Bavarian equals German? Not only in America but in other countries as well, things "German" are often equated with Oktoberfest, sauerkraut and bratwurst, beer and steins, yodeler and Lederhosen--the gamut of stereotypical Bavarianisms, virtually to the exclusion of most other assets the German-speaking lands have to offer. In the U.S., this equation has been bolstered by GIs and their "war brides" in attempts to recreate their fun time in Munich and the Alpine region.
Stereotypical German foods offered at festivals or even in "German" restaurants are usually Sauerkraut, Bratwurst,Knackwurst (or Knockwurst), Sauerbraten, Hasenpfeffer, Schnitzel, Knödel or Klösse (dumplings), German Chocolate Cake and Black Forest Torte (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte). Yet this is only a fraction of the range the German kitchen provides, not to mention the total absence of "real" bread, as German-Americans refer to the oldfashioned "non-squeezable" variety. German potato salad (Kartoffelsalat), e.g., exists in just about as many variations as there are names for the word potato.
Contrary to expectations, the heavily German-settled Midwest does not abound in German eating places, because German cooking has become so much a part of the Midwest's mainstream cuisine. Wiener Schnitzel is served as breaded veal/pork cutlet and Rouladen have become "roll 'em ups." That so much of it is southern German can be attributed, in part, to the great popularity of the cookbook classic, The Joy of Cooking by Rombauer/Becker (the ladies' background is Austrian). And, of late, there is the growing popularity of Amish cooking, much of which reveals Alemannic origins. In an Amish-Mennonite restaurant one might also find a reminder of the old German reverence for food wed to the virtue of frugality--in the land of plenty: "Take all you want, but eat all you take."
Related to this traditional attitude is the common practice of saving leftovers for a later meal. Sauerkraut, in fact, tastes even better when served the next day (as glorified by widow Bolte in Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz).
The American custom of serving icecold water with every meal is as strange to the German immigrant as is the absence of this obligatory water for American tourists in Central Europe. The Neuer Gemeinnütziger Pennsylvanischer Calender... 1909 answers the question of drinking cold water with the meal in the negative, "because it cools the stomach too much, thereby hindering digestion" (translated).
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