Why do supermarkets in Munich suck?

Ah but Timmeh, in the UK they have fertile arable land and can grow more than white asparagus and kohlrabi - and naturally as a matter of taste choose to do so.

They also have refrigeration which minimises the need for Kefir and Quark and the shops are open til later so they don't need to bake bread that looks like a brick in order for it to last.

Very inappropriate comparison. There is no reason for UK supermarkets to stock the things that the UK Germans miss.

Braising / Schmoren does the trick ... Klassische Rinderroulade

thanks for the tip, your recipe looks much more correct than that shown by "Koch mit Kerner" this past week
http://jbk.zdf.de/ZDFde/download/0,6753,7003557,00.pdf

usually I do not follow recipes (learnt from my mother, don't need no friggin' cook book), but the wife saw this on TV and sent me out for the ingredients, and then asked me to work it out since she had some telephoning to do. I have no idea what cut of meat this is, just that the butcher sold me something for "rouladen". Now I know, this is not a 15 minute dish. beat some very tough meat into thin slices, roll them around something, and then fry/stew/bake the suckers into something edible.

next time I'll remind her that it is a TV show, not a documentary

Slap bang in the city centre on Broadmead!

Regarding the beef, agree it is an issue here.
The German taste seems to be for soft pink meat that is often laking in taste.
The animals are slaughtered too young and the meat doesn't hang enough imvho.

When I buy beef I prefer to look for the stuff with that deeper red hue and I often leave it at the back of the fridge for a week or so after the use by date to let it ripen.

Blame yourself for not asking for something for "Kalbsrouladen" ... even Zacherl´s gourmet Kalbsrouladen recipe doesn´t take more than 15-30 minutes to prepare

When my ex was in the States (German of course) she LOVED the markets and selection, we even had a German bakery/deli in our neighborhood where she could get everything like back home baked fresh every day. A quick trip into Chicago she could go to German town and visit the Apotheke, butcher, bakery, whatever. Her only complaint was about Quark, we could only get it in Chicago and of course it was expensive. She also didn't like American pickles (I hate German ones), even though we had like 20 different kinds at the store they were never good enough. So she got them in German town in Chicago. But at least she could always get what she was missing. She even found a spätzlehobel at Cost Plus, near our home, when hers she brought from German broke.

As I said, that was my ex. Now I live in Germany with my girlfriend who is Ukrainian and she has the same complaints as the majority on this forum. As she says, she comes from a small town but they still manage to have better quality produce than German shops. Every time we go shopping here we laugh at the meat section ("What kind of pork should we get today?") and marvel at some of the produce that sits out rotting on the shelf, usually tomatoes. When she goes back to the Ukraine she always brings back a suitcase full of food from home because "German stuff is just crap". I recently stocked up on beef from the military base which is USDA cuts and she was in awe at how good they were (not to mention inexpensive).

So to me that is enough proof to substantiate the claims and know that my own complaints are justified.

As for good beef in Europe, the best steak I've had was in Czech just a few months ago. Nearly fainted from the first taste it was so good after eating "beef" here.

But yeah, as others say... we have to just accept that the markets here suck and Germans like it that way. 3 months to go...soon my taste buds will live again.

Still don't understand what exactly the shops and markets don't sell. Everyone is always going on about selection and variety, but of what??? Still nobody has answered this question.

There are always country specific things you can't get in another country but that is normal. I would love to give up the much praised 'variety' (of what?) in Tesco for a decent butcher's, baker's and a proper fruit & veg market here in Glasgow. But as I can't change it, I'll have to go to the shops that are available here and get on with it. Instead of spending time moaning, you could have gone to the shops and cooked dinner from scratch.

Try to think outside of the UK - Germany box. When people coming from other countries in Europe all say that same things about supermarkets in Germany, maybe they've got a point?

well, I work late, therefor, do not have the time to run to 3 shops in the evening (and the Viktualien markt closes at 6) to get the ingredients and superfresh produce for good homecooked meals.
Everybody keeps telling you what they hate, but you for some reason, either choose not to read it or refuse to understand, as you have to defend the German way!

