A Guide to German Street Food and Snacks!

Although there are plenty of fantastic restaurants in Germany, I think you can get more of an authentic "live the daily life of a German" experience out of checking out all the food stalls each town square has to offer. I found all kinds of amazing snacks and treats from these vendors, and saved a ton of money in the process. Who wants to spend twenty euros on lunch everyday when you can get a perfectly good bratwurst for 2.40? Not this gringa, I'll tell ya that. Speaking of bratwurst...

Outside the German Stock Exchange in Frankfurt.

This beauty will set you back less than three euros and will make you want to die of shame for ever believing that an American "bratwurst" has anything to do with the pure, unbridled deliciousness that is this lovingly home-made pork product on a bun (Also a bratwurst totally has to be pork, a beef sausage is called a "rindswurst." Knowledge is power!). Topped with grilled onions and mustard, these things are so good I ate like seven of them in less than a week and didn't get tired of them. You should also note that the beer at the bratwurst stalls is oftentimes less expensive than bottled water. Abuse the absence of open container laws in Germany.

I honestly don't remember what city this was in I ate so many kebaps...

Another really common cheap German lunch is the doner kebap. You usually have to go sit down in a restaurant for this one, called a "kebap haus," but a kebap is usually about 4 or 5 euros,  7 or 8 if you're getting fries and a drink. It's of Turkish origin but is basically chicken meat on a gyro-style rotisserie, which is then shaved off into a delicious bread pocket with lettuce, tomato, onion, and spicy sauce. They give you a tiny little fork (the red thing sticking out of the above kebap) to eat it more daintily I guess, but I was usually too busy stuffing my face with delicious doner kebap to concern myself with such things.

The tasty pastry sphere scene in Heidelberg.

Schneeballen! These kinda-hard-to-eat treats are fried dough scraps that are covered and sometimes filled with STUFF. Powdered sugar is the most common one, hence the name "snow ball," but they come covered and filled with chocolate, nuts, marzipan, and all sorts of things.

Mine had dark chocolate and chopped hazelnuts on the outside, hazelnut cream on the inside. They're pretty big and crunchier than you'd expect, so I'm still not exactly sure of the best way to go about eating them. There's a reason I took a picture of the schneeball and not my face after I ate said schneeball...

Honey waffles in the Frankfurt marketplace.

Last but definitely not least are the honey waffles. Just about every town square in Germany has a market going on throughout the day where you can buy groceries or just lunch, and just about every market has a honey vendor. They sold bottles of honey of course, but also beeswax candles, honey schnapps, and in this case honey waffles. Honey was mixed into the waffle batter, and you could get powdered sugar, chocolate sauce, or maple syrup on top. You could even get diced apples sprinkled onto the waffle batter before they put the press down. Mmmmmm.

"Honigwaffel mit puderzucker," say it loud and there's music playing.

After a long hiatus, I'm out of school for the summer, just finished a study abroad maymester in Europe, and am about to post a copious amount of food pics from my travels! There will be waffles. Oh, there will be waffles...

Parmesan Ricotta Lobster Rolls

 

So I know we all just had Thanksgiving, and everyone is promising themselves that it'll be salads from here on out, but here's something else to add to your thighs this holiday season. Toasted in the oven, this modern twist on the classic lobster roll is creamy, warm, and the perfect compliment to the chilly months that are soon approaching. Not to mention they're super easy! Here goes:

 

Pick the meat off of one boiled lobster and chop it into chunks.

Mix the lobster meat in with the lemon juice, salt, pepper, parmesan, ricotta, and cream cheese. Cut your loaf of French bread into sandwich-sized chunks (I had a short baguette so I got three big pieces out of it), and cut each piece open but not all the way through like so:

Fill the bread with the lobster mixture and lay them in a pan. Stick the pan in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.  

 And that's it! For best results, serve it with a salad. It's basically cheese and bread, so you're definitely gonna want some ruffage with this thing!

Now go eat three of these while running on the treadmill.

Parmesan Ricotta Lobster Rolls

1 lobster, boiled

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup ricotta cheese

2 oz. cream cheese

1 tsp lemon juice

1 small loaf of French bread

 Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pick the meat off the boiled lobster and chop into chunks. Mix the lobster in with the cream cheese, lemon juice, parmesan, ricotta, and a little salt and pepper. 

Cut the French bread into pieces that are about 5 inches long and cut each piece open without cutting all the way through. Spoon the lobster mixture into each piece of bread until slightly overstuffed. 

