#candc german

[shalmycat]

The German “Bevo”

Germany. Over my Christmas break, I binged watched a German show that was translated into English. Ever since watching that show, I wanted to learn more about the languages that are spoken in Germany and how the culture is. This class allowed me to do just that and is continuing to expose me to things I realized I have wanted to learn about but never got much of a chance to experience it first-hand until now.

German food items are those in which I cannot exactly pinpoint. The taste is definitely different than what I usually eat. It is cool how I can put myself in the shoes of those who consume this type of food daily, and it makes me think that maybe food really can give us a “taste” of what it is like to live in a certain place.

Das Bevo is located at Bevo Mill in St. Louis, Missouri. The waiters were very welcoming and happy to explain that the restaurant is approaching 102 years old. Of course, with a 102-year-old building, a lot of history is involved. A man once lived there in the upstairs part of the building when he would visit the Bevo Mill years ago. We were given additional background information about the food and the restaurant/home in general. We were free to go upstairs (and there were many stairs), and downstairs to explore, and I realized the upstairs once looked like a lovely home for someone to live in. It is composed of many rooms overlooking the streets of St. Louis running below, and the mill continues flowing freely outside. I think it would be so interesting to be able to be so close to an active mill. The downstairs was quite beautiful as it was decorated with white roses in a vase on a table and a grand piano.

The only three things I received on my plate that I already knew of as an American were the bratwurst, schnitzel, and soft pretzel. The soft pretzel part really caught me off guard because I thought it was only an American thing, but boy, did I enjoy it! They are called “brezeln” there and are pretty popular with mustard as a dipping sauce. I have always liked mine with cheese, and personally, I would rather have my mustard only on other food items. It turns out the schnitzel is not rare in Germany, but first, it was picked up in various places from Austria. As for the bratwurst, it is one of my favorite foods cooked on the grill at a cookout. I have always enjoyed mine with mustard and ketchup, and it turns out that Germans usually do the same! I guess we have more in common when it comes to food than I thought.

Eating food like this is a great way to dip your toes in other cultures without spending money on plane tickets and a place to stay once you are there. It is as if Germany came right to you!

References: 

https://www.wildjunket.com/traditional-german-food-what-to-eat-in-germany/

[brettbarker]

#candc German

For the third meal that we ate, we went to Das Bevo in St. Louis. Das Bevo is a traditional German restaurant that was owned and built by the Busch family as a place for them to stay in between Grant’s farm which was their personal residence and the brewery. This trip would take almost a day back then as it was done with horse and carriage. As soon as we walked in I immediately saw the beautifully decorated dining hall with deer antlers mounted all along the wall that were meant for men’s hats. Another decorative part were the large wooden support beams that were capped with small gnome-like creatures that looked a  little spooky, but also really cool. The center of the room had a very large fireplace with many rocks from a quarry near Grant’s farm. The name of the restaurant is something that I wondered about where it came from. Turns out that Bevo was a non-alcoholic drink that was made by Anheuser-Busch during the time of prohibition as a “near-beer” alternative. Although this sounds like a good way for Anheuser-Busch to stay in business during prohibition, we were told that Das Bevo ran somewhat of a speakeasy from the basement so they were still able to sell their alcoholic beverages in secret. Now onto the food. I have experienced German food for a large portion of my life as the town I grew up and lived in my whole life is Swiss-German. Every year there are two Swiss-German festivals in town that serve German food so I have always been a fan of sausage, potatoes, and sauerkraut. The food that they brought us was very good. There was pork schnitzel, bratwurst, knockwurst, sauerkraut, potatoes, a pretzel with mustard, and spaetzle. I really enjoyed everything. The only two things that were different from what I have had before were the knockwurst and sauerkraut. I don’t think that I have ever had knockwurst, and the sauerkraut tasted a little different from what I was used to having back home. A couple of things that I really enjoyed were the pretzel with the mustard and the pork schnitzel. I think that the mustard really made the pretzel. I could taste a lot of horseradish in it which is something that I really like. The schnitzel was actually the second schnitzel that I have had in my life. The first time actually was only about two weeks ago. Over the first week of Christmas break I went to visit one of my teammates in Ohio. While we were there his girlfriend’s family cooked us a full German dinner since they are German. They served us many of the same dishes and it was just as enjoyable. Overall, I think that German food is among one of my favorite types of cultural foods. Since my hometown is partly German and my family is partly German, I guess I feel some sort of connection to it since it is a way for me to connect with my roots and see how my ancestors may have eaten. I think that it is important for people to connect with their ancestral culture and be able to learn about who they are and where they came from.