Aldi Coventry had last week when I was in there big beautiful legs of lamb.
Aldi Germany does not.
There you go. Is that written clearly enough for you? Would you like to hear about more things that you can buy in Aldi Coventry (or indeed the marvellous porterhouse steak I bought in Aldi Manly Harbour, Sydney) that are not available in Aldi Germany (Nord or Süd, I can do both)? Would it help?
For me it isn't convenience foods, I'm looking at basic meal components which due to a highly price-driven German market have a better quality elsewhere. And become convenient foods because of changed opening hours and having more types of goods available.
Having seen multi-floor food stores in Sydney (building upwards rather than in width), I also no longer buy the argument that floor space is a limiting factor to city-central store size.

Maybe it is because many of us want something better/fresher/friendlier/easier/tastier/etc. rather than just something from home (wherever that is, not sure where mine is to be honest)? Why not want the best?

As for quark, you can buy that in most Tescos, I did for years at uni. As for kefir, that's becoming a fashionable health drink in the UK so you should get that soon near you.

Wow. I've actually managed to reply to this poster calmly instead of banding my head against the wall in utter, utter frustration.
This is *progress*.

Maybe you use a crap Aldi? The one I use has a huge selection (Gilching). They only have one variety of lamb but this isn't surprising, the Germans don't eat much of the stuff. You'll find about 15 different types of pork though. Aldi cater for German and not expat tastes which is why you often can't find what you're looking for. I do agree the the Aldis in the cities have a far more limited selection but I noticed last time in central London that this was the case there too. We had to drive out to Greenwich for a decent supermarket.

I have had to give up several homecooked meals since I have been here, as many of the vegetables I need are not available and those that are, are simply not acceptable (try making a good, rich pasta sauce with the watery, flavourless excuse for tomatoes they sell here). Graham cracker crumbs and mustard powder are also not on the horizon and given the german mustard fetish I find the lack of mustard powder quite surprising. Coming from Canada, even the discount No Frills had greater variety and fresher produce than Tengelman, Edeka, etc.

Gilching is effectively in Austria, sure it isn't called Hofer?
15 types of pork, oh the joy.

Aldi Süd has improved dramatically over the years, but a like-on-like comparison was requested and therefore given. Aldi is a pretty good place to start as the concept is the same, products are localised to taste obviously, but you will notice differences in style.
For example, next time you're in a non-German Aldi look at the layout, is the lighting different? How's the grouping done? Is it cleaner? Are certain fruit or veg chilled? Any fruit flies? It's a pretty interesting thing to do.*

To be honest, for years I thought people were whining too and that everything here was fine. I was wrong.
Germany deserves better than it is getting in terms of food.

*I should really go back to doing market research to be honest.

I have been to other countries as well, and especially in the mediterranean I love the daily markets, because fruit & veg just tastes 100 times better in the South of Europe. Because it grows there and does not need to get transported thousands of miles. But in the supermarkets you generally get very similar things in the whole of Europe with just a bit of country specific brands and items.

But if you don't like something you can't just say it's crap - that's your personal opinion. Sometimes you just have to accept that things are different, with which some people seem to have great difficulty.

And I still uphold the point that the quality of shops in my home town in Germany is excellent. There are bad ones everywhere, but if you know where to go to you can find good quality everywhere - just open your eyes and don't keep thinking 'this is crap' out of principle (which i think a lot of people here do).

This neatly demonstrates the "grass is greener" problem. Personally, I buy tomatoes from the market or the local greengrocer's and am very happy with the quality. Maybe MPIchaos needs to buy his tomatoes somewhere else.

Katrina also sadly fell into the trap of comparing like for like. As already pointed out, Bavarians have almost no interest in eating lamb and therefore neither the supermarkets nor the butcher's shops stock it in any great quantity. By this same logic, I could argue that British supermarkets are rubbish because they don't have any Paprika-flavoured crisps or sauerkraut.

Exactly.

on the topic of tomato sauce, if you want to make a great tomato sauce outwith the summer tomato season, use tinned tomatoes - both in Britain and in Germany.

No trap. A like-on-like comparison was requested.
And you can get sauerkraut and paprika-flavoured crisps in UK Aldi, thanks. I shopped in the Castle Bromich one for years as a student and was in the Coventry one last week.

My tomatoes are from BioCorner, because they usually have plum ones and I like those the best.
Surely not even you Small Town Boy can oversee the fruit fly issue? Why do I only ever see them in Germany, even in my local organic store?
Can't you see that there could be improvements made in German food retailing? Judging by the passion in the responses here, not everyone thinks that things are perfect. Quite right too, few things are.
Not to make it like the UK or anywhere else, but just to make it better than it is now?

There is no food culture or tradition in Germany so this is unfortunately something that one has to put up with.

