Schleswig-Holstein

Raisin bread or fruit bread is a type of bread made with raisins and flavored with cinnamon. It is "usually a white flour or egg dough bread". Aside from white flour, raisin bread is also made with other flours, such as all-purpose flour, oat flour, or whole wheat flour. Some recipes include honey, brown sugar, eggs, or butter. Variations of the recipe include the addition of walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans or, for a dessert, rum or whisky. Raisin bread is eaten in many different forms, including being served toasted for breakfast ("raisin toast") or made into sandwiches. Some restaurants serve raisin bread with their cheeseboards.

Molasses and gingerbread cookies, common during Christmas

Buckwheat gateau or Buckwheat torte is a dessert that is a speciality of the Lüneburg Heath region of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. The gateau consists of layers of cake made from buckwheat flour and heather honey, separated by a fruit layer using yoghurt and cranberries and topped by whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Butterkuchen or Zuckerkuchen is a simple German butter cake baked on a tray. Flakes of butter are distributed on the dough which, after baking, form the characteristic holes. The whole cake is sprinkled with sugar or streusel. After further kneading the Butterkuchen is baked. As a variation the dough can be sprinkled with roasted almond flakes. Butterkuchen is a favourite element of Westphalian and North German coffee tables. It is also served at weddings and funerals and, as a result, is sometimes called Freud-und-Leid-Kuchen or Beerdigungskuchen ("funeral cake"). A regional variation is to sprinkle the Butterkuchen with a sugar-cinnamon mixture rather than with sugar alone. This is very similar to Moravian Sugar Cake.

A Franzbrötchen is a small, sweet pastry baked with butter and cinnamon, similar to a cinnamon roll. Sometimes other ingredients are used as well, such as chocolate or raisins. It is a type of pastry commonly found in northern Germany, especially Hamburg, and it is usually served for breakfast, but is also enjoyed along with coffee and cake. As its name indicates, the Franzbrötchen was probably inspired by French pastries. Originally, it could be found only in the region of Hamburg, but now Franzbrötchen are also sold in Bremen, Berlin, and other German cities. The ingredients of the dough include flour, butter, yeast, milk, sugar, and a pinch of salt. The filling is a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Several times in succession, the dough is folded and rolled out thinly, and coated with butter. As soon as the dough is sufficiently outstretched to a filmy layer, it is moistened with a little water, sprinkled with a melange of sugar and cinnamon and finally rolled up. In order to provide the filled dough roll with the typical shape of a Franzbrötchen, it has to be cut into slices, each about four centimetres thick. Afterwards, the pieces are pressed together in the middle of the cut faces with the handle of a wooden spoon, which causes the filling to ooze out sideways. On baking, the yeast dough rises and the melange of sugar and cinnamon is slightly caramelized on the outside of the layers. Due to the butter and the caramelized sugar, the Franzbrötchen is often a little sticky. Variants of the Franzbrötchen may contain raisins, seeds, chocolate sprinkles or pumpkin seeds. The Franzbrötchen was probably named in the style of the French (German 'französisch') model, the croissant, which is also made of pastry and became popular in Germany after Napoleon's troops had occupied Hamburg between 1806 and 1814. According to a different historical tradition, they produced a longish Franzbrot (German for 'French bread') which resembled the baguette. Legend has it, a baker in Hamburg had once seared such a Franzbrot in a pan of fat, which is considered the origin of the contemporary Franzbrötchen.

Bread pudding with fruit such as cherries, plums, raisins, apples, berries, commonly cooked in a round cake mold

Currant bun, a yeast roll made with currants, raisins

Spice cake sweetened with honey, similar to gingerbread

Fruit bread with candied/dried fruit, nuts and spices

Danish pastry

Chocolate-dipped almond horns, crescent-shaped cookies made with almond flour

Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal , sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and small marzipan imitations of fruits and vegetables. It can also be used in biscuits or rolled into thin sheets and glazed for icing cakes, primarily birthday cakes, wedding cakes and Christmas cakes. Marzipan may also be used as a baking ingredient, as in stollen or banket. In some countries, it is shaped into small figures of animals as a traditional treat for New Year's Day or Christmas. Marzipan is also used in Tortell, and in some versions of king cake eaten during the Carnival season.

