North Rhine-Westphalia

Aachener Printen are a type of Lebkuchen originating from the city of Aachen in Germany. Somewhat similar to gingerbread, they were originally sweetened with honey, but are now generally sweetened with a syrup made from sugar beets. The term is a protected geographical indication, meaning that all manufacturers must be located in or near Aachen. Aachener Printen were at least partially created due to the numerous pilgrims who wanted to visit the Aachen Cathedral. The Printen were probably inspired by Couque de Dinant, a pastry from Dinant that was usually baked in the form of figurative representations or artistic braids. Gebildbrot came to Aachen in the 15th century with immigrant blacksmiths and quickly found popularity among the city's bakers. They made a soft dough sweetened with honey, which they pressed into elaborately carved baking molds depicting saints and other figures. The Aachener Printen became what they are now in 1806, when the French emperor Napoleon blocked the British trade routes and with them Aachen's supply of cane sugar and honey, the most important ingredients for the pastry. The bakers replaced the sweeteners with sugar and syrup from local beets. An original baker named Henry Lambertz then came up with the idea of rolling out the dough over raised molds. The robust cookies can be efficiently produced in large quantities and are ideal as travel provisions, which is why their reputation has spread far beyond Aachen. The Lambertz-Gruppe, founded in 1688, is Aachen's oldest and largest manufacturer of Printen.

Pastry cream or vanilla custard/pudding mixed with whipped cream and topped with chocolate shavings, may include rum, almond extract, nuts, berries

Sweet puff pastry danish with custard, commonly includes fruit

Spaghettieis , or spaghetti ice cream, is a German ice cream dish made to resemble a plate of spaghetti. In the dish, vanilla ice cream is extruded through a modified Spätzle press or potato ricer, giving it the appearance of spaghetti. It is then placed over whipped cream and topped with strawberry sauce (to simulate tomato sauce) and either coconut flakes, grated almonds, or white chocolate shavings to represent the parmesan cheese. Besides the usual dish with strawberry sauce, one may also find variations like ice cream with dark chocolate and nuts, simulating spaghetti carbonara instead of spaghetti bolognese. A few American variations on the recipe also exist that utilize small pieces of brownies to make the spaghettieis resemble spaghetti and meatballs. Spaghettieis was created by second-generation ice cream shop owner Dario Fontanella [de] in the late 1960s in Mannheim, Germany. Fontanella was inspired by a mont blanc he tried as a teenager while skiing in Cortina d'Ampezzo. After being informed that the dessert was made using a spätzle press, he wanted to try creating a similar dish using the gelato from his father's shop. Fontanella's first attempt at spaghettieis did not impress his father; he used strawberry, lemon and pistachio gelato to create a colorful depiction of the Italian flag. After switching to vanilla gelato and topping it with a strawberry purée, he grated a white chocolate Easter egg over top to resemble parmesan cheese. Fontanella recalls that initially, children who were served spaghettieis broke into tears because they wanted ice cream and not a plate of spaghetti. He received the "Bloomaulorden", a medal bestowed by the city of Mannheim, in 2014. For many years, the dish was not well known outside Germany, and could only be found at some gelaterias and specialty ice cream parlors, special events, and hotels and restaurants around the world. Since approximately 2014, Spaghettieis has begun to appear as a novelty in more restaurants and has had some attention on social media.

Welf pudding or Guelph pudding , sometimes known as Hock Pudding, is a two-layered pudding from Germany. The white bottom layer is made from a cooked milk and vanilla sauce on a base of very stiffly whipped egg white. After being chilled it is then covered with a yellow layer of wine sauce made of beaten egg yolk, white wine and a little lemon juice. Welf pudding gets its name from the colours of the House of Welf (also known as the House of Guelph), a German aristocratic family that ruled the Principality of Lüneburg in medieval times. The pudding is a culinary specialty from Lower Saxony in north Germany. It was created by a Hanoverian chef and served for the first time at the 200th anniversary of the rule of the House of Welf. It is said that it became the favourite dessert of Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover.

