Vegetarianism in Germany

I like Jamie Oliver, he's done a lot for British cooking. :$ I can't stand Tim Melzer, he tries to copy him and fails miserably!

hmmm ...I can't wait

@jumbles

Jamie Oliver has been around a lot longer than Tim Maelzer who has so far copied
everything Jamie Oliver has done, the latest one being his road show
I bet he will open a restaurant offering unemployed youngsters a chance
to train as chefs... btw a "cooker" is a Herd - ein Koch is a Chef

Well I am not a veggie but assume I am allowed to contribute?

Mine has to be Falafel (sp?) that is just lovely. In fact anything with chick peas. Oh and lentil curry. Actually any sort of lentils and beans are really tasty. I probably eat more of those than I do meat products partly because of taste and partly because of cost and convenience when cooking for one. I find if I want to cook something with meat I only use half the packet so I end up either throwing the other half away or freezing it and forgeting about it (usually find it buried behind a tub of Baileys Haagen Daaz!)

As for meals in German restaurants what about eggs and Grüner Soße or do vegetarians not eat eggs? I love the Grüne Soße mmmmmm

I think you will find Tim Maelzer learnt a lot from Jamie Oliver in his, i think, 3 year stay in London.

What's in the green sauce? I've never heard of it?

Are u guys veggies because u don't like meat or are you doing it for political reasons?

Green sauce with boiled eggs and boiled taters is a Frankfurt speciality and I think it's delicious (but it doesn't half fill you up). It's made of about 7 different herbs mixed with sour cream. Around here, you can either buy the herbs fresh wrapped in paper or frozen, or maybe ready-made in a pot (like the Buitoni pasta sauces).

My fave veggie meals?

1. Slow fry some sliced garlic in olive oil, add sliced Austernpilze, (or tofu) fry for a while and serve on a bed of Feldsalat. Drink wheat beer.

2. Put roughly chopped potatoes (with skins on) in a bowl, drizzle with little bit of oil/salt & pepper so they are all coated but not drenched in oil, put on baking tray and bake in oven until done. Serve with parsnips (baked in oven at same time) and a quark dip made with fresh herbs and lemon juice). Drink wheat beer.

Plus loads of recipes based on quinoa and millet (yep, Trill!) and brown rice. I could go on forever!

Ben

Ben's description is spot on and it is delicious!

I keep forgetting that it is a regional speciality. You should certainly try it when you come to Frankfurt!

I don't want animals to have to die for me so I can eat them.

If we didn't eat beef/pork then all the cows/pigs would nearly die out, there wouldn't be as many herds, they make lousy pets and have practically no use apart from being in the food chain. By not eating beef/pork you are threatening these animals with extinction

I don't really think so, there are enough meat-eaters to keep the cows and pigs alive!

Ive been a veggie since my student days. Not sure exactly why I am now and why I was then or why I became one. I lived in a student flatshare where we were all vegetarians, but I was about 80% veggie before then in any case. We all took turns to cook, had some great dishes.

But I never really liked meat. Recall when I was about 8 years old I went off it suddenly, to the chagrin of my parents. Being a veggie then was considered really oddball, especially for a child and my parents were worried sick about it! But at least I loved sausages and ham. It was just roast meat and beef and that kind of thing that I disliked. I didnt like the smell and the taste of it, it made me feel sick. Still does today.

So for me its nothing political. I am not a green party supporter.In fact I tend to slag off the greens more than not! Also I just find veggie food is so good and tasty, and also healthy. At least it can be good, depending on how its put together. Trappist monk salads and kartoffelpuffer and similar culinary barbarisms excepted. And apart from the taste and smell, I dont think redblood meat is very good for you and nor for your temperament. But I do enjoy the occasional german wurst (theyre so good), gasp! and even the odd bit of cheese and ham roll and such like. And I eat fish as well. But I still categorize myself as vegetarian, because compared to most of the german carnivores, relative to them thats what I am.

I don't like meat, and I do it for politicalethical reasons. Started as I left home to go to uni, although I hadn't eaten much meat for quite a few years before that, and had always ticked the veggie box when going away anywhere. I do even go as far as checking everything for any animal products (gelatine, animal fats/fish oils, etc.), and I generally dislike any 'meat substitutes' (quorn and the like).

I get really annoyed when people ruin what could be perfectly good veggie dishes by putting meat or meat stock or something in it. I also get annoyed by fish/chicken/occasional meat eaters calling themselves veggie - either you eat some meat sometimes, in which case you're not veggie, or you don't, in which case you are. My other half quite likes fish and will eat it sometimes, and does like quite a few meat substitute products, which to me makes her not a veggie (although she certainly eats no red meat or fowl/game).

