14-Day Germany
Itinerary

Bratwurst

Nuremberg's protected finger-sized grilling sausage, pork seasoned with marjoram, the herb that distinguishes it from every other German bratwurst; grilled over beechwood charcoal and served six or a dozen at a time in a bread roll with mustard; the Nuremberg Bratwurst has EU protected geographical status and has been made to the same recipe since 1313.

Currywurst

Berlin's defining street snack, a steamed then fried pork sausage sliced into rounds and doused with a tomato-ketchup and curry powder sauce; invented by Herta Heuwer at a Berlin Imbiss in 1949; 70 million consumed annually in Berlin alone; the Deutsches Currywurst Museum celebrated this humble masterpiece.

Schweinshaxe

Bavaria's cathedral of pork, a whole pork knuckle slow-roasted in dark beer until the skin puffs and crackles into a baroque, shatteringly crisp mahogany dome; the meat beneath falls from the bone in enormous shreds; served in Munich's beer gardens with sauerkraut and dumplings; eaten with both hands.

Sauerbraten

Germany's royal pot roast: beef marinated for up to three days in a bath of red wine, vinegar, onion, juniper and bay leaf until it absorbs a deep, sour-sweet character; slow-braised in the marinade with gingerbread (Lebkuchen) which melts into the sauce to give it a dark, complex sweetness; Germany's answer to beef bourguignon.

Pretzels (Brezn)

Munich's most essential bread: a thick, doughy pretzel dipped in lye solution before baking, which creates the mahogany-brown, glossy, slightly chewy skin and the distinctive alkaline flavour; sprinkled with coarse salt; sold at every bakery, beer garden and Oktoberfest tent; its geometric shape has been a Bavarian symbol since 1111.

Black Forest Cake

Germany's most internationally famous dessert: alternating layers of chocolate sponge, kirsch-soaked cherries and clouds of freshly whipped cream, encased in more cream and chocolate shavings with a cherry crown; the name comes from the Black Forest region's Schwarzwälder Kirschwasser, whose cherry eau-de-vie must legally be used in the authentic version.