History of German cuisine is one that links diet with culture and region: food ever follows function in the history of the Germanic people. Whether due to region, custom, or contact with others, the German culture has seen a distinct cuisine emerge from its heritage and history. Historical events are responsible for bringing about certain fare. For instance, because of the scarcity of cream in Germany in the Middle Ages, bread was used as a binding ingredient in sauces, and baking itself served a culture significance for Germans throughout the centuries (from the use of bread in Christianity to the pagan heritage use of bread) culminating in the special decorative braiding and twisting of the dough (as seen in Bavarian pretzels) designed as a special treat. In other cases, geography is important in the cuisine that developed in particular regions (the ales in the North for example). This paper will discuss the history of German cuisine and show how it evolved over the centuries.
Beginning with the Roman historian Tacitus, the West's first real look at German cuisine begins in the 1st century AD. The Roman's condescending report on the Germans makes their meals of game meat and wild fruit seem barbarously simple and their appetite for drink enormous. Some 800 years later, however, by the time Charlemagne comes to rule Germany, the German diet switches from a mostly meat-based (roasted meat) diet to a grains and cereals diet, in a national move away from dairy and meat to bread (Heinzelmann 21). Rye, because it did not require much attention, flourished as a crop and through to the 16th century, it was Germany's most important. Thus, the bread most popularly associated with German cuisine is that which required the least labor from the...
In the north of Germany, however, more beer and ale was produced as the conditions for grapes were not as practical. Because water was not always safe to drink, beer was the popular beverage of choice as well, and today German beers are renowned around the world -- both light and crisp and dunkel biers. In the northern regions, monastic life was also supplemented by the brewing of ales. Trappist ales became part of German cuisine as a result, and so did other simple fare, such as vegetables and fruits, which were grown -- although sweet fruits were cultivated only for and by the well-to-do, as were "roasted choicer cuts" of meat (Henizelmann 25).
One aspect of Germany's culinary arts actually came from St. Benedict's monastic rule: Benedict preserved the ancient medicinal recipes in Italy and passed them along to the other monasteries throughout Europe, and in Germany these medicines were used as recipes and incorporated into main dishes -- thus "culinary recipes developed out of medicinal prescriptions [and] the German word for both is still Rezept" (Henizelmann 28). Thus, certain preparatory methods and combinations of herbs and particular dietary foods served to cultivate the German's health and cuisine.
Spices from Italian trade with Arabian merchants made their way into Germany in the High Middle Ages and members of the Church dined on such fare as "egg soup with saffron, peppercorns and honey -- mutton with onions -- roast chicken with plums -- stockfish with oil and raisins" and much more game meat and fish (Henizelmann 51). Such hearty servings were part of feasts and…
