Beverages

In German (and The Netherlands), when you order a beverage, you pay at least 2 euro for a very tiny class of the drink. And unlike the US, there are no refills on drinks. So you must learn to ration it out, or be prepared to pay for several.

Some of the Germans are absolutely amazed at the notion of free, unlimited refills in a restaurant, in a large glass, and with ice! And a waiter/waitress who comes by regularly to do this! Whoa, never in Europe, every aspect of this is unheard of.

Furthermore, you cannot order a glass of tap water. You must purchase a (tiny) bottle of water for 2 euro. In Germany, if you do not specify, you will be brought sparkling water. In The Netherlands, you will be asked, "with gas?". Um, yes...I'd like my water with gas... (??)

Okay, sometimes you can get away with saying you'd like water with bubbles and make a little motion with your hands/fingers of bubbles floating to the top.

Actually, even in the homes in Germany, the standard is to be served sparkling water. The tap water is completely safe to drink, but folks just prefer sparkling. Indeed, I've become a bit preferential towards it myself.

Also, there is a new marketing strategy that Coca-cola is using--perhaps it's in the the US as well, but I've only noticed it in Germany, since I am not around sodas otherwise. Well, first, what is a "Diet Coke" in the US is a "Cola Light" in German, and the label is typically a bit lighter colored than the regular version. But this has sort of a bias towards ladies, as men don't want to appear that they are watching their weight. So the new name is "Coke Zero" and the labels are typically in all black with some streaks of silver...looks more like something a race car driver would purchase. Evidently, men aren't as embarrassed to be seen drinking this. Funny how you can coerce the male species. ;)

Also, in restaurants in Germany, there is no concept of a "wait list"--you know, if there is a crowd and no more seats, to be put on a wait list. That is a foreign notion to them. Basically, if a group comes to dinner, they are entitled to the table for the entire evening, there is no rush by the restaurant staff to push them on their way, hence there is no usefulness for a wait list for tables that will not become vacant any time soon.

Tea, Chocolate, Bread, Cheese, Salami

The Irish and British way to drink tea is with milk (no, not "creamer"). In Germany and The Netherlands, this is not customary at all, they just serve it plain.
But I confess, I now require milk in my tea in order to experience its full pleasure. Ahhh.

Meanwhile, the Germans sure do love their chocolate! Whenever I've gone into someone's home, I am immediately served chocolate. Not that I'm complaining--they do have some great chocolates! I'm now in Aachen, where there is a Lindt factory...mmm.

Aachen is also known for its local specialty "printen"--similar to gingerbread, but different...containing spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, aniseed, clove, coriander, ginger, and sweetened with honey.

Germans also have really good breads--hard and hearty breads, none of the soft airy stuff found elsewhere. In fact, my German colleagues were laughing about how in the States, you can take an entire loaf of bread between your hands and compress it together to be half the size! There is definitely no doing this with German breads. :)

Also, the Germans love their cheese. The standard breakfast is bread with cheese and salami. The same could be served for lunch or dinner, with no hesitation, day after day...give them bread and cheese (and some beer) and they are happy...

Christmas Pudding, Mince Pies, and Mulled Wine

There is a very serious tradition of eating Christmas pudding and mince pies during the month of December, and drinking mulled wine. I have been to 6 Christmas parties (yes, we all know the Irish love a reason to celebrate...) and the standard dessert is mince pie.

So what are these edible traditions?

Christmas pudding may also be referred to as "plum pudding" and comes from the British traditions. When Americans hear "pudding," we think of a custard-like substance--creamy and dairy-based. However, pudding here contains no dairy whatsoever, and is more like a cake/bready thing. It is a mixture of raisins, currants, sultanas, and other dried fruits, with some flour/bread that is steamed for 3+ hours, so that it thickens and all congeals together. It is eaten warm with a brandy cream sauce (which is incredibly tasty...).

Now then, mince pies... I kept hearing reference to mince pies and seeing it on invitations, but I was confused...for isn't mince like ground meat?? So I had images of shepherd's pie or something being served for dessert and did not find it appealing at all. However, in this context, the mincemeat filling (yes, it is even called that in recipes) consists of no meat at all, but rather minced ingredients: raisins, currants, sultanas, apples, orange rind, with cinnamon and spices placed inside individual shortbread pastry crusts, with crust on the top as well. These are actually quite nice on a cold winter evening (which begins at 4pm now...) with coffee or tea.

