We dine on bread and water Friday nights because of the amazing bread that is sold at the amazing fruit (and bread) stand every Friday. (Warning: if you are gluten free, this post may cause feelings of dissatisfaction and anger. Read on at your own risk.)
The amazing fruit stand |
This bread will change your life. The perfect balance between soft and dense. Sprinkled with a little bit of salt and some herbs. In fact, writing this post has taken me much longer than it should because of the constant urge to take another bite of said bread. Spread a little butter, coconut oil, or (my favorite) boursin cheese on it, and who needs a meat, vegetable or fruit for a complete meal?
Another favorite, though less indulged-in treat, are schokocroissants (chocolate croissants). When I was four or five years old, I would wrap a towel around my head after a bath and pretend to be Claude the Baker. This is because there was a German bakery in our town (owned by Claude) (the baker) that we frequented for his smiley face cookies and chocolate croissants. I haven't yet encountered the same yellow smiley face cookies, but I have found sad faced cookies. (Maybe some sort of German health warning?) However, chocolate croissants never fail to delight me by bringing me back to that happy childhood memory. And who doesn't love a trip to the bakery?
The German bakery experience is quite similar to what you would find in an American bakery. The German grocery shopping experience, however, is quite different than in the states. Let me walk you through a typical trip.
Kate's guide to the German grocery store:
If you are buying more than a couple days' worth of food, (which isn't common, as the refrigerators are small and food spoils quickly with less preservatives inside) bring a euro or two for a cart. Your euro will be returned to you when you return your cart, but you need to slide it into the slot to take a cart away. Hence, there is no need for the grocery store workers to scramble all over the parking lot collecting carts from lazy shoppers. Very efficient. Very German.
Do not be alarmed if you don't hear any music, or if you smell cigarette smoke. Music is not played in most German stores and the smoke is just coming from the workers who are taking a smoke break out back. If you move quickly through the dairy section, you won't smell it by the time you get to the bread.
If you can stand the smoke, take a moment in the dairy section to revel in the fact that you can buy brie cheese for only 1 euro! |
That happy moment when you find a stowaway granola bar in your pocket after you've been in Germany for month. |
If the check-out lines are long, hang back a bit. Most likely, a clerk will call for back-up. But don't expect the customers behind you to honor the fact that you were in line first. No one will smile at you and insist that you go ahead of them. Once another register opens up, it's every man for himself. Don't be surprised if the man behind you jumps ahead in line and then appears totally unaware of your death glare from behind. (In hindsight, you will see this is a good thing, as you are supposed to be sharing the love of Jesus in this country.) And to be fair, if you arrive at the register with only a few items, the woman with a cart-full of groceries ahead of you, will probably let you cut in front of her.
The never-ending dairy case |
Right about now, the clerk will say something to you that you cannot understand. She is telling you the total price for your groceries. Just hand her the largest bill in your wallet as if you have nothing smaller. Over time, you will end up with lots of change this way, but you will also avoid looking like a total fool in front of the customers waiting in line behind you. Keep in mind that once you pay, the clerk is done with you and will move on to the next customer. Do not give her any money until you are prepared to move yourself and your groceries and your cart out of the way for the next customer. (This is probably not proper etiquette, but more of a survival technique.)
(There is no picture of this step. Honestly, it would be like trying to capture a picture of a bolt of lightning.)
The clerk will hand you the receipt, and bid you "Choos!" in a sing-songy voice, to which you cheerfully reply, "Choos!" as if your heart isn't racing and you certainly aren't about to cry or simply drop from mental exhaustion. Once your groceries are nestled in your car and you have returned your cart and collected your coin, you can do some deep breathing exercises in the car to calm your nerves. This will also help in preparing you for the next step: driving a stick shift car through the narrow streets of a pedestrian filled town.
Consider your trip a success if you arrive home in one piece with some food. Because even if you don't know what you bought, or how much you paid for it, you can always serve fresh bread for dinner, and have a chocolate crossiant for dessert.
I love this glimpse into your German life. Grocery shopping certainly sounds like an adventure and all of the yummy bread/food talk is making me hungry! Have you ever been to Aldi here? There are definitely some similarities...xoxo
ReplyDelete