*drum roll*
LUXEMBOURG!!!!
They may have cheated by pouring me a champagne for breakfast as if it were orange juice. Unlike Americans, who completely destroy the wonderful bubbly stuff by mixing it with orange juice and then calling it something cool (as if that makes up for the fact that they destroyed champagne), the Lux folks serve a myriad of juices on the side, with a dedicated appreciation of champagne on its own.Frankly, any country who has fair (a flea market with very cool stuff) food of champagne and frites with a side of mayo is awesome. I noticed that it was only sausages at a fair in Basel, Switzerland, and the fairs I visited in Malta, Rome, and London never sold alcohol. Even more unique, the people working the champagne stand were passing out glass champagne flutes. I know the country is wealthy, but good grief! They seemed grateful to have it returned, but obviously were willing to take that chance.
Now, the winners of cool spreads is ....
*drum roll*
GERMANY!!!
OK, I promise that I'm not going to give a prize to each country to make sure each feels better. Switzerland, for example, had a dip or spread that was positively not to my liking. Think sour cream only watered down to trick you into thinking its butter until you dip your knife in it, and then you realise that it's simply "stuff" that floated to the top. I tried it though. Once.
Back to the good stuff! Not being a fan of apple butter in any way, despite so many people's efforts to share their "but this is DIFFERENT" apple butter in my life, I was curious 1) to see that apple butter could look so different in three ways, and 2) to see if German recipes were different.
They are most certainly different in a delicious way! The one of the left is more of a chunky marmalade type approach, but very subtle in all ways. The one in the middle is rather caramel for colour and texture that was the closest to American-style apple butter, but smoother with a tendency towards savoury rather than sweet. The third (farthest to right) was a very dark rich flavour of sweet and tart at the same time, and clearly the house favourite (and mine) as I had to scrape mercilessly to get what remained.
German food, though, on the whole is a wee bit terrifying for me. One major discovery about Eric and myself on this trip is that I am VERY French and Eric is VERY German. He looks at a German menu and sees a couple he might not want. I look at a German menu and consider my almonds and chocolate in the car.
I once almost made the dangerous decision to order based on how pretty the German words looked. Finding out shortly after that it was "strong Limberger cheese in vinegar dressing" ... was enough to send me packing back to France in a hurry. While I do like bologna sausage and pate, they eat such food like I would eat oysters and champagne, causing my emergency rations to dwindle further. Also, their desserts are quite heavy, unlike the light, airy foodstuffs of the French. I will say though, the freshly caught and fried fish at one of our hotels was incredible. I am just saying that the natural tendencies of the German palate leave me ... not touring Germany for its food :) Eric, on the other hand, seems to be strongly of the Germanic tribe guzzling beer from breweries of the 1300s and 1400s and eating meat in many disconcerting forms.
However, if Eric and I ever had a home in the region, the perfect location would be the border between France and Germany right in the middle of the Alsace wine region (French) and the Baden wine region (German). Gorgeous villages, vineyards on mountainsides, drinking beautiful light wines on top of castles built in the 11th century .... I could, if pressed, handle that lifestyle :)
