Juliana Oliveira, Business, Technology and Engineering the German Way Summer 2023
Personally, my favorite part of any trip is to experience new foods and cuisines that the area is known for. While in Munich, we experienced many different cuisines including traditional Bavarian foods such as white sausage, pretzels, potato dumplings, and schnitzel, Italian classics of pasta and pizza, and delicious Vietnamese dishes such as pho, a traditional noodle soup. Munich is an area of rich culture which allowed us to sample a wide variety of delicious foods.
In addition, one of the German students that served as a mentor to our group had previously been trained as a chef. He cooked our group a Mediterranean spread of foods, including bruschetta, homemade hummus, and shakshuka, which is poached eggs in a tomato and red pepper sauce. Another night, he cooked homemade oven-grilled pizzas with unique toppings, such as calamari. It was so delicious and a fun experience seeing; he allowed us to help him cook.
I had the opportunity to try foods that I had never experienced before; thankfully, I am not a picky eater at all. One of my favorite new foods that I enjoyed during my time abroad in Munich was a doner kebab. This is known as one of Germany’s most popular street foods, and it is comparative to a gyro. It has shaved meat off of a rotisserie, typically lamb meat, and is topped with corn, tzatziki sauce, red cabbage, lettuce, tomato, and onions then wrapped in a pita bread. I also got to try “spargel”, or white asparagus with a hollandaise sauce, which is very popular in Germany during the spring. In my opinion, these white asparagus when dipped in the sauce are tastier than the green asparagus we have in the United States.
Something very different about food and drink in Munich in comparison with the United States is that water must be paid for in restaurants. There are a couple of options for water: “still” which is non-sparkling, “with gas” which means that it is carbonated, or “tap” which is straight from the tap and will be much less expensive than the other options, if not free at some places. Another difference is that iced coffee is very hard to find in Munich. Many coffee shops only offer hot coffees, and cappuccinos are more popular than lattes which is not true in the United States.
The night before we sadly had to depart for our flights back home, the staff at HM Munich kindly took us out for a delicious “farewell dinner” at Ristorante San Benno. There, we enjoyed a delicious orange and grapefruit beverage with bitter in it followed by an appetizer of antipasti. We also had our choice of fish with lime sauce, vegetable tagliatelle, or bacon-wrapped veal as the entree followed by a beautiful dessert of tiramisu and mascarpone drizzled with a raspberry compote. This meal shared with newfound friends and the kind staff of HM Munich was an incredible end to such a wonderful experience.
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