I was at an outdoor market and a man was selling homemade mince pies. I asked him what I was eating (before I knew the ingredients), and he replied "Tradition." Yes, this is a deeply accurate statement.

Mulled wine is red wine combined with spices and served warm, a nice complement to the mince pies at evening Christmas parties. Lots'o'cheer at this time of year!

Pumpkins

Evidently, pumpkins only recently arrived in Ireland. Just a few years ago, they were carving jack-o-lanterns out of turnips! Yes, turnips. And forget looking for canned pumpkin in the stores--it is a staple in my pantry in the US, as I love pumpkin bread--people look at me like I'm crazy when I ask where the canned pumpkin is.
Meanwhile, this season just isn't Fall without pumpkin bread baking in the oven...so I bought a real pumpkin and made some bread from it (just to see if I could...and to save my canned pumpkin that a friend mailed me from TX for times of the year when the whole pumpkins are no longer in the stores.) It turned out okay, but a somewhat different taste and texture. I prefer the canned version, not to mention it is much easier!

Black and White Pudding

The Irish will tell you they have two kinds of pudding: black/white pudding or Christmas pudding. Neither of which is dairy based, certainly not custard-like.

Black pudding is basically congealed blood, together with some barley or oats as a filler. White pudding is similar, except without the blood--it's just sausage-like meat and fat together with the filler. These are standard in the traditional Irish breakfast.

Have I tried some? Well...on accident. I ordered a full Irish breakfast (unaware of all that was included on the menu) and after eating some of the hushpuppie-looking things (fried ball of some sort) and not being able to tell what the inside was, I asked a person at a nearby table and discovered what I was eating. Wow. Glad that's done with, I can say I've had it, and will never have to do so again. (It actually had a lot of flavor, somewhat tasty, but the thought of the ingredients utterly takes away all appeal and enjoyment.)

Is it a Cake or a Cookie?

During our afternoon tea/coffee break, I learned of a very interesting case in the European Court of Justice a few years back. Evidently there is Value Added Tax (VAT) on luxury items, but not on basic foodstuffs. In Ireland and Britain, biscuits cakes are deemed necessities and are thus exempt from the tax, but chocolate-covered biscuits are considered a luxury and subject to a VAT at 17.5%. (But for some reason it doesn't apply to chocolate-covered cakes.) So there have been several court cases disputing whether a chocolate-covered food is a cake or a biscuit. For example, McVities and HM Customs & Excise argued over the Jaffa Cake (a soft cake/cookie filled with jam and covered with chocolate), as did Marks & Spencer over their chocolate-covered teacake that had been deemed a confectionery.

So what settled the dispute? A soft/hard line of reasoning: it's a cake if when it goes stale it gets hard, and it's a cookie if when it goes stale it gets soft.

Thus McVities and M&S won their case in the Tribunal.

Tea? Coffe?

I've definitely gotten into drinking more tea and coffee here. It's just what you do, morning, afternoon, evening, a very social thing.
Now then, whenever I've made a new friend and they arrange a place for us to meet (since I don't yet know the good spots), it's often been Starbucks. Eh? I guess they think they I'd be comforted by familiarity?
Anyhow, yesterday I'd had already enough caffeine to last me a week, so when I was to meet a friend at Starbucks that evening, I decided I'd get some herbal tea. I knew I was running with another friend at 6:30am this morning, so I didn't want to be kept awake. In US custom, the Starbucks person would ring up the bill, then ask precisely which tea I'd like, point me to the containers, I'd choose and it would be placed in the cup of hot water. Simple enough, and I naively expected the same to be done here. But before I knew it, I was given black tea, teabag already dropped in. Where'd my choice go? We Americans like choice. Oh well, it seems it is assumed when one asks for tea, one wants black tea!

Meanwhile, previously, when my mother was visiting, she had ordered water with our lunch at some cafe and was brought a cup of boiling hot water, like for tea. Fun times...

Oh, I am loving the digestive biscuits--the cookies served with tea/coffee. McVities chocolate covered are my favorite...