Kogel mogel is an egg-based homemade dessert once popular in parts of Europe. It is made from egg yolks, sugar, and flavourings such as honey, vanilla, cocoa or rum, similar to eggnog or zabaione. In its classic form it is served slightly chilled or at room temperature. Served warm or hot, it is considered a home remedy for sore throats. Variations include milk, honey and soda. Kogel mogel became known by this name by the 17th-century Jewish communities of Central Europe. It may have its roots in the Jewish code of law called the Shulchan Arukh where one is allowed to consume sweet syrup and/or raw egg on Shabbat to make one's voice more pleasant. Vasmer's dictionary mentions different hypotheses on the origin of the name such as English hug-mug, hugger-mugger, or German Kuddelmuddel.

Korn , also known as Kornbrand or Kornbranntwein (English: "grain brandy" or "grain spirit"), is a German colorless distilled beverage produced from fermented cereal grain seed. The production of Korn uses only five grains: most of the production is based on rye or wheat; barley is mainly used to obtain the required malt for the brewing process; oats and buckwheat are rarely used. The addition of food colorings, flavorings, or sweeteners is not permitted. Korn is distilled to lower alcoholic proofs and less rigorously filtered than vodka, which leaves more of the cereal grain flavor in the finished spirit. Korn must contain a minimum of 32% ABV (64 proof). Above 37.5% ABV (75 proof) it may be named Kornbrand, and the name Doppelkorn, with 38% ABV (76 proof), has been used in the market. Korn is usually consumed neat in shot glasses, but is also popular with a soft drink mixer. In some places, a beer is often ordered together with a Kurzer ("short"), i.e., a shot glass of Korn. This combination is called in German a "Herrengedeck" (literally "gentlemen's place-setting"; English: "Boilermaker") in most parts of Germany. Fruit-flavored products made with Korn are available from some Korn manufacturers, though they are sold as liqueurs since Korn itself cannot be flavored.

Ratzeputz is a schnaps, a type of spirit popular in Germany, which contains extracts and distillates of root ginger. The fresh ginger it contains is said to be beneficial to the stomach. Ratzeputz today (2006) only contains 58% alcohol; whereas higher proportions of alcohol used to be common. The ingredients, which are found by most consumers to be sharp, are intended to leave a long aftertaste in the mouth and throat. Ratzeputz was first created in 1877 by Peter Weidmann, a distiller in Celle. In the town, the Lüneburg Heath region and its surrounding area, Ratzeputz is a well-known, high-alcohol spirit-based speciality. Its strong but delicate ginger flavour has helped it gain considerable international attention as well. Originally bottled by C.W. Baland & Langebartels in Celle, it is now made under licence by Schwarze and Schlichte in Oelde.

Birnen, Bohnen und Speck is a North German dish which is especially popular in the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Hamburg. It also goes under the names of Bohnen, Birnen und Speck and, locally, the Low German names of Grööner Hein and Grönen Heini (lit: "Green Harry"). The seasonal availability of its ingredients means that the dish is mainly eaten in the months of August and September. The dish is a type of stew, in which—as the name indicates—the main ingredients are pears, beans and speck. In North German country kitchens, potatoes would also be added, even though they are not specifically mentioned. Generally cut French beans (Brechbohnen) are used. In Hamburg on the markets occasionally "Turkish peas" may be found, despite its name a Vierlande bean variety that used to be frequently used for this dish. During preparation several sprigs of savory are added to the beans.

Brathering is a simple and traditional German dish of marinated fried herring. It is typical of the cuisine in northern Germany and the northern parts of the Netherlands, either for lunch or as a snack at fast food stands or take-out restaurants. Usually, the green (i.e., fresh) herring with the heads and guts removed are either breaded or simply turned in flour, then fried, and finally pickled in a marinade of white vinegar and briefly boiled water, onion, salt, spices like pepper, bay leaves, mustard seeds, and a little sugar. The thin bones of the green herring are partially dissolved in the marinade, so that they hardly interfere with eating. If refrigerated, fried herring may be preserved for up to two weeks. Brathering is also available as a commercial product in cans.

