Let’s Go to Rewe

How would you pronounce Rewe?  Rewe is our favorite grocery store down the street, and it could be one of the most difficult German words for Americans to pronounce.   At a first glance, you might think it is ‘Roooh’, ‘Ree-vee’, ‘Ree-wee’, ‘Revi’ (this last one was us).  However once you learn that ‘W’ is pronounced like a ‘V’ and an ‘E’ is pronounced more like an ‘A’ in English, it gets a bit easier – ‘Ray-vuh’.

Anyhow, I think we are long overdue for a blog about food so today I am blogging about the grocery store.  My first attempt to blog about food turned into a four part narrative before I realized my scope was way too big.  This time we are only going to the grocery store….to the REWE!

A typical grocery store here has essentially the same offerings as an American one.  The produce, dairy, grains, and meats are the same for the most part.  Although we feel like professional shoppers now, it took us a few weeks to get there.  Our first few trips to the grocery store had us wandering the aisles aimlessly, and even when we thought we found what we wanted, we could never be sure.  We could only half translate the labels, if that.

Also, we were kind of expecting things to be different.  In light of all the similarities, there are some noticeable differences.  For one, there is more diversity in the meat section, or at least in the sausage category.  Also there is significantly less processed food – that stuff in the ‘middle’ of an American grocery store. 

Prices per unit tend seem to be about the same, except that the mass of a given item is usually less.  Perhaps this is one reason people here are not nearly as fat?  For instance, a box of cereal is only about 3 or 4 servings and a quart (liter) of milk is as big as they come.  This is probably the secondary motivation behind our adoption the European custom of going to the grocery store every other day (the first is the size of our tiny fridge and freezer).  Luckily there are 5 grocery stores within a 10 minute walk from our apartment; two of which are a Rewe.  ;)

A normal apple... small pasta sauce

Considering the similarities, it is pretty easy to cook the same things we always have.  We still have our Taco Tuesdays and often serve a quick stir-fry over Jasmine rice.  However to Julie’s dismay, cilantro (known as koriander here) is impossible to get at the local grocery stores – you must go to a large specialty department store.

Although we love to try new things, and often do, it is nice to be able to make a quick comfort meal after those long days at work.  Of course there are a few ‘American’ grocery items we find ourselves longing for.  Some of these items exist here, but they just don’t taste quite ‘right’:  steak, tortillas, corn bread, corn, chocolate syrup, Lipton chicken noodle soup (great for fighting colds), cake icing, and microwave popcorn.  Thankfully we can always find avocados so life can carry out without too much worry.  And steak made the list because the one time I cooked it here, Julie said it tasted like dog food.  Now I know there must be something special about Texas beef because certainly my culinary skills result in food better tasting than dog food.  

One of the 'European' foods we have adopted.... ; )

 

So what about those crazy Bavarians in their Lederhosen, what do they eat?  Here are some staples that make up food here in Bavaria: sausage, fresh sliced meats and cheese, fresh breads (usually very dense, whole grain/rye flavors), sausage, sliced sausage, spaetzle (egg noodles with cheese or other topping), knödel (bread or potato like dumpling, but better), sauerkraut, sausage, field greens, potatoes, different variations of pork roasts, schnitzel, mustard, did I mention sausage?, pretzels……and BEER. 

It is a lot of meat and potatoes, but I am often surprised at how different, special, and unique the flavors can be.  We have had some absolutely terrific ‘meat and potato’ dishes that I completely underestimated.  Some variation of these food staples pretty much makes up all menus at a Bavarian restaurant, although there are probably some things missing considering we are still learning ourselves.  But that is for another blog post.