I know Belgium, France and Italy like the back of my hand when it comes to this, and as I have said many times, I am just flabbergasted that people can actually claim that food shopping in Germany is comparable in choice and quality. Thankfully, there are some here who at least partially confess to how pathetic the situation is in Germany by saying that it's a price-driven market. In other words, the average German has the gastronomic culture of a caveman and if you give give him water, leaves and raw meat cheaply, he'll be happy (as long as he can get it "locally" in the middle of the working day, of course).

You're fucking shitting me JW? Either you haven't integrated at all or you have only met Chav Germans with as much culture and tradition as an LA street crack whore

Ask a cultured German where he shops. The situation may not be fantastic but it is not as dire as some people claim.

Some things the Germans do rather well:

Bread

Beer (in Bavaria classed as a foodstuff;))

Sausages

Ham

and cold cuts in general

Black Forest Gateau

Steckerlfish

Brezen

Käsespätzle

Kaiserschmarrn

Venison

Wild boar

Rabbit

Pastries

and chocolate

to name a few...

I can't see it is down to time restrictions, as having lived in Belgium, it does have Carrefour and it doesn't open Sundays, during the week it opens later and shuts earlier than here. More true with being Unadventurous though!

There are quite a number of Turkish butchers which will supply you with decent lamb.
If my neighbourhood we have many Morrocan markets: great lamb, fish, olives, spanish vegtables...

go out there and mingle with the other ex-pats, you'd be surprised how much you have in common.

I winced when I saw Jules' post. I though "bugger, he's racked it up to DEFCON4 with that." Spesh as I was working the be nice to Germany angle in order to get some kind of admittance that things could be better. Fat buggering chance of that now.
Boo at you Jules, boooo.

I think you'll find that has more to do with the climate than anything else. I've never encountered fruit flies anywhere in the UK.


JW's claim that in other countries you have large supermarkets and local stores sounds ideal. That way, I could still quickly buy good-quality food at fair prices from friendly, local stores, while the expats could mong around a bland supermarket buying their plastic food and convince themselves that such a huge store miles from their home is somehow "convenient".

Problem is, I'm very nervous about German supermarkets expanding because I believe that they will do so at the expense of the local stores and markets. The UK High Street is now dead, killed off by the rampant supermarkets and replaced by mobile phone outlets and cheap clothes stores. So much for "choice"; I have a much wider range of food to choose from here in Freising than I had in my suburb of London, where all we had left by the late 1990s was a mid-sized Sainsbury's and a small M&S, plus ten "convenience stores" all selling the same 150 products. I fear that Germany will soon be heading this way anyway, since capitalism is unstoppable, and I for one will not be rejoicing.

Lets see, back home we have Paprika flavored, sour cream, salted, un-salted, cheese flavored,
Smooth Cheddar Flavored, Zesty Herb & Parmesan, Deli Style Original, Dill Pickle Flavored, Hot'n Spicy Barbeque , Italian Rosemary & Herb, Jalapeno Cheddar, Jalapeno, Mesquite BBQ, Reduced Fat, Sea Salt & Vinegar, Southwestern Ranch, Sweet Chili & Sour Cream, Light Barbeque, Limon Tangy Lime Flavored, Potato Skins, Natural Country BBQ , Salt & Vinegar, Sour Cream & Onion, Sweet & Spicy Teriyaki, Hickory BBQ Flavored, Corn chips, ruffled or flat, round or square, small rounds, big rounds. on and on and on and on.

Germany: Paprika, Salted, some cheese thing, salt and vinegar in some shops. Edeka by me has some variety although still extremely limited. Kaufhauf also has the same as Edeka.

Anyway, I don't care so much about chips/crisps... The point being VARIETY is lacking and quality standards are low. Going to the store is just depressing because you are just in this repetitive cycle of choices. Edeka is a nice alternative for me and they do offer some decent stuff, but it still falls short in comparison.

But as people keep trying to point out, Germans don't eat crisps in the same quantity so it's not a fair comparison.

@l8knight
you forgot erdnuss flips

all the lamb I bought from the west end (and i lived there for 3 years and tried a lot of lamb) didn't really taste of anything at all, and seemed to be pumped full of water as it lost a lot of water when it was cooked. (no fat in it either)

I agree that food variety/quality is shit in Munich.

But there's no winning this argument here, because every example of shit quality or variety brought up is countered with "well the German's are happy with it. They love half rotten tomatoes and watery meat" by those who feel the need to defend the 'supermarkets' we have here.

