A Taste of Germany: Schnitzel and Kartoffelsalat

Germany, a country in Central Europe, has had a long-lasting culture before the rise of the nation-state (country that has defined borders and people that are the same ethnically and culturally) and is presently a representative democratic republic. Ethnically, Germans are the majority but Germany is the 3rd largest home to international immigrants in the world, bringing different cultural customs and foods. One popular past time is playing or watching football and tennis. When visiting Germany, always make eye contact and shake a person's hand when meeting others to be polite. Visitors don't need to know German to get around, even though most Germans speak the native language German, over 60% know a 2nd language. Another popular thing Germany is known for is their literature and philosophy, which has always been admired by people around the world, especially in America. Famous philosophers like Marx, Engels, Nietzsche, and Gadamer have been the creators of radical ideas such as communism, existentialism, postmodernism etc. Music and and architecture has also flourished beautifully with many Renaissance and Baroque paintings; Germany furthermore pioneered the ever growing genre of music called trance. This creativity has been influenced by social and political changes, even in German cuisine. German cuisine varies on each region, which are Thuringia, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt. Meat, vegetables, and bread is very common in all these regions. One very delicious meat dish called schnitzel (fried and breaded veal or pork) is eaten for lunch, which is the biggest meal of the day in Germany. Lunch time is around 12 or 1pm, where many stores will close for a couple hours so people can eat at home or at a restaurant. Schnitzel is eaten with a side dish such as potato salad or meatballs. Here is a recipe to make Schnitzel with Kartoffelsalat (potato salad) as a side dish:

Ingredients:

4 veal fillets (approx each 200g)
salt and pepper
2 tbsp flour
3 eggs
150g breadbrumbs
butter, lard or cooking oil

Flatten the meat with a rolling pin or meat hammer. Season with salt and pepper and then coat in flour.

Coat in beaten egg and then coat in breadcrumbs.

Heat oil in a pan and then fry the Schnitzel on both sides until brown and the meat is cooked through. Approx. 4 mins on both sides.


Kartoffelsalat:

Ingredients

8-10 salad potatoes
1 onion
1/2 cup of warm meat broth
white wine vinegar, sunflower oil and salt to taste
pepper

Steam the potatoes in their skins until tender. If you have any potatoes from the day before, even better as they are easier to slice. Scrape them and let them cool slightly until just warm.

Chop the onion finely.

Slice the potatoes thinly with a potato slicer or a vegetable knife. Place in a large bowl.

Add the onion and enough warm meat brothso that the potatoes are quite moist but not sitting in broth! and leave to soak for an hour.
Lastly add enough sunflower oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Again I can`t give exact quantities but I suggest that you start off with a couple of tablespoons of each of the oil and vinegar and then add more to taste.

Mix thoroughly. The potato salad should not be too dry, but quite moist.

Enjoy!

sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Germany,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cuisine,
http://www.tasty-german-recipe.com/wiener-schnitzel-recipe.html