Although the potato is an American invention, the Germans have adopted it as the most essential ingredient in their cuisine. The popular image of Germans is that of perennial sausage-devouring folks, but the truth is that they really truly love potatoes.
If you work at a German company you will soon learn that potatoes must be served in the cafeteria in some fashion every single day, but that an entire month can go by without serving them under the same dish name. The week may start with salty boiled potatoes (Salzkartoffeln), but soon to follow are mashed potatoes (Kartoffelpuree) , hash browns topped with applesauce (Kartoffelpuffer - I am not making this up.), french fries (Pommes), and country potatoes (Potato Fettches aka Kartoffelecken) to name a small sample.
The really strange thing about the Germans, though, is that they only eat paprika flavored chips. In America we have Nacho Cheese, Hot Wings and Blue Cheese, Zesty Taco and Chipotle Ranch, Cool Ranch, Fiery Habanero, Salsa Verde, Smoking Cheddar BBQ, Spicy Nacho, and Spicy Sweet Chili flavored chips, just to mention one single brand’s varieties.
*German marketers have, in recent years, caught on to the large population of foreigners and now offer a few alternative choices to paprika for them.
The other area in which Germans are sadly lacking is their soft drink selection. In Germany you can find Coke, Fanta, Fanta and Coke mixed together, Diet Coke, and Sprite. In some regions the Austrian national soda Almdudler or the Swiss one, Rivella, can be found. That’s about it. If you started drinking TAB in the 80’s, then you’re out of luck if you come to Germany.
You might find some Dr. Pepper in Germany, if you look long and hard, and generic root beer can sometimes be found in fancier grocery stores, but sorry, in Germany there is no 7-Up, Sierra Mist, Mountain Dew, Caffeine-free Coke, Cherry Coke,Vanilla Coke, Diet Vanilla Coke, Diet Vanilla Cherry Coke, Black Cherry Vanilla Coke, Coca-cola with Lime, Crush, Cheerwine, cream soda, Diet Rite, Fresca, Jolt, Mellow Yellow, Nehi, R.C., Slice, or even any flavor of Shasta available.
In fact, any self-respecting grocery store in America has a chips and soda aisle with more square footage than the average German Aldi has altogether. Don’t forget to remind your German acquaintences that stuff is bigger and therefore better in America.
deutsche Übersetzung für Astrid ein/ausblenden
Hallöchen Astrid,
hier die Übersetzung:
Deutsche kennen 117 Arten, wie man Kartoffeln essen kann, aber nur eine Geschmacksrichtung bei Kartoffelchips
Obwohl die Kartoffel eine amerikanische Erfindung ist, haben die Deutschen sie als die wichtigste Zutat in ihre Kochkunst aufgenommen. Das weitverbreitete Image der Deutschen ist das von andauernd Wurst essenden Leuten, aber die Wahrheit ist, dass sie wirklich und wahrhaftig Kartoffeln lieben.
Wenn Sie in einer deutschen Firma arbeiten, werden Sie schon bald lernen, dass Kartoffeln in irgendeiner Form jeden Tag in der Kantine serviert werden müssen, aber dass ein ganzer Monat vorbei gehen kann, ohne dass man die gleiche Zubereitung zweimal gesehen hätte. Die Woche könnte mit Salzkartoffeln anfangen, bald gefolgt von Kartoffelpüree, Kartoffelpuffer mit Apfelmus, Pommes Frites und Kartoffelecken, um ein kleines Beispiel zu geben.
Das wirklich komische an den Deutschen ist aber, dass sie nur Kartoffelchips mit Paprikageschmack essen. In Amerika haben wir Nacho Cheese, Hot Wings und Blue Cheese, Zesty Taco und Chipotle Ranch, Cool Ranch, Fiery Habanero, Salsa Verde, Smoking Cheddar BBQ, Spicy Nacho, und Spicy Sweet Chili als Geschmacksrichtungen, um nur die Variationen einer einzigen Marke zu nennen.
Siehe Abbildung 1!
* Deutsche Markthändler haben sich in den letzten Jahren dem große Bevölkerungsanteil der Ausländer angepasst und bieten nun alternative Geschmacksrichtungen zu Paprika an.
Das andere Gebiet, auf dem es bei den Deutschen traurigerweise mangelt, ist die Auswahl an Erfrischungsgetränken. In Deutschland finden Sie Cola, Fanta, Fanta und Cola zusammengemixt, Cola light und Sprite. In einigen Regionen kann das österreichische Nationalgetränk Almdudler oder das Schweizerische, Rivella, gefunden werden. Das ist schon alles. Wenn Sie in den 80ern angefangen haben, TAB zu trinken, haben Sie kein Glück in Deutschland. Sie finden eventuell Dr. Pepper in Deutschland, wenn Sie lange und ganz genau suchen, und gewöhnliches Rootbeer kann manchmal in etwas extravaganteren Supermärkten gefunden werden, aber leider gibt es in Deutschland kein 7-up, Sierra Mist, Mountain Dew, koffeinfreie Cola, Cherry Cola,Vanilla Cola, Diät Vanille Cola, Diät Vanille Cherry Cola, Black Cherry Vanille Cola, Coca-Cola mit Lime, Crush, Cheerwine, cream soda, Diet Rite, Fresca, Jolt, Mellow Yellow, Nehi, R.C., Slice, oder irgendeinen geschmack von Shasta.
