the country. Depending on your mood and hunger level, you can choose a traditional brezel, a sweet dessert version or a brezel sandwich.
So, you’re probably wondering how this famous twisted bread got its shape. There’s a legend involving a monk rewarding some kids with breads in the shape of praying arms. In our opinion, the legend is ridiculous. In other words, you’ll probably need to invent a time machine to solve the mystery.
Pro Tip
Ramp up your brezel experience by eating one topped with cheese unless you’d rather eat one topped with cinnamon sugar. As for us, we usually top our brezeln with spicy mustard.
