German

Wine Tasting at the 600th Annual Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt

Wine Tasting at the 600th Annual Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt

Last year on a trip to the Pfalz with a friend, we passed by what looked to be a giant fairgrounds. A quick Google search told us we'd seen -- and missed -- the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt, purportedly the largest wine festival in the world. Set on making sure we wouldn't miss the festival again, my friend booked us a hotel for the next one.

And so, on the weekend of September 16th, we hopped on a train out of Stuttgart headed for Freinsheim in the heart of the Palfz to start our weekend experience at the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt...

Swabian Food with a History at Weinstube zur Kiste

Swabian Food with a History at Weinstube zur Kiste

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Cathrin and Semih from Stuttgart isst at one of my favorite festivals in Stuttgart, the Bohnenviertelfest. While enjoying a few drinks, we got to talking about the many great restaurants in the area. Through the course of our conversation, I realized that we'd spent much of our time looking for good Vietnamese, Italian, and Japanese food, but that we'd somehow ignored some of the better German restaurants in the "bean quarter" that Cathrin recommended. 

This week I decided to rectify the situation by going out for dinner at Weinstube zur Kiste...

Enjoy Currywurst in Stuttgart at Martha's

Enjoy Currywurst in Stuttgart at Martha's

I first had currywurst on a trip to Berlin two years ago where I'd read it was one of the regional specialities. While it wasn't love at first bite, every once in a while I get a craving for the singular taste of grilled German wurst (sausage) smothered in curry-flavored ketchup. I haven't seen many places that offer currywurst on the menu in southern Germany, butthere is one shop in town where I know I can go for a good one: Martha's...

A World of Tastes at the Markt des Guten Geschmacks 2016

A World of Tastes at the Markt des Guten Geschmacks 2016

Every year at the Messe (meaning fairgrounds), the Markt des Guten Geschmacks (the market of good tastes) comes to town. I've somehow missed it the last couple of years, and so even though we've had a really busy week having just come back from our vacation in Italy (a post on that is coming soon!), I decided that I just couldn't miss this event again. 

The Markt des Guten Geschmacks is part of the Slow Food movement that began with Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986. The group advocates for regional, sustainable, and artisanal foods, and local chapters organize events like this one all over the world. Germany's own chapter was founded in 1992, and they've since worked to promote the slow food philosophy at events around Germany...

A Swabian Cooking Class at Straub's Krone

A Swabian Cooking Class at Straub's Krone

When I read Ami im Schwabenland's blog post about her cooking class with pumpkin back in October, I thought that it sounded like something I'd really enjoy (especially because pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors!). I've only ever done a cooking class while traveling, but haven't yet participated in one "at home". To my delight, soon after that blog post Ami im Schwabenland invited both me and the blogger behind Kaffee und Kuchen to join her for their next class. After a few emails back and forth, we finally decided on last Saturday for our date...

More Great Street Food at Gaumenfreude's Großer Foodtruck Weihnachtsmarkt

More Great Street Food at Gaumenfreude's Großer Foodtruck Weihnachtsmarkt

When a company called Gaumenfreude started organizing Street Food Thursdays in the Karlsplatz this past summer, I was thrilled! I love the variety and portion sizes at food trucks, and although Gaumenfreude's first market started out a bit hit-or-miss, I stuck with it and returned again and again to try the new food trucks that they were able to bring to Stuttgart. Over time, I had some great burgers and pulled pork, and yes, even some halfway decent Mexican food. And so because they came through in the end, I decided to go check out their Großer Foodtruck Weihnachtsmarkt in Zuffenhausen today to see if they could still deliver...

Homemade Maultaschen and a Festival Devoted to Chocolate in Tübingen

Homemade Maultaschen and a Festival Devoted to Chocolate in Tübingen

This past weekend we took a trip south to Tübingen. Our goal was twofold: to eat some delicious Swabian Maultaschen and to check out the Chocolate Festival for the first time. While it can usually take over an hour to get there by train from downtown Stuttgart, we were lucky to have a friend with a car who was willing to drive our small party.

We set out early(ish) on Saturday and zipped along the Autobahn. Just 45 minutes later, we made it to our destination. The town was absolutely packed for the chocolate festival, and though we hadn't planned on having to drive around for 20 minutes to find a parking spot, I'm glad we arrived early. We parked the car at at a garage near the center of town, and walked the quick 15 minutes through the old town to Hotel am Schloss next to the castle. We were scheduled to have lunch there, at Restaurant Mauganeschtle, at noon...

Of Cabbages and Kings at the Filderkrautfest

Of Cabbages and Kings at the Filderkrautfest

One of the many things I love about Stuttgart is that there seems to be no shortage of fall celebrations around. And although the pumpkin festival is still my favorite, I had a great time celebrating a different kind of vegetable last weekend at the Filderkrautfest in Leinfelden-Echterdingen.

Even though the weather was rather gray last Sunday, there was a very festive atmosphere in Leinfelden. We were first greeted by a colorful row of vintage cars and tractors, followed by several carnival-style booths featuring classic games like darts and ring-toss, and even a rotating ride or two. I'm not sure if these carnival games are "native" to Germany, but I suspect there's a bit of American import going on given that most of the signs on the booths said things like "Welcome to Las Vegas!" and "The American Adventure!"...

Celebrating Local Craft Beer at Cast Brauerei's Hopfenfest

Celebrating Local Craft Beer at Cast Brauerei's Hopfenfest

Even though the Volksfest is over for this season, we're still celebrating the arrival of fall with craft beer and various smaller festivals. In fact, this past weekend we attended the Hopfenfest at Cast Brauerei. We first heard about this local brewery about a year ago from some of our foodie friends. I can't say that I know many people who've heard of them (they don't sell any of their beer in the grocery stores because they brew in such small batches), though they always seem to be sold out due to their popularity. 

According to their website, the name Cast comes from CA for California and ST for Stuttgart. Their logo -- a crest with a bear and horse -- similarly comes from the California and Stuttgart flags. Their speciality is  California-style ale, which seems to be rather rare in Germany, though I feel like I've seen similar craft brewers become more and more popular over the past few years. Cast itself was only established in 2010...