Escargot Galore

We love a good escargot and, apparently, so do the people of Frankfurt. Perhaps it is because we have come across several French Bistros, but they can be found in traditional German restaurants as well. More correctly, you will find snails on the menus, whether it is French or German. We have been here for almost four weeks now and already have had snails at least four times. There is nothing like dipping bread into the garlic butter that the snails are usually cooked in, decadently delicious.

Escargot at a French Bistro
Cheese Covered Snails

Twice we had snails covered in cheese. One was covered with a mozzarella-like cheese and the cheese was gooey and sumptuous. The second was covered with a Gruyère type cheese, which also extremely good as well, but we are not sure that snails, oil, butter, and herbs really need to be enhanced by cheese. We suppose those that say cheese always make things better would probably disagree. Who knows, we will probably find deep-fried snails covered in cheese at some point, why stop with just cheese 😁.

Classic Escargot in Heidelberg
Gruyere Covered Snails

It is certainly not the healthiest of choices, but it is hard not to have escargot when we find them on the menu. Some people are turned off by the thought of snails, but we are firm believers in trying new and different foods. We had our children try escargot when they were young without telling them what they were eating and they all really enjoyed it. We even tried a local delicacy, that might roll some eyes, over the weekend, but we will save that for another post.

The Best of the Wurst

Most everyone knows that there are a lot of different sausages in Germany, including the one most commonly known in the United States, Bratwurst. We have had the opportunity to try several varieties of wursts and most have been extremely good. They are often, but not always, served with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes or on a bun with mustard.

Rindwurst – Beef Sausage with Potato Salad
Veal Bratwurst
Sausages with Sauerkraut and Potatoes

We have seen many people eating Frankfurt’s gift to the world, the frankfurter, but we have yet to try the local version for ourselves.  Perhaps it is because, once we moved into our apartment, we now consider ourselves to be Frankfurters 😀. In addition to trying the various sausages, we have also had a couple different versions of schnitzel. They also have been very delicious, however neither of these German staples are very health conscious.

Viennese Schnitzel
Hungarian Schnitzel
Potato Cakes

We look forward to trying some of these same dishes in some of the smaller hamlets to see how they vary throughout the different regions of Germany, but we will need to do a lot of walking to justify eating that much rich food. As for our favorite meal so far, we will have to say that they were each good in their own way and perhaps the quintessential experience is yet to be had. Obviously there is a wide variety of food in Frankfurt and we have eaten many different styles of food since we have arrived, but we’ll share some of those meals later.

Sauerkraut and Potato Salad
Potatoes Au Gratin

 

Apfelwein – A Perfect Drink for the Season

As we toured through the old city, called Altstadt in German, we came across a wonderful little festival that is going on through next weekend. Besides the food vendors and vendors selling art, clothing, and souvenirs, there were also booths for wine and even better, Apfelwein, or apple wine. It isn’t actually a wine, but is actually a hard cider fermented from pressed apples. Unlike hard ciders that you find in the United States, this wasn’t as fruity, but rather more like a mild beer and quite delicious. It is always served in a lattice-patterned glass called a Gerippte and for larger groups you can get blue and gray pitchers called Bembels.

Apfelwien in Glasses
Festival Sign
Clowning Around

Although we have already had our fair share of local beers already, trying the Apfelwein was truly enjoyable, especially with the cool brisk autumn air and the leaves changing on the trees around us. Nothing seems to bring out the taste of autumn like apple and what better way to get that than an outstanding adult beverage. Not that we aren’t going to get our fill of apple strudel as well. Sitting in the old pubs, like the one in the town square called Alten Limpburg, is a great way to people watch, chat with the locals, and enjoy a nice pint of beer or refreshing glass of wine.

Sitting Inside of the Pub
Sitting Outside in the Town Square

We have learned a lot about the local Riesling wines as well as beers like Hefeweizen, which actually comes in more varieties that just light wheat, but we’ll share more about those another post. For now, sit back and imagine yourself enjoying a refreshing, fizzly, cider that will make you feel relaxed and ready for the upcoming winter. We have had a long day today as we went back to work for this first time since we moved to Frankfurt, so the vacation is over, but the explorations are not. We will enjoy the free time that we have, but for now we don’t have to imagine a glass of Apfelwien, we will go and relax with one to end our day and recuperate for tomorrow. 😀

Plenty of Good Beer to be Found
Alten Limpburg Crest