The other day, we asked a man who had lived in Germany for many years what he missed most when he went back to America. Without hesitation, he answered, “The bread.” He was probably thinking of breakfasts like this one, which is what Joe and I had this morning: Pfälzer apples and an assortment of brötchen (buns). We didn’t manage to do in the Berliner, so I’m eating it now and trying not to drip strawberry jam on the keyboard.
Where do you go in Germany for great bread and brötchen? You might try looking on your windowsill first. That’s where our best bread comes from because Rainer leaves it there after his Saturday morning trip to his favorite bakery. If that strategy doesn’t work as well for you as it does for us, don’t worry: German bakeries are everywhere. If your little village doesn’t have its own, you may be on the route of a bakery van. One used to stop at my doorstep several times a week, open up the side, and sell me bread, eggs, and small necessities.
Lots of stores have an independently operated bread counter like this one just inside the door. Not just grocery stores have them, but also home improvement stores or department stores do. And you might look for one of these controversial automated bread machines in your local Aldi Süd store:
It’s easy to operate. You push a button once for each item of bread you want, and the machine dispenses that item to the shelf below. You then put your items into a bakery bag and take them to the cashier. An outcry from the bakers’ associations claimed that Aldi Süd is misleading its customers by representing this as a “Backofen,” or bakery oven. It’s more like a tanning salon that merely warms the bread. But Joe and I tried it today, and the bread was crispy and delicious. That’s what matters to me.
Photos taken in October, 2011, in Rodenbach and Weilerbach, Germany. Text and photos copyright 2011 by Clare B. Dunkle.