German Easter Candy and Eggs

After months of chocolate and candy displays, the long-awaited day is here!

How do you celebrate Easter in Germany?

It varies, by family, by region, and of course by religious beliefs. The schools are on a 2 week break, so much of the country goes on vacation.  Italy and the New York/Florida combo are the most popular destinations, as are ski trips in years where Easter is earlier.  Easter here is second only to Christmas as a holiday - it's a pretty big deal.  In the Munich area, for those who don't go on holiday, a traditional fish lunch on Good Friday is common, as is church on Sunday, followed by a family dinner.  The church bells have been ringing frequently for the past 24 hours.  Or, these days many of the younger people who didn't travel for holiday or to see family will go out to the English Garden and enjoy sun, friends, and nature when the weather is nice.  And somehow, it's always nice on Easter.

But across Germany, the common traditions are similar to the US. Easter trees are big, as are displays of flowers and new life. Rabbits and eggs come in every form, spring cleaning is a popular "sport," and on Easter morning many families hide chocolate eggs and treats for the kids to find.  There are some older, more localized traditions such as the Easter bonfire and Saturday Easter Market, but we're talking city life in this blog today. And more importantly, we're talking sweets!

I had the chance to pop into a CVS in the US and check out the candy assortment. How do German and US Easter baskets differ?

American Easter Basket:      

Contents:
Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Bunny
Peeps
SweetTart Chicks, Ducks & Bunnies
Cadbury Creme Eggs and Caramel Eggs
Whopper's Robin Eggs
Cadbury Mini Eggs
Reese's Eggs
Milk Chocolate Bunny
Jelly beans (not shown)

German Easter Basket(s):

Contents:
Chocolate eggs, with a variety of fillings (marzipan, liquers, hazelnut, nougat, crispy butterfinger type things, etc)
Marzipan Loaf
Ferrero Eggs
Lindt's famous Gold Hase chocolate rabbits
Lindt chocolates in a variety of shapes...frogs, turtles, lambs, chicks, carrots
Chocolate-covered almonds
A real eggshell filled with nougat
Spring chocolate bars from Lindt
fondant fried eggs
Egg tree ornaments with chocolate eggs inside 

Lindt varies their chocolates by season. We see in Christmas chocolates featuring spices and a more warm mix. In Spring, they feature fruits, yogurt, and ice-cream type fillings - generally much lighter and fruiter than the heavy spiced chocolates of winter. These giant  Lindt truffles have a creamy stracciatella filling, similar to the bars that have a creamy filling. The bars are not true ice cream, but are recommended to be served cold and are like a cool bit of cream and fruit wrapped in tasty Lindt chocolate. Lindt has whole sections devoted to Easter and Spring chocolates, with lots of pastel and fruits. The Easter choclates will disappear now, but the Spring varieties will go on through the summer.

Lindt's Spring assortment

  Lindt Easter bars(btw, I adore the Lindt chocolate lambs in the first basket, as they have one black sheep in the flock.)

What's the difference between German and American Easter candy?

The main differences I see is are:

1) American Easter candies are more based on pure sugar, whereas the Germans focus on chocolate (especially high quality chocolate), cute animal packaging, and lighter tasting (not lighter in caloric terms!) flavors such as fruit.

2) The American candies are mainly Easter shaped version of the same candy, but the German ones often vary the ingredients for Easter, as well as using different fillings and chocolate blends than they do year round.

In Germany, chocolate is the most popular Easter sweet by far, then bunnies and eggs the most popular shape of sweets. The sheer volume of chocolate rabbits in Germany is something we'll tackle separately in the next post....

Eggs:

Easter eggs come in all varieties....sets to dye your eggs (with natural dyes, of course) are widely available, as are real eggs from an assortment of fowl - Ostrich, goose, chicken, quail. They come dyed, raw, already hollowed out, etc.

colored quail eggs

Most stores will have a wide assortment of chocolate eggs....with various nut fillings, nougat, fruits, and liqueurs. However, marzipan eggs are an Easter specialty. Niederegger, the famous Lübeck based marzipan maker, offers all types of different marzipan eggs, as well as some nougat ones. They're good, but marzipan is a bit too sweet to eat in large quantities! Most of the marzipan eggs will be in different fruit flavors and dipped in chocolate. Dark chocolate dipped marzpian is a pretty tasty combon, but again...in small doses!

We were amused to find that Milka makes something looking suspiciously similar to Cadbury Creme Eggs, so of course we here at Schnitzelbahn investigated closely.