https://www.culinaryschools.org/international/german-cuisine.php 

[emilyhogue-blog]

A German Feast

The final stop of our first cuisine and culture adventure in St. Louis was to the famous Das Bevo, a German style restaurant. Das Bevo was established over one hundred years ago in 1917 by the Busch family. They created for themselves as a rest stop between the Anheuser-Busch brewery and the no known Grant’s Farm. The restaurant it most well known for its sixty foot windmill just outside of the restaurant. It is furthermore combined of a restaurant, a biergarten, which is a beer garden, and an event space. But underneath the restaurant is where the magic happens. Known as the Das Bevo Underground, the basement to Das Bevo operates for good time with good people. The guest list is exclusive, which makes it a rare sight to see. The underground contains a stage that hosts corporate bosses by day and jazz artists by night. It is the perfect place for concerts, rehearsal dinners, weddings, and corporate meetings.

Above the restaurant is where you will find the insides to the giant windmill. An apartment lives in the windmill that used to be home to previous managers and bosses of the restaurant, but it has now been refurbished for the public to see. You will eventually find yourself outside on a balcony looking straight up to the windmill, and if you go even higher, you will be inside the motor room where the motor for the windmill is. When the windmill was first put in it was run by wind power, but it now has a motor to run it all day and all night.

The building itself is full of so much history. From the outside walls to the inside fireplace, the stones found around the restaurant were hand picked for an authentic German feel. Also found in the restaurant, specifically the formal dining room, are murals that came from the Chicago World’s Fair in 1894. The deer antlers that are found on the walls were always used for men’s hats when they came to enjoy the food at Das Bevo. The building itself still holds the character of the original look from the restaurant when it was first built.

Getting into the food, a traditional German meal is very different to what I usually eat. Like mentioned before, I am not huge meat eater, so this specific dish was not my favorite. The only food item I thoroughly enjoyed and would eat again was the pretzel. Everything else from the knockwurst and bratwurst to the mustard and schnitzel had very specific and prominent tastes that I can not say I was a huge fan of. The sauerkraut was not horrible, but I definitely do not see myself craving it in the future. Along with the sauerkraut, the German potato salad, which is your typical summer graduation party potato salad that I adore and love. was not bad, by the vinegar was very powerful.

All in all, this definitely was not my favorite meal. Though it may sound weird, however, I am not one for big punches of spice and tastes. I like simple and almost no spiced foods if you will. Therefore I may not be the one to come to and ask my opinion about German cuisine. Though the meal was not for me, getting to learn the history of the restaurant itself was really fascinating to learn about.

https://www.wildjunket.com/traditional-german-food-what-to-eat-in-germany/

[reaghanlesh]

Das Bevo

Yesterday, we ate a German feast at Das Bevo, a German themed restaurant in the historic Bevo Mill in St. Louis.

Bratwurst was one of the cuisines I expected to see on my German dinner plate. Bratwurst is a popular food in Germany, it’s a sausage made of pork, beef, or veal and sometimes a combination of these three. Although, brats can be made from all different types of meat and seasonings the traditional brat is seasoned with fresh marjoram, a spice similar to oregano, to give it its distinct flavor. Evidence suggests that birthplace of the bratwurst is in Germany, especially since the the name itself comes from German words “brat”, which means finely chopped meat, and “wurst”, which means sausage. I’ve always really liked bratwurst. Brats remind me of baseball games with my dad when I was little. I would get a hot dog and my dad would get a bratwurst and one time I wanted to try it so I did and I liked it. So, from then on, I started getting brats instead of hot dogs. I don’t think I had ever had an authentic bratwurst like I did at Das Bevo. It was a quality brat, maybe one of the best I’ve had. There was another sausage on the plate which was a knackwurst. knackwursts are typically made of pork and veal and they are distinguished by a garlic flavor. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the knackwurst. It was still good, but not as good as the bratwurst.

