Food Memories
May 30, 2020 6:34 AM Subscribe
How can I replicate or find food found in Germany? Other countries welcomed too.
I live in the USA. I had the best yogurt in Germany. It's thin and fresh and I can't find a substitute. I admit to not trying a multitude of brands. I do love Greek yogurt -- mainly FAGE brand -- but this is not the same texture or quality. The thinner European brands found in the grocery all seem to be sweetened. I am looking for plain.
Also, muesli. I would like to find a great recipe or brand. Also, the strawberries and bread I had in Germany in France were the best. I understand this is impossible or difficult to find or recreate.
Any other products or recipes that are fresh and delicious that can be replicated or found in the USA are appreciated. I am craving fresh!
I live in the USA. I had the best yogurt in Germany. It's thin and fresh and I can't find a substitute. I admit to not trying a multitude of brands. I do love Greek yogurt -- mainly FAGE brand -- but this is not the same texture or quality. The thinner European brands found in the grocery all seem to be sweetened. I am looking for plain.
Also, muesli. I would like to find a great recipe or brand. Also, the strawberries and bread I had in Germany in France were the best. I understand this is impossible or difficult to find or recreate.
Any other products or recipes that are fresh and delicious that can be replicated or found in the USA are appreciated. I am craving fresh!
Try Trader Joe's "European Style" plain yogurt. It's a little thinner/runnier than regular yogurt.
Aldi's "Deutsche Küche Premium Raisin & Nut Müesli" is great, but I haven't seen it in my store for a while.
Depending on where you live, you should be able to find bakeries that produce the bread you want. I know that in Minneapolis/St. Paul there's a German bakery (Bauernbrot, pretzels) and multiple French/Vietnamese ones (baguettes).
posted by belladonna at 7:07 AM on May 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
Aldi's "Deutsche Küche Premium Raisin & Nut Müesli" is great, but I haven't seen it in my store for a while.
Depending on where you live, you should be able to find bakeries that produce the bread you want. I know that in Minneapolis/St. Paul there's a German bakery (Bauernbrot, pretzels) and multiple French/Vietnamese ones (baguettes).
posted by belladonna at 7:07 AM on May 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
Your best bet is going to be to find a European specialty food store for things like muesli. If you tell us where you are, people might be able to recommend some. I know there are a couple near me in the south bay area.
Produce is going to be more or less impossible to replicate because top quality produce is a function of proximity to the source as well as cultivar. If it's excellent there it's because it was grown nearby; if it's different from what you can get grown locally to you, it's because the cultivar (and/or growing conditions, etc) is different. (Of course you might find other, local types that are excellent. But not the exact same.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:19 AM on May 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
Produce is going to be more or less impossible to replicate because top quality produce is a function of proximity to the source as well as cultivar. If it's excellent there it's because it was grown nearby; if it's different from what you can get grown locally to you, it's because the cultivar (and/or growing conditions, etc) is different. (Of course you might find other, local types that are excellent. But not the exact same.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:19 AM on May 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
I like Bob's Red Mill Muesli. The secret code words for buying muesli in the US are "old country style" or "Swiss Style" - those mean "no added sweetener".
Here's a decent recipe for making your own muesli. Use whatever nuts and dried fruit you like.
When I used to need to stay in Chicago, I would sometime find Seitenbacher or Mestermacher muesli at Garden Fresh Market, but I have never seen those in my home town.
posted by The Incredible Gnome at 7:24 AM on May 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
Here's a decent recipe for making your own muesli. Use whatever nuts and dried fruit you like.
When I used to need to stay in Chicago, I would sometime find Seitenbacher or Mestermacher muesli at Garden Fresh Market, but I have never seen those in my home town.
posted by The Incredible Gnome at 7:24 AM on May 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
There are a bunch of websites aimed at German expats that rapidly ship groceries from Germany to the US Within a day of two. Might want to check those out too.
posted by shaademaan at 7:28 AM on May 30, 2020
posted by shaademaan at 7:28 AM on May 30, 2020
It is funny you mention strawberries and yogurt because as an American who moved to Europe, among the first things I noticed was that dairy was better and strawberries had flavor. The strawberries in Europe are primarily fragaria vesca - smaller and sweeter. Contrasted with the large less flavorful strawberries fragaria virginana in the US.