Altbier is a style of beer brewed in the Rhineland, especially around the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. It is a copper coloured beer whose name comes from it being top-fermented, an older method than the bottom fermentation of lagers. Altbier is usually a dark, copper colour. It is fermented at a moderate temperature using a top-fermenting yeast—which gives its flavour some fruitiness. Because Altbier is then matured at a cooler temperature, its flavour is more akin to lager beer styles than is the norm for top-fermented beers (such as British pale ale).

Beer brewed in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, many different types

Herbal liqueur

Killepitsch is a herbal liqueur from Düsseldorf, Germany. It is a blood red colour and is flavoured with fruits, berries, herbs and spices. Its alcohol content is 42% by volume. Killepitsch has been produced by Busch family of Düsseldorf since 1858.

Kölsch is a style of beer originating in Cologne (Köln), Germany. In appearance, it is bright and clear with a straw-yellow hue. Kölsch is a top-fermenting beer. Since 1997, the term "Kölsch" has had a protected geographical indication (PGI) within the European Union, indicating a beer that is made within 50 km (31 mi) of the city of Cologne and brewed according to the Kölsch Konvention as defined by the members of the Cologne Brewery Association (Kölner Brauerei-Verband). Kölsch is one of the most strictly defined beer styles in Germany: according to the Konvention, it is a pale, highly attenuated, hoppy, bright (i.e. filtered and not cloudy) top-fermenting beer, and must be brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot. It has an original gravity between 11 and 14 degrees Plato (specific gravity of 1.044 to 1.056).

Krombacher Brauerei is one of the largest privately owned breweries in Germany and ranks number 2 among Germany's best selling beers. The brewery was founded on 4 February 1803 by Johannes Haas. His father Johann Eberhard Haas was running a tavern in Krombach. According to a regulation of 25 July 1618 the sale of beer was permitted only to restaurants having their own brewery and malt kiln. Therefore, Johannes Haas established the brewery within the family business. The water for the brewery (Hasbrauerei) was first brought in barrels from a spring at the foot of Grumberg in the west of the village by ox cart to the brewery. In 1854, the brewery owner Haas had to pay annually 17 guilders (Florin) to the church, because the water pipeline was constructed on church property in the village.

Kuemmerling is the brandname of a type of Kräuterlikör from Germany, belonging to the group of Halbbitter (semi bitters). This 35% by volume alcohol is a type of bitters. It has been in production since 1963 in Bodenheim, near Mainz, using a recipe from 1938. About one million 20 ml bottles are filled every day at the production facility.[citation needed] Kuemmerling was Germany's fourth-largest spirits brand and the second-largest brand in the bitters category in 2000. The family-owned company sold nearly 680,000 cases per year in 2000 and was bought out by Allied Domecq PLC in 2001; the company was acquired by Fortune Brands in the Pernod Ricard - Fortune Brands joint acquisition of Allied Domecq in 2005. Fortune Brands, then sold it to the German company Henkell & Co. (daughter-company of Dr. Oetker) in 2010.

Plum liqueur

Steinhäger is a type of German gin, a spirit flavoured with juniper berries. The name is derived from the Westphalian municipality of Steinhagen, the only place where it is permitted to be produced. For centuries, local distilleries sold schnaps made up of grain and fermented must of the numerous juniper shrubs growing on the slopes of the Teutoburg Forest. By edict of 1688, the "Great Elector" Frederick William of Brandenburg, in his capacity as Count of Ravensberg, granted the inhabitants of Steinhagen the exclusive privilege to distil liquor. During the 19th century, about 20 companies were founded in the village; today, only two manufacturers still produce gin. Steinhäger is typically sold in long brown earthenware (Steingut) bottles and in glass bottles made to look like earthenware. Since 1989, the Steinhäger geographical indication is protected by a European Economic Community directive. The alcohol content is usually 38% ABV but sometimes higher. The European Union has set a minimum of 37.5% ABV for it.

Brauerei C & A Veltins is a brewery in the west German city of Meschede-Grevenstein. In 2015, Veltins ranked fourth among Germany's best selling beers. The small guesthouse brewery of Franz Kramer opened its simple wooden gates in 1824. Clemens Veltins took over the brewery in 1852. The new name, Brauerei C & A Veltins, came from the twins Carl and Anton Veltins who took over the company from their father in 1893. Veltins brewery produces the well known Veltins Pilsener beer. Susanne Veltins has directed the company since 1994.