The Milka Löffel Ei ("Spoon Egg") comes in a 4-pack carton, with two spoons. It's an egg you crack open to eat the creamy sweet filling. Sounds a lot like a Cadbury Creme Egg, with a little ettitquette and fancy packaging.

Upon first examination, they look similar. The Cadbury egg is slightly smaller, vs the Milka egg's life-sized egg size. And the Milka directions show a little indentation where you bang the spoon to crack the egg open into a nice, clean shape to pull off the top.

The real difference is in the taste.  On the chocolate side, I think the Cadbury chocolate is a bit better tasting, but both are good. Cadbury just does milk chocolate really well! Milka does, too. But really here the chocolate is unimportant - it's about the filling.  Or we'd be eating Cadbury Mini-Eggs, a Milka bar, or some Lindt.

The filling is where we see the real difference. Cadbury eggs often get stale a bit quicker - the taste is still the same, but the filling gets a little drier and not so creamy. No matter, it still is vastly different from the Milka egg. Basically, the Cadbury egg is filled with sugar or fondant. It tastes extremely sweet, and you'll love it or hate it.

The Milka egg, on the other hand, is basically filled with buttercream frosting. Yum!! I know they say it's filled with fondant, but it taste like a sweet spoonful when you're scraping the bowl after making buttercream frosting. It's really good, and it's a much less sweet, sugary taste.

It of course doesn't have the cult following that the Creme Eggs have, nor does it inspire scientistific experiments, but it's a really tasty treat and it's much more manageable than making a batch of frosting or buying a can!

So, a Frohe Ostern to all, and hope you're all enjoying your Easter treats and holidays. Let us know if the Easter Bunny brought you anything special this year. He hid some great DVDs (American TV and BBC's Planet Earth blu-ray) around my apartment.

Cold Weather Gear

Having spent most of my life in south Georgia, Texas, and Bangkok....I'm not exactly what you would call acclimated to cold weather. I may never be. I don't enjoy being cold and I hate the feeling of being so bundled up I can't breathe. Somehow, ski gear is usually fine, but you can't wear that daily.

Winter for me is a battle to stay warm, even though I love seeing the snow and the mountains. This year (with Herr J's guidance), I made major steps in learning to cope:

• Lightweight, soft long underwear? Check. Thanks, Thermotech!
• I still cringe a little at the thought, but buying a pair of Uggs was the kindest thing I've done for my feet.
• Earmuffs? Got 'em, love 'em! Keeps me warm like a hat, without adding yet more knots to my hair.
• Hand warmers...I use gloves and liners, but usually am still cold. With these guys, I can wear light gloves suitable for photography and stay toasty.

During our recent trip to Finland, I found the ultimate cold weather gear for someone who hates being weighed down and strangled by winter clothes. The Halti Whiff Jacket, made by Finnish outdoor outfitters Halti. It's windproof, water repellant, oh-so warm, and super light. I feel like I'm enveloped in a soft cloud. I actually wore it to walk 30 minutes to dinner in Helsinki at close to freezing, with a very light shirt underneath. No problem!

I have to love any company whose slogan is "Weather Yourself."

Best of all, it folds up into one of the pockets to be a pouch. I'm enjoying hiking, but don't want to carry a lot and don't want to be cold. This thing is pefect (and was half off)!

How light is it? Let's check it out compared to common household items....

Folded up, we have the jacket weighing in at 466g. That's just over 1 lb.

Seems pretty light for wearing and for bringing along hiking just in case (the temps change rapidly at altitudes and depending on the sun)

What about a beer?
Sorry, Augustiner...your Maximator weighs in at almost double. Without the bottle, we'd still be at 500g.

Or my new lens?
Not a very heavy one, but still too heavy 

 How about my wallet?
Nope, those Euro coins weigh a lot! (I even took out 6€ first)

 

Maybe a couple packs of gummis?
Getting closer, but a little light.

A pint glass perhaps?
Almost...

Or maybe a really heavy book?
Perhaps if she hadn't edited down Galt's speech, it would be the right weight.

We finally have a winner...my lovely sugar free coffee syrup

So, it feels great, is super-warm and incredibly light. Of course the question is how does it look?

I'm loving it...can't wait to go hiking again!

Texas and Bavaria

As the Texas Legislature votes on a bill to raise the maximum speed limit to 85 mph (136 kph), I feel this is the appropriate time to address the similarities between Texas and Bavaria. I’ve lived in both and have grown to love both – for their charms and their quirks. But both Texas and Bavaria are considered “special” in their own nations, and I’m finding that they have quite a few amusing similarities.

