The great thing about visiting any German city is you know you're going to eat well. If I ask you what Germany was famous for in food, you might have a hard time picking just one thing. I'm sure many of you reading this site would probably say chocolate is the most important thing to try here in Germany, and you might be right. But there is so much good food in Germany worth sampling, and a lot of classic treats you may not have thought about.
Since I've visited Germany before, and I've tasted a lot of German chocolate in my life, I was actually keen to start my tasting adventure with something a little more classically German. Soft pretzels are the kind of thing you may not think about first when you're planning a trip to Germany, but once you get there you're regularly reminded that these folks really know how to twist up their bread. I got my first soft pretzel from a guy on a bike in the middle of a park. It seemed right that I start this adventure off with a little street food.
Meal wise, I didn't want to leave Berlin without trying one of their "world famous" Curry Wursts. The name might sound horrible, but the food itself isn't bad at all. You're basically treated to a fried sausage/hot dog, covered in a curry ketchup. In some cases a little extra curry powder is sprinkled on top as well. Curry and sausage are not really two flavours you think of as going together, but it works really well. I've heard horror stories from people telling me that they bought some really bad Curry Wurst in the past, but look around for a decent restaurant and give it a try.
Most people think that JFK called himself a donut when he made his famous speech at the Berlin Wall. From what I understand the people of Germany understood that he wasn't calling himself a donut, but I do know why this rumour has come up. In Berlin they have a donut they call a Berliner, but it's just named after the region, and that's all. It's like me saying "I love New York", and thinking that I must be talking about New York style cheesecake. The Berliner itself is pretty much a standard powder coated jelly donut, but it was worth it for the experience.
While sampling the many fine foods of Berlin, I came across two amazing surprises about this city. First of all, Germans love cakes. I'm sure that wherever you live, you're probably saying that you love cake too. But in Germany, and in particular Berlin, every restaurant, every street festival, and every bakery has an amazing selection of cakes to choose from. Frankly any country would love cakes too if they had such a great selection.
The other surprise that I came across in Berlin was something called Spargel. As it turns out I was visiting Berlin during Spargel season. Spargel is basically giant stalks of white asparagus. When this stuff is in season, people go nuts over it, and I didn't want to be left out. On this trip I took every opportunity to sample this tasty vegetable in as many ways as I could. All I can tell you is my pee was pretty stinky for days after we left.
I guess I couldn't visit Germany without trying a little bit of chocolate, in fact I don't think I could visit Germany without trying a whole lot of chocolate. There are plenty of great places all over Berlin to sample chocolate, shops, stores, and even a museum (I'll have more about that late), full of sweet chocolate heaven. While I'd argue that German chocolate is the best in the world, it's certainly in my top 5 places to get the stuff.
These are just a few highlights of my fun trip to Berlin, a place I would highly recommend to any foodie with a sweet tooth. I have a few more photos from this trip posted on our Facebook page as well.
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