Not sure why the dairy is better - this applies to milk, yogurt, etc - but dairy in Europe mostly comes from grass-fed cows. Not sure what they feed the cows in the US.
The bread in Germany is famous around Europe too. It is mainly because they grow and bake with a lot of non-wheat grains (rye, spelt etc) These grains are in fact more flavorful than wheat. That, and a big bread culture. The main reason people eat wheat is not really flavor but because of its ubiquity and abundance.
posted by vacapinta at 7:31 AM on May 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
Not sure why the dairy is better - this applies to milk, yogurt, etc - but dairy in Europe mostly comes from grass-fed cows. Not sure what they feed the cows in the US.
The bread in Germany is famous around Europe too. It is mainly because they grow and bake with a lot of non-wheat grains (rye, spelt etc) These grains are in fact more flavorful than wheat. That, and a big bread culture. The main reason people eat wheat is not really flavor but because of its ubiquity and abundance.
posted by vacapinta at 7:31 AM on May 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
We are just about to the time of year when you might be able to find locally-grown strawberries which you might like better than the year-round supermarket brands. I have a cousin who lived in France for years who wouldn't touch a Driscoll strawberry with a ten foot pole
posted by SemiSalt at 7:32 AM on May 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by SemiSalt at 7:32 AM on May 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
I think you’d have good luck with homemade yogurt, after a few batches you can dial it in just how you like. You get higher quality yogurt for much lest cost too.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:49 AM on May 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:49 AM on May 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
German American here:
Strauss European Style plain yogurt or as mentioned upthread the Trader Joe‘s Euro Style Whole Milk comes pretty close.
Butter: I buy Kerrygold which is not as good as Bavarian butter but a big improvement on typical supermarket butter.
Muesli: Bob‘s Red Mill Old Country Style
Bread is better in Germany because of different grains, less industrial leaveners, but also there‘s just a lot of salt in it (but we use unsalted butter). I bake my on sourdough rye German-style bread using a variety of flours and it comes very close to bread from a German bakery. There are however 100s of different styles of bread in Germany and not every type may be easy to recreate at home.
Strawberries, I think you need to grow your own. Soils in Salinas and surroundings are just completely devoid of any terroir at this point - more an industrial growth medium than an organic environment.
posted by The Toad at 7:52 AM on May 30, 2020 [6 favorites]
Strauss European Style plain yogurt or as mentioned upthread the Trader Joe‘s Euro Style Whole Milk comes pretty close.
Butter: I buy Kerrygold which is not as good as Bavarian butter but a big improvement on typical supermarket butter.
Muesli: Bob‘s Red Mill Old Country Style
Bread is better in Germany because of different grains, less industrial leaveners, but also there‘s just a lot of salt in it (but we use unsalted butter). I bake my on sourdough rye German-style bread using a variety of flours and it comes very close to bread from a German bakery. There are however 100s of different styles of bread in Germany and not every type may be easy to recreate at home.
Strawberries, I think you need to grow your own. Soils in Salinas and surroundings are just completely devoid of any terroir at this point - more an industrial growth medium than an organic environment.
posted by The Toad at 7:52 AM on May 30, 2020 [6 favorites]
Have you tried skyr? I haven't tried German yogurt, but your description sounds exactly like plain skyr, which is relatively easy to find at US grocery stores these days.
posted by capricorn at 8:31 AM on May 30, 2020
posted by capricorn at 8:31 AM on May 30, 2020
Response by poster: Thank you all for recommendations. I'm going to Aldi and Trader Joe's. Thank you for Bob's Red Mill recommendation. Also, I have not tried skyr but want to. Thank you again!
posted by loveandhappiness at 8:46 AM on May 30, 2020
posted by loveandhappiness at 8:46 AM on May 30, 2020
I’m nothing the order-online route. I’ve had success ordering Swiss foods (e.g., Rivella) online.
posted by kevinbelt at 11:53 AM on May 30, 2020
posted by kevinbelt at 11:53 AM on May 30, 2020
The bread in Germany is famous around Europe too.