We could start with the history and geography, with both being the 2^nd largest states (by area) in their nation, and both being economic powerhouses. The individual GDPs of each state are larger than those of all but the top 10-20 nations, and both are considered well-diversified economies. They are large states that have big industry, innovation, and hi-tech, but also large tracts of wilderness.

But more fun are the states’ relationships with the rest of their country. If you meet a Texan or a Bavarian in a foreign country and ask where he or she is from, you’ll more often hear “Texas” or “Bavaria,” rather than “USA” or “Germany.” There is great pride in these states, and both states have their own histories and identities as separate countries, much more so than other parts of their countries. The Bavarian state, of course, goes back centuries and has its own monarchy.  Bavaria rejected the West German constitution in 1949 and still refers to itself as the Free State of Bavaria. Of course the other states ratified the constitution and so the Bavarians are Germans today.

And what of the rest of the country? Yes, most Americans and Germans find Texans and Bavarians to be “special” also…and many of their fellow countrymen claim they speak strangely. Rumor has it that the Bayern Partei – the very small Bavarian political party that has Bavarian independence as its platform – received more votes from non-Bavarians than from Bavarians in the last election. Texas, too, has separatists, but they’re usually of the living in a compound, dreaming up crazy plots type, rather than organized political parties. But I think a Texas separatist party might garner some votes outside of Texas!

Beyond the position in their respective countries, are the cultures and outlooks. Both Bavarians and Texans strongly value independence and individual freedom, more so than their average countryman. Though guns are very regulated and not widespread in Germany as a whole, you find the hunters in Bavaria, and the antlers on the walls. They love the land, and contrary to the picture of big oil companies, Texas has a strong conservationist movement and leads the US in wind energy. Neither like being told by the government how fast to drive by those windmills. On the whole, both are known as staunchly conservative states relative to their neighbors, where the CSU (Christian Social Union) and Republican Party have won virtually every state and national election in recent history. Though German politics as a whole is much more to the left than American, the CSU is considered a conservative party in Germany. Not surprisingly, both also are strongly religious states.

And in their free time? Bavarians and Texans love food – especially barbecues at the lake. Floating down the river with a case of beer in summer, going to the Texas State Fair or Oktoberfest in September, shooting fireworks, drinking beer, and eating sausage...the activities are quite similar.  Texans would love Schweinshaxe and spanferkel if they had it, and let’s be honest…Schnitzel and Country Fried Steak are close cousins, especially Jagerschnitzel. Both are border countries that have integrated many aspects (especially in food) from neighboring nations – perfect Neopolitan pizza is available all over Munich, and the Aperol spritz is the popular summer cocktail. I know it’s courting controversy (or heresy?), but many of the great Bavarian dishes like Kaiserschmarm are very similar to Austrian dishes, and goulash is a staple in many Bavarian restaurants. And my mouth waters at the thought of good Tex-Mex.

And finally, we have two states that often become the stereotype for their respective countries. When you ask most Americans about German culture, the ones who’ve never visited Germany would mention lederhosen, beer, pretzels, Oktoberfest, cars and sausage.  While that’s not too inaccurate for a generalization of southern Bavaria, the Kölners, Berliners, and Hamburgers will strongly disagree. When you ask foreigners who have not visited the US about their impression of Americans, the boot-wearing, steak-eating, gun-toting, drawling conservative is a pretty popular stereotype.

Maybe it's the history and shared core values of freedom, or maybe it's the influence of German settlers in Texas (more than 10% of Texans have German ancestry, and you'll still see the influence down around Gruene and New Braunfels), but both places have distinct identities and traditions, and that's one of the things I've loved discovering in both states. Perhaps next time I wear my dirndl, it should be with my cowboy boots?

(For the record, I'm guilty of some generalizing here too...Bavaria is quite a diverse state, and some of the more northern areas identify themselves much more locally (especially Franconians) than as Bavarians. In fact, some of them want out of Bavaria. They do drink beer of course, but they don't wear lederhosen. And like in Texas, there's quite a difference between "city folk" and country folk.)

American Beef + German Beer

What better combo??

In general, American beef is EXTREMELY expensive in Germany (unless you have access to a military base). It's also not found everywhere. However, German beef is usually quite good for roasts, ground beef, and other uses, and Uruguayan and Argentine steaks are quite good.

But when I saw ribeyes at the store for insanely low prices, I had to give them a try. They were the perfect way to christen the grill Herr J had put on my balcony while I was away (he knows the way to a southern girl's heart!).  Yes, the label really does say my beef was "Born in the USA". In Germany, when you can get 3/4 of a pound of American ribeye for less than the price of a maß of beer, it's celebration time!

