New Europe: Sauerkraut with everything? - Sarah Wiener

New Europe: Sauerkraut with everything? | Life and style | guardian.co.uk
New Europe: Sauerkraut with
everything?
The German food scene has changed radically since the fall of
the Berlin wall, says chef Sarah Wiener
Sarah Wiener
guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 March 2011 13.01 GMT
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It's not all sausages
and sauerkraut these days - German food has moved on in recent years. Photograph: A.
Huber/U. Starke/zefa/Corbis
As native Viennese woman, gourmet and ex-pat who has lived in Berlin since the time of
the wall, I can say first hand that the culinary culture back then was more focused on
survival than pleasure.
Given our northern location and climate, we were never particularly spoiled
agriculturally, though happily, potatoes and cabbage prospered. Publicly, the GDR
seemed a gastronomic desert. Privately, it was totally different. Schnapps was self-made
in the shed and rabbits were reared at home. But Berlin was a culinary wasteland. Tasty
food in restaurants was scarce. And while there have been Greek and Italian restaurants
around every corner for decades with their tzatziki, feta salad and spaghetti carbonara,
for the masses, gastronomic culture meant mostly one thing: grabbing something fast,
cheap and mostly rich in meat and carbohydrates. In urban areas this tended towards
the döner kebab and currywurst.
German menus have long been dominated by roasts, flour-based sauces and filling side
dishes. Every region would boast a speciality unknown even 100 miles away. It's a
Western European myth that we eat sauerkraut with everything. Though it is often
served with roast pork and also goes nicely with bratwurst - and blaukraut (red cabbage)
is served during the harvest in autumn and winter - that is pretty much it for us and the
kraut.
After the fall of the Berlin wall, eating out changed. Along with the wave of American
chains, coffee to go, sushi shops, sandwiches and the usual fast food, came new forms of
soups, pasta and Asian snacks. Next to the döner and currywurst imbiss, you may now
find a falafel shop. Suddenly there were proper restaurants that wouldn't be out of place
in New York, Tel Aviv or London. Design is now as important as the eating concept, wild
herbs, well hung meat, cooking with entrails or special letters. The classic typically
German restaurant is hard to find these days.
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New Europe: Sauerkraut with everything? | Life and style | guardian.co.uk
With my Berlin restaurant, Das Speisezimmer I try to run a responsible and sustainable
kitchen using small and local producers, unusual and heritage varieties of vegetables.
Jerusalem artichokes, Japanese potato and Linumer veal are as important as renewable
energy and recycled paper for the menus. Others are trying their hand at molecular
gastronomy and particularly expensive caviar. These days you can also find vegetarian
food in nearly all cities.
German society is paradoxical: we are putting more expensive oil in our cars than our
bodies, while insisting on no GM crops. Groceries in Germany are among the cheapest
in Europe; a loaded plate is too often seen as a sign of quality. But a lot is happening in
the German food scene thanks to regional producers who have moved away from the
agricultural industry and an ever growing community for whom food is more than just
fuel. Foodies who are interested in the origin of the meat and vegetables they eat, who
have banned stock cubes and ready-made sauces from their kitchens and celebrate with
outstandingly cooked five-course meals in a restaurant.
• Sarah Wiener is one of Germany's top chefs and restaurateurs
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011
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