Chapter 15 : Germany

We've explored the wild cuisines of Kashmir, Indonesia, Peru, and Acadia, but we've avoided Central Europe. The peoples of Central Europe are, after all, a busy people, with too little time for cooking so they subsist, like Americans, on prepared foods. And in this modern age, when we can explore foods from all over the world in the safety of the midwest, it's easy to forget that there's a wealth of food from every country.

Luckily, Indianapolis does have an authentic German butcher, which allowed me to grab some harder to find items, but one can find most of these ingredients- spicy mustard, brick bread, and knockwurst, across America. Even items like curry ketchup can be found if you look around a little.

Schwartzbrot (black bread)

Sometimes called "brick bread" for its shape and density, schwartzbrot isn't especially hard to find, due to its long shelf life, and the large number of Germans living in America.

Schwartzbrot is typically rye or pumpernickel, cooked in a special oven and with a technique that leaves it crust-less, dense, and evenly rectangular.

It is filling and, once you adjust to it, rather pleasant. You can find it with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or any number of other ingredients. It's best for open-faced sandwiches, being too mealy and stiff for the closed-sandwiches that are more common in America, and matches well with the many German mustards out there.