Herr J put a nice cajun rub on these big boys and then set them out to grill:

You'll have to ask him what was in there, but it was really tasty.

We made a nice salad (heavy on the pine nuts and parmesan, of course), and had a good German pilsener - this time a Bölkstoff. What a great dinner to end a week of hard work!

Macro Photography, This Time Bigger

Herr J's post on Macro Photography with Compact Cameras inspired me to give a try with a larger camera. So, while in New York last month, I picked up a Tokina 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens.

Getting the lens turned out to be a bit of an adventure....per my usual luck, I was only in the city for one weekend. After a 45 minute walk to B&H, I discovered they were closed for Purim (and always on Saturday). OK, I thought, this is a good excuse for a first visit to Adorama. And, Purim strikes again. Luckily, Herr J in his dual roles as personal electronics guru and source of all NYC knowledge, found that J&R had the lens and was open that weekend.

Fast forward a month, after getting home and trying to get back into the routine of having a job, I finally had a chance to try it out this morning in the little shopping passage across the street. Much fun for us, and amusement for the waiters at the Italian restaurant.

The verdict: I think I'm going to love this lens. Great on macro, beautiful bokeh, great colors....Not sure how it compares to the Nikon version, but all reports are that it's pretty similar quality...at half the price.

The Asam Passage area is lined with cafes and planters full of tulips, daffodils, hydrangeas, and tons of colorful spring flowers.  

Love these unusual daffodils! 

The ferns are just now coming out to join the tulips in the sun.

 

Another of the striped tulips - it was such a cool surprise to see all the pollen collecting in the bottom.

This one, along the Isar river.  

Though we didn't come across many cool insects to photograph on this outing, it was fun to stop and smell the roses - or at least to look at them in detail and notice so much that we usually miss when hurrying by.

My high hopes for the lens were definitely met on the macro side of things. But what I didn't expect was that it would be such a nice lens for "normal" use. And being a prime lens, it definitely makes me work a little bit more to compose the picture.

Here on the left, two girls relaxing in the afternoon where the city is renovating a part of the Isar River. What I love about this picture, is that is does NOT look at all like Munich - with the light stone and pale blue water, I would place it more a winter day in Spain or Turkey.

And on the right, the beautiful golden late afternoon light. I love this city in the spring!

What Happens When You Give Free Toppings in Germany?

To many American tourists, Germany is the land of no ice, where water costs more than beer. And you have to pay for ketchup at fast food places.

Yes, it sounds odd as an isolated fact. But it's part of the system...Because drinks are so costly, they are also measured exactly. In most restaurants, your glass will have a line with the measurement. Under the German system, customers want to be sure that they get their money's worth - a full 0.33 mL or 0.5mL drink. Adding ice distorts the measurements, thus is not used. Why the clever German engineers haven't come up with standard ice cubes to allow for standard volume of water displacement is another question...I'm sure they could do it, but then again, many Europeans don't like ice in their drinks!

The water thing...yeah, I still am not sure why you don't get free tap water, but most people drink sparkling mineral water or want extra minerals in their water. (sparkling water is wasser mit kohlensäure - or just wasser mit. If you want plain, ask for stilles wasser or ohne kohlensäure).

Along this logic, chicken nuggets usually come with one sauce included - you pay for an extra if you want more sauce than someone has deemed normal. With fries, sometimes 1 ketchup pack is included in the price; sometimes not. In an Italian or upscale restaurant, usually the basket of bread slices is included with your meal (don't ask for a second one!); however, in most German restaurants, you will be charged for the number of pretzels or rolls you consume out of the basket on the table. (Because of this system, it would be a faux pas to take half a pretzel and leave it in the basket!)

So, it is a little unusual to drink tap water, and the German system of self-responsibility also extends to paying for what you use.

This system works pretty well here, once you know the rules. And perhaps it keeps costs from rising further, who knows? But the amusing part of it is what happens when there's an exception to the rules. As we've seen from New Years Eve fireworks, the World Cup, and other events allowing organized chaos,  when you suspend the rules, Germans will take it to the extreme.

This week Herr J stopped at Subway in the train station on his way to a meeting in Nürnberg (the smell of baking bread is intoxicating!!!), and ordered a sandwich. He asked for just a little bit of lettuce on his sandwich and maybe one other topping. Here's the exchange that followed with the Subway employee:

Subway Guy:  Don't you want more toppings?
Herr J:            No, that's OK. This is all I want
SG:                 But they're included.
Herr J:            I know, but the grilled chicken is really good and I want to enjoy its taste instead of all the toppings
SG:                 [laughs] Yeah, we Germans will pile on as many toppings as will fit because they're free.
Herr J:            And how does the sandwich taste?
SG:                 Not so good actually, it just tastes like lettuce.

