Spyke
lemmy.ml

As a Brit living in another country, I get this too. People make jokes about me liking Doctor Who, drinking lots of tea and having bad teeth.

How dare you but also that is completely accurate.

63

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2

I wish I could get decent fish and chips or scones with clotted cream in Germany.

People shit on British food, but every time I visited the UK, the food has been fantastic. I even liked the haggis I tried.

1
SkySyrupreply
sh.itjust.works

i don’t know if I get the joke? could you please explain it because I don’t think(?) you’re trying to be racist

-28
Rendhreply
feddit.de

It's literally from the damn movie.

49
EtherWhackreply
lemmy.world

We just have to deal with it for the moment...

Lemmy is going through that middle-school/puberty age, with all the corny forced memes; (eg. The beans, stroganoff, etc. phases) bandwagon voting, and toying with the line between light-hearted and mean when trying to roast or joke around.

12

Reddit is still bandwagon voting and they've been around for a decade. I think that's just a function of having a downvote button on the internet. Almost made me want to join Beehaw

12

That's one order of sauerkraut. Is there anything else I can get for you today sir?

1
lemmy.zip

I spent a month in Germany last year. Turns out the most authentic German food is currywurst and middle eastern food lol.

But maybe that's just in Berlin. They probably have good potato based dishes in Bavaria.

36
kbin.social

Bavaria is probably the most "German" german region. That's where all the lederhosen stereotypes come from.

Basically it's the Texas of Germany. Old school, religious, and conservative.

Edit: in the very rural parts, they even have their own dialect that to some Germans is almost completely unintelligible. I realized this when I took German language classes in high school in the USA and what they were having me learn was very much NOT the way my Bavarian mother spoke to me. It felt kind of irritating when they told me I was pronouncing things wrong and my grammar was wrong when I fuckin' lived there as a child and spoke it fluently.

44
hstdereply
feddit.de

Well it's the part where after the second world war Americans temporarily governed and American soldiers and their families where stationed. So all they ever saw of Germany was Bavaria. They took their experience back home and so the image spread.

Northern Germany is nothing like southern Germany. Yes they like their beer, but Bratwurst and pretzels? More fish and bread.

24

I was with you in the first half. But northern Germany still loves their beer and brats. We had bbqs almost every weekend and if you didn't have beer and brats, you might as well not have a party.

Although there almost always way just a full fish on the grill at some point only in northern Germany so I will give you that.

8
JokeDeityreply
lemm.ee

It's so funny to me that you all have your own interpretation of what's liked in what parts of what I would say is a small country in relative terms. You know what Americans eat in all 50 states? Burgers and fries.

4
lemmy.ml

It seems to me that cultural homogeneity is a principle in the US though. I think it's good though because it promotes mobility between states and holds what is a really massive nation together

4

It's really only homogeneous at the high level. Every state has areas of vastly different culture depending on what the major immigrant groups were. A city founded by the Dutch, Polish, Finns, or French are all vastly different even in the same state.

6
kbin.social

Hey, if Germany can call America a bunch of corndog-eating cowboys, then we can call Germans tiroler hut-wearing yodelers.

5
feddit.de

There are a few other dialects in Germany that the rest can't understand. For example Plattdeutsch and Friesisch. (Both in northern Germany)

4

Both are independent languages though. While they do have some similarities with German (Platt more than Friesisch), they are more closely related to Dutch and English.

1

In Bavaria the favorite snack of locals while there was way to big of a sausage in a way to small of a fresh bun. Not a hotdogs but, like a small sandwich roll. Tasted fantastic

There's was one time I ripped the sausage in half and made it so the sandwich was a double decker, and I got some mean looks.

3
Magnetarreply
feddit.de

If you spent your month in Berlin, you didn't visit Germany. Common mistake.

12
Jekyllreply
feddit.de

Only that Berlin is probably the "least German" place to go, while NY is not.

3
discuss.tchncs.de

But that's not what OP said. OP Made a stupid claim about how only visiting Berlin means one hasn't really visited Germany.

To your point, my analogy works quite well - If you go to NYC expecting to find the stereotype of cowboys, massive steaks, and barbeque, you'll be disappointed, because that shit is in Texas.

It's all relative to how one defines a country's culture and the lens it creates. Just because someone has myopic expectations does not mean that NYC is less American than anywhere else in the US. The same holds true for Berlin and the rest of Germany.

2
lemm.ee

I think you're missing the point. NYC doesn't have cowboys or anything but it's representative of other aspects of American culture.

