Can I be alone in finding german supermarkets and food generally dull and uninspiring?

[diyxyz999]

Having to cook everyday, nevermind think what we will eat and hence what I need to shop for - bores me rigid, but goodness do find german supermarkets boring and uninspiring. I have been here nearly 3 yrs and can I find a potato big enough to bake? I cannot find fish stock cubes - just some liquid in a jar for 3 euros!

Fastfood - always a variation on a sausage and fries with a spicy salt mixture on them. No chance of a baked potato.

I do like the germans and I like living here but goodness their cuisine leaves a lot to be desired.

Having just returned from a frustrating trip to the supermarket, rant over!

[drinkingtea]

Its the same as 1 tsp AndMiffy - I have found its quite a handy size, its Backpulver that I find annoying, as a sachet does 500g flor, but I'm always using 175g or some other random amount, so find myself shaking out just under half a pack and then spilling the rest at some point while its sitting in a plastic box in the cupboard... it took me a couple of years to come to terms with the lack of self raising flour :o

[drinkingtea]

Why clingfilm? That's easy to buy here, by the baking paper and freezer bags usually....

I've never seen a TeGut or several pf the other chains named as high end here ... obviously haven't made it to Ober Bayern...

[MooncupGoddess]

Very useful thread as I have just pitched up in Berlin for a few weeks and am trying to work out the food situation.

Does anyone know if it's possible to buy porridge oats in Germany? I've drawn a blank so far but perhaps I'm just being dim.

[drinkingtea]

Haferflocken Moooncup - its with the breakfast cereal in Aldi... 33 cents for a bag... :) My DS1 loves porridge, so I buy lots - you probably want the extrazart (fine) for porridge, kernig are rolled outs.

[doradoo]

I've been in Germany since 2008 and don't have a problem with shopping / cooking etc....

A few things I found helpful.....

1. try to get away from the UK idea of supermarket / weekly shop here - not the usual thing and not easy!
   
2. buy a german cooking magazine...... not only good for your language skills, but usually has seasonal recipes in and variations on ideas with ingredients you can usually get hold of fairly easily.
   
3. try your local wochenmarkt / butcher etc and try to speak to them - if you ask rather than just look at what's there you can get other things quite easily!! Also you tend to be remembered for 'being foreign' and having a go -which is a good thing IME.
   
4. Turkish / asian shops are very good for things you can't find in the usual supermarkt - I understand you can buy SR flour in the asian shops, turkish ones are good for veggies / pusles / lamb /veal etc etc
   
   It is not the UK and it won't ever be the same as the UK - you just need to learn to work around what is available.
   
   That said - baking pots are a PITA - sometimes they have them in Real - or you can get them in the 'ready meal' section of most shops.

[JonathanGirl]

Drinking tea I will share my special self raising flour tip.

Weigh out 500g plain flour into a plastic lidded tub. Add a sachet of Backpulver. Stir well/put the lid on and shake vigorously.
And hey presto, you have a tub of self-raising flour!

[drinkingtea]

JonathanGirl that is a very good idea - I always think Backpulver must lose its freshness/ active ingredient/ be less effective once the packet is opened - is that not true (I have no evidence for thinking that at all, so probably :o ) I shall try it! :o I have also heard you can buy self raising flour in Asia shops, but local to us there are Turkish shops (which sell other useful things but not SR flour) but no Asian shops as such. I have heard of people ordering SP flour, but it seems crazy as the mark up and delivery is so high, where plain white flour is only a few cents!

[mummytime]

You might be able to get Bicarbonate of Soda on Amazon - I buy it there in the UK as I tend to use it more like an American (its very good for lots of cleaning etc.) so want large quantities.

[MooncupGoddess]

Brilliant, thanks drinkingtea! I'll make an expedition later.

[AndMiffyWentToSleep]

Why cling film? I've not found any decent cling film here yet - you know, stuff that actually clings...or even just tears without resorting to scissors.