Siehe Abbildung 2!
Tatsächlich hat jeder Supermarkt mit Selbstachtung in Amerika einen Gang für Chips und Erfrischungsgetränke, der mehr Quadratmeter hat als der komplette durchschnittliche deutsche Aldi-Markt. Vergessen Sie nicht, Ihre deutschen Bekannten daran zu erinnern, dass Dinge in Amerika größer sind und damit auch besser.
Einen schönen Urlaub,
John
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July 29th, 2008 at 4:13 am
I can get 7-Up, Mountain Dew, Caffeine-free Coke, Cherry Coke,Vanilla Coke, Diet Vanilla Coke, Diet Vanilla Cherry Coke and Coca-cola with Lime in most grocery stores here in munich.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:50 am
Here, few km away from Stuttgart, thats mostly true. Coke, Diet-Coke (Coca-Coca light), Coke Zero … thats mostly it. Sometimes theres a stacke of Cherry Coke or Vanilla Coke, but really, what kind of pervert trinks such stuff ?
I’m happy that germany now offers more flavors of chips than a decade ago where paprika was anything you got. Although i have to admit, germany has a long way to go in the “hot” department of food. Neither a “Pizza Diavolo” nor Chili Chips or Chili alltogether can be considered hot here :(((
July 29th, 2008 at 4:55 am
What I never understood is why do Americans have so many flavours (and newly boosters) everywhere? What for do I need a coffee with vanilla aroma or a beer with cherry flavour, a beer with liquorice? This is senseless and cultureless artificial variety, just a cheap trick to get more volume of sales, nothing else. But why should I buy this crap?
July 29th, 2008 at 5:55 am
“Fanta and Coke mixed together” - gibt’s das in den USA nicht?!
July 29th, 2008 at 5:57 am
I can get the following stuff nearly everywhere in Berlin: coke, diet coke, coke zero, caffeine free coke, coke with lime, coke with green tea, vanilla coke, cherry coke, fanta, fanta zero, mezzo mix, mezzo mix zero, sprite, sprite zero, different flavours of fanta which change every two months, mountain dew, pepsi, pepsi light, pepsi max, 7up, mirinda.
In restaurants you only get coke, coke light, fanta, sprite, “apfelschorle”, the stuff from schweppes and sometimes “fassbrause”.
With chips you are right. Printles where the first brand to offer different flavours besides paprika, salt and sour creme.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:13 am
I’d stick to the general sentiment: who needs a gazillion flavors of crap? If you really want tasty and surprising chip flavors, go check out a Tescos in Britain. But this doesn’t change the fact that chips and sodas are crap anyway. Or how come the USA is world leader in obesity?
July 29th, 2008 at 6:25 am
When i wanna drink coffee, i make coffee. Pure coffee!
When i wanna drink milky coffee, i make coffee and afterwards(!) i put milk into it.
When i wanna drink sweet coffee, i make coffee and afterwards(!) i put sugar into it.
When i wanna drink sweet milky coffee, i make coffee and afterwards(!) i put milk and sugar into it. In case of a pick-me-up i replace the milk by brandy. That’s it!
I never would try to get coffee powder ready mixed with milk powder oder sugar or both oder whatever. Because it never ever would be exact the mix ratio i actually like.
So, why should i do something else with cola? If i would like Cola tasting different from pure cola (but i don’t), i would put a flavoring substance in it, for example lemon or orange limonade or brandy.
The same is with potato or corn chips. Those chips should taste like what they are: potatoes or corn! If i like chips tasting different i get some dips where i put them in - exactly the mix ratio tasting good for me. Chips are just the base - like bread is. I would never ask for Bread including cheese, ham, marmalade or whatever i like - i just put in upon(!) the bread.
Yes, i know, there are lots of paprika flavored chips available in Germany, but they don’t really taste like paprika, they are just a little bit hot. Nice, if you don’t have any dip in reach, because pepper powder doesn’t stick very well at chips.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:44 am
@alphager: Diet Vanilla Cherry Coke in munich. Whoa. Tell me where.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:52 am
You check the “choice irritates customers and makes products half a cent more expensive” store Aldi and then complain about fewer choices? Sounds a little strange to me. Try any other store - even Netto or Lidl offer a broader varity of chips. I’d guess that a typical Kaufland store has about two dozen different kinds of chips. Same applies to different kinds of juice. I don’t know about so called soft drinks since I never understood why people would want carbon acid in their drinks.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:58 am
I can’t remember a day in the cafeteria without potatoes. They are just everywhere, and I like it…
The situation with the chips got better. When I go to Kaufland for example, there is a pretty good variaty. Cheese, Barbecue, Hot Chili, Creme and Onions, and of course, dozends of paprika.