Berlin is in fact the least German town in Germany. It has its own kind of culture that is vastly different from the rest.

7

Berlin is just as German as NYC is American, both have big city cultures that don't really fit with life outside them.

7

Lived in NY for a while (manhattan) and travelled to a lot of other states. The comparison rings true for me, NY has it's own culture for sure.

3
discuss.tchncs.de

No, I fully understand the point. By "German" you mean Fachwerkhäuser, Oktoberfest, Lederhosen and Dirndls, Bier Steins and Weißwurst, and you're correct, these cultural symbols are not characteristic of Berlin - these are Bavarian. There is so much more to German culture than Bavaria though, despite what the Bavarians think.

-1

Fachwerkhäuser are not Bavarian, it's just that Bavaria has many old townships that kept them intact. You see them all over Germany tho.

3

No, I don't.

I am German, so I know what German culture is I guess.

1

How so? NYC is also significantly different than the rest of New York, let alone the rest of the country.

1

Nah you are close. We eat "Döner" (a turkish dish modified for Germany, basically a german invention) curry wurst and "Wiener Schnitzel" with french fires.

We drink beer all over the country but about every 50 km you have a different kind of beer that is prefered and don't you dare to say a different beer is better.

Also the glasses in which the beer is drunken grows from north to south.

10

The Döner is a German food though, it was invented in Berlin.

When I was a kid it was more common to have German restaurants and Imbiss. But they can't compete in price and speed with cheaper alternatives in the cities. That's why they were gradually replaced. When you want to eat some more traditional German cuisine, you'd have to go to smaller towns or a hotel restaurant.

7
fluboreply
feddit.de

There is no german fast food except curry Wurst in Berlin. That doesnt mean there is no good german food. Just in Berlin there are viewer Restaurants selling german food than asian/ middle East and italian food and there is a lot of fast food. I dont know why there are so few German restaurants. In Munich you find more of them...

5
hstdereply
feddit.de

In Munich you'll find more Bavarian restaurants.

5

I feel that's kinda the point of Berlin though, its culture is formed by the patchwork of nationalities that migrates there. Much like the UK with its Indian food

5
balderdashreply
lemmy.zip

Yeah I found it so weird how much international food there was in Berlin. I had to go looking for more traditional dishes.

Also, graffiti..... graffiti, everywhere.

5

Well...It's a captital alright.
Kind og expected to assume there will be a more international audience in comparison to the country side.

4
Senshireply
lemmy.world

This. It's Brezel, Brezn, Breze or Brezl. Never is there a t in there. Except in Swiss German, which hardly is German at all.

16
Senshireply
lemmy.world

No, that's just wrong. z in German is z... It has a distinct pronunciation, different ( sharper) from ts.

1

That's kinda what I mean. Looks like I misunderstood what you meant, because "ts" is its own word on German, very similar to "tsk" in English. But it is pronounced differently (softer) than z. When used as part of words, z, tz and ts can definitely all sound identical.

1
lemmy.world

I spent some time in Germany last year, and the pretzels/sauerkraut/doner/spaetzel/currywurst are all top notch.

But holy fuck, fleishkase. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I returned to the US. I've looked up how to make it several times, but it seems pretty complicated. Damn me and my lazy American tendencies.

That and the beer. I discovered that Dunkels are my fucking jam. Ugh, so good.

30
feddit.de

TIL that they call it "Fleischkäse" in Germany... Here in Austria it's "Leberkäse" (liver cheese) even though there isn't any liver in it (anymore).

But yes, nothing better than a Semmel with a thick slice of Leberkäse. ❤️

20
lemmy.ml

Leberkäse is common too where I am, especially when it comes to the LKW, the Leberkäsweckle

11
AquaTofanareply
lemmy.world

Admittedly, the first place I ever had it was a commercialized bakery (Barbarossa), and the meat was grilled and it was served on a roll that was crisp on the outside and softer on the inside - delectable. Since that's what I first saw it called, I just thought that was the name. Had no idea it was regional!

And then everywhere else I went, if it was on the menu, I got it. There's a restaurant down a little side street off the main drag in Trier that serves it with potatoes and sauerkraut.

Any way I had it was so good!

BUT ALSO. Bruh. I love you as much as an internet stranger can. I just googled "leberkase San Antonio", and there is apparently a German society here that serves it on Tuesdays.

I'm. Fucking. Stoked. Thank you!

