No one has ever looked at me, taken in my 5'6" build and my dark features, and exclaimed, "Guten tag! Wie geht es ihnen/dir?" This never bothered me, as I was convinced that the world should converse only in French. Lately, though, I've taken a bit of an interest in my German heritage. As far as I know, my family is from Großkarlbach in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Actually, my journey into this is silly. We had company from out of town, and everyone wanted hamburgers (gag), so I was dragged to Buffalo Wild Wings with the promise of beer and a football game being shown. I made a meal of their soft pretzels with mustard and a side salad (and beer, of course). This was almost a month ago and I've been hooked on pretzels ever since. That got me thinking of other German foods. Also, I was spending a lot of time alone during much of October, so I started using a free online German course. And, separately, I've recently become a huge Rammstein fan. So if someone were to ask me, "So, what got you interested in Germany?" I'd say, "Well, pretzels and Rammstein." Then whoever was speaking to me would roll his or her eyes and walk away. But there it is.
I connect to cultures through food, as many do, so of course I had to get in the kitchen. First off, I made a cake!
I bought a package of Tofurky Beer Brats, did the typical sauerkraut, onion, and mustard on a brat in a bun. Meh. I was more interested in veganizing...
O...m...g... That's a Tofurky Beer Brat cut up, browned in a pan, with curry ketchup and more curry sprinkled on top, with french fries topped with Vegenaise. Oh, curry ketchup, where have you been all my life? Seriously, this is love. Anyway, the meat version of this is apparently really popular in Berlin. The vegan version? Yum!
Those were a big hit with everyone. I'll be making more things over time. I checked out "The German Cookbook" by Mimi Sheraton from the library, which is a more horrifying read than a Stephen King novel for a vegan like me, but I'm getting ideas for some dishes that I want to adapt.
My language course is okay. It just teaches you things you'd need to know for a vacation, like asking for directions and ordering food. Red wine in German is really hot, by the way. I may or may not have fantasies of a hot waiter growling "rrrrrrotWEIN" in my ear now. Once I finish this, I want to go back to basics in grammar and all that.
The majority of German I'm learning is from Rammstein's music, though. Yeah, sure, I remember when "Du Hast" came out. I thought it was good, but didn't notice much else. Sometimes it takes a while to really connect with a band. "Ich Tu Dir Weh" is what did it. I have 3 albums so far, "Liebe ist für alle da," "Rosenrot," and "Reise, Reise" (my favorite). I've also joined the thousands of women who lust over Till Lindemann. Sigh. I mean, how can you not?
Ahem.
I recently caught a cold, and I don't even feel like speaking English, much less German. I'm content to just glare at people and grunt responses to yes or no questions. I got tired of having a runny nose, so I packed some cotton in there so I wouldn't have to worry about it. I have no idea if "du riechst so gut" or not, as my nose is packed up tighter than a porcelain vase being shipped through the mail. But I'll keep at it. I want to take a trip to Berlin someday, preferably in December. It's surprisingly easy to find veg options there, thanks to Happy Cow. Plus...
The Christmas markets are calling to me!
;)
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