Although brats get a lot of attention, schnitzel is also one of the most popular dishes in Germany. Schnitzel was probably my favorite thing that I ate at Das Bevo. I have always heard the word schnitzel around but I never knew what it was and when I found out what it was, I was a little surprised. I don’t know what I was expecting Schnitzel to be, but I wasn’t expecting it to remind me of country fried steak. Schnitzel is a thin meat that is breaded and then fried in oil or fat. Schnitzel can be veal, pork, beef, or chicken. I believe we had a pork schnitzel and it was delicious. It also had a sauce on top of it that was very good as well.

Spätzle is another very popular dish in Germany. Spätzle are these little dumpling noodle things. The ingredients are simple, flour, egg, water, and seasoned with salt and nutmeg. These small pieces of dough are cooked in simmering water. I liked the Spätzle and the texture of it. It was definitely something I had never tried before and I ended up liking it!  

The next thing is something I am pretty familiar with, and that is a pretzel. We were given a soft pretzel stick. I wouldn’t say it was the best soft pretzel I’ve ever had but it was excellent. Pretzels are a very popular food during Oktoberfest, an autumn festival in Munich, Germany. Legend has it that pretzels have actually been around since 610 AD. The popularity of these treats spread across Europe during the middle ages. They were a symbol of good luck, prosperity, and spiritual fulfillment. Pretzels have grown into a common food in many cultures especially Germany and here in the US. It’s hard not to love the salty and savory taste of a pretzel.

Saurbraten, German potato salad, and sauerkraut were some of the food featured in our German dinner that I wasn’t the biggest fan of. Saurbraten was similar to our roast beef, but it has more of a sour taste, hinting the name Saurbraten. I personally didn’t like the sauce, it was a little too tangy and vinegary for my liking. I noticed the same thing with the German potato salad. I love potatoes but they're made with vinegar and mustard, two things that really aren’t for me. I gave them a try regardless, but I couldn’t eat all of them. I didn’t mind the sauerkraut as much. Sauerkraut is finely sliced white cabbage fermented with lactobacillus bacteria. I liked it better when I put some on my bratwurst.

Overall it was a very delicious feast. The renovated building was beautiful and it had incredible detail. I loved seeing and hearing about all the history.

https://www.kitchenproject.com/german/Bratwurst/history.htm

[claytoncc]

#German

A German dinner was the last meal of the day. It was served to us in a rustic Irish windmill/cottage replica in the middle of St Louis. Really astounding to look at. The building was built by the Busch family in the early 1900’s. It was very beautiful. Much larger looking on the inside I found which was strange as the building still looked quite large from the outside. We came in and sat down in a large dining room filled with antlers and wood from all over the world. At our table were sets of forks and knives and water for everyone already set up. WE sat down and within a few minutes we were being served. They gave each of us a large plate with many different types of typical German foods on it.

On these plates were, starting from the bottom, schnitzel, German potato salad, sauerkraut, spatzel, some mustard sauce, knackwurst, bratwurst, a pretzel, and a brisket-like cut of meat. Starting with the schnitzel, I believe this to be the best part of this meal.  It was a breaded piece of pork with a gravy on top of it. It really was very good. The German potato salad was pretty much just potato salad except for one major change. It was full of extremely potent mustard. That one was a little difficult to get down as it was so strong. I had the same problem with the spatzel, a very sift pasta-like dish that was also covered in the same mustard. Next, the Sauerkraut.  I truthfully didn’t get the chance to try this but I’m sure it was German as ever! The mustard sauce was interesting to say the least. While it was very strong like the mustard in the other items, it seemed to have a little bit of horseradish in it. Not bad, just interesting. The pretzel was amazing.  It was one of the greatest pretzels I’ve had in my life and I’ve had a lot of them.  I just wish there was a cheese sauce I could dip it in. All I had at the time was the horseradish-mustard and truthfully that just didn’t cut it. The two sausages were fantastic. The bratwurst being one of my favorites with just enough slight differences to the knackwurst that made them both uniquely good. Finally, the strange brisket meat. This meat was good but really not as good as any of the others and didn’t bring much of a difference to the plate.  Perhaps it was there for those Americans who wanted something a little more like home. It even had a steak sauce on the top that I felt was lacking a little.  Not the best part.