Warsteiner beer is brewed in the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park outside of Warstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Warsteiner has been owned by the Cramer family since 1753. Warsteiner is Germany's largest privately owned brewery; its best selling beer is Warsteiner Premium Verum. Warsteiner ranks fifth among Germany's best selling breweries.

Buttermilk soup with dumplings, potatoes, bacon, green beans, vegetables, chervil

Duck soup

Fesenjān is a sweet and sour Iranian stew (a khoresh). The roots of this Persian delicacy trace back to the Sassanid dynasty's golden age. It is typically served over rice in the Iranian manner. In Iran, it is made with minced meat (lamb, sheep or beef), meatballs, chicken or duck. Like other khoresh stews served over rice, fesenjan is common also to Iraqi cuisine. As a festive dish for special occasions, it has become part of Jewish Rosh Hashannah celebrations, even though the typology of Jewish ethnic cuisines is imprecise. In Azerbaijan, where it called fisincan plov, the stew is made with lamb meatballs instead of poultry. Fesenjān is flavored with pomegranate paste and ground walnuts (see bazha) and spices like turmeric, cinnamon, orange peel, cardamom, and rosebud. It is traditionally made with eggplant and poultry (duck or chicken). Fesenjān can also be made using balls of ground meat or chunks of lamb. Depending on the recipe, it can have a sweet or sour taste. Fesenjān is served with Iranian white or yellow rice (polo or chelo). If the pomegranate sauce comes out too sour, sugar and fried onions may be added to sweeten it. Sometimes, a hot iron is applied to cause oxidation and darken the sauce's color.

Creamy garlic soup

Mussels cooked in wine and vegetables, serve with bread and butter

Pfefferpotthast is a traditional German stew. It comes from the cuisine of Westphalia. In a traditional Pfefferpotthast, beef seared in lard and sautéed onions are simmered with spices such as bay leaves and cloves until they fall apart. It is seasoned with pepper and sometimes capers and lemon juice. Pfefferpotthast is thickened with pumpernickel bread crumbs instead of flour to make a stew. In the summer, it is served with boiled potatoes and salad. In the winter, it is served with pickled cucumbers and beetroot. The dish was first mentioned in a story on Agnes von der Vierbecke written in 1378 in Dortmund. The name is a combination of the German words for "pepper," "pot," and "boiled meat." The significance of the word "pfeffer" is not clear. It could be an indication that it is seasoned with pepper, but it is more likely that it indicates any heavily seasoned broth or dish.

Beef marinated in wine, vinegar, and spices with vegetables

Rumford's Soup was an early effort in scientific nutrition. It was invented by Benjamin Thompson, Reichsgraf von Rumford, circa 1800 and consumed in Munich and greater Bavaria, where he was employed as an advisor to Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria. It was used as a ration for the poor, for Bavarian workhouses and military workhouses, and prisoners. Count Rumford has been credited in many instances for "establishing the first real soup kitchen." As a reformatory measure, the Bavarian government intended to institute workhouses for those on welfare. Rumford's charge was to provide the cheapest possible ration that was still a high-calorie, nutritious food. The soup came to be well known among philanthropic-minded people throughout Germany at the time, and Rumford set up his soup kitchens in many German cities. Rumford's soup was a common base for inexpensive military rations in Central Europe for much of the nineteenth and twentieth century.

Veal schnitzel topped with anchovies, fried egg and capers

Pork stewed with vegetables, wine, vinegar, pepper, herbs, spices, some classic recipes include pig's blood

The Düsseldorf mustard roast is a specialty from Düsseldorf, consisting of a rump steak with a special mustard crust. This dish is one of the reasons for Düsseldorf's reputation as mustard city.

