Dangerous sausages
Entry posted by DangerousSausage
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I was recently asked what we eat at the football in Germany. The answer is: mainly sausages!
If you go to a German football ground expecting a pre-match pie and peas, you'll be disappointed. Pies and sausage rolls are completely alien to Germany. Instead, the staple meal is the humble sausage. This can be a standard Bratwurst or a Feuerwurst ("fire sausage" - a spicy beef sausage) served in a bread roll - as demonstrated by Bayern Munich's Uli Hoeness below! This will set you back around €3, but I'm sure Uli can afford it.
Something else found at virtually every football ground is the Currywurst - a chopped-up sausage served in a "curry" sauce, which is in reality a kind of warm, spicy ketchup, with curry powder on top. This is served on a little tray with either a bread roll next to it (for mopping up the sauce) or, if you're really flash, a portion of fries. The type of sausage used depends on the whim of the seller, and you probably won't notice the difference anyway. This is quality junk food - you'll get a hit from the sugar in the sauce, followed by stomach ache and a vague sense of regret. Then you'll be hungry again, so you'll go and buy another one.
Other trash / quality meals found everywhere include giant pretzels and Frikadelle meatballs, which are like burgers but with pork served in the obligatory bread roll. If you strike it lucky these can be really nice, with herbs, spices and plenty of meat from the local butcher's. More commonly, these mainly consist of bread crumbs and fat.
At most German grounds, that's yer lot. There are regional variations though. If you go to a ground in Hesse (Frankfurt, Offenbach, Darmstadt among others) they'll also serve Frankfurter sausages (below), which are boiled sausages served on a little tray next to (but not in!) some bread and a blob of mustard. You then dip the sausage in the mustard and take a bite out of the bread. This is a bit of a pain if you're drinking a beer as you'll need both hands for it. In the north (Hamburg, Bremen), the football staple is a fried fish filet served in a bread roll.
Of course, we like to drink too. You'll find the usual array of soft drinks, plus apple juice with sparkling water, which is ubiquitous in Germany. Apple wine is highly popular in Hesse and is on offer at football grounds - it even tends to be a bit cheaper than beer. It's an acquired taste though and isn't really like cider. As for beer, experiences vary - you will find pilsner and shandy everywhere, although some clubs only offer pils with reduced alcohol (about 2.5%). Us football fans can't be trusted, after all. If you're lucky, you might find a Weizenbier (wheat beer), which is more full-bodied but gives you a headache if you drink too much. Trust me, I've researched this. Your beer will cost you in the region of €3.50, plus an extra deposit charge for your plastic beaker - 50 cents for a disposable one or around €2 for a resuseable one. You'll get your money back when you return it, but watch out: football grounds are plagued by little urchins who run about collecting as many beakers as they can carry so they can pocket the deposit cash!
If that sounds like too much hassle, every matchday an army of helpful gentlemen can be found in the vicinity of every professional football ground, selling tins of beer from their cool boxes for about €2 a pop. Until the police turn up, anyway. But the big advantage with buying in the ground is that you can actually take your beer in with you and sup while you're watching the match - no downing your pint outside one minute before kick-off here. Prost!
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