Thursday, July 31, 2014

"Study the past if you would define the future.” ― Confucius



GUYS. When I participated in the school exchange to Nürnberg, my host family brought me to this AMAZING living museum. The Fränkisches Freilandmuseum in Windsheim was incredible! There were historical houses from all over the Franconian area that were painstakingly moved to the museum area piece by piece. Not only was the atmosphere awesome, the people who worked there were awesome too. I'm going to be honest, my German is viel schlecht. The people who were in period dress talked to me in a combination of really basic German and English, which made the whole experience so much more enjoyable.



Ok, ok. Sorry. I know this is a food blog, and trust me...this place can deliver on the food front. When we spent some time with the employees (who chill and do period appropriate things in awesome historically accurate costumes), one of the ladies taught me about Griesklöschensuppe. Unfortunately for us, I was so intrigued about the whole Franconian cooking style...I forgot to take pictures. OOPS. Regardless, Griesklöschensuppe is exactly what it says. Greis (Semolina, a grain common in Franconian cooking..remember kids, corn is american) klöschen (chen in German means little, and Klöß (or klös) means dumpling..basically, little dumpling) suppe (soup. Yeah, I'm sure you guys figured that one out.) This particular employee worked as a cook for the others, as a 'housewife'. She spent hours in a tiny, wood stove dominated kitchen that had to be at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit . BUT she got to make tons and tons of Griesklöschensuppe. And that was kinda cool.



And this is what I had to eat. I'm sososososso sorry, but I can't find the menu online...I'M OFFICIALLY THE WORST. But hey, I can try and break it down for you. Sort of. Alright. I'm almost positive that the lovely brown stew was a pork goulash. It had large portions of pork shoulder and a nice big dollop of butter in the middle. The yellow, noodley things are called Spätzle. IT WAS SUPER DELICIOUS. What I did was mix the two together, and enjoy my saucy Spätzle and pork. There was a few caveats, however. It was a bit salty (but let's be honest, what German food isn't?), and the portion was HUGE. There was no way I could finish it! The salad was a simple mixed green conglomeration with a nice ranch-esque dressing and TONS of cabbage. Just in case I forgot I was in Germany. That drink in the corner is Spezi, (also called Mezzo Mix) and orangey Coke kind of soda. I love it!
Overall, the meal was different (for me) and very satisfying. I mean, after a morning of walking around and soaking up history, what better lunch was there? NOTHING. It cemented the whole experience for me. Fully authentic, with a glob of butter on top. YUM!





Final Verdict?
I loved it. I'm convincing my biological family to take a trip to Windsheim as we speak. It'll be so cool! I'm a total history nerd and have fallen head over heels for my new country, so this is the perfect place for me to spend another day. Two thumbs up!


Thanks for reading


~Julia


BONUS PICTURES!



This pig is named Sigfried after the famed German fairy tale hero in Die Nibelungen. You guys need to look that crazy story up. It's all kind of wonderful and insane! Also, check out his curls. I couldn't help but take a picture.












This is one of the super gorgeous houses on the property. Look at those roses!











The fields were also historically accurate and absolutely gorgeous!



Ending this on an adorable note, check out these Ente! (Ducks in German. I mean, they are German ducks.)




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