That thing of spices: Yes, Germans don’t eat really hot. But if you like to eat hot, be a man and help yourself. For example buy “Flying goose chili sauce”, or the infamous “Vicious Vampire”, or buy fresh Habanero Peppers from an asian store. If this doesn’t burn your butt down like hell, nothing will…
But what about the softdrinks: I got really scared some time ago when I saw, what kind of stuff is mixed with beer right now. Should this start with coke now? I hope not. More flavors in one bottle don’t make the drink better. Enjoy pure.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:03 am
What I forgot about the soft drinks: In Florida, I desperatly tried to buy some “Malzbier”. It’s the closest to the root beer, but way less sweet.
And there also seemed to be no Tonic or Bitterlemon. But if an Ami consideres pure carbonated water to be sour, you could probably kill him with there stuff.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Hi
the problem ist: you´re just looking for the big brands…. if you open your eyes - you will see “Bionade”, many local brands.
Oh - I was in a shop yesterday and saw the answer of “Coca Cola” to the success of Bionade: “The spirit of Georgia” with the following flavours:
• Blood Orange Kaktusfeige
• Lemon Wacholderbeere
• Green Mango Kiwi
Presentation at the market was very pushy…
I am sure, you know, where the next “Getränkemarkt” is and you will have “die Qual der Wahl”
Bye
Wendy
July 29th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Here in Berlin we have:
Coke Classic
Coke Zero
Coke Light
Coke Light green tea flavour
Coke Ligt lemon falvor
Fanta classic
Fanta Mandarine (tangerine)
Fanta Limette (lime)
Fanta Lemon
Fanta Zero
and so on.
Chips:
You can also buy Pringles here in Germany.
But if we only look for the flavours of CHIO Chips we have:
Chio red paprika
Chio ready salted
Chio sour cream & onion (my favourite!)
Chio hot peperoni
Chio salt & vinegar
Chio sunny paprika (light)
Perhaps you should go to a REAL-Markt or any other Supermarket where you can make your choice not like ALDI and LIDL with their own brands with limited flavours.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Oh, i forgot Cherry Coke
July 29th, 2008 at 8:51 am
But you don’t have “Hackerbrause”, so you clearly fail.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Hey,
in Frankreich gibt es neuerdings “Fanta Still” (ohne Sprudel) und schon länger Cola Blak (mit Kaffe drin - schmeckt ekelhaft, macht aber gut wach).
Gruß
Liegerad-Andreas
July 29th, 2008 at 9:21 am
You forgot… Malzbier!
July 29th, 2008 at 9:37 am
erm… we have 7up, cherry coke, vanilla coke, diet coke lemon…. what was your point again?
July 29th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I hate it that there are only a few flavours vor potato crisps. At the EM there were some with “Beer” Flavour (I’m not kidding!) - I’ve never tasted this crap.
Cherry Coke IS avaiable in Germany, but in Northrhine-Westfalia there is no Dr. Pepper. On my last trip I bought some in Amsterdam. That sucks…
July 29th, 2008 at 9:44 am
@Üther
Malzbier is less sweet than root beer? Holy Sh*t, Malzbier is pure sugar in germany o_O
July 29th, 2008 at 10:12 am
@Tapedack: You’ve never tasted rootbeer, have you? A agree that (most) Malzbier here is more sugar than Malz - but rootbeer in comparision is a block of liquid sugar with little squish of taste in it.
Here in Kiel we can have all the mentioned Softdrink-Variaties - and thanks to the Citi-Markt dozens of flavours for crisps (and other candy) to choose from (I’ll stick to the salt & vinegar though).
July 29th, 2008 at 10:20 am
If you want other brands of Cola, taste Afri-Cola or Fritz-Kola, these taste very dilicious and have the maximum of coffein, which is allowed in european countries
July 29th, 2008 at 11:19 am
“potato fettches” lol
Your verdict would have been more accurate fifteen years ago. Since then german food and snack producers have been very active copying american flavors…or what they presume to be american (corn pizza!)
July 29th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Sweeping generalizations are very seldom true. In all of Germany….never the same potato dish ….. etc. Simply not true. I´ve bought 7-up, for example since day 1 nearly 8 years ago in the dark “former east,” even. Coke of all kinds.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
>“Fanta and Coke mixed together” - gibt’s das in den USA nicht?!
last time i visited the USA [granted, that was 8 years ago], i could not find Fanta at all.
there were all kinds of softdrinks, which had a general consistence like:
1% Water
1% Varying [chemical] flavour substance
1% “secret ingredience”
97% sugar
but nothing even remotely close to my favourite drink.
as to 7-Up, i remember we had those short after the “Wende” here in east germany, but they completely disappeared from shops in the area… i haven’t seen that in like 10 years
as to cherry coke: “Vita Cola” is very popular around here
July 29th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
try club mate. you’ll need nothing else…or check out the very good flavours there are of tea! not only the artificial raspberry crap.
but with the chips you’re right!