So why don't you see them in NZ or Australia or France or Italy (off the top of my head) then?
Or is Germany extra special*?
Maybe they die at the border?

*yeah yeah yeah insert your personal comedy re: "schools", "bus", "friends" here

Germans don't eat a lot of things because they dont have a choice. Build it and they will come...

Why do my German coworkers talk about all the great things they tried while in the States and ask me "hey, can you bring me back some of this or some of that, can't get anything like it here". Yet in the States you can get anything. Within 5 miles of my home there I can get all ingredients for German food and same German items like Ritter Sport chocolate, Milka products, Hacker Pschor, Franziskaner, sauerkraut by the buckets, landjager, etc etc. And sorry, don't think my friends even know what landjager is but we can still get it.

But fair enough take out chips/crisps as I don't care really (but I sure miss my Cheetos), was just trying to point out there is no variety. Produce is still horrible, meat selection if you dont want pork 10 months out of the year is laughable, and overall selections are a joke. Geez, I cant tell you the number of times I've gone to the store and found them out of milk, or no meat left in the cooler, or no lettuce left... I have never in my life gone to a store in America and found an empty meat section or something like that. The only time I ever remember there being no milk is when they pulled it over a decade ago because of a salmonella outbreak in Jewell stores (Chicago market chain).

Anyway, its been beaten to a pulp and some are just happy with the minimum or mediocre and some of us require more and variety.

the bar where I worked near london was always getting fruit flies round the sink 'cos people were chucking the lemon slices in there, I dont think its only in germany lol

food in munich-

Any sort of cheese you like, as long as it doesn't taste of anything at all
any sort of meat you like, as long as its made of pork
any flavour of crisps you like as long as its paprika
any vegetable you want as long as its a bit bruised and about to start rotting

Yeah, the variety of crisps is better in the UK than in Germany, but Germans don't think crisps are an essental part of your daily diet.

But in Germany you get at least decent dairy products (different types of quark, yoghurt, kefir, buttermilk etc) which you don't get in the UK. Different eating habits might account for this.

And if the all the shops are full of fruit flies and rotting fruit & veg, I really don't know where you shop. I have honestly not seen anything like this.

Then your eyes are blinkered, oh isn't that a surprise. We've all told you where we shop but it appears that unless you see them personally, they don't exist. Maybe Russia does not exist as I have never seen it with my own eyes either?

Yes, I'm being faceticous, but it is a valid point. These people are not (all) out of their tree on mushrooms and are imagining magical fruit flies dancing above the Bodensee raspberries in season. No, they actually *wooooooooow* exist. And not just in discount chains either. Mind you, Timmeh probably is out of his tree on mushrooms, but that's beside the point.

As for UK dairy products, one word: cheese.
Don't really think you can win that one.

But regardless, there's great things in the UK, there's great things everywhere, even in little old Germany. But German food retailing can improve, not for me, but for the Germans. Why wouldn't anyone want that?

Then you need new glasses! A few supermarkets here are srarting address this problem by installing devices that blow cooled air on the fruit and veg, but it doesn't help if the food already going off when they put it out. I was in Kaufland in Freising last week, which is probably the best supermarket I've been into in Germany and their bananas were all black and manky. These were not the ones at the bottom of the box, but the whole box was like it. I didn't buy them and did what STB does and went to the market in the centre of Freising, where I bought some lovely firm yellow Bananas. The stuff is available, but the supermarkets don't seem to buy the good stuff to sell.

I'd like to think the phrase 'When in Rome..." is applicable in situations such as these, but people seem to think it's "When in Rome, it should be exactly as it is at home."

When you read the paper in England, and immigrants are complaining about certain things, case in point being a survey that was carried out and some Polish people said they didn't really like the supermarkets because you can't really get a lot of the stuff they like, there was a torrent of letters to said paper (no, not the Daily Mail or Express) that they could either go back to Poland where things are just the way they like them or just shut the hell up.

In Trinidad, ex-pats are complaining that you can't get a decent Sunday roast on the island. And people are like, who cares? We have our own version of Sunday lunch. You want a Sunday roast? Make it yourself. I've actually heard people in the supermarket complaining that it's ridiculous that you can't buy sqaush or cordial in the stores in Trinidad. Well, that's because Trinidadians like fresh juice and the stores are catering for their main market and not for a few people who won't be there permanently. You want cordial? Bring it in yourself.