[drinkingtea]

Ah... I guess I don't have high cling film standards :o I must admit I rarely use it, but I do have some in the cupboard. I mostly use zip lock freezer/ food bags or foil... or just put an upturned bowl over the top, or a big cake cover (curtisy of shocked MIL who couldn't believe all the essential cake eating equipment I didn't own) ... I hadn't even realised there was a difference in standard!

[doradoo]

You can get large quantities of bicarb on amazon.de and also in the chemist!

here - not too expensive either

[EBearhug]

I think it might depend partly on where in Germany you are. I was quite happy with the big Reals round Dortmund, less impressed with Rewe - but was very surprised to see Tyrrell's crisps there one day. Can't see them at home, half the time.

Don't particularly remember having looked for baking spuds, though I do remember the first time I had one at the Dortmund Weihnachtsmarkt, I was quite surprised to see them put salt on it, before buttering it. I would never consider doing that (still wouldn't) - I did find some of the food very salty, but I think some of that was down to boyfriend-of-the-time's mother's 80-a-day fag habit.

Boyfriend's cooking was okay, though, particularly if he'd recently been reading Tim Mälzer's magazine. And one of his friends is seriously into cuisine - we have had some in-depth discussions about how to translate terms for certain cooking techniques (I dunno, I didn't know what the English term was half the time, even after he explained it. I am not a fine pastry chef.) Also about flour, cream (I innocently asked questions like, can you get clotted cream in Germany?) It was all very interesting, though sometimes confusing.

I did import malt vinegar for chips.

[AphraBane]

Definitely agree with the baking spud dilemma. We tend to compromise by going to a supermarket where you can choose your own spuds individually, and then going through them to find the largest ones which are close to the size of a proper baking spud.

The thing that drives me irrationally insane about traditional German cooking books is the way they always feel compelled to write a silly brief description of the food under the title: raffiniert, or schnell, or gelingt leicht. We have a Dr Oetker book that does it, bah. Does Tim Mälzer manage to dispense with such traditions?

What part of Berlin are you staying in Mooncup?

[BertieBotts]

The cling film we have is okay, except for the serrated edge being inexplicably on the edge of the lid rather than the edge of the box, so I slice my hands on it every time the cling film gets stuck, which it does often. The brand is Toppits and it's in a green box.

[MooncupGoddess]

Neukoelln, Aphra, near the old Tempelhof airport. There are lots of Turkish shops which is brilliant; my area of London is quite Turkish too so being able to buy sour cherry juice and 99 different types of feta makes me feel very much at home.

[AndMiffyWentToSleep]

Blimey this is great! I now know that I no longer need to import bicarbonate of soda or cling film!
Mooncup, what do you do with the sour cherry juice?

[MooncupGoddess]

I drink it, Miffy! It's not that sour, just pleasantly tart rather than sweet. I discovered a taste for it while travelling in Turkey a few years ago and buy it whenever I can.

[BertieBotts]

I'm guessing it's not like the German sauerkirsche then? Because that is delicious.

[MooncupGoddess]

Oh, I don't know, Bertie! I will see if I can buy some German sauerkirsche and compare the two.

[AndMiffyWentToSleep]

OK, just to balance things a bit...I just found wild garlic in my local Netto! I don't think you'd find that so easily in the UK. Now to decide whether to make soup or pesto...

[BertieBotts]

Edeka makes it :) It's very very yummy. Sort of how mulled wine should taste if it wasn't supposed to be hot and winey.

[BertieBotts]

And all of those not-edeka edeka stores, like Treff 3000 (Who the fuck named that?) and whatever others there are. We have a Scheck in with signs on the walls saying proudly that they won the best supermarket award in 1999

[EBearhug]

Oh, I do like that you can get all sorts of Baerlauch flavoured things in Germany. And Waldmeister (woodruff). And Rhabarbersaft. The nearest thing here is apple & rhubarb. Mind you, that's probably a good thing that's saved me from kidney stones, else I'd be tempted to drink it by the gallon.

I so need a trip to Germany.

[AndMiffyWentToSleep]

Ebear, what's Waldmeister (woodruff)?