July 29th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
@Tapedeck: Try some bigger gas stations for Dr. Pepper. The blue one - you know Ar.. - for example sells it…
July 29th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
why is no one mentioning Selterswasser (Seltzerwater)?
Or all the brands (and flavors) of Limonade?
Growing up, there was Coke and Sprite, etc. but we mostly bought Zitronen- or Orangenlimo (Lemon- or Orange-flavored sparkly lemonade).
Wish we had either one of those here in TN.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
@d:
the Australians have the world’s highest level in obesity, and the British are obesity leaders in Europe. Keep that in mind next time you shop in Tesco.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
There is coke with cherry AND vanilla flavor?
I have to try that!
July 29th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Don’t Germans refer to any spice that isn’t Pfeffer or Curry as “Paprika’?
July 29th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
No, we don’t.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Fanta in the US was regional- could be different now, though. I grew up in California, and don’t remember having it, but I think it was available in other markets like the midwest.
I didn’t mind the paprika flavored chips in Germany- what I really missed were good tortilla chips, and not Doritos! The UK has some really disgusting flavors of chips: roast beef and shrimp cocktail to name a few!
July 29th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Hm, Coke, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke with Lemon, Diet Coke with Green Tea, Mezzo Mix, Mezzo Mix with Lemon, Mezzo Mix Diet, Fanta, Fanta Lime, Fanta Lemon, Fanta Zero, Pepsi, Pepsi Twist, Diet Pepsi, SchwipSchap, Diet SchwipSchwap, Dr. Pepper, Scheppes Ginger Ale, Schweppes Russian Wild Berry, Schweppes Bitter Lemon, Schweppes Bitter Orange, Schweppes Californian Citrus Summer, Afri Cola, Bluna, Sinalco,… I’d suggest you change your store…
July 29th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Wow, one would think that it would be enough to list all the soft-drinks available here one time. One would also think that the concept of irony is well known by the readers of this blog by now…obvoiusly one would be wrong.
First of all the germans love their potatoes as much as americans love their corn, so whats the deal. In fact, americans love corn so much they actually use it to sweeten their soft-drinks. Second of, for germans 30-40 ways to get obese are enough we don’t need to have 400 delicious ways.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
haha, thanks Dent, I was about to write something like this.
My usual NFU experience is reading a new posting and, at the end, realizing it was completely ironic (and, btw, most of the time taking the piss out of American habits just as much as German ones), then, usually with the more provoking articles, reading the comments which ALWAYS start with at least 2 or 3 comments (very often many more) by people who just do not seem to get it, ever, and who would much rather like to correct the errors of others and, also, feel just a little nationally offended, if possible.
This is fun.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
ich finde es sehr lustig, wie alle hier ganz stolz ihre auswahl präsentieren…haha. deutschland wäre meiner meinung nach ein besserer platz, wenn es überall dr pepper und cheetos zu kaufen gäbe!
July 29th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Letztens im Walgreens meines Vertrauens entdeckt: Pringels mit Ofenkartoffel-Geschmack.
Hm. Wer ist hier Kartoffel-fixiert? ;-P
Und dann die Ueberraschung: enthaelt keine Kartoffeln! Oder hab ich die nur unter den ganzen Fremdwoertern mit 10+ Silben uebersehen? Alles nur billger subventionierter genetisch manipulierter Mais und gaaanz viel kuenstliche Chemikalien.
In den USA gibt es alle Geschmacksrichtungen, die man im Labor machen kann. Das muss noch nicht mal was mit natuerlichem Geschmack zu tun haben, man kann auch kuenstliche Geschmacksrichtungen erfinden — siehe Cola, Dr Pepper, Root beer, Red Bull. Als Konsument darf man bloss nix richtiges haben wollen. Das wuerde teuer. Aber der dumme Konsument schluckt ja alles, egal wie billig oder schlecht, und da Amerikaner Kapitalismus optimiert haben, kriegt der Konsument eben die billigste Scheisse, die man mit genug Chemikalien und Werbung noch verkaufen kann.
Erinnert mich fatal an den Vorstoss von Hershy’s und anderen, bei der FDA durchsetzen zu wollen, dass man etwas als Schokolade verkaufen kann, obwohl es nix aus der Kakao-Bohne enthaelt. Begruendung: die Kunden merken das eh nicht…
July 29th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
dafür gibt es hier keine anständige schokolade…
July 29th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Oh I do get the irony, believe me. But still all that [caca] in stores gets my bloodpressure high every time I think about it.
@get the facts straight: you may be right, I don’t waste my time checking for every teeny-tiny thingee (just like the White House folks). But I said - I don’t buy that crap anyway. But at least you can buy “Sunday potroast with mint sauce” flavored chips in GB.
I’m perfectly content with the (still) limited variety of flavors we have here in Germany. Sadly, this is changing fast.