Now the shoe's on the other foot, and people seem to be unable to handle it. Germans like pork, so you'll find lots of pork. I love chicken. This is because I am black, obviously. The chicken selection here is pretty pitiful. Half the time, the chicken looks like it's lived a really hard life and has tumours on its legs or something. But c'est la vie. I buy something else. I buy prawns, seafood mix, beef, wurst and whatever else. I like Kraft parmesan cheese (as I've stated before). The stuff they sell in England sucks. So, I either have my mother send me some from my home country, bring it back when I go there myself, or do without it. The 'exotic' produce, like aubergines, mangoes and avocados for example, are totally rubbish anywhere in Europe. But, if I want to have some, I'll pay the extortionate prices and shut up about it. If I wanted an aubergine as big as my arm, an avocado as big as my head and a mango that actually tastes like a mango should, I'll go back home and get it from the market there.

Yes, maybe things could stand to be a bit better, but fucking get over it. Work with what you have.

For me it's not the choice of foods, I don't have much of a problem with what's on offer, I'm not really interested in M&S convenience foods, but the quality is often so poor. Fresh produce is available, so why can't the supermarkets sell it?

*begins looking for sharpened pencils to jab into own eyes*

That's a bare faced lie, they have ready salted crisps too!

Thank you islandchick!

People really don't seem to understand that things are different in different places. There is a lot I could moan about in Britain, but as I live here by choice I'm trying to get on with it. Moaning doesn't help anyone.

If you really can't agree with the place you are in, then there's a solution - move. Living in a different country also demands a certain amount of accepting things you can't change - no matter if you personally find them crap (other people might not).

People often prefer what they are used to, but that makes other things not better or worse. Germans might like Emmenthal cheese and the Brits prefer Cheddar, buit neither of which is better or worse just different.

i think the 2 women on here that keep defending german food should instead try imagining that they are in a city surrounded by countries full of wonderful clothes, but where at home you can only buy womens clothes in an ugly one size fits all shape, made of brown sack cloth.

Reads, shoots and eats

You people that have such problems buying produce here are really doing something wrong...

Yes, the cheese comment in particular really grated (geddit?) because there are hundreds of wonderful cheeses produced in the Alps, many of which are easily obtainable in a decent German cheese shop (there are two dedicated cheese shops in Freising, the same number as in the whole of London - one, two). Yes, Britain also produces great cheese, but the plastic rubbish that most people buy in their local supermarket is no better or worse than the bland Emmental or Butterkäse that the supermarkets in Germany sell.

See, you can't win the argument.

They sell rotten produce in supermarkets because Germans LIKE rotten food. That's the market. Let's live with what we have available, people. If fruit flies and watery meat is good enough for the Germans, then it's good enough for me.

Good food is available, just not too much in the supermarkets, at least not fruit and veg. Maybe the owners of the supermarkets don't want the corner shops and markets to die out either!

Hazza, why do German washing machines take so long?
*beams*

No, I've seen the light. If German washing machines have to take 3 times as long as those in other countries, and still not clean properly, then that's fine with me.

When in Rome...

actually when you live in Bavaria, you should only listen to schlager music. when in rome...

Hi there,

I'm a new member. I will be moving to Munich in the summer to carry on my teaching, but when i visited there last year a few times i did find the food selection some what lacking-however, there were many different variaties that i tried and really liked. So i didn't mind going without my home comforts, as i will get my friends to mail me some important food over from the UK when i move to Munich.

this thread is not about "home comforts" like marmite or whatever, This thread is about the standard of basic foodstuffs in germany, which is very poor.

I miss the following comfort foods of home for my daily nutritional needs; can't find them anywhere in Munich...

• Hershey's chocolate syrup
• Reese's Peanut Butter
• Marshmallows (white)
• Marshmallows (pink)
• Marshmallows (large)
• Marshmallows (small)
• Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate (with marshmallows)
• Fluff Marshmallow Paste
• Kellog's Marsmallow Pop Tarts
• Kellog's Blueberry Pop Tarts
• Paul Newman's Vinegarette Sauce
• Orville Redenbacher's Popping Corn
• Betty Crocker Blueberry Muffin Mix
• Griffin's Pancake Syrup
• Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
• Oreo Cookies
• Hunt's BBQ Sauce
• Beef Jerky (paprika flavored)
• French's Yellow Mustard
• and Parade Macaroni & Cheese in a box.

...if only the variety existed here, sigh.