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

A Fischbrötchen (pl. "Fischbrötchen", lit. fish bread roll) is a sandwich made with fish and other components such as fresh white or dried onions, pickles, remoulade, creamy horseradish sauce, ketchup, or cocktail sauce. It is commonly eaten in Northern Germany, due to the region's proximity to the North Sea and Baltic Sea. A common preparation is made with bismarck herring or soused herring. Other varieties use Brathering, rollmops, European sprat, salmon, smoked Atlantic mackerel, fried Atlantic cod, and other fish varieties (e.g., fish burgers). Prawns are sometimes used, as are various other species of food fish. Fischbrötchen are commonly served at fast food stands or take-out restaurants.

Elderberry soup, often made with semolina dumplings

A frikadelle[a] is a rounded, flat-bottomed, pan-fried meatball of ground meat, often likened to the German version of meatballs. The origin of the dish is unknown. The term Frikadelle is German but the dish is associated with German, Nordic and Polish cuisines. They are one of the most popular meals in Poland, where they are known as kotlety mielone . There are various local variants of frikadelle throughout Scandinavia, as both a main course and a side dish. In Sweden, the word frikadeller refers to meatballs that are boiled, not pan-fried. The origin of the word is uncertain. According to the Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, Frikadelle (pl. Frikadellen) can be found end of the 17th century in German, and is related to the French fricandeau, and Latin frīgere ('to roast'). Other variants used in Germany are Boulette/Bulette, Bratklops, Fleischpflanzerl, Fleischlaberl, Fleischküchle and Grilletta [de]/Grillette as well as the Austrian Faschiertes Laibchen [de]. It may be derived from fricandeau de veau, a dish of sliced veal, larded with pork fat. In the Dictionnaire des dictionnaires (1837) fricadelle is defined as, "In Belgium, a ball of ground, cooked meat" and a separate word, fricadèle, is defined as fricandeau. And in Phillips's New World of Words (1706) it is defined as "Fricandoe, a sort of Scotch Collops made of thin slices of Veal, well larded and stuff'd." The Oxford English Dictionary defines fricandele (variation fricadelle) as a "quasi-French form of fricandeau".

Grünkohlessen is an old wintertime custom in North Germany, and parts of Scandinavia (Denmark and Scania), involving drinking, games, and a feast of regional dishes, typically featuring kale, potatoes, and sausages. It is practised in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and its surrounding districts of Osterholz, Diepholz, Verden and Rotenburg, in Oldenburg Land, the County of Bentheim, Emsland, Osnabrück Land and East Frisia, in the Middle Weser Region, and also in Hamburg, Cuxhaven, in the Hanover Region, Hildesheim region, Brunswick Land, in the Magdeburg region, in Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein. Grünkohl (similar to Braunkohl and the Dutch boerenkool but with curly cale instead of cabbage, and creamed) is curly-leafed kale, a type of cabbage, traditionally harvested after the first autumn frost. The late harvest of kale ensures that its bitter-tasting constituents have disappeared, although modern kale varieties are generally low on bitter components and are harvested as early as in September.

Cyprinus carpio carp that is farmed in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Milk soup, made with bread, dumplings, sbrinz cheese

Shrimp rolls

Shrimp soup

Very large dumpling cooked in a cloth bag and sliced, serve with, for example, ham, sausage, bacon, sweet fruit sauce

Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not all oysters, are in the superfamily Ostreoidea.

Pan-fried fish with potatoes in a mustard sauce

The rundstück warm is a hot dish consisting of a slice of warm roast beef or pork served between the slices of a halved round wheat roll, which is then doused with hot gravy. It is sometimes served with mustard and side dishes such as pickles or aspic from the roast stock. The original bread roll of Hamburg is called "Rundstück" (lit.: round piece) Those that were not eaten for breakfast were plated with slices of roasted pork, smothered in sauce and were then called "Rundstück warm". Earlier versions of the dish typically only included a bread roll underneath the meat. It has been described as being "centuries old". It has been posited by some historians that the dish originated in Hamburg in the 17th century, when the round roll began to be purveyed in Hamburg. Following this, leftover pork and gravy from Sunday roasts were used to prepare the dish on Mondays.