Why do people prefer all this artificial, chemically altered, robbed-of-every-nutrient-and-natural-taste sh***?
@robert: Du hast völlig Recht. Hauptsache, es wurde bunt verpackt, aufwändig beworben und man muss nicht selber kochen. Die Leute hier sind aber genauso blöd wie in USA oder GB.
Editor’s note: Tsk Tsk.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Just a side note: On this week’s 60 Minutes Andy Rooney makes the exact same point.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
@d: Just a side note: On this week’s 60 Minutes Andy Rooney makes the exact same point.
More proof that Germans are born old.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
“Pringels mit Ofenkartoffel-Geschmack. … Und dann die Ueberraschung: enthaelt keine Kartoffeln!”
Kartoffelchips ohne Kartoffeln?? Wow…
Anyway, fun fact: we Germans not only invented Protestantism, the automobile and the MP3 format - but also the Fanta!!
Well, the Coca Cola factory in Essen at least, during WWII. Resources were rare, and they had to brew together SOMETHING to sell!
July 29th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Yeah, I was pretty surprised to find out that Fanta was invented by the Germans. I always assumed it was American, since I assume everything good is American.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
[…] dass es nicht nur Dr. Pepper und Root Beer sind, die in Deutschland schwer zu bekommen sind. Es fehlen meistens auch: 7-Up, Sierra Mist, Mountain Dew, Caffeine-free Coke, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, Diet Vanilla […]
July 29th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
@ John: Mercedes, BMW, Audi, VW…
July 30th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Germans strongly prefer pure food and drinks. On every package of a branded product you find slogans like:
* “keine künstlichen Aromen”
- no synthetic aroma
* “ohne konservierungsstoffe”
- without antidegradants
* “aus natürlichen zutaten”
- only natural ingredients
* “100% fruch/kartoffel”
- 100% fruit or potato
No, Germans don’t like expirements with their food. In the last time everthing got worse. Food has to be biological cultivated. It’s called “Bio”. Not industrially produced food, it has to be ecologically and politically right.
Therefore we have the Reinheitsgebot. Its more important than any other commandment
Drinking beer which has been brewed elsewise is a crime. We’ll come and get you, direct way to hell xD
July 30th, 2008 at 1:54 am
Ja nee ist klar 2 bis 3 sorten sind immer besser als 20 sorten.da braucht man eben nicht solang zum entscheiden… Nehm ich die paprika chips oder die paprika chips?
Dazu ne cola oder ne fanta?
Interessant nur wieviel deutsche verzweifelt in einem der grossen deutschen usa auswanderer foren landen und dort dr. Pepper,mountain dew und doritos quellen suchen.neulich suchte jemand nach pop tarts,wow!
Am besten sind die leute die jemanden suchen,der mit ihnen in ein amerikanisches Army Base gehen wuerde um dann den ganzen kram einzukaufen.
Naja,die sind halt verwirrt,und mann kann nur hoffen das sie wieder zum deutschen motto’weniger auswahl ist immer besser’ zurueckfinden.
Kabelfernsehen sollte auch wieder abgeschafft werden,ich will mein ard,zdf,ndr3 wiederhaben!
Gruesse aus tennessee wo es KEINE Erdnussflips gibt!
Mixxy
July 30th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Mixxy: Ich weiß gar nicht was du hast. Die Auswahl deutscher Kartoffelchips verhält sich proportional zur Vielfalt im deutschen Fernsehen. Und das lustige ist, dass man die Hälfte der deutschen Privatsender abschalten könnte, ohne dass sich am Angebot etwas ändern würde. Und ARD, ZDF und N3 brauchst du gar nicht vermissen. Die sind nach wie vor zu empfangen. Wirklich.
July 30th, 2008 at 7:58 am
@anony
age=wisdom
youth= foolishness
July 30th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
@d: Germans=taeglich am sterben
Americans=taeglich am leben
July 30th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Xion:Meine Bemerkung ueber die 3 deutschen fensehsender war rein metaphorisch gemeint,denn in Tennessee ist es mir unmoeglich deutsches tv zu empfangen oder paprika chips zu kaufen….stattdessen verbringe ich einmal woechentlich mehrere stunden vorm chips und soda regal und weiss nicht was ich kaufen soll.
Hab ich mich dann endlich fuer lime doritos mit spinach-artichoke dip entschlossen,geh ich nach hause und schmeiss mich vor die glotze mit meinen 300+ kabelprogrammen..das amerikanische leben ist schon hart,aber zum glueck gibt es TiVo!
Mixxy
July 30th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Why are are there no Paprika chips in the U.S.?? The best potato chips flavor is missing over here…
July 30th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Dude,
there is a reason for that-
and after alle those years in which youve been wondering,
running around questioning supermarkets and folks,
Im going to tell you my secret (no, not dead people) right now:
We GERMANS are simply all on diets. Each and everyone of us.
