It’s a bank holiday weekend, the unofficial “start to summer” and we’re in a global pandemic, so Munich trips are off for the time being! Didn’t stop me from wanting to be in the biergarten and craving Bavarian Food. Alas, Brezn (pretzels) are harder to come by (make your own!) and so is Obatza, the cheese spread that you find almost everywhere there. Traditional accompaniments are radishes, chives, gherkins, sometimes cherry tomatoes or even some charcuterie. Ein gutn!
Let’s talk about these Raisin Danishes for a few minutes, shall we? I know, we’re moved on from the “food from our childhood” topic, but I had to slay this dragon, as it were, so here we go.
These are Rosienenschnecken. Pain au Raisin in French. Raisin Danish or Swirls. It’s not a Cinnamon Bun, mainly because there isn’t much cinnamon in it. In Germany, there are lots of these Schnecken (fun fact: Schnecke also means “snail” — so this is like the swirl of the snail house). There Zimtschnecken, Nussschnecken, Mohnschnecken (cinnamon, nuts and poppy seeds respectively); they can also be called Schneckennudeln, which literally translates to snail-noodle, which is kind of funny. My Oma’s nickname for me was “Kleine Schneckennudel” or “Schneckle” or “Nudel”. Yep, my grandmother called me snail as a term of endearment. I don’t know if that or Noodle was cuter. Just like Gurken and Spätzle, these things were — and still are — one of my favorite foods.
I don’t actually know that I have ever had potato salad in Scandinavia before. I don’t think that I have, so I can’t really tell you if this is authentic or not, but the combination of sour cream, light vinegar and dill made me think of Scandinavia, so I went with the theme. It’s definitely not like my other potato salads, which lean toward the Southern German or French styles. Nevertheless, this was very yummy and light, not heavy on the mayo or greasy. And yes, even in a pandemic, you can splurge and have smoked salmon for lunch. On a Wednesday. Just because.
Käsespätzle to me are like a nice, warm security blanket. Sort of like Mac & Cheese to American kids, this is something that German kids grow up with. There are dozens or hundreds of recipes, each person probably has their own variation. It’s often on the “kids menu” in restaurants, and does double duty as the vegetarian dish. This is my version, with caramelized onions and Ementhaller cheese (you could also use Gruyer) — and of course, freshly made Spätzle.