Creamy vegetable soup with ham, potatoes, schnüsch is also made into a gratin

Soup made with blood or blood pudding, vinegar, vegetables, dried fruit, meat, spices

Steckrübeneintopf is a German dish that, today, is especially common in North Germany. It generally consists of a stew made from swede, carrots and potatoes in varying proportions and diverse, usually smoked or pickled, types of meat or sausage. Occasionally special cooking pears used as well. The stew may be seasoned and refined with salt, pepper, mustard, horseradish, celery, leeks or parsley, etc., according to taste. On many farms this dish was prepared almost daily, alongside roast potatoes. Often it alternated with a second, daily-changing meal. For this reason, especially in the region of Stade, it is still called Tokokers (= Zugekochtes). If the meat is smoked, the dish is also called Rökert (= Geräuchertes or "smoked"). In Schleswig-Holstein, the stew is made with pre-cooked sausage (Kochwurst) and Kassler and is known as Rübenmalheur. For the variant known as Lübecker National, pork (blade, belly) is preferred and flour or cream are used as binding agents. This recipe can also contain onions. In Hamburg, the corresponding dish is called Hamburger National und can contain beef or chicken in addition to bacon and belly pork.

Cabbage grown in Dithmarschen, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Peas and carrots

Soused herring is raw herring soaked in a mild preserving liquid. It can be raw herring in a mild vinegar pickle or Dutch brined herring. As well as vinegar, the marinade might contain cider, wine or tea, sugar, herbs , spices (usually mace), and chopped onion. The word 'soused' can also describe a marinated herring that has been cooked. The herring is usually baked in the (vinegar) marinade (but can be fried and then soaked in the marinade). It is served cold. This is usual in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The soused herring (maatjesharing or just maatjes in Dutch, or Matjes/matjes in German and Swedish respectively) is an especially mild salt herring, which is made from young immature herrings. The herrings are ripened for a couple of days in oak barrels in a salty solution, or brine. The pancreatic enzymes which support the ripening make this version of salt herring especially mild and soft. Raw herring pickled in vinegar are called rollmops.

Hirtenkäse is a German term used to describe varieties of cheese. Hirtenkäse is used as a generic term in German-speaking countries to describe cheese in brine such as feta, sirene and beyaz peynir. These varieties originated in various countries on or near the Mediterranean and Black Seas. They share similar properties in pale colour and crumbly consistency. They may be made from milk from cows, sheep and/or goats, either alone or mixed in varying proportions. Allgäuer Hirtenkäse is the name of a specific variety of hard cheese from the Allgäu region of Southern Germany.

Smoked and cured ham, from Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Semi-hard cheese with caraway that is made from cow's milk, from Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Whole smoked sprats (fish), smoked with beech or alder wood, eaten whole, in soups, salads, on bread, with scrambled eggs, as a side

Kochwurst is the name given to the German pre-cooked sausage, a class of sausage whose ingredients are largely cooked before the preparation of the sausage meat. The individual ingredients are held together by solidified fat , gelatine (as in Sulz - cured meat in gelatine) or blood proteins coagulated by heating (as in Blutwurst or blood sausage). In contrast with cooked sausages (Brühwurst), Kochwurst does not remain solid on heating, but more or less liquefies. After being filled into intestines, jars or tins, the whole sausage is cooked through again in hot water or steam. In addition to meat, Kochwurst often contains also offal like liver or tongue, blood and, in the case of Grützwurst, cereal. Since the ingredients are easily perishable and Kochwurst does not usually last long, it was traditionally made on slaughtering days and is thus a usual ingredient of Schlachtplatte. Also counted as Kochwurst are pies, known as Pasteten, which are cooked in square shapes. One speciality are Kochmettwürste such as the Palatine Saumagen, which are referred to as a type of Kochwurst.