And because we try immensly not to get obesity problems here as well (health care is too expensive anyways)
we just regulated the import of soft drinks and chips.
Clever, huh?
July 30th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Oh dear, some strong sentiments seem to be at work here
I’m half-and-half and thus get the best of both worlds so to speak, but I always find myself missing the things I don’t have. When I’m in the US I miss the simple joy of browsing through the fruits section of a supermarket and discovering fruit that doesn’t look as though it’s been grown by space-aliens, and when I’m in Germany I miss browsing through thousands of chips packages for whatever tickles my fancy that day.
(I’ve never liked softdrinks or beer of any kind, so sorry if I exclude that topic)
I’m not that fond of potatoes, I’m more a pasta girl, but I find the variety of recipes astonishing in Germany. I believe some newspaper lamented, though, that the Germans had started cutting back on eating potatoes in favor of pasta and rice- the trend towards the “pommes de terre”, the “earth apples”, was started quite a while ago after all (wasn’t it some Prussian kind who decided to introduce the potato so as to provide an easy staple food for the army, one that would grow well in temperate climes?).
As for “natural flavors”… to be honest, the only brands I’ll accept them to be truly “natural” and not something modeled after nature in a laboratory (yup, if flavors are molecularly identical to those found in natural sources, they may be called natural even though they’ve been made with, I don’t know, oil?) are the “demeter” brand products I discovered in German organic supermarkets. Anything that’s got “aroma” written on it is viewed as suspicious by this person here.
To me, you get better quality food at German supermarkets (note that I’m not comparing farmer’s markets or any kind of direct producer-consumer sale), but at highly inflated prices. Even not taking the weak Dollar into consideration, it’s still very, very expensive eating in Germany, or perhaps I should say: Eating right. It’s more expensive than in the US, that’s for sure.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:44 am
@anony: du ich lebe sogar ziemlich gut. Gibs einfach auf, du wirst mich nicht bekehren.
July 31st, 2008 at 7:15 am
ich persönlich bin mit den deutschen lebensmittelvorschriften (mit die strengsten der welt) auch ganz zufrieden, muss ich sagen. in den usa bin ich schnell genervt davon, dass alles immer sonstwie aromatisiert und mit konservierungsstoffen (fettleber!) versetzt sein muss. vernünftiges essen dort zu kaufen (@ lea: die biosupermärkte da haben ja wohl noch gigantischere preise, zumindest die, die ich besucht habe), ist ne echte aufgabe, da muss man schon suchen…
July 31st, 2008 at 8:00 am
Lea, I don’t know where you shop, but AFAIK food prices in the US are 2 to 5 times as high as in Germany. Especially when you look at cheese, milk, or beer. Canned tuna may be about the same. Junk foodlike McDreck is way cheaper in the US, though.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:32 am
I detect a little value-judgement here. Are you suggesting that more varieties of Coke in some way equates with more personal freedom? I have heard many Americans who say just that.
I suspect that Germans feel the same way in an American supermarket when faced with the paltry selection of yoghurt. Or müsli.
July 31st, 2008 at 12:28 pm
i would certainly not like to have no choice at all but in the us i often feel that the gazillions of choices at the supermarket, starbucks etc. are just a big waste of time and my nerves…
July 31st, 2008 at 12:33 pm
@heidrun, I agree with that sentiment while buying a toothbrush in America, since they are all pretty much the same. I long for the simplicity of Aldi where your choice is the one they have or none, and resting assured that Aldi has done the leg work for me in finding the best possible valued toothbrush out there.
I wish restaurants would simplify their menus, too, so that they only serve what they are really good at making, so you don’t have to peruse pages of mediocracy in hopes of finding one of their 4 or 5 things they are really good at.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:13 pm
@Rob: I’m barely of legal age to drink beer and don’t really like the stuff anyway (so I don’t buy it), but when it comes down to buying my staple foods at… well, Publix in FL, Meijer in MI, D&W in MI, WALMART all over the US, which are:
- fruit
- veggies
- yogurt
- 1 gallon of milk
- rice
- more fruit, veggies, tofu and the occasional bit of meat
I’ll pay a lot less in the US. A pound of peppers e.g. costs me about 2$$ while in Germany I’ll pay three Euros for three peppers (shopping at a supermarket with a comparable selection, e.g. Real). Similarly (OK, it’s been about a year since I last lived in the US for an extended period of time and had to do my own shopping) a gallon of milk was just a little more expensive than the German prices at that time, but yogurt was a lot less expensive since I generally buy the stores’ generic brands, which were at 29cents in the US versus 39-69 cents in Germany. Nowadays, milk in Germany is a good deal more expensive (at around 70-80 cents a liter), and the best thing: People here actually APPLAUD the higher prices. Weirdest thing I ever lived through, people being happy about having to pay more for a thing…
Meat is where the price difference is the most apparent to me. I like good quality meat, so I’ll have to buy something a little more expensive than the norm, and if I don’t I’ll have to cut out the fatty or sinewy parts myself while in the US this is done for me (I’m a little icky about handling meat). In the US, I also only pay for the parts of the meat I want. In German supermarkets, I have to pay for everything.