In terms of canteen I'm lucky, working at the Uni the Mensa always has at least two veggie options. In terms of eating out, anywhere in Germany except Italian restaurants usually means a bowl of chips and a salad. It could be worse, I've ended up going very hungry in some countries (France and Belgium being particularly bad).

While we're on the topic of vegetables, has anyone got a link to any info on the german reheating-mushrooms-phobia - I seriously endangered my health at the weekend by reheating a dish containing mushrooms three times (a big pan on Friday night which I polished off Sunday evening for supper) and I'd like to just check what symptoms I should be getting (and the other half told me to check on the interweb when I refused to heed her warnings)

Here's some info on reheating pilze.
Basicaly says that (Like many of these so called pieces of advice) that it is an old fashioned view that is not really relevant these days. (As long as you cool your mushrooms between reheating)

Here is the"chemical" reasoning:

Maybe it was different in Bremen where I was but when I used to eat in the Mensa I remember there only ever being 2 options! I cannot remember if one was ever veggie but I do remember Essen 1 was something like 1,50DM and Essen 2 2,30DM assume it is not that cheap nowadays!!!


Oh yes those people annoy me too! I have often been told someone is veggie when inviting them to a dinner or something and made the effort to make a veggie option only to find they eat chicken sometimes and would rather have chicken tikka than the yummy lentil dahl I had made extra! That does bug me!


I'd say your hands should be shrinking and your hair turning green I have always reheated mushrooms and never had a problem

Nice logic!

I have always crossed the road without being run over.

what on earth is that supposed to mean?

The Uni in Saarbrücken had only one vegetarian option, there were 3 set meals a day, two non veggie and one veggie. Sometimes my best friend and I didn't like the veggie option so we went for the salad and chips option!

Reminds me of the film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"

"He doesn't eat no meat, he's a vegetarian"!

"Wat u mean, he don't eat no meat"?

"He don't eat no meat"

"It's ok, I make lamb"!

Very true! I love that film! :$

[quote name='Maekelborger' date='Jan 10 2006, 02:12 PM' post='68968']
IIn terms of canteen I'm lucky, working at the Uni the Mensa always has at least two veggie options. In terms of eating out, anywhere in Germany except Italian restaurants usually means a bowl of chips and a salad. It could be worse, I've ended up going very hungry in some countries (France and Belgium being particularly bad).

Talking of Uni Mensas. Id say the one in Frankfurt is positively injurious to health! Horrible, horrible. About the only thing that is passable is the cakes, thats probably because they havent had a chance to cook them and mess them up.

It means, that just becuase I have not yet been run over whilst crossing the road I cannot expect that I nor anyone else will never be runnover whilst crossing the road.

Or, just because you have never become ill by reheating mushrooms does not mean its safe to do it.


Why do they call them mensas? Do you have to be really clever to eat there?

Perhaps it's psychological, if you eat there your brain cells will increase!

Yes I understood that what I did not understand was the point to your statement.

What I find annoying is that per KG meat seems to be cheaper than cheese! (Or should I be more worried about what they are doing to the non-diary animals to make it so cheap?)

But cheese does taste so much better!!!

Very very true, I do so much love cheese ... :$

ok, I think I'm lucky with the Mensa at this Uni - I ate at the Bremen Uni Mensa in December and have to agree that it was pretty ropey (on the other hand, ours is meant to be consistently voted in the top 2 or 3 in Germany, so it ought to be good!) - here there's getting on for 10 different main dishes, which you can mix and match with rice/pasta/potatoes, or there the pasta bar with 3 different sauces (usually at least one veggie), ...

"Mutter Pinir" (has various spellings) - cheese (& peas) in curry - perfect combination.

(still can't top a good meat one though)

I love eating Indian cheese in an Indian restaurant.

Completely agree! Isn't everyone into healthy living? So how come you can't get any vegetarian stuff in here? I'm not vegetarian but the whole family (My husband, my daughter and me) were trying to become it bit by bit, we were achieving this succesfully in London as we realized any supermarket has a whole section of ready tasty and varied meals, desserts, etc. that are vegetarian, for example the whole Linda MaCartney range, soya bacon, etc.

Shortly after we moved here it just got too difficult to maintain our 'vegetarianism' as all you see is pork everywhere.
We are still trying not to eat meat too often and anyway as the only meat we really like is chicken and even that is now too risky to eat, well we have no alternative than to eat salads anyway.

