Käsebrot mit chili.jpg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The German word ''Butterbrot'' (literally: butter bread =
bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...
with butter) describes a slice of bread topped with butter. The slice of bread could be served with cheese, sweet toppings or a slice of sausage and it is still called Butterbrot. The words in formal and colloquial German and the different dialects for ''butterbrot'' (different from ''belegtes Brot'' - with
cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
, sausages etc.), simply ''Brot'' ("bread"), ''Butterstulle'', ''Stulle'', ''Schnitte'' (all three
Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...
/ Berlinerisch dialect), ''Botteramm'' ( Colognian dialect, cf. Dutch boterham), ''Bütterken'' (Lower Rhine dialect) to ''Bemme'' (
Upper Saxon German Upper Saxon (german: Obersächsisch, ; ) is an East Central German language spoken in much of the modern German state of Saxony and in adjacent parts of southeastern Saxony-Anhalt and eastern Thuringia. As of the early 21st century, it's mostl ...
) or ''Knifte'' (
Ruhrdeutsch Ruhrdeutsch (Ruhr German) is a regiolect of German spoken in the Ruhr area. Through immigration, its vocabulary has been influenced by Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian dialects as well as from Eastern German dialects, Polish langua ...
). Although it is increasingly replaced by other foods, it remains a common
staple food A staple food, food staple, or simply a staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for a given person or group of people, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and ...
in Germany. Since 1999, the last Friday in the month of September was made the ''Day of German Butterbrot'' by the Marketing Organization of German Agricultural Industries. Russian adopted the term ''buterbrod'' () from New High German (Butterbrot), perhaps as early as the 17th century during the reign of
Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
. In modern Russian the term has a more general meaning, whatever the ingredient on top of the slice of bread is. From Russian, the term ''buterbrod'' was adopted into
Azerbaijani Azerbaijani may refer to: * Something of, or related to Azerbaijan * Azerbaijanis * Azerbaijani language See also * Azerbaijan (disambiguation) * Azeri (disambiguation) * Azerbaijani cuisine * Culture of Azerbaijan The culture of Azerbaijan ...
,
Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...
,
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
,
Kazakh Kazakh, Qazaq or Kazakhstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kazakhstan *Kazakhs, an ethnic group *Kazakh language *The Kazakh Khanate * Kazakh cuisine * Qazakh Rayon, Azerbaijan *Qazax, Azerbaijan *Kazakh Uyezd, administrative dis ...
,
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
, and
Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
.


Comparison with sandwiches

A ''Butterbrot'' is commonly a single slice of bread and one ingredient on top of the butter or
margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The spread was orig ...
. For
breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or "t ...
, this ingredient tends to be sweet and can be marmalade,
jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...
,
honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
,
chocolate spread Chocolate spread is a sweet chocolate-flavored paste which is eaten mostly spread on breads and toasts or similar grain items such as waffles, pancakes, muffins, and pitas. Although it tastes, smells, and looks like chocolate, it does not solidif ...
, hazelnut spread, or the less common
peanut butter Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Peanut butter is consumed in many countri ...
. For dinner or as boxed lunch, and often also for breakfast, the ''Butterbrot'' is eaten with something savoury on top, usually a large slice of cold meat or cheese or sliced German Wurst, or one of the countless cream cheese varieties, or even an entire Schnitzel or halved mince meat patty, or hard boiled egg slices or egg salad, or other spreadable creamy salads, or smoked salmon, or various savoury spreads like liverwurst, including also a wide range of vegetarian spreads. Boxed lunch ''Butterbrot'' can be folded for easier handling, and as such resembles the sandwich. In Austria ''Butterbrot'' only refers to a slice of bread with butter. If a topping is added it is named after the topping (e.g. ''Käsebrot'' "cheese bread", ''
Wurstbrot A Wurstbrot is a slice of bread spread with slices of lunch meat or sausage. Additionally, the bread may be buttered to taste. It is a very simple and typical German type of sandwich, generally home-made, eaten cold, and popular as a snack, pac ...
'' "sausage bread"). The derivatives of the British sandwich and the ''Butterbrot'' of the German-speaking countries differ in some ways: The ''Butterbrot'' is usually made from the typical bread types of German-speaking countries, which are much firmer, juicier and fuller in taste, and with a crispy crust, compared to English sandwich slices. One popular type is ''Vollkornbrot'' (wholegrain bread), which has a sourish full savoury taste, due to the use of
sourdough Sourdough or sourdough bread is a bread made by the fermentation of dough using wild lactobacillaceae and yeast. Lactic acid from fermentation imparts a sour taste and improves keeping qualities. History In the ''Encyclopedia of Food Microbio ...
as a leavening agent, and which often contains
rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...
, albeit bread made from wheat flour is usually the most common variety. Vollkornbrot exists in dozens of varieties with respect to taste, shape, color, etc. However, Germans also know a large variety of white or mixed bread kinds, baguette or ciabatta are so common they are sold in every supermarket, and many modern German families simply eat
toast Toast most commonly refers to: * Toast (food), bread browned with dry heat * Toast (honor), a ritual in which a drink is taken Toast may also refer to: Places * Toast, North Carolina, a census-designated place in the United States Books * '' ...
with topping for breakfast, as it's cheaper and faster. Another very popular bread type is ''Brötchen'' ( bread rolls), of which countless varieties exist in any possible shape, size and made from any possible flour combination. Likely even more important are differences with respect to what is eaten on top of a ''Butterbrot'' or in a sandwich. Although exceptions exist, a ''Butterbrot'' is commonly not expanded the way sandwiches are. One slice of cheese and one or (in case of thin slices) maybe two slices of cold
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 ...
are commonly considered sufficient; adding lettuce, tomato, pickles,
onions 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 ...
, mustard,
mayonnaise Mayonnaise (; ), colloquially referred to as "mayo" , is a thick, cold, and creamy sauce or dressing commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, composed salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various other sauces, such as tartar ...
etc. happens only following individual preferences. Also the ratio of bread and "topping" is relatively constant, thick fancy sandwich fillings have almost no equivalent for the ''Butterbrot''. German speakers differentiate between the German-style ''Butterbrot'' and the British-style ''sandwich'' by using the English word "sandwich" for the latter.


