The quality of food in Germany

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Hey Jeremy!
I am curious about you & the Don's position on German food. Jay Rayner from the Observer was also quite damning about it.
But I guess there is a reason why there are so many Michelin-starred restaurants here (accessible to the very rich only, granted).
I feel like it's a lot easier to get a very decently cooked piece of meat together with an edible salad in Germany for around 8 euros, than it is to find such a meal in London and quite a few other European countries for that matter.
Even compared to Italy, I feel like it's easier to pick a restaurant at random in Germany and to be assured of being served something edible.
I love German breakfasts and the places I go to for them serve a very good value, generous spread. I also love the Nuremburger sausages/sauerkraut/mash combo at local brauhaus Putz: the same price as S&M Café in London and leagues above in quality.
Also, the quality of baked goods here is very fine, especially if you are a fan of whole grains as I am.
The only thing I would complain about really is the coffee, which is mostly very poor.

But I get the feeling I'm in the minority in Toytown with this opinion - and I'm mindful of advice given by Fox News chairman Roger Ailes (as quoted in NY Times): "don't pick a fight with people who love to fight"!

Just don't mention the supermarkets.

Hi there - I thought noone would read this thus I deleted it. Maybe some kind mod will put it back up.

The Germans are in some ways way ahead of us on food - they still have small independent bakeries (Though Müller is one of your largest and most awful chains)

But the supermarkets? That's my biggest bugbear. you either have the upper scale like Rewe or Edeka, or the bottom like Aldi, and not much in between. Its a whole discussion which has been done to death on TT.

I personally find German food uninspiring. What i can't stand is their complacency about its quality. I have had four individual Germans knocking my British food and defending the stuff here as being of some high quality. we have a huge obesity problem in Britain which every day we seem to hear about moves to reduce it. Maybe they are futile efforts but they at least are trying. I asked my paediatrician about children's health here in Germany and she told me there's a wave of obesity coming here. So the Germans seem not immune to this problem as they think.

Do we have any information as to where the meat for those Nuremberger bratwurst come from? Considering the amount dold in Aldi the place must be overrun with pig farms.

I'm not sure I agree with this. When I go to my local Aldi I know I get all the local, seasonal vegetables and fruit for very reasonable prices - my fridge is stuffed with them right now. Plus a lot of other relatively unprocessed other (vegetarian) food as well. I suppose it depends on what we expect our diet to be now but I find Aldi etc very, very good for anyone like me who wants basic, relatively unprocessed staples (except in May when get to choose asaparagus or kohlrabi).

I suppose I'd say that absence of fish in a largely land-locked nation limits the "flesh" end of things, which is a healthier choice there than the pig, I presume.

I'd also not class "rewe" or "edeka" as "upper". They are bog-standard. Just supermarkets. It's the Karstadt etc that are upper I think.

The bit I do agree with is that there is definitely an obesity issue here. That's not just food-related of course (but the combination with driving most places etc).

Aldi = local & seasonal?

Please check the labels, please. Sure, they'll sometimes stock seasonal produce, but only because seasonal things are generally cheap.

A hell of alot of Aldi veg and fruit is imported from other countries I'm afraid. Look and you will see.

I guess most of us on TT are an import from another country
We still taste good....

What amazes me is that in large letters they can write Gefluegel Salami and then the first and sometimes also the second ingredient is Schweinefleisch. WTF

That's what I was just going to say. Apart from maybe cabbages and potatoes, you won't find much local or seasonal produce at Aldi or any of the other discount markets. They go for the cheapest stuff, wherever it may come from. And fresh? I don't think so.

I doubt the supermarket situation is going to improve until the Germans lose the "Geiz ist Geil" and "hauptsache billig" mentality.

S&M Cafe? Sounds painfull. Nipple clamps on the menu?

Don stole the words straight from my keyboard.

I live in the foothills of the Alps. when I look at the agriculture here it is dire - either maize fields or dairy. If my produce in Aldi is local then logically I must be eating boiled sweetcorn in milk.

When I go to my local "Tante Emma Laden" (German for the Local Shop) I buy veg from them, even from the Wednesday market here but much of the produce isn't actually produced in my immediate area, it's bought from wholesalers.

Shopping here either from small or supermarkets here is depressing. Full stop.

Takes ages to traipse around to find quality. Driving to the local farm for eggs, another for fresh meat, yet another stall on Friday for fish, is a real pain. Especially with kids in tow. so you have to compromise and eat the crap and shut your mind to it.