It seems those kooky Germans have made their way back into the
news spotlight
– this time concerning a decidedly distasteful and highly
publicized murder trial.
A man is being prosecuted for killing and eating a man who, he
says, asked to be slaughtered and devoured after they met on an
Internet chat site devoted to cannibalism.
It seems those kooky Germans have made their way back into the news spotlight – this time concerning a decidedly distasteful and highly publicized murder trial.
A man is being prosecuted for killing and eating a man who, he says, asked to be slaughtered and devoured after they met on an Internet chat site devoted to cannibalism.
The details of the case are being eaten up by the public and press, who can’t seem to get enough of the “Hannibal of Hesse,” as he’s been dubbed.
I have to admit that, disgusting and macabre as it may be, I am fascinated by atrocities of such an unusual nature, and I’m obviously not the only one.
Being that this unusual duo are from Germany, it got me thinking about my visit to good ole’ Deutschland several years ago, and some of the traditional eats I tried while I was there.
For the record, Germany on a whole is quite nice and very beautiful in places. But it was unfortunate enough to be the home of demented despot Adolph Hitler and his crew of crazies, which have negatively stigmatized it to Westerners for years.
This new batch of nut-cases doesn’t bode well for the country’s image, either.
After spending some time in the country and meeting some locals, as in my other travels to countries abroad, I went looking for a traditional meal I wouldn’t eat back home.
My two travel companions and I stayed for several days at a couple’s home in Hamburg, in the northern part of the country near the Denmark border.
The lady of the house offered to cook for us our last night there.
When you’re traveling with all your belongings on your back and far from Mom’s cooking (even if it usually consisted of something of a palatably unpleasant nature), home-cooked meals are always welcome and highly enjoyable.
As I sat down at the sturdy wooden table in the couple’s kitchen, I fantasized about a large bowl of German potato salad, a piece of German sausage, a hunk of German chocolate cake and a frosty Beck’s to wash it all down with.
Nothing too heavy, of course – I didn’t want to compromise my girlish figure.
What I got wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.
Every entree consisted of meat, meat, some more meat… and meat. I think our hostess made for us what she thought we would expect as a traditional German meal, and simply went overboard with the meat theme.
Being a Californian hasn’t quelled my desire for a juicy hamburger or a thick steak every now and then, but I try to limit my intake of artery-clogging proteins to at least one carnally motivated dish per meal.
But I resigned myself to the fact that I probably would never be dining under such circumstances again, so I tried a little of everything.
The bratwurst was pretty good and so was the Black Forest ham. The pate I hesitantly spread on a cracker wasn’t too bad until I made the mistake of asking what it was called.
Call me crazy, but blood sausage paste just doesn’t whet my appetite for seconds.
After our meat-fest in Hamburg, I decided my next meal would consist of nothing that had ever oinked, mooed, clucked or made any other animal sounds.
As we traveled south into the scenic town of Freiburg, which boasts of being the “gateway to the Black Forest,” I stuck with an assortment of breads, pastries, some tasty potato dishes and made sure I found a piece of German chocolate cake that I’d been fantasizing about.
When we finally left Germany, I had eaten a fair sampling of what the country had to offer, along with a trip or two to Pizza Hut when I needed a taste of home.
While I enjoyed just about everything I tried, save the blood sausage paste, I guess I missed out on the most authentic German food around.
Of course, that’s only if you take the word of German food critic Armin Meiwes, who is also known as the Hannibal of Hesse.