Over all, I feel that the schnitzel was the best part of the meal and I was happy to see that it was also the biggest.

After eating, they gave us a small tour of the place to finish off our evening. It was very interesting, we were even allowed into the top of the windmill where we could see the old motor running it. Really a great experience.

https://tastessence.com/german-food-culture

[captainbgraves-blog]

Part 3 for our second day is Das Bevo a German restraint in St. Louis. Honestly I was just expecting some hole in a wall restaurant when we were headed to this place. Pulling up I saw the place and it looked insane. If you wanna see German building in St. Louis area come to Das Bevo! Has a real working windmill and really fancy interior. They said the building was build by the Budweiser family back during prohibition. They used it as a place for a drink and a meal which wasn’t really normal at the time. Normally it was under cover at bars and saloons. Walking in was like a time travel back to old historic German building. We sat down and awaited our meal. Then out came out food. Our plate consisted of a pretzel(which I couldn’t eat😅), knackeurst, schnitzel, kraut and German potato salad. My fav was easily the knackeurst and kraut. I grew up eating kraut and sausage a lot so it was like home. My first bite of the potatoe salad I was like “is this made of beer?” The waitress said just a warm vinegar but it was new to me. Nothing like I’ve had before. One of the cool things about German culture is the idea of sausage being apart of the meals. It adds a good meat to the food plate. The experience was awesome and the food was good and the tour of the historic building was insane. Overall a good day for cuisine and culture!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.livescience.com/44007-german-culture.html

German Culture: Facts, Customs and Traditions

Germans place a high value on hard work, precision and order, and have made tremendous contributions to engineering, classical music and bee

[bjwhit]

German Questions

1. As stated in a video about German food and culture, 4 p.m. is Kaffee and Kuchen (coffee and cake) time. Are there ever any substitutions for coffee such as tea or hot cocoa?

2. The Turkish influenced Kebab, consisting of marinated lamb, lettuce and yogurt dressings, is known to be one of the biggest selling fast food items in Hamburg. Would you consider that to the case since it’s a fairly simple to make and sell or because cultures in Germany, similar to many in the United States, are taking on more of a fast paced lifestyle and turn to fast food as a first resort?

3. With Berlin being the center of art, science, education, culture, and food, how has historic events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, influence and/or affect the cultures that created traditional recipes in that region?

[sarabrewer1-blog]

The Feasting Fox in St. Louis is a German pub restaurant. It was opened as Busch’s Inn, in 1914. The prohibition was happening and Anheuser Busch wanted to prove that alcohol could be served in a family restaurant. Anheuser Busch made a lot of money on the inn. There was motorcycles with no brakes on them, that people enjoyed getting on and several died too. This brought a lot of attention to the inn. In 1930-1961 Al Smith ran the restaurant and in 1968 the restaurant suffered a fire and was refurbished. It sat vacant for many years after that until Susan and Martin Luepker bought the restaurant in 1993. Now it is running well with the new owners. We started our meal off with large house salad Iceberg lettuce tossed with red cabbage and carrots, garbanzo beans, a tomato wedge, and black olives with your choice of dressing. Sauerbraten was next on our plate it is a German style pot roast, marinated top round beef, red potatoes and carrots served with sweet and sour red cabbage and applesauce. Potato Pancakes is Seasoned, shredded potatoes lightly sautéed. Huhn Schnitzel-Chicken is Lightly breaded and tenderized chicken breast topped with creamy mushroom caper sauce served with a choice of potato and fresh vegetables. Lastly German chocolate cake which was to die for. Everything on the menu was amazing. In conclusion, this restaurant was amazing and very excellent and would highly recommend it. The amazing food is worth the drive to St. Louis to get good German food.

"http://germanfoods.org/german-food-facts/german-meals-and-manners/">http://germanfoods.org/german-food-facts/german-meals-and-manners/