h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi TC

Have just read your article and it's great. I lived in Germany for six months about 20 years ago and still have delicious memories of the bakeries. Also my brother is married to a German woman and is currently living in Germany so I have an excuse (if one is needed) to go visit.

The variety of bread available in Australia is really wide - thanks I think to migrants from Germany, Italy and elsewhere. We only ever buy the freshly baked stuff - unsliced of course!

Are you still in Germany?

B

Hi TC

Schwarzbrot & Brezen...hmmmm nearly as good as your entry.

My mother knows that to get a good supply in befor I turn up.

If there is one foodstuff I really miss in England German bread is it. TESCO's sometime sell the pre-packed stuff - but my nearest one is 15m away. And pre-packed is not the same anyway.

People, who come to visit me are all under strikt instructions to bring a couple of loaves.

Quite a few English peole I know, however, are not keen at all. So it's really good to see you giving it such praise.

Well I've just got used to it really. I love a slice of fresh bread and butter when I get back to England.

thank you all for your comments.

I am still in Germany (see my home page) and for any further infos on Germany, or to see who else is around, don't fail to visit the GMC - http://www.h2g2.com/A478055

Is there a similar thing for the Aussies?

Speaking as a german myself, German bread is the best thing in the world! i could live of the stuff!! At least it fills you up, not like english toast...(ok, so i'm biast..so what?)

Just read your entry on German bread - and am feeling very hungry and wishing I could visit my friend in Munchen soon!
I'm always amazed at the variety of bread and rolls sold by even the smallest of bakeries in Germany - it puts us to shame in the UK. I know we do have some good stuff here but it's not as freely available as in Germany.
Incidentally, the one thing Waltraud asks me to take her when I visit is English crumpets - she loves them and can't get anything similar in Munchen.
Thanks for a good article.

I (English) have lived 30+ years in Germany and certainly do appreciate the bread - although I must admit to occasionally having a hankering after a good British sandwich!!!! (Like other people who sometimes just absolutely need a MacDonalds!)

However, in recent years things have changed a bit: The bread everybody thinks is hand-made is now more often than not an industrially produced ready-mix to which the baker just adds water and yeast - and often the colour of the bread owes more to some kind of syrup than to anything else.....

Oh yes - I didn't say that the bread was always baked on the spot. In fact, I don't think I've ever been to a proper bakery here.

What you do get nowadays is small shops - as well as supermarkets - where they have the rolls delivered just proved but not baked, and you can buy freshly baked rolls every two hours - these are just the white rolls or French sticks though. It certainly adds to the enticing smell.

Crumpets can be made yourself, but it's not easy and you really need an open girdle which is difficult to reconstruct in Germany.

Have just come about your entry and think it's great. Concerning the bread I really am happy to live in Germany. I'm working in a health food shop and we still sell "real" bred, baked of cereals that have grown biodynamically ( does this word exist in English?)and grinded in special mills etc. So if you are looking for such bread in Germany, you have to go to a "Reformhaus". Many Germans come in and buy some bread before going abroad to a holiday..

When my children were small in the 80s it was the fashion to buy your own grain and grind it to flour and bake bread yourself. Particularly using Sauerteig.

But it is not always successful.

These days (since I wrote the entry) the fashion has come round to Bärlauch. We have been eating Bärlauch bread for the last couple of weeks - it's everyone's favourite.

The Latin is allium ursinum
The English word is: bear's garlic (not sure about that!) or wild garlic, according to one website I found.

When my children were small in the 80s it was the fashion to buy your own grain and grind it to flour and bake bread yourself. Particularly using Sauerteig.

But it is not always successful.

These days (since I wrote the entry) the fashion has come round to Bärlauch. We have been eating Bärlauch bread for the last couple of weeks - it's everyone's favourite.

The Latin is allium ursinum
The English word is: bear's garlic (not sure about that!) or wild garlic, according to one website I found.

I've never heard about Bärlauchbread- we use to eat it on bread, not in it. There are still people who grind their own corn and bake their own bread ( I do sometimes) but most people take yeast, it's simpler and less and makes less work than with Sauerteig. The favoured corn is Dinkel (spelt) - at least where I live. To get the sour taste you can add vinegar or take buttermilk instead of water. It is quite simple and doesn't take long, and success is almost guaranteed as long as your yeast is really fresh.