Hessian Cuisine

Scarlet O’Hara (from Gone With The Wind, if you’ve lived under a rock for the last 70+ years) said, “If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.”

Well, Ms. O’Hara, you wouldn’t have been hungry if you ate your way around Hesse. There ain’t anyway that anyone could go hungry around here.

Start with Kassler Rippchen, a smoked pork that looks like ham, but isn’t. Kassler Rippchen has got a deeper, smokier flavor. Fry it. Grill it. Bake it. Just serve it with some red cabbage or kale for a true Germanic culinary dish.

Yeah, talk about baking — try the Zwiebelkuchen. It’s a “cake” made with onions and served with sour cream. Try it right outta the oven for the best flavor — but still manages to taste delicious as a leftover.

Another goodie right from the oven is Wasserweck, a wheat flour bread that’s yummy topped with butter & jam, cheese, or a number of wursts.

One wurst that’s popular here is the Frankfurter Würstchen. It looks like a long, skinny hot dog — but it ain’t anything like it, even if you do eat it with mustard. The proper way to cook these bad boys is to drop ’em in boiling water for about 10 minutes — but make sure you turn the flame off as soon as you drop them in.

Tired of the same old-same old with potatoes or eggs? Add some yummy Grüne Soße to them and feel your tastes buds pop with gratitude. It’s made with 7 different herbs — but only traditionally served from Holy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter) until the first frost shows up in the Fall.

Don’t have to worry about that if you live in a tropical climate, eh? ;-)

Make some Bethmännchen afterwards. These marzipan cookies with almonds and powered sugar are a sweet treat after a salty dish like Kassler Rippchen.

Uh, why am I talking to you when I should be munching on Bethmännchen instead. Thanks to Germanfoodguide.com, I’ll give you the recipe for Grüne Soße. This way I can enjoy my cookies… ;-)