Kohlwurst, Lungenwurst or Lungwurst is a simple, fresh, strongly smoked sausage made of lights (lungs), pork and fat, which is mostly eaten cooked with kale (cabbage) dishes, such as Knieperkohl. (The word "Kohl" in German refers not only to kale, but to vegetables in the cabbage family; the sausage does not contain these vegetables but they are commonly served with it.) It is mainly used in Northeast and Northwest German and Silesian cuisine, as well as in southwestern parts of Denmark, where it is called "kålpølse" (kale sausage). Comparable sausage types are Bregenwurst and Pinkel.

Long wheat roll with a pretzel-like crust

Lübeck Marzipan refers to marzipan originating from the city of Lübeck in northern Germany and has been protected by an EU Council Directive as a “Protected Geographical Indication” (PGI) since 1996. The quality requirements of Lübeck Marzipan are set higher than those of conventional marzipan and are regulated by the RAL German Institute for Quality Assurance and Classification. For a product to qualify as Lübeck Marzipan, a product must contain no more than 30% sugar, while the Lübeck Fine Marzipan must contain up to 10% sugar. The marzipan manufacturers of Lübeck such as Niederegger, Carstens, Lubeca or Marzipan-Land, however, follow some principles of quality by voluntary commitments, not required by the directive. Niederegger, for example, uses 100% almond paste and no sugar.

Soused herring is raw herring soaked in a mild preserving liquid. It can be raw herring in a mild vinegar pickle or Dutch brined herring. As well as vinegar, the marinade might contain cider, wine or tea, sugar, herbs , spices (usually mace), and chopped onion. The word 'soused' can also describe a marinated herring that has been cooked. The herring is usually baked in the (vinegar) marinade (but can be fried and then soaked in the marinade). It is served cold. This is usual in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The soused herring (maatjesharing or just maatjes in Dutch, or Matjes/matjes in German and Swedish respectively) is an especially mild salt herring, which is made from young immature herrings. The herrings are ripened for a couple of days in oak barrels in a salty solution, or brine. The pancreatic enzymes which support the ripening make this version of salt herring especially mild and soft. Raw herring pickled in vinegar are called rollmops.

Pinkel is a smoked Kaszanka , which is a type of sausage. It is eaten mainly in northwest Germany, especially the region around Oldenburg, Bremen and Osnabrück as well as in East Frisia and Friesland. The word pinkel is East Frisian. The sausage name is thought to derive from pinkelt, meaning "little finger". Alternatively, the name could refer to the homonymous verb which means "to drip", referring to the manner in which fat drips from the sausage during smoking. Pinkel consists mainly of bacon, groats of oats or barley, beef suet, pig lard, onions, salt, pepper and other spices. The exact composition of the recipe is guarded by butchers as a trade secret and therefore varies from village to village. Pinkel with a high meat content is also described as Fleisch-Pinkel ("meat pinkel") or Oldenburger Pinkel. Pinkel is traditionally filled into the edible small intestines of pigs, although today edible artificial casings are also used.

Smoked eel, used in soups, salads, sandwiches

Tilsit cheese or Tilsiter cheese is a pale yellow semihard smear-ripened cheese, created in the mid-19th century by Prussian-Swiss settlers, the Westphal family, from the Emmental valley. The original buildings from the cheese plant still exist in Sovetsk, Russia, formerly Tilsit, on the Neman River , in the former German province of East Prussia. The same ingredients to make the cheese were not available as in their home country, and the cheese became colonized by different moulds, yeasts, and bacteria in the humid climate. The result was a cheese that was more intense and full-flavoured. The settlers named the cheese after Tilsit, the Prussian town where they had settled. Tilsiter has a medium-firm texture with irregular holes or cracks. Commercially produced Tilsiter is made from pasteurized cow's milk, ranges from 30 to 60% milk fat, and has a dark yellow rind. After the main part of its production, the cheese needs to rest for an additional 2 months. Often flavoured with caraway seed and peppercorns, Tilsiter is a complement to hearty brown/rye breads and dark beers. It is a common table cheese, yet versatile. Tilsit can be eaten cubed in salads, melted in sauces, on potatoes, in flans, or on burgers.