How I wish we could get real brötchen here, but the only likely source is a German market, and there's none near me, now.
posted by Rash at 1:03 PM on May 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
How I wish we could get real brötchen here, but the only likely source is a German market, and there's none near me, now.
posted by Rash at 1:03 PM on May 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
This Bulgarian yogurt is thin and tart and fresh, it's very much like yogurt I've had in Europe. I think you can get it at Whole Foods.
posted by nantucket at 1:09 PM on May 30, 2020
posted by nantucket at 1:09 PM on May 30, 2020
vacapinta is totally right, European strawberries are literally as well as figuratively a different species. You can buy the plants at the Strawberry Store, they even have a "German Collection". I'll warn you that in our hot, dry summers the plants died without ever producing more than a few berries. You have hot, humid climate, so maybe?
IKEA sells a seeded bread mix in a black milk carton that is the closest to German dark bread I've had in the US. You can make the soft-boiled eggs, get the freshest pastured eggs you can find. Ditto the white bread, I have been baking the low-knead bread with sourdough starter and it makes a tangy loaf that's crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Fresh spätzle is a thing of beauty, I like this recipe with or without the greenery. For butter, you want cultured, high-fat, lightly salted. Kerrygold is the best with wide availability (though quite salty) but see what weird brands your grocer has.
Beverages are the easy one, Gerölsteiner water and a number of German beers are available cheaply at Trader Joe's and not so cheaply at many stores. German wine is a great value. I don't know a specialist in your area but you can get great quality for a surprisingly small amount of money.
posted by wnissen at 1:25 PM on May 30, 2020
IKEA sells a seeded bread mix in a black milk carton that is the closest to German dark bread I've had in the US. You can make the soft-boiled eggs, get the freshest pastured eggs you can find. Ditto the white bread, I have been baking the low-knead bread with sourdough starter and it makes a tangy loaf that's crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Fresh spätzle is a thing of beauty, I like this recipe with or without the greenery. For butter, you want cultured, high-fat, lightly salted. Kerrygold is the best with wide availability (though quite salty) but see what weird brands your grocer has.
Beverages are the easy one, Gerölsteiner water and a number of German beers are available cheaply at Trader Joe's and not so cheaply at many stores. German wine is a great value. I don't know a specialist in your area but you can get great quality for a surprisingly small amount of money.
posted by wnissen at 1:25 PM on May 30, 2020
Die besten Brötchen backen, ganz einfach I've tried making these, and they are pretty close to the real thing. He has several bread recipes, and other recipes. Even if your German isn't perfect, you can understand the most from the visual.
I don't think skyr tastes like German yogurt at all, if you can, making your own is better (I haven't tried for ages, since I can get the yogurt I want cheap at the store).
Even more than Aldi, Lidl has a lot of German products, a German colleague went there with her students to explain German culture, half as a joke, half seriously. Their own-brand yogurt might be what you are looking for. (I haven't tried it).
posted by mumimor at 2:29 AM on May 31, 2020 [1 favorite]
I don't think skyr tastes like German yogurt at all, if you can, making your own is better (I haven't tried for ages, since I can get the yogurt I want cheap at the store).
Even more than Aldi, Lidl has a lot of German products, a German colleague went there with her students to explain German culture, half as a joke, half seriously. Their own-brand yogurt might be what you are looking for. (I haven't tried it).
posted by mumimor at 2:29 AM on May 31, 2020 [1 favorite]
Inspired by this ask, I made a German bread, and then I googled for how long to bake it and found this. It's fun.
posted by mumimor at 12:54 PM on June 1, 2020
posted by mumimor at 12:54 PM on June 1, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
the strawberries and bread
Farmer's markets when they open back up in your area. Local bakeries.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:00 AM on May 30, 2020 [2 favorites]