german cooking

yraunaj

we moved out to southern germany in April this year i had to give up my job and be a lady of leisure! so i've loads of time on my hands the food out here is more expensive but is good quality there are lots of things i've never seen before and lots of things you cannt get. i'm still trying to save money but its more difficult theres no such thing as BOGOF or whoops! just wondered if any body had any german receipes for using all these weird and wonderful new things.

Pink.

Hi

This thread may help: German Potato Soup

Or if you have a look on google there are lots of links to recipes that should help you use the ingredients.

Pink

Sarjsmith

yraunaj wrote: »

we moved out to southern germany in April this year i had to give up my job and be a lady of leisure! so i've loads of time on my hands the food out here is more expensive but is good quality there are lots of things i've never seen before and lots of things you cannt get. i'm still trying to save money but its more difficult theres no such thing as BOGOF or whoops! just wondered if any body had any german receipes for using all these weird and wonderful new things.

Hi Yrauna
We've been in Germany for almost three years now and have found it to be considerably cheaper than the UK. Items costing £1 un the uk usually cost 1 euro here. Are you using Farm shops and the Asda equivalents (ie Martkauf) or using small local shops? I've found some useful German sites for recipes which I can message over if you can interpret a little German. If not, let me know a few of the ingredients and I can translate a few recipes for you.
Cheers
:beer:

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

Im in Germany too (where abouts are you?) ..and loving it -I find it cheaper too.. Have you got an ALDI near by? as they seem to be the cheapest .... places like Martkauf I find can be expensive -but are great for things like the bulk veg.. I paid €2 for 10 kilo of cabbage, €2.49 for 10 kilo potatoes

yraunaj

We are about 10minute drive from Munich airport a place called Erding, i shop at the biggest supermarket in the town Kauflands and sometimes Aldi, i could translate a little if you could let me have those site names that would be great. also i'm struggling to find what to use to make decent gravy.

Sarjsmith

Hi I'm England at the moment but try this site

http://www.oetker.de/wga/oetker/html/default/twaa-664d7m.de.html

go to 'rezepte' on the left side and then 'kochen' this gives options for soups dips, potato dishes etc including a lot of traditional German dishes. Message me if you have trouble with a translation.

I'll get the other addresses off my desktop when I get home
Cheers

Pipkin

I used to live in Germany, and would agree with the others.. supermarkets such as Kauflands are definitely more expensive, so if you could do the main bulk of your shopping in an Aldi/Lidl it would be better for you.

It is frustrating the lack of BOGOF'S etc, but I do think it is cheaper out there, especially for staples like meat which are hugely more expensive in the UK (I say this having just returned and finding that even reduced items are more expensive now than full price things used to be!).

I never did any german style cooking, so I can't help with that, sorry.. but for making gravy, iirc the germans used to used little packets (like those little maggi soup packets you used to get?) .. and I think (but I'm not sure) they called them braunsose? or something like that? I always assumed when I looked at them that thats what they were.

They also sell thickening agents called *sosenbinder* which I think come in a sweet and savoury version (it's basically just cornflour, also called *speisenstarke*)

I was lucky because I had access to stuff like oxo and bisto when out there, but I know too that I learned to make onion gravy using the cheap stockcubes (60/70c a box in Lidls/Aldi) in the shops.. not quite the same but you get used to it.

Hang on in there, it is very hard at first, but it does get easier and after a while you don't notice what you are missing so much.

God bless!

Pip x

pollyanna24

A bit (not actually completely) off topic, but how did you find the actual move over to Germany? My bf has been on at me for years now to move to Austria as it is where his mum and sister are, but the thing that puts me off most is the language barrier (never was good at languages).

He's okay with German and would probably be able to get a job with his brother in law in a factory, but I would be a stay at home, and I'm just terrified that I would be bored nutless! We would live near his sister which would be great, but I'm still finding the idea of moving over too big to comprehend.

We would be able to sell our 3 bed house just outside London and buy outright as his family are out in the sticks quite a bit the other end of the country to Vienna.

yraunaj

hi pollyanna 24
We have moved here with my husbands job came in April for a 3yr contract so had lots of help with the move from his company, its def a better life more lay back good for families it depends what you wont you have to get used to shops not being open 24/7 so there is more leisure/family time my family are grown up so its just the 2 of us i think if you have children you would meet more people. i'm lucky that i ended up with a english women across the road who speaks fluent german which is a great help i had to give up my job and i do miss the interaction with people, we have just had a great summer which helped i think winter will be the testing time lots of snow and -20C i have to honest though the language is the biggest problem for me, we are having lessons but its really hard a lot of people do speak english but its still very frustrating sometimes when i'm out and you are surrounded by all the german language i feel really homesick.

Sarjsmith

yraunaj wrote: »

hi pollyanna 24
We have moved here with my husbands job came in April for a 3yr contract so had lots of help with the move from his company, its def a better life more lay back good for families it depends what you wont you have to get used to shops not being open 24/7 so there is more leisure/family time my family are grown up so its just the 2 of us i think if you have children you would meet more people. i'm lucky that i ended up with a english women across the road who speaks fluent german which is a great help i had to give up my job and i do miss the interaction with people, we have just had a great summer which helped i think winter will be the testing time lots of snow and -20C i have to honest though the language is the biggest problem for me, we are having lessons but its really hard a lot of people do speak english but its still very frustrating sometimes when i'm out and you are surrounded by all the german language i feel really homesick.

Awww , hang on in there..... I reckon it took the first six months to get rid of the 'have we done the right thing' feeling and we have no plans to return to the UK!! It does get easier and we made a lot of use of Skype and webcams to speak to friends and family in blighty which softened the distance a little and we encouraged everyone we knew to come and visit, so hardly had time to think for the first eighteen months. Admittedly we have two young kids which helps with contact in the community, but I think you just have to be brave and join a club (sports or walking or something where language isn't to vital) and get stuck in. With your pigeon german and their usually better English you'll find time going a lot faster. Good luck, it's an opportunity not many people get and you're in a beautiful neck of the woods.
ps. I'll send those other sites next week.:D

Sarjsmith

As promised a few more links

http://www.daskochrezept.de/

http://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/

Hope these help and here is a link to an expats site (if you've not seen it already) there are lots of entries for your neck of the woods.
http://www.toytowngermany.com/

Happy surfing:j