East German party food
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).
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.