So… maybe it’s my eating habits, but it’s really a lot less expensive for me in the US.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:17 pm
@John: I guess I’m a little more adventurous when it comes to eating out- I love browsing through menus and tasting every dish until I find my personal favorite. My very favorite restaurants are the mom-and-pop joints where you can order your own specialized breakfast. Mmm… buttermilk pancakes, eggs just the way I want it, my choice of syrup, maybe some bacon, or sausage, or steak, or… well, I’m certainly missing those in Germany.
I love choice!
(and I miss my pancakes)
(to add a really quite appropriate quote: Choice makes free.)
July 31st, 2008 at 5:18 pm
“wasn’t it some Prussian kind who decided to introduce the potato so as to provide an easy staple food for the army, one that would grow well in temperate climes”
It was Frederick II. (”the Great”) who ordered the extensive cultivation of potatoes in prussia. He even send out soldiers who pretended to protect the potatoe-crops to make them look more percious. His plan was to get the farmers to steal them and try them out. The old Fritz was a huge fan of this plant.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:32 pm
@Dent: Devious old goat! He was even greater than I had previously thought…
August 1st, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I just spotted 7-Up and its diet variant in the Plus down in Glockenbach in Munich.
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:10 am
You were funnier when you didn’t try so hard to fit the stereotype.
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:27 am
@peterchen: so were you
August 3rd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Ich lebe nun seit einem Jahr in Amerika, und ich finde das Amerika keinen vernuenftigen Eistee gibt. Davon gibt es Tonnen genauso wie wir auch 7-up haben, zumindest bis zu meinem letzten Urlaub im Dezember. Hier gibt es auch keinen Multisaft oder ACE Saft, alles nur komischen tropischen Fruechten.
August 4th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
i think you all missed chipsfrisch/funny frisch.
these are the best chips. i moved to amsterdam and that’s one thing i REALLY miss here
August 9th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Amerikaner denken immer noch das Diet Coke und der ganze ganze kalorienreduzierte Dreck ihnen beim Abnehmen hift. Leute das stimmt nicht.
Go out for a walk.
Don’t drink Diet Coke. The walk will help you better than driving by car to the supermarket to buy Diet Coke or similar products.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:25 am
@ kitty-kat
I agree - the british variety of chips / crisps (?) is disgusting most of the time.
And I sometimes miss all the flavours that you can get in other European countries, but NOT in Germany, because Germans are very conservative about flavours (rolls eyes).
In Berlin and other big cities you have more brands of Coke though - Spezi (the real one!), Club Cola, Afri, Vita Cola, Coca Cola, Pepsi, “Gesöff” from Aldi…
Pure food is a good thing. But I also like to have the choice to experiment and that has nothing to do with exercise vs. diet coke. And if I drink coke, I take the one without sugar - personal taste, period.
I love how this turned into a discussion abour right and wrong here. ;-))
August 19th, 2008 at 12:07 am
@Bea - ich wohne auch bei Amsterdam und es gibt hier Chips die schmecken ähnlich. Smith’s Chips heißen die. Paprikageschmack natürlich.
Back to the topic: Habe auch lange in den Staaten gewohnt und bin jetzt endlich wieder in Europa. HIER gibt es zumindest Orangensaft, welchen man auch so nennen darf. In den Staaten wird der mit soviel Zucker und anderen Aromen angereichert, das ist echt nicht mehr feierlich.
Das einzige was ich hier so richtig vermisse ist “Ranch”. Der Rest kann mir erspart bleiben… macht fast eh nur alles fett
August 19th, 2008 at 2:46 am
Yeah, but we can’t get a decent-tasting version of Fanta in the U.S. What’s up with that?
August 24th, 2008 at 6:16 am
@jay
“My usual NFU experience is reading a new posting and, at the end, realizing it was completely ironic (and, btw, most of the time taking the piss out of American habits just as much as German ones), then, usually with the more provoking articles, reading the comments which ALWAYS start with at least 2 or 3 comments (very often many more) by people who just do not seem to get it, ever…”
you are probably right but the concept of irony necessitates that one knows what can and can’t be meant in a given contest.
i have to restrain myself pretty hard sometimes to not fall into that mode too, it just triggers it. once upon a time i had a job that required me to deal with loads of american expats and military/DOD people …
john’s posts seem like quotes of theirs and they mean it, every word, all at face value, all the time.
August 24th, 2008 at 7:10 am
being a pedantic german i’d like to point out that it should say context not contest in the above comment - …und weiter mit music.
October 11th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
the authors observations seem to be a bit out-dated. It is certainly not always easy to find different flavors of coke etc. in the first supermarket you enter, but generally most of the mentioned soft drinks ARE available.