I think it is an old stereotype that food in England is bad, in England and especially in London, you can get food from any country in the world in any supermarket or restaurant, you have whole sections that cater for every need, you are never short of options and most traditional English dishes are bloody delicious as well as desserts, of course if cooked properly.

Here, at least in Berlin all I seem to find in my local Lidl, which is no bigger than my living room, is sausages in every shade and shape you can imagine, cold meats, cheese and black bread.

Ok, that's just my personal opinion maybe it depends on the area/city you live but Berlin just can't compare to London in the choice and variety.

Berlin cant compare with London in lots of ways . Like, wheres the financial quarter of Berlin, whereś the lively Chinatown, wheres the Bangladeshi quarter. (I wont say, wheres the jewish quarter - though there is the newly renovated Synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse in Mitte - which has to have a 24 hr armed guard presence standing outside).

On the other hand there are quite a number of cheap indian restaurants in Berlin, eg in Schöneberg, around the TU-Uni area frequented by students, also now in Mitte, Prenzelberg and elsewhere too. Plus chinese (or what passes for chinese in Germany), thai, vietnamese imbisses too. Globalisation is slowly inching into eastern Germany as well! Just dont go to the average chinese imbiss in Germany expecting to find dim-sum or hong kong noodles. But you might be able to order a "china pfanne" - a bland entschärftes continental hybrid to appeal to european palates. Though chinese restaurants arent so good for vegetarian food.

Forgot to say, big omission, Berlin does have its turkish quarters, especially Kreuzberg, which have plenty of cheap turkish imbisses and restaurants, and you can at least find a few veggie items on the menu, like falafal. It isnt all döner.

we have no alternative than to eat salads

You won't find 'vegetarian products' in your local supermarket - try looking in a health food shop (Reformhaus) or follow the link I posted earlier for burgers and sausages. Pies don't really exist for veggies or carnivores but with a packet of puff pastry you can make veggie pasties.

our local real has tofu in the fridge with the salads, and the walmart a way away has 3 sorts of veggie-burgers in a similar location...

as for chinese restaurants not being good for veggies, I'd disagree - sometimes you have to ask nicely, but in most cases there's at least 5 or 6 veggie dishes (plain veg, tofu, strange things with cashew nuts, etc.)

the doner van outside Praktiker does a fantastic veggie doner as well (toasted fladenbrot with salad, goats cheese and sauce)! If you're ever in Dresden then try and track down Dürums kebab house (it's in the Neustadt and there's a tramline goes past the door, apart from that I'm afraid I can't locate it much better!) - it has some of the best veggie fast-food I've ever tasted, in fact possibly some of the best veggie food full-stop (and introduced me to the delights of haloumi)

Anyone else avoiding chicken? Not me (For eating for food before you lot start - yes you, Maaph)

I don't mind it, as long as it is going cheep :doh:

Cheap or sheep?

moi? don't know what you mean... would this be the chicken from Turkey? sounds a bit fowl to me.

I have to say I don't take too much notice of food scares. I think I have (had) far more dangerous habits that are more likely to kill me than any Gammelfleisch that I can get in my local butcher.

No comment!

Cheep!

I didn't know you were into eating live birds!

The fresher the better these days, what with all these food scares.

there is a very obvious answer here .. which I will refrain from, as that would be totally out of character

Oh, yuk, yuk, yuk!

Yes you keep your answers to yourself!

Hi,

Just thought I'd let you know that I found these links for locating veg restaurants in Germany helpful. Haven't read all the thread so apologise if someone has posted them before!

Let me know what you think.

http://www.vegdining.com/GetRestList.cfm?rgk=EU-GER

http://www.happycow.net/europe/germany/index.html

This next link has mainly Munich veg restaurants. I have eaten at http://www.prinzmyshkin.com which was very good.
http://www.slowtrav.com/germany/munich/sw_vegetarian.htm

I would also recomend the Blue Nile Ethiopian Restaurant which isn't veggie but food was excellent and eating veggie (a selection of ) wasn't a problem.
Contact Details
Address: Siegesstraße 22a, Schwabing, Munich, 80802
Phone: +49 89 342389
Nearest station: Münchner Freiheit: U3, U6

Vegatarian Restaurants in Munich.

I'd second the recommendation for Prinz Myshkin - I've had lunch there a few times and the food is very good, if a little expensive. Also, Zerwirk is pretty good - they're a vegan restaurant.