Feasting in Frankfurt

That night my Frankfurter friends, Caroline, Susi and Kirsten, took me to a little tavern for my first taste of apple wine, or ‘äbbelwoi’ (pronounced ‘ebbelwoi’ — fast and slurry if you want to talk like a local). Given a choice between sweet and bitter apple wine, I chose the latter and expected cider. Yet the flavour of real apples surprised my tastebuds and the dryness tickled my tongue. That one night ended up lingering in my mouth and left me wanting more.

This time around I am making sure that I get to sample all the local delicacies that Frankfurt has to offer. My friends are only too happy to introduce me to their traditional delights. Susi offers to take me to Rewe (the supermarket) soon after my arrival.

It’s the middle of winter and she kits me out in a padded coat and gloves — something that I don’t need in sunny South Africa. I grab a freshly baked ‘bredzel’ from the bakery on the way and devour it in an instant, almost getting ridden over by a cyclist for walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk.

I am all eyes when we reach the supermarket, enchanted by the ‘feldsalad’ (seasonal salad leaves) and ‘mini cresse’ (looks like miniature watercress and tastes like horseradish). Susi insists on introducing me to a selection of French cheeses, including Tête de Moin (monk’s head), which the man behind the counter shaves from the cheese round into tiny little frills. I choose some Frankfurter sausages, curious to find out whether they taste any different in their place of origin and spot a bit of home (Robertson is big) in the wine section. In the dairy aisle I find beautiful glass bottles filled with milk and yoghurt. The Germans are obsessed with food safety, which explains the glass option as opposed to plastic.

We fill up two big shopping bags at Rewe and it comes to about €20, which is less than R200 and works out cheaper than a shopping trip to Woolworths in South Africa. Caroline’s boyfriend, Marc, explains to me the next day that this is because the government subsidizes food in Germany.

As an architect, Marc is adamant to show me Frankfurt’s skyscrapers, even though the clouds are moody and it is so cold outside that my nose goes numb. Capetonians (like me) are not known for being bad-weather-friendly, but I borrow some more scarves and gloves and head off to discover Europe’s financial centre close-up.

We stop next to a Gothic style catholic dome that is built on the foundations of an earlier church. Frankfurt was heavily bombed during WWII and almost nothing survived. Next to the dome is the ruin of a Roman bath. We cross many squares with statues of famous townsfolk such as Goethe (Germany's Shakespeare) and I am amazed at how the city combines very old buildings with completely modern architectural styles.

Try out some 'Handkäs mit musik'!

After a day of sightseeing, Caroline prepares some traditional Frankfurter food for me: ‘handkäs mit musik’ (hand cheese with music) served with ‘bauernbrot’ (farmers’ bread); and ‘grüne soße’ (green sauce) with hard boiled eggs and potato. We enjoy some delicate, dry Riesling from the Rhine region while we chop and chat.

Susi made me taste the handkäs on it’s own after our trip to the supermarket and it tasted the way heel balm smells. I am quite curious and, well, nervous, to try it ‘mit musik’. The official version is that ‘mit musik’ refers to the sauce. The unofficial version is that ‘mit musik’ is the flatulence that is caused by all the chopped onions!

The sauce of vinegar, oil, onions and cumin makes all the difference to the balmy taste of the cheese and the flavourful ‘bauernbrot’ is a perfect companion. ‘Handkäs’ is completely fat free and therefore quite healthy. I wish it were more widely available but it’s a real Frankfurt speciality which has never really taken off outside the region.

The 'grüne soße' is a light mixture of yoghurt and herbs. I prefer to eat it with my Frankfurter sausage (which tastes more or less the same here as anywhere else) than the traditional way, having never really been a fan of eating potato and eggs together. We wash it all down with the fresh taste of ‘äbbelwoi’, recalling memories of previous adventures.

I wanted to try my hand at baking the traditional Frankfurter cream cake for dessert but when Caroline phoned her mom to get the recipe, Mrs Braun exclaimed that ‘it’s really old-fashioned and so not cool!’ and suggested that we make ‘bethmannchen’ instead. Yet we don’t end up making the Frankfurter marzipan sweets, or any other dessert for that matter.

By the time we finish the food and the wine, we are so feasted out that there is not a spot left for the famous Frankfurter marzipan sweets. I guess that will have to wait for another visit.

• Café Karin on Grober Hirschgraben Street is a traditional café where nine different types of breakfast are served, each typical of an area in Frankfurt. Let's just say you won’t go hungry…
• A traditional apple wine tavern where the locals also like to go to is Zur Sonne in Berger Street, Bornheim. Enjoy hearty dishes served with ‘sauerkraut’ or ‘spatzle’ (German pasta) and apple wine from a traditional jug called a ‘bembel’.
• The Kleinmarkthalle is a speciality food market. Expect traditional German delicacies, rare French cheeses, fresh Italian pastas and Turkish — as well as Kurdish — delights. The sensory pleasure does come at a price, though.
• There is a row of museums all along the river bank, including a Modern Art, Jewish and Natural History museum.
• Rent a bicycle in summer to get close to the city and experience it like a local.
• You can get a bird’s eye view of the area from the Main Tower in the city centre (also referred to as ‘Bankfurt’).