Put the sandwiches in a pan and bake in the oven until the bread is toasted and the filling is warm, about 15 minutes. 

Happy eating, everyone!

 

Fruit Loop Milkshake at Flip

Fruit Loop Milkshake with Lemongrass Whipped Cream at Flip

I love Flip because it's close to my house, the burgers are great, and they freeze their milkshakes with liquid nitrogen. The first time I ever went there, there was still liquid nitrogen "smoke" coming out of my milkshake when it was brought to the table (although they don't seem to be getting the milkshakes out to the tables fast enough after freezing them for that to happen lately). Their creative flavor combos perfectly compliment a big juicy traditional burger or their "flipped" burgers where the patties are made of things like shrimp or beef tartar. Food and drink aside, the place has a very 'hip' and modern atmosphere that makes you feel like you just stepped out of an Andy Warhol painting. There's probably a better metaphor than that out there somewhere...

Try the nutella and burnt marshmallow milkshake with the chorizo burger (my favorite).

They have two locations. One in Midtown, one in Buckhead. Find them here:

http://www.flipburgerboutique.com/

The Porter

I went to The Porter for the first time last week, and I've gotta say it's probably my new favorite restaurant. The food was amazing, the beer list is a stack of paper an inch thick, and the waitstaff is extremely knowledgeable about everything on the menu.

I had the shrimp and grits, and started off with a Duchesse de Bourgogne. The grits were insanely creamy and were some of the best I've ever had (this coming from someone who has lived their entire life in the South). There were plenty of shrimp, crimini and portobello mushrooms; and they even threw in some truffle oil for good measure. Completely delicious.

It was my first time trying the Duchesse de Bourgogne, and I've found a new favorite there as well! This is going to sound strange, but it tasted like apples and vinegar but in a GOOD way...I had to check the menu to see if I had ordered a cider instead of beer, but nope! Duchesse de Bourgogne is a Flemish red ale, which apparently turns out very fruity and acidic because the brewers use something other than the normal yeast used in beer. I really dug this one, and I'd go so far as to say this might be a good drink for people who aren't so sure about beer but want to get into it. To be honest, I forgot the name of the second beer I had, but I enjoyed that one, too.

My friends and I were there on a Saturday night and it was packed, but the service was still impeccable. Our waiter was very knowledgeable and friendly, and our food and drinks came out quickly. Do yourself a favor and go to this place!

Their website can be found here: 
http://www.theporterbeerbar.com/eat/lunch-dinner/

Star Provisions

Well, I went to Star Provisions on the way home from school today. Now normally I'm so overwhelmed by all of the wonderful foodstuffs there that I just want to go nuts and buy everything until I have condemned myself to a life of debt and bankruptcy, but today I was on a mission!

I bought some crystallized violets there a while back because they looked interesting and I wanted to try something new (and also because I'm exactly the kind of snob that would buy crystallized flowers, let's be honest here). As it turns out, they're pretty darn tasty, so I went back today to get the violet syrup the store also carries. Since you just can't go to Star Provisions without getting something from the bakery, this is my haul from today's visit (plus the crystallized violets, cuz they look so darn fancy!):

Not quite sure what I'm going to do with these yet...Fancy cupcakes?

Behold the baked goods:

I may or may not have had a snack on the drive home.

A walnut and dark chocolate chip meringue, a preserved lemon meringue, and the infamous "granola bar." Granola bar implies that this is something that is healthy, which it is not by any definition of the word. BUT it is insanely delicious and my soul aches whenever they are sold out of them.

If only healthy things actually looked like this.

It's a thin layer of some kind of brownie-like material, topped with a fudgy chocolate layer, topped with an almost nougat-like marshmallow layer that has dried cherries, nuts, and toasted coconut mixed into it. The thought of ever having to share one of these physically pains me. 

The meringues are crispy and light with a chewy interior. I really love the crunch of the walnut chocolate chip one. Star Provisions has tons of other fantastic baked goods such as cupcakes, cookies, bread, etc. They also have some pretty amazing meats and cheeses, but that's another post.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go hide the evidence from that granola bar before anyone comes home.

Visit them here:

Star Provisions

1198 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30318

Hello, all!
Thanks for stopping by. This is a very recent project, so please bear with me as I put together recipes for the blog. Good things are in the works, folks! I promise! :)

-Ragan