For the record, Subway also has self-serve fountain drinks, with ice. AND FREE REFILLS! In additional to having international franchising standards and American customers, I think the theory is that ice is allowed in self-service situations because the customer is taking on the choice and responsibility of serving himself/herself a less than full serving.

Herr J had a similar experience in the US, when he took visiting German colleagues to Fuddruckers, home of free burger topping bar that encourages you to "Pile it high" and "Never leave hungry."

His colleagues learned the true American-style meaning of "my eyes were bigger than my stomach!" However, they really loved the place - partly due to good burgers, and especially due to all the free toppings and choice.

The German Beer Wars Final

And so we reach the end of our 64-beer tour....

After some blowouts and some close calls, we find ourselves with 8 beers remaining:

The Helles Region:
Battling for the regional championship, we have Andechs Bergbock Hell (darker and stronger than a true helles) vs Löwenbräu Orginal.

It really wasn't a fair fight...Though the Löwenbräu had shocked everyone with its success, it couldn't stand up to the rich taste and extra alcohol of the Bergbock Hell and lost 2 votes to 7. The most common comment was that it tasted like water compared to the Andechs. Perhaps it would have done better against a similar beer or would have done better on a hot summer day rather than a cold winter night...but those are the rules in a single elimination bracket tourney. Auf wiedersehen, Löwenbräu!  

The Pils/Export Region:
In this round, we ended up with two diverse beers - Hassröder Premium Pils (previously unknown to us, but we found tastier than all of the well-known Pilsners) vs Augustiner Edelstoff Exportbier. This one was a close one, coming down to the last couple of votes. It was truly a back and forth game, but Andechs came out on top by one vote.

The Weißbier Region:
Interestingly, we ended up on both ends of the weißbier spectrum: the unfiltered Andechs Weissbier Hefetrüb vs Paulaner's filtered Weissbier Kristalklar.

 In the end, the traditional weißbier beat out it's unfiltered cousin, by a margin of 6 to 3. The Kristalklar had surprised us all, but it couldn't compete with the real thing.

The Dunkel Region:
Here we have two powerful beers - Erdinger Dunkel (a dunkelweißbier) vs Paulanar Salvator, the famous starkbier.
Another buzzer beater, Salvator won the matchup by one vote. This one really came down to preference. As we're now in the middle of Starkbier season, we'll soon have a special starkbier mini-tournament to see if there's a better one than Salvator. Luckily Salvator is available year-round!

So we find ourselves (not surprisingly) with an all-Bavarian Final Four:

Andechs Bergbock Hell vs Augustiner Edelstoff Exportbier
and
Andechs Weissbier vs Paulaner Salvator   

 

 (we had some tasty chocolate chip cookies from my chocolate chip stash!)

Andechs Bergbock Hell vs Augustiner Edelstoff Exportbier:
Yet again, the monks' tasty brew blows away the competition - 7 votes to two! A pretty large margin this far in the tournament. Again, nothing could stand up to the rich (but not heavy like a dunkel or starkbier) taste of the Bergbock Hell.

Andechs Weissbier vs Paulaner Salvator 
While this one wasn't quite a blowout, it wasn't so close either...There's a reason weißbier is so beloved in Bavaria - it just has a really pleasing taste, and a full-bodied feel. Salvator, of course, is very full-bodied (it originated as bread in a glass!), but it doesn't have the feel in your mouth that the more carbonated weißbier does. 6 to 3, Andechs.

The Final Match

We've loved Andechs beers in general since discovering the monastery, but we never could have predicted an all Andechs final. Remember, folks, this was all blind tasting (as best as we could), and involved many different groups of people throughout the tournament. And here we are:

As we had predicted, this final contest would come down to a matter of preference for beer type. While we do have a winner, it was another competition that came down to the last vote...5 to 4, for the Weissbier Hefetrüb.

Though the Weissbier wins the overall tournament, it could have been different with a different crowd. So, we'll just crown Andechs the winner of the First Schnitzelbahn Beer Tournament. (with my crown from Oktoberfest).
 

We do realize it was highly weighted toward Munich area beers, but it makes sense that we start with learning about the beers in our area. We have some plans for further tournaments, either having mini-tourneys, or branching out into non-German beers. We're always open to suggestions, volunteers, and if anyone wants to hold a US beer tournament, we'd love to hear about it!  

Here's the full final bracket (click on it to enlarge):