2
barsoapreply
lemm.ee

You'll often find it called it either and it never had anything to do with Leber, but Leib... which doesn't mean that certain regions don't put liver in it. Calling it Käse is the suspicious part.

Above the Weißwurstäquator it's known as "that Bavarian stuff" because German law says that if you call something Leberkäse then it has to contain liver unless it's called Bayrischer Leberkäse. You also won't find Brezeln, or, differently put, only ones which sole purpose it is to insult Bavaria (same thing the English do with Croissants) and as to Sauerkraut, it's severely out of fashion. Weißkrautsalat, Rotkohl, yes, but you're basically more likely to find someone who figured out Kimchi than people who eat old-style Sauerkraut.

The native stuff up here is falscher Hase, that is, the same (approximately) meatloaf that Anglos know.

The Swiss apparently exclusively call it Fleischkäse.

1
feddit.de

On Wikipedia it's stated the other way around. "Leber-" because there was actually liver in it some time ago and "-käse" due to its shape.

1
barsoapreply
lemm.ee

„Leber“ leitet sich aus „Laib“ ab, was auf die Form des Fleischkäses zurückzuführen ist.

Lesen wir da gerade die gleiche Seite.

1
feddit.de

Die Bezeichnung als Käse leitet sich lediglich von der Form der Laibe ab.

Idk... Das steht bei mir im zweiten Absatz. 😅

1

A friend of mine has a little farm and he used to make that himself, I like the store bough one already but there is no comparison!

2
RQG
lemmy.world

Food in Germany is highly regional. You can have Kebab everywhere. The Sauerkraut beer and pretzels thing is mostly just Bavaria in the south. At the north sea and Baltic sea you got lots of fish naturally. In Hamburg you have Croques, Aalsuppe and further north Lapskaus. In the southern neighbor state to Bavaria you have Spätzle. And so on.

The beer also changes depending on region. Weißbier in the south and more mild beer in general down there. The north prefers beer with stronger taste that is more bitter generally.

There are few German foods which are generally accepted in all regions. Currywurst is one I'd say. Maybe grill Hähnchen as well although in the eat it'll be called Broiler while in the north noone has ever heard that word. Bratkartoffeln might also be pretty universal although ingredients probably differ. Egg or no egg, pickles or not.

Tldr German food is very different depending on region.

28
feddit.de

The Sauerkraut beer and pretzels thing is mostly just Bavaria in the south

What? I live in the Ruhrgebiet, you get Brezel and beer everywhere. Sauerkraut is a staple as well

11
RQGreply
lemmy.world

That's a part of Germany I tend to avoid so I didn't know.

6
discuss.tchncs.de

I highly object that pretzels are a bavarian thing. But maybe I am the outlier. Love my pretzels. Not bavarian.

8
lemmy.ml

Don't the Saxons have pretzels too? I'm Czech and I remember seeing them in Dresden (although it was the Christmas markets)

4
feddit.de

You can buy Brezel everywhere in Germany. They are also a traditional food handed out during St Martin.

I think perhaps the person meant eating it as meal with Sauerkraut. In other places than Bavaria most people buy Brezel at a bakery on the go. And don't necessarily eat it with Sauerkraut

7
lemm.ee

It's the exact same in Bavaria. Eating it with Kraut is rare, that's not something inherently Bavarian or anything.

4
emberwitreply
feddit.de

Brezn go well with Weißwurst and sweet mustard early in the day or together with Obazda, onions and radish as a brotzeit snack in the afternoon or evening, both together with a Weißbier. Other than that Brezn are more of a to-go-pastry, often as butterbreze.

And although brezn are available everywhere in germany, there are regional differences in how they are made and they are more popular in the south.

5
lemm.ee

All of that is true although I would add there's a lot more variation than only Butterbreze. Therese Käsebreze, maybe with additional ham or salami, there's Pfefferbreze, Mexikobreze and so on.

But to come back to the original point. No one eats them with Sauerkraut.

4

Yes, the first part of my answer was rather limited to Bavaria, where Brezn can be part of a meal but not along with Kraut and where Butterbreze is the most popular variation if not part of a meal. Also some fresh cheese with herbs instead of butter is common. Afaik the other variations are more popular outside of Bavaria.

3

I mostly meant the combination of things. Also pretzels in the north of Germany are often of pretty meh quality from my experience.

Weißwurst comes to mind as a hopefully just Bavarian thing.

