Hessian cuisine is based on centuries-old recipes, and forms a major part of the

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

identity. Reflecting Hesse's central location within Germany, Hessian cuisine fuses north German and south

German cuisine The cuisine of Germany () is made up of many different local or regional cuisines, reflecting the country's federal history. Germany itself is part of the larger cultural region of Central Europe, sharing many culinary traditions with neighbo ...

, with heavy influence from

Bavarian cuisine Bavarian cuisine is a style of cooking from Bavaria, Germany. Bavarian cuisine includes many meat and Knödel dishes, and often uses flour. Due to its rural conditions and cold climate, only crops such as beets and potatoes do well in Bavaria, be ...

and

Rhenish Hesse Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...

Sour The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...

tastes dominate the cuisine, with

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

s and

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferme ...

and

handkäse ''Handkäse'' (; literally: "hand cheese") is a German regional sour milk cheese (similar to Harzer) and is a culinary speciality of Frankfurt am Main, Offenbach am Main, Darmstadt, Langen, and other parts of southern Hesse. It gets its name ...

with onions and vinegar popular.

Drinks

The

Rheingau The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part of the Rheing ...

, which overlaps with western Hessen, is one of the main

wine-growing Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

regions in Germany, and the smaller

Hessische Bergstraße The Hessische Bergstraße ("Hessian Mountain Road") is a defined region (''Anbaugebiet'') for wine in Germany located in the state of Hesse among the northern and western slopes of the Odenwald mountain chain. With only of vineyards it is the ...

region produces dry wines popular in South Hesse.

Cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

is also widely drunk, especially in the

Frankfurt-am-Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...

area. The local

Apfelwein ''Apfelwein'' ( German, 'apple wine'), or ''Viez'' ( Moselfranken, Saarland, Trier, ''vice'') or ''Most'' ( Austria, Switzerland, South Germany, ''must'') are German words for cider. It is made from a mix of sour tasting apples, such as "Bohna ...

("apple wine", known as ''Ebbelwei'' or ''Ebbelwoi'' in the

Hessian dialect Hessian (german: Hessisch) is a West Central German group of dialects of the German language in the central German state of Hesse. The dialect most similar to Hessian is Palatinate German (german: Pfälzisch, links=no) of the Rhine Franconian su ...

) is traditionally served from a large clay jug called a ''Bembel'' and drunk from a glass with a diamond pattern called a ''Geripptes'' ("ribbed"). Other popular sour drinks include ''Speierling'' – Apfelwein with

service tree Service tree can refer to: * Species of ''Sorbus'', particularly: ** '' Sorbus domestica'' ** '' Sorbus latifolia'', service tree of Fontainebleau ** ''Sorbus torminalis'', wild service tree ** '' Sorbus pseudofennica'', Arran service tree See als ...

berries added – and ''Mispelchen'', a glass of

calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norm ...

or apple

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

served with a

medlar ''Mespilus germanica'', known as the medlar or common medlar, is a large shrub or small tree in the rose family Rosaceae. The fruit of this tree, also called medlar, has been cultivated since Roman times, is usually available in winter and ea ...

. Hessen also includes a number of breweries, with local brands tending to dominate the market in each area.

Food

Handkäse ''Handkäse'' (; literally: "hand cheese") is a German regional sour milk cheese (similar to Harzer) and is a culinary speciality of Frankfurt am Main, Offenbach am Main, Darmstadt, Langen, and other parts of southern Hesse. It gets its name ...

, a strong

sour milk cheese Acid-set or sour milk cheese is cheese that has been curdled (coagulated) by natural souring, often from lactic acid bacteria, or by the addition of acid. This type of cheese is technologically simple to produce. When making soft acid-set cheese ...

, is associated with the Frankfurt area, where it is often served "mit Musik" ("with music")—a dressing of vinegar, onions and often a bit of

caraway Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin (''Carum carvi''), is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Etymology The etymology of "caraway" is unclear. Caraway has been ...

—the "music" referring to the

flatulence Flatulence, in humans, is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environm ...

brought about by the raw onions. Grüne Soße

Outside the Rhine-Main area, the north Hesse town of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

has its

Ahle Wurst The Ahle Wurst (or Aahle Worscht) is a hard pork sausage made in northern Hesse, Germany. Its name is a dialectal form of ''alte Wurst'' – "old sausage". Depending on the shape it is also called "Stracke" if elongated or "Runde" if round. Ahle ...

, an air-dried or smoked

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

;

Speckkuchen Speckkuchen is a type of quiche, a specialty of northern Hesse, Germany. It is a bacon pie/flan with a rye flour crust on the base and made with eggs, and in some villages contains high proportion of leeks or onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' ...

, a

bacon Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...

quiche Quiche ( ) is a French tart consisting of pastry crust filled with savoury custard and pieces of cheese, meat, seafood or vegetables. A well-known variant is quiche Lorraine, which includes lardons or bacon. Quiche may be served hot, warm or co ...

;

Weckewerk Weckewerk is a sausage, native to Northern Hesse, Germany. It is made from cooked brawn and minced meat, veal or sausage, and broth of pork, sometimes from cooked meat, blood and offal. The sausage is stretched with stale bread, explaining the nam ...

, a brawn sausage.

Sauces

Another dish traditional to Frankfurt is ''Grüne Soße'' (or locally ''Grie Soß'') (meaning

green sauce Green sauce or greensauce is a family of cold, uncooked sauces based on chopped herbs, including the Spanish and Italian ''salsa verde'', the French ''sauce verte'', the German ''Grüne Soße'' or ''Frankfurter Grie Soß'' (Frankfurt dialect), ...

). It's a mixture of herbs, eggs, oil, and vinegar—which might be served with boiled eggs, potatoes or

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

. Kassel and northern Hesse are known to have their own variety of or special recipe for ''Grüne Soße'', which is prepared with seven different chopped herbs, usually with sour cream, quark and/or yoghurt, and sliced boiled eggs. It differs in both appearance and taste. ''Duckefett'' is a simple

sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French word t ...

and a regional specialty in northern Hesse, particularly in

. It is made of

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

sour cream Sour cream (in North American English, Australian English and New Zealand English) or soured cream (British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, wh ...

, and occasionally cooked and

condensed milk Condensed milk is cow's milk from which water has been removed (roughly 60% of it). It is most often found with sugar added, in the form of ''sweetened condensed milk'' (SCM), to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condens ...

is added. As for side dishes, they are usually Duckefett potatoes, potato dumplings, served occasionally. Because of the low-cost ingredients Duckefett was long considered

peasant food Peasant foods are dishes eaten by peasants, made from accessible and inexpensive ingredients. In many historical periods, peasant foods have been stigmatized. They may use ingredients, such as offal and less-tender cuts of meat, which are not ...

Sweets

Although the area is not known for its sweet recipes,

Bethmännchen ''Bethmännchen'' (German for "a little Bethmann") is a pastry made from marzipan with almond, powdered sugar, rosewater, flour and egg. It is a traditional cookie usually baked for Christmas Day and is widely available in chocolate shops around ...

are popular in Frankfurt at Christmas time, and Haddekuche, a form of hard gingerbread scored like a Geripptes, is a traditional accompaniment to Apfelwein. Schmandkuchen, a flat tray-baked cake consisting of a sponge-mixture bottom topped with a thick layer of sour cream/smetana (called "''Schmand''" in German) and traditional whipped full-fat cream, spread generously with loose sugar and cinnamon before being served, is a favored and well-known dessert all over the state, in Northern as much as in Southern Hesse.

References

External links