Ask about German food and most people think of beer and sausage or pretzels and Limburger
cheese. However the 82 million inhabitants of modern-day Germany do not all live exclusively
on Oktoberfest fare. In fact as in most modern countries Germans have a long tradition of
taking outside influences into their cuisine and there is a wide variety of food eaten within
the various regions of the country.Beyond Bratwurst traces the many traditions that have
combined to form German food today. From their earliest beginnings food and cooking in Germany
have been marked by geographic and climatic differences between north and south as well as
continuous cultural influences from bordering countries. The book shows that the openness and
receptiveness Germans have shown towards these influences have resulted in the frequent
reinvention of their cuisine and a food culture with a remarkable flexibility. The regional
variations of today are based as much on political cultural and socioeconomic history as on
geography: the story of German food includes the back-to-the-land movement of the late
nineteenth century and the development of modern mass-market products by Justus von Liebig and
Dr Oetker as well as rationing and shortages under the Nazis post-war hunger and divisions
between East and West. Beyond Bratwurst describes who eats what how where and when in Germany
telling the stories of many German specialities such as beer stollen rye bread and lebkuchen
as well as more surprising German favourites.