2
lemmy.ml

neighbor state to Bavaria

Never have I felt Baden-Württemberg to be so utterly disrespected

Jokes aside, potato salad is an absolute banger that goes with so many wildly different meals

7
RQGreply
lemmy.world

Whenever I said Baden-Württemberg to an English speaker they just say Gesundheit. 🤷🏻‍♂️

3

They probably recognized enough to tell it was a Germanic language, but knows no German.

That would be a very common response in my area, but it was settled prominently by German immigrants.

There's a subtle awareness you get growing up around people who are very proud of their Germanic heritage, but not in a racist way like some would assume from the south.

3

I have always thought that it's called that because it makes you fart.

5

Also if you ever forget where you are just walk into a bakery and ask what the bread rolls are called. You'll get a different answer depending on the region.

4

To be fair, the only sauerkraut I've ever had that actually tasted good was part of a dish made by a German immigrant (in America).

14
feddit.de

The joke doesn't work with caucasian.

But you are right I should have used country.... I will change that.

10
wiesonreply
lemmy.world

Caucasian isn't a race either. We're all the human race.

-1

Race doesn't exist in human biology. Genetically a caucasian could be closer to an aborigine than another caucasian, what we perceive as race are relatively unimportant and tiny parts of our genetic makeup.

However, race exists as a signifier in social studies, because people experience the world and are treated differently when they have different race-perception. For example black men driving expensive cars will be pulled over more frequently. Hence race exists as a social concept because people treat it like it exists in more than just that.

3
Gabureply
lemmy.world

Race is a largelly meaningless and ill defined term, so sure.

10
lemmy.world

Countrymen

Fellow Germans

Nation

Several terms available other than “race”, as Germans aren’t a “race”.

5
feddit.de

It’s ok, like nothing special. Grünkohl is way better but I have another favourite. I would share it, but it’s so regional I’d basically doxx myself. And even if you’d know it, you don’t want to know what it’s made of ^^

8

Grünkohl is fucking amazing, yes! Spent some time in Friesland when I was younger and Grünkohl along with some good sausages and mustard blew my mind

4

Fun fact about it. Depending on what ingredients you use it can either get red, with acidic, blue, if it’s neutral and yellow, if it’s basic. And even purple or green if it’s in between the extremes

2
lemmy.world

Saurkraut is one of those things I can't stand on its own.

On a beef sandwich or with sausage is another story.

Beer though, not sure what to say there. Drink more beer? Then it doesn't matter if you like it or not.

6

The French eat Saurkraut with a bunch of different types of sliced up sausage and bacon. Like just in a bowl. I've always thought it was weird.

2
jscummyreply
sh.itjust.works

Sauerkraut, like cole slaw in the US, is best as a condiment/topping

1
feddit.nl

Mettwurst, pickles and salami are part of my eating habits I exported. Getting good sauerkraut is difficult even in Germany, it's all just the cheap vinegar stuff instead of lactaid acid.

7
lemmy.ml

Strange, I am German and I hate all three.

Best dish is dumplings with roulade and red cabbage.

7
RQGreply
lemmy.world

I think hating all three goes too far. Now Sauerkraut can be an acquired taste. I get that. Some people would hate on you for hating beer but I get that too. Hating pretzels however shows that you are a horrible person. Or you need to avoid gluten and you are jealous us others can eat pretzels. Cus pretzels are amazing. One of the two.

16
Samsyreply
lemmy.ml

It isn't gluten, but I moved from a town with best pretzels ever to a town with shitty ones. Now I hate them.

4

I can forgive the hate for shitty pretzels. It's tough to move away from a great place got food. I still struggle to find good Shawarma anywhere since I moved away from a bigger city.

3
skulblakareply
kbin.social

The pretzel itself is unimportant so long as it can serve as a vehicle for big rocks of salt.

1
Quikreply
infosec.pub

You completely misunderstood the art of eating pretzels.

4
skulblakareply
kbin.social

Perhaps. I am American, after all, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. But I view pretzels the same way I view tortilla chips - a bad chip can ruin a pairing, but a good chip will serve as a vehicle for salsa and otherwise stay out of the way of the experience. Pretzels are the same with their salt to me. The bread part, so long as it is prepared properly, is mostly structural. I'm here to eat the rocks.

2

You're eating bad or old/wet pretzels then. I mostly remove some of the salt since they're too salty for me.

But pretzels with spundekäse are amazing. I love it and could eat it every day.

6

Oh yes, especially with a red wine based sauce. I can't wait for autumn and winter. ( my wife thinks is weird to it when is warm outside)

1

I lived in Germany as a kid and I really miss the pretzels. They don't make them like that here - they were big and chewy on the bottom and thinner and hard on top.

