Thursday, September 20, 2012

Frankfurt Food

When people say that Germany is the land of swine, they are not kidding you. Pork, beer and potatoes seem to be all I was seeing during our week in Frankfurt and Munich. For hubby, all he was seeing was schweinshaxe (pork knuckle) and he ate that pretty much every day.

So when in Germany, do as the Germans do. We tried to eat their diet and had pork knuckle, pork belly, pork-filled sausages, giant pork schnitzels, sauerkraut, potatoes and beer during our time there only to escape Germany thinking - "no more pork for at least a month!". Not that it was bad... all their pork and potato dishes were absolutely mouth-wateringly deliciousness!!! Only complaint would probably be their potato knodel (which is a really dense potato dumpling ... which really, is bordering an inedible tasteless starchy hard gloop). Ooo... and the lack of fresh veges... it took us a while to become vege deficient in order to cotton on to the need to order a salad with every meal. Nonetheless, it was a tasty country indeed.

Snacks much needed after working a whole day then flying a whole day (sleep deprived muchly).We snacked (like Germans) on sausages in buns from Hans Wurzt (around the corner from Romerberg). As you can imagine, our sleep-deprived state (much like a hung-over state) welcomed these tasty fatty carby things a lot! It gave us the energy to plow on with the day.
Original Rindswurzt
Original Thuringer
 After exploring a lot of the city, and hence, again in our exhausted state, we were able to find ourselves a place which served "original Frankfurt food". In our defense, when we first entered Steinernes Haus, there were not a lot of patrons. It was only after we finished our meal and observed our environment did we realise that 95% of the patrons were Asian... tourist trapped :( Nonetheless, the meals were yummy enough and matched my expectations of "Frankfurt cuisine". Hubby ordered the Romer Pilsener Special - which apparently is the "Frankfurt" beer-to-drink. His pork schnitzel was covered with cream and delicious mushies... loads of golden deep fried chips, and a side salad. And my 'green sauce' was actually very yummy - herby, vinegary, creamy, mayo-y and extremely extremely filling when matched with hard boiled eggs and potatoes. How do the locals finish such a dish!?!?!


Pork Schnitzel "Vienna Style" with fried potatoes (ie. chips) and salad
4/2 Eggs with Frankfurt Green Sauce and Potatoes
 The next day was a bit more successful in our hunt for where locals seem to eat (or at least a little more so). At Leib & Seele, we got our first tastings of German Pork Knuckle... and it absolutely puts any pork knuckle served in "bavarian restaurants" in Sydney to shame. It was super succulent fall-off-the-bone kind of meat, flavoursome and coupled with crunchy crackling! I, having forgotten what hubby ordered the previous night, absent-mindedly ordered a pork schnitzel with mushrooms sauce... tasty enough though!


Pork knuckle with sauerkraut and roast potatoes

pork schnitzel with mushrooms sauce and chips

Food in Frankfurt had been all rosy and to my liking until we encountered the knodeln at Das Wirtshaus. After seeing the knodeln once, it was like a bad friend we couldn't get rid of (and we ended up seeing it everywhere! in Vienna, Prague, Munich, the whole lot!). The knodeln is like a really really really dense glump of potato and flour. Virtually tasteless but extremely heavy stuff. The sauce which came with this knodeln, however, was absolutely heavenly! The best mushroom sauce we had in Frankfurt. Different types of mushies were used, making it super aromatically delicious! I eyed someone in the markets having a "spam" looking thing in a bread (and I love spam :P). Hence, I took the opportunity to order their pork meat loaf which came with a gorgeous fried egg and some tasty pan-tossed potatoes. YUM!

Semmelknodeln

Pork meat loaf with fried egg and pan-fried potatoes

We couldn't resist a waltz down Fressgass, a street with plentiful cafes and delis. Loads of cheese, hams, and traditional salads lined the street. We chose the busiest cafe at the time, which happened to be Center Park Corner for our breakfasts. We had wonderfully delicious coffee and loads of yummy cheeses, hams and bread. Mmmm :) [hint: don't come here on a Sunday... it's like ghost town]

Cappuccino

Rucola, Parmesan, buffalo mozzarella, tomato, prosciutto and bread

Ham and cheese with tomato, marmalade, jam and bread
pork crackling just lying there!
sausages and other tasty morsels
What more, we couldn't resist the markets. There was Kleinmarkthalle, which was fabulous! AND it just so happened that on the weekend we were there, there was the Museum Festival - which meant that on both sides up and down the main river, there were loads and loads of stalls - arts and crafts, product stalls, and of course, LOADS of food!!! We visited the market daily, just oogling at the delicious sausages, pork knuckles, chips and other tasty snacks (which were largely either pork or potato).




 
And as a sweet finish to Frankfurt... my favourite! Haagen Dazs! "Around the World" series with Salted Caramel, Strawberries & Cream, Macadamia nut brittle, and Dulce de Leche. YUM!

"Around the World" Haagen Dazs series
 Hans Wurzt : http://www.hanswurzt.com/

Steinernes Haus : www.steinernes-haus.de 
Braubachstraße 35 60311 Frankfurt, Germany
Tel: 069 2834-91  

Leib & Seele : www.leibundseele-frankfurt.de  
Kornmarkt 11 60311 Frankfurt, Germany  
Tel: 069 2815-29    

Das Wirtshaus : www.wirtshaus-frankfurt.de  
Große Bockenheimer Straße 29 60313 Frankfurt, Germany  
Tel: 069 284399    

Center Park Corner :  
Große Bockenheimer Straße 52, Frankfurt  
Tel: 069 29802679

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