Germany: The Plight of a Non-Meat Eater

Noodles with Cheese

In Germany,Beth found it somewhat challenging to follow Canada's food guide recommendationof consuming 7-8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Her love of cheeseand good bread also created temptations was everywhere since Germans, in Bethand Rob's opinion, are the best bakers anywhere. As an example, the followingis a list of her meals on one particular day in Germany, hereafter referred toas 'Day 1':

Washroom equipped for the drinkers

Breakfast:Bread, cheese, jam and a smattering of tomatoes and grapes thrown in a vainattempt to add balance to the meal.

Mid-MorningSnack: Cold leftovers from the previous night's dinner (noodles & cheese).

Mid-AfternoonSnack: Picnic of bread and cheese with a couple of carrots for good measure.

Beef rolled around bacon and meat.
Add potatoes....Delicious!

Dinner: Witha strong resolve to eat soup and salad they selected a good, German restaurantin which to dine. After informing the server that Beth didn't eat meat, sherecommended a meal "very traditional for the area"- thin crustedpizza-like dish consisting of a sauceless crust covered with mostly lochs(smoked salmon) and käse (cheese). Seeing as there wasn't a choice of eithersalad or tomatensuppen on the menu Beth agreed. After all, eating localspecialities is an important part of the travelling experience. A balanced mealwill just have to be put on the back burner.

Cochem Castle Entrance

Day 2:

Treats looking like meat.

Beth startsthe day with a strong resolve to cut down on cheese and eat more vegetables.

Breakfast:The host serves a breakfast of cheese, bread, jam and cappucino. Yikes... OK.Plan B start balancing at lunch.

Lunch: Afterclimbing the side of the valley to explore a castle at the top, we weredelighted to find a small restaurant located within the castle grounds. Evenbetter, tomatensuppen was on the menu! One order was Beth and one gulauschsuppen for Rob with two glasses of Mosel wine. Perfect!

Wine touring

Dinner: Onceagain we selected a traditional German restaurant for dinner. A cursory glancethrough the menu didn't look promising for Beth. However, not to be deterred,when the server came by we inquired about the available items.

“Gemüse?", askedRob (vegetables)

"Nein."

"Salat?”,replied Beth.

"Nein."

After indicating that Beth didn't eat meat ("Ich esse kein fleisch.") we asked her what options were available.

"Weinkäse. Oder kartoffel. "

Once again,vegetables will have to wait until tomorrow!

Restaurant fun.

Post Script:We both loved the two restaurants we chose to dine at along the Mosel. Theywere off the main thoroughfares and were not touristy but rather seemed to befilled with people local to the area. On 'Day 1' there happened to be a singingtroop in the restaurant that filled one section of the restaurant. They sang,accompanied by an accordion, traditional German songs before and after theydined. What could be grander??!

Cochem at Night

The server atour 'Day 2' restaurant was absolutely lovely as was the owner of therestaurant. Additionally we enjoyed a drink with a couple local to the area after dinner. Both of those experiencesfar outweighed the immediate need for a balanced diet!

Moonlight across the Mosel from Cochem

 

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