Present-day use

In German-speaking countries, the ''butterbrot'' has been displaced gradually in the last 40 years by muesli, breakfast cereals or
toast Toast most commonly refers to: * Toast (food), bread browned with dry heat * Toast (honor), a ritual in which a drink is taken Toast may also refer to: Places * Toast, North Carolina, a census-designated place in the United States Books * '' ...
for breakfast and take-away bakery products during daytime. Nonetheless, it remains a common staple food among many Germans. In addition it remains popular in the evening. It is also eaten a lot on hiking trips. In many parts of Germany the butterbrot is still very common for second breakfast at school or work (much more often eaten than, for example,
fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...
). Usually in September every year, the Central Marketing Society for German Agriculture (CMA, the agricultural industry's now-defunct lobby group) used to declare a "day of the German Butterbrot". The 8th Butterbrot day's motto in 2006 was: "Re-Experience Enjoyment". The celebration was one of many "Days of..." and not very well known in Germany. In Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other former Soviet republics, ''buterbrod'' hasn't experienced any decline and remains a common staple of food. It is usually distinguished from sandwiches. In the Russian language, the term ''сэндвич'' (''sandwich'') hasn't been russified to the same degree and hasn't been in use as long as ''buterbrod'', and usually ''sandwich'' is only used for two slices of bread with some ingredient in between, especially sandwiches made in fastfood chains and restaurants.


Urban legends

Butterbrot is said to always fall to the floor (and especially on carpet) with the buttered side downwards; an example of Murphy's law. A common explanation is that the top side is usually heavier than the bottom side, particularly if the bread has additional toppings such as Nutella or jam. Another is tied to the common height of tables. The subject has been researched by various sources, including the German children's series ''
Die Sendung mit der Maus ' (''The Show with the Mouse''), often simply ' (''The Mouse''), is a German children's television series, popular nation-wide for its educational content.Bernhard Borgeest"Von Mäusen und Machern"''Focus, official website. (March 12, 2001) Retr ...
'', and the scientific German TV series ''Quarks & Co''. It is often joked about what would happen if you tie a butterbrot to the back of a cat, in the same manner that hypothetical buttered toast attached to the back of a cat is sometimes joked about, with it being debated whether the feline would still honour the popular axiom, that a cat "always lands on its feet", or if the butterbrot would be "stronger", making the cat fall on its back — alternatively, it is sometimes humorously suggested that the cat would simply levitate, as it would be unable to satisfy both criteria for landing.


See also

*
List of butter dishes This is a list of notable butter dishes and foods in which butter is used as a primary ingredient or as a significant component of a dish or a food. Butter is a dairy product that consists of butterfat, milk proteins, and water. It is made by ...
*
List of sandwiches A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
* Open sandwich


References


External links


German Food Guide: Das Butterbrot, The German Sandwich
{{Authority control Sourdough breads Sandwiches German cuisine German sandwiches Foods featuring butter