Being a dedicated coke with lemon lover I know what I´m talking about - as an average indication one might say that you shoud be able to find your favorite soft drink in a 15 km radius to your home. In case the local Getränkemarkt doesn´t have it don´t hesitate to ask the manager to add it to their line od goods. Most shops are willing to do so.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Beside the honest discussion about Germany´s lack of chips flavours and softdrink brands let me point to another essential food we have here. I think its even more important than potatoes and its available in much more varieties than even in US homeland Uber-groceries:
Bread
We have 300+ different kinds of bread and Germany is leading in the EU with a consumption per capita of 87 kg / year (numbers from 2005).
http://www.genf.diplo.de/Vertretung/genf/de/06/Kulturelles__Leben__in__Deutschland/Brotsorten__Deutschland__Seite.html
October 13th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Bread - and sausages!
In der allergrößten Not schmeckt die Wurst auch ohne Brot!
October 26th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I love Cherry Coke and we have it here. Actually I love all kinds of Coke and we have also Sinalco soft drinks (I don’t like) and Afri Cola / Bluna (which is tasty) and some sorts of other stuff.
What really shocked me as I went to the “Soft Drink Dream Country” USA all the soft drinks tasted worse than they do here. The reason: there is not real sugar in it. Its all high concentrated fructose corn syrup. That really turned my soda-excitement into a soda-disappointment.
My favorite chips are “Balsamico-Flavor” btw.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Aber sicher gibt es die gute coffeinfreie Cola hier, am liebsten noch die light-Variante. Ich nenne sie immer KF-Cola (KF für Kinderf*cker-Cola), denn wer die trinkt macht auch vor Kleinkindern keinen Halt.
Und Rootbeer gibt es in jedem Drogieriemarkt, es wir hier nur unter dem Label “meridol” vertrieben und wir Deutsche spülen damit nach dem Zähneputzen. Der Geschmack von Rootbeer erinnert mich einfach zu sehr an einen Zahnarztbesuch, als das ich ihn mögen würde.
Bei aller Globalisierung, ein paar Dinge solten doch jedem Land zu eigen bleiben. Österreichern ihr Almdudler, uns die Fanta, den Franzosen ihr Orangina und Euch das Rootbeer. sonst gäbe es ja fast keinen Grund mehr dorthinzu fahren ;o)
October 27th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
“Don’t forget to remind your German acquaintences that stuff is bigger and therefore better in America.”
Und wo das endet, sieht man hier:
http://www.defendingthekingdom.com/images/fat_big.jpg
Seeehr appetitlich.
November 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
You will find 7-Up in Germany. As well as, although very rare, Mountain Dew and even rarer: Jolt.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
The reason that you can´t find rootbeer or other disgusting things (Vanllia cherry Coke???) is, that it doesn´t taste.
December 7th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
yes, you do get cherry coke in germany - and it is obviously americas revenge for everything we ever did wrong!
December 28th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Americans, learn to drink tea!
That’s a proper drink.
And don’t dare to pour milk into it like the brits do, they have to do that to hide the terrible taste of their low quality tea.
biber
May 15th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
They have other and better stuff than we do!! But you can get everything we have if you know where.
Dude, and they have bread! REAL bread! They wouldn’t even call our white bread “bread”.
I LOVE GERMANY!!:)
May 17th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Just returned from Berlin, driving back to Britain. Went to several supermarkets in Berlin and along the way to UK, and notice a wide varitety of softdrinks, Coke (several types) Mountain Dew, Fanta, Nestea ( which I cannot find in my UK city), Fanta, etc. and more carrot juice than Bug Bunny could shake a stick at (which was wunderbar!). Seemed like a big enough choice for anyone to want.
What does make me wonder here on this forum is that how can anyone say a country doesn’t have enough drink choices, when one can buy Jack Daniels and Coke, already mixed and canned at all of the U-Bahn stations (in the small shops on the platforms) and at all the autobahn stops,etc. etc.
The Germans have apparently avoided becoming jaded in the palate as much as the Americans and Brit public, therefore not needing as many choices - all they need to do is make the right ones, such as the Jack in the Can combination mentioned before. These folks are smart, I am tellin’ ya!
June 18th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
We have all these drinks! You’re definitely wrong!
November 10th, 2009 at 7:18 am
You can get most of that stuff here in Germany. The problem seems to be that most of it is a tad too sweet for our German tastebuds, so it doesn’t sell, hence the companies have little incentive to put it in the stores. And it’s the other way around as well: try getting a decent sparkling water in the US (I’m not talking about Bonaqa or any of that carbonated de-mineralized and then re-mineralized tap water - I’m talking about REAL sparkling mineral water like Selters or Gerolsteiner). You can get a limited selection of German mineral waters in some Safeway stores but usually all you will find is bottled Perrier at a price that makes your thirst go away instantly. And you will have to wear a gas mask should you decide to be adventurous and consider drinking tap water in the US for all the chlorine they put into it - YUCK! Anyway, I find it amusing (and quite indicative of the eating/drinking habits) that despite all the variety of beverages you can’t get a decent bottle of water… Cheers, Stephan