Large savory pancakes made with bacon and, for example, leeks, chives, apples

Aachener Printen are a type of Lebkuchen originating from the city of Aachen in Germany. Somewhat similar to gingerbread, they were originally sweetened with honey, but are now generally sweetened with a syrup made from sugar beets. The term is a protected geographical indication, meaning that all manufacturers must be located in or near Aachen. Aachener Printen were at least partially created due to the numerous pilgrims who wanted to visit the Aachen Cathedral. The Printen were probably inspired by Couque de Dinant, a pastry from Dinant that was usually baked in the form of figurative representations or artistic braids. Gebildbrot came to Aachen in the 15th century with immigrant blacksmiths and quickly found popularity among the city's bakers. They made a soft dough sweetened with honey, which they pressed into elaborately carved baking molds depicting saints and other figures. The Aachener Printen became what they are now in 1806, when the French emperor Napoleon blocked the British trade routes and with them Aachen's supply of cane sugar and honey, the most important ingredients for the pastry. The bakers replaced the sweeteners with sugar and syrup from local beets. An original baker named Henry Lambertz then came up with the idea of rolling out the dough over raised molds. The robust cookies can be efficiently produced in large quantities and are ideal as travel provisions, which is why their reputation has spread far beyond Aachen. The Lambertz-Gruppe, founded in 1688, is Aachen's oldest and largest manufacturer of Printen.

Christmas liverwurst, from Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Asparagus grown in Bornheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Brown mustard from Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Peas and carrots

Smoked blood sausage from Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Baked or fried Camembert cheese, serve with bread, cranberry compote

A snack consisting of a rye roll (röggelchen) with a thick slice of Gouda cheese, sliced onions, pickles and mustard

Mettwurst is a strongly flavored German sausage made from raw minced pork preserved by curing and smoking, often with garlic. The southern German variety is soft and similar to Teewurst. Braunschweiger mettwurst is partially smoked but still soft and spreadable, while other northern German varieties such as Holsteiner are harder and more akin to salami, due to longer duration of smoking. The Low German word mett, meaning 'minced pork without bacon', is derived from the Old Saxon word meti (meaning 'food'), and is related to the English word 'meat'.

Hollandaise sauce with whipped cream folded into it, used with meat, fish, poultry, shellfish

Cheese made from curdled cow's milk and with cumin, from Nieheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Pork blood and offal sausage, from Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

A pickert is a flat, fried or baked potato dish from Westphalia, Germany. It can be considered a kind of flattened dumpling or very nourishing pancake. It comes as a round Pfannenpickert the size of a pan, a rectangular Kastenpickert, or a palm-sized regular Pickert. The name is derived from Low German picken, pecken ("to stick something onto something else"). The main ingredients are grated potatoes, flour, milk, eggs, and (usually) raisins, with a little yeast, salt and sugar, and oil for the baking. Three big potatoes produce 10–15 palm-sized pickerts, enough for 4–5 people. Pickerts are a specialty of the district of Lippe, where they developed from a traditional meal for the poorer people. In former times, Pickert was eaten as breakfast or lunch by poor farmers, being a cheap and very nourishing dish, as would be required of food for a day's work in the fields. They are now served spread with sugar beet syrup, butter or (plum) jam, or leberwurst.

Beef sausage

Stippgrütze, also called Wurstebrei, is a German dish from Westphalia which is similar to Grützwurst or Knipp. It consists of barley groats cooked in sausage juices , which are enriched with pieces of meat, offal, such as heart, kidney or liver and seasoned with spices and salt. More rarely, finely chopped onions are added. The cooked ingredients are minced after the juices have been poured off and a crumbly cake is left which is held together with fat and which sets on cooling. There are various recipes, but they all contain barley groats, fat and meat. A classic recipe contains pig offal or heart, belly pork with rind, lard greaves, barley groats, water, salt, pepper, allspice and thyme. The nutrition varies; one portion made from about 300 g of pork and 60 g of groats contains about 850 kJ. Its relatively high fat content means that Stippgrütze keeps well and is often preserved or frozen, so that it can be used over the winter. The season for Stippgrütze begins with the traditional Schlachtfest or country feast in October or November, when the pigs are slaughtered, and lasts until spring.

Ham produced in Westphalia, Germany

Rye bread from Westphalia, Germany