They looked something like this. I see these are called Bavarian pretzels specifically, and it was indeed in Bavaria.

6
sffa.community

Okay this is gonna sound dumb but I'm bad at history. Is the reason there are so many German Asians because of the Axis during WWII?

Edit: Ah, it's because of the Vietnam war. This is mildly embarrassing but it's better than staying ignorant.

5
kbin.social

No.

A lot of people with (East) Asian roots in Germany are Vietnamese. West Germany had refugees during the American War in Vietnam and Eastern Germany had people coming over because of the socialist brotherhood thing (cheap workers for unpopular work).

19
kbin.social

Only if we actually take all of Asia, then yes, there are a lot of people from West Asia in Germany. But that doesn't has anything to do with WWII and probably not what the user meant.

2

Yeah, someone else explained that they were refugees from the Vietnam War. That's what I get for making assumptions.

2

It may just be a coincidence I've experienced and now because I'm thinking about it it's easy to fall inbto confirmation bias.

1
sopuli.xyz

At this point I'm not sure if I'm too much racist or too much woke, because I absolutely don't understand what is the meaning of the joke. Is German a race now? Or are Asians (race?) supposed to hate pretzels for some reason?

1
Jonnyreply
kbin.social

It's just a meme that is used when someone stereotypes a group of people (not intending to offend), but the stereotype is is accurate.

basically "how dare you stereotype us, but also yes".

12
drolexreply
sopuli.xyz

But he's really describing Germans as a race? I feel like my grandfather when I was talking to him about playing Sonic

Edit: I get it now, thanks for your effort

4

Yeah "Culture and our people" would fit better here

2
Chunkreply
lemmy.world

The original joke is that someone asks the Asian guy if he likes some stereotypical Asian foods (I forget, like ramen or moon cake).

The Asian dude says that same line about how his people are insulted but he does actually like the food. It's a pretty funny bit actually.

This meme is just swapping the Asian for German but it keeps the 2nd half of the meme, about the comedian's race, the same. You're right, German is not a race.

5
drolexreply
sopuli.xyz

Vielen Dank mein sehr geehrter Schweinehund (sorry for bad German! 😊)

4

Das ist kein schlechtes Deutsch. Da fehlt nur ein Beistrich, aber den hätten viele Deutsche auch weggelassen

1
Peatyreply
sh.itjust.works

You're American so your concept of race is based on skin color rather than nationality.

-5
drolexreply
sopuli.xyz

I'm American now? Fuck! Thanks Obama, I guess

9
lemmy.ml

Any country has its specialties and these German Meme things are certainly good, but in general German cuisine is not very sophisticated. In Europe by far it is Spanish and in general Mediterranean cuisine. I am from Spain and here the food is worldclass, apart there are also not only the best wines, but also the beer can compete with the German one. The worst cuisine is in Nordic countries and England, this is already off the scale, luckily there are good Chinese and Indian restaurants there that guarantee survival outside of fish and chips.

-2

Nordic countries might have given us lutefisk, but that's just a cover for their top notch baked goods. Fresh krumkake is like the best ice cream cone you've ever had.

5
lemmy.world

Spanish cuisine is great

But French is every bit as good

Outside of Europe? Nobody can compete with America in depth and breadth in terms of incredible food options.

3
Zerushreply
lemmy.ml

Options a lot, but not in local food and food culture.

3

If you believe this than you are woefully uninformed about American food culture.

You can get good authentic food from every region of the world here, but we also have a culture that deeply loves to create new and incredible things inspired by that foreign influence.

Look at American third wave coffee, for example. American coffee culture was inspired by the Italians, but has seen a renaissance of experimentation that makes it uniquely American. It’s now among the best in the world.

3

Italy has a similar cuisine as Spain, but generally the Mediterranean cuisine is the best, France generally isn't bad, but quite overrated, we found the best Restaurants in Alsace, perhaps, if Seafood is your thing, you can add Marseille. Besides, the wines are good, but the French beer is horrible, it taste like dishwater. I have traveled a lot in Europe and I know what they offer in the culinary world and there is a clear trend of the further north, the worse. Maybe it has to do with the way of life and the climate. When forcefulness and calories prevail over sophistication.

2
lemm.ee

was ist das für eine "Rasse"? sind Bayern biologisch so "eigentständig"? Vielleicht wurde in der Boomerschule einfach anders unterrichtet?

-5