All recipes
Eierschecke: Saxon Sheet Cake with Quark and Custard
Saxon Eierschecke is a sheet cake in three layers: thin yeast dough at the bottom, Quark (fresh curd cheese) in the middle and a golden cream of vanilla pudding, butter and eggs on top. In the GDR it belonged on the Kaffeetafel, the afternoon coffee-and-cake table, whether it came from the bakery or from your own baking sheet.
Halberstädter Würstchen with Potato Salad for Christmas Eve
Halberstädter Würstchen with potato salad is what many East German families eat on Christmas Eve: hot frankfurter-style sausages and a potato salad with mayonnaise, pickled gherkins and egg. Halberstadt in Saxony-Anhalt is considered the birthplace of the canned sausage. The salad is made in the afternoon so it can soak up the dressing.
East German Jägerschnitzel with Macaroni and Tomato Sauce
In East Germany, Jägerschnitzel is a thick slice of Jagdwurst, a mild bologna-style sausage, fried in breadcrumbs. It came with macaroni and a slightly sweet red tomato sauce, just as it was served on the tray at school lunch, the hot midday meal served in GDR schools.
Käse-Igel: Cheese Hedgehog for the Party Buffet
The Käse-Igel, a cheese hedgehog, stood in the middle of the cold buffet at birthdays, Brigadefeiern (parties of a work team) and New Year's Eve in East Germany. Half a cabbage wrapped in aluminum foil becomes the hedgehog's back, and the spines are skewers of cheese, grapes, pickled gherkin and canned mandarin oranges. No cooking is needed.
Kalter Hund: No-Bake Chocolate Biscuit Cake in a Loaf Pan
Kalter Hund, literally "cold dog", is a cake you do not bake: butter biscuits and a chocolate cream made with Kokosfett, solid coconut oil, layered in a loaf pan and chilled overnight. In East Germany it came to the table at birthdays and at the Kaffeetafel, the afternoon coffee-and-cake table, sometimes called Kalter Hund, sometimes Kalte Schnauze (cold snout).
Mohnpielen: Poppy Seed Bread Pudding from Berlin and Brandenburg
Mohnpielen is the end-of-year dessert in Berlin and Brandenburg: day-old Schrippen (Berlin bread rolls), hot milk and sweet poppy seeds, layered in a glass bowl and eaten cold with a spoon. Its roots are in Silesian cooking, and it is served at Christmas or on New Year's Eve.
Neunerlei: Nine-Dish Christmas Eve Dinner from the Ore Mountains
Neunerlei is the Christmas Eve dinner of the Erzgebirge, the Ore Mountains: nine dishes served all at once. Each one is meant to bring something for the new year: the lentils small change, the dumplings big money, the bratwurst strength and the sauerkraut a life that does not turn sour. What exactly belongs to it varies from place to place; this is the most common combination.
Pfefferkuchen, Pulsnitz Style: Saxon Honey Gingerbread
Pfefferkuchen is what Saxony and Thuringia call gingerbread made from honey dough, and the best-known place for it is Pulsnitz in Upper Lusatia, in eastern Saxony. Only Pfefferkuchen baked there may be called “Pulsnitzer,” so this recipe is Pulsnitz style: strong honey, rye flour and a base dough that rests for at least a day. There is no pepper in it; the word once stood for any foreign spice.
Quarkkäulchen: Saxon Quark and Potato Pancakes with Cinnamon Sugar
Saxon Quarkkäulchen are golden-brown little pancakes made from potatoes boiled in their skins the day before and Quark, a fresh curd cheese, served with cinnamon sugar and applesauce. All over East Germany they were known as a sweet lunch and as a way to use up leftover potatoes.
Russische Eier: East German Deviled Eggs for the Cold Platter
Russische Eier, or Russian eggs, are halved hard-boiled eggs with a savory filling of yolk, mayonnaise, mustard and pickle, finished with a dusting of paprika. In East Germany they sat on lettuce leaves next to sausage and cheese on the Kalte Platte, the cold cuts platter served at birthdays, weddings and on New Year's Eve.
Steak au four: Pork Steak with Würzfleisch and Melted Cheese
Steak au four is a pork steak topped with Würzfleisch, diced meat in a creamy white sauce, and baked with cheese; the French name simply means “steak from the oven.” In the HO-Gaststätten, the state-run restaurants of the GDR, it was a dish for special days. It came with French fries, and a bottle of Worcestershire sauce stood on the table.
Sülze (Pork in Aspic) with Fried Potatoes and Remoulade
Sülze with fried potatoes and remoulade was a standard in East German restaurants and workplace canteens: cold, tangy Sülze, pork set in aspic, next to hot fried potatoes. The Sülze comes ready-made from the butcher; you make the fried potatoes with bacon and a remoulade with plenty of pickle yourself.
Tote Oma: Fried Blood Sausage with Sauerkraut and Mashed Potatoes
Tote Oma, which literally means “dead grandma,” is fried Grützwurst, a blood sausage made with groats, and the name exists only in East Germany. The sausage of blood, pork rind and groats breaks down in the pan with onions and marjoram into a dark, crumbly mass. It is served with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.
Grünkohl Mecklenburg Style: East German Kale with Kassler and Sausage
Grünkohl (kale) has a long tradition in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In hard winters, Grünkohl Mecklenburg style, also called Gräunkohl in Low German, was and is a hearty treat for body and soul. Once a staple food of poor people, today a delicacy. With Kassler (cured, smoked pork), pork cheek and Kohlwurst sausages, or even Pinkel, a smoked grain sausage.
Saxon Flecke: Sour Tripe Stew with Potatoes and Pickles
Flecke, also called Kutteln or Geschling, is a sour stew of beef and pork offal. This original recipe is more for the hardy these days. Sour Flecke used to be popular above all with the poor rural population. Saxon Flecke offered a high content of important minerals.
Würzfleisch Mecklenburg Style with Pork Belly and Root Vegetables
Würzfleisch, also called ragout, was a hit on more than just the deluxe Grilletta, the East German hamburger. The braised diced meat is also a treat with chunks of vegetables and potatoes, and a good deal cheaper than goulash.
Grilletta with Würzfleisch: Cheese-Topped East German Burger
The cheese-topped Grilletta with Würzfleisch, a ragout of diced meat, was the deluxe version of the Grilletta, the East German hamburger, in the 1980s. The Grilletta need not fear comparison with West German fast-food burgers. Simply tasty, natural and without artificial additives. A treat then as now.
Grandma's Soljanka: East German Sausage and Pickle Soup
A hearty Soljanka, the sour soup of sausage and pickles, the way people still remember it from their grandmothers in East Germany. Quick, easy to make and still so good.