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A taste of Germany from local Maryland stores and the Fort Meade commissary

Real Estate Agent with Thompson Company, REALTORS® 240.593.2860 MD594797

January 05, 2012 01:11 PM

A taste of Germany: chocolates, bread & wine at the Fort Meade commissary and local Maryland stores

Whenever I get a bit Germany-sick (I left Germany a long time ago and very much consider Maryland home) I opt to cure myself with a piece (or a few) of German chocolate or a glass of German wine.

A few years ago I had to rely on my family to send some German goodies or bring a suitcase full when they came to visit. Nobody knew what Nutella* (or similar hazelnut-chocolate spreads) was around here and I had to hunt down a nice bottle of German wine.

How things have changed!

Now I can shop at the commissary at Fort Meade and have quite a selection to choose from, nothing like a German grocery store of course but not bad. They have a variety of things and seem to be adding more and more: from bread to cookies, canned fish to Sauerkraut (of course), sauces to mustard and chocolates to Spaetzle (a type of noodle) ... Imagine my delight when I saw yet another German traditional food hit the shelves recently: Kaiserschmarrn (pictured) - impossible to translate but it's similar to funnel cakes. Mixed with eggs, fried in the pan and dusted with powdered sugar before serving ... mmmmmh!

Nutella (* Note: Nutella is an Italian product originally but it is also produced in Germany and very much a staple of the German diet) is also available at many regular grocery stores - but beware: it is highly addictive! It's just delicious on a piece of bread or bagel but you can also create lots of other sweet dishes with it, a Nutella cake for example! Target now also carries a selection of Rittersport and Milka chololates (the best!) and I no longer have to hunt for German wine.

Of course I still miss the local stuff - Halle/Saale, the city I grew up in, happens to be home to the oldest chocolate factory in the country, and throughout the region of Saxony-Anhalt they brew some great beer and make wonderful wines ... and then there are the breads and the cheeses (we live off that stuff!) but thank heavens there is a Trader Joe's 10 minutes from my house in Elkridge and another one close to my office in Silver Spring.

So next time all you can think off are sausages and Sauerkraut when you think of Germany ... have some Nutella, Spaetzle, chocolate, bread, cheese or wine ... Life is good & delicious!

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Cindy Jones

Integrity Real Estate Group - Woodbridge, VA

Pentagon, Fort Belvoir & Quantico Real Estate News

My mom used to make a great German food and I miss the home cooking. I'll have to check the commissary at Ft Belvoir and see if they have any German treats.

Jan 05, 2012 01:22 PM

Debbie Laity

Cedaredge Land Company - Cedaredge, CO

Your Real Estate Resource for Delta County, CO

I really love German Potato Salad. I can't get my chef husband to make it. It's difficult to come by in Western Colorado. Do you have a great recipe you would share?

I come from the mid west and we had a German Restaurant or two that my grandparents loved to take me to. A lot of my family came from Germany...but that was well over 100 years ago.

Jan 05, 2012 01:25 PM

Andrea Bedard

Thompson Company, REALTORS® 240.593.2860 - Silver Spring, MD

Fluent in Real Estate & German, M.A. ABR ASP CIPS

Hi Cindy: I'm not sure what their selection is like but if you can't find a whole lot, let me know - I'd be more than happy to send some your way!

Hi Debbie: I do, too, as long as it doesn't have bacon in it (not a meat lover). I believe I have one in one of my (or better my hubby's since he's the chef in my house) German cookbooks ... I'll see if I can find it. If not I'll ask my mom!

Jan 05, 2012 01:36 PM

Cindy Westfall

Premiere Property Group,LLC Portland Metro & Suburbs Oregon - Tualatin, OR

ABR,GRI Your Tualatin & Portland Metro Real Estate

Hi Andrea, oh man, you're making me hungry! Kinda like me missing a good old NY pizza...or deli's.....and for some reason the kaiser rolls and bagels just don't taste the same....sigh. I used to get some delish german potato salad at a german deli down the road from where I grew up on Long Island. YUM.

Jan 05, 2012 02:13 PM

Mona Gersky

MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC - Sylva, NC

GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.

Yeah, thanks a lot Andrea. 10:30pm and you've made my stomach growl. It's not fair...just not fair. Glad for you though that you can pick up a taste of home fairly easily.

Jan 05, 2012 02:24 PM

Andrea Bedard

Thompson Company, REALTORS® 240.593.2860 - Silver Spring, MD

Fluent in Real Estate & German, M.A. ABR ASP CIPS

Hi Cindy: Pizza is good to! And thinking about it, I believe they just started selling a German kind at the commissary, too :-) But I don't think those are anything to brag about - the real deal is a whole lot better! Wow, that sounds like potato salad is pretty famous "over" here - good, that's better than Sauerkraut! ;-)

Hi Mona: You know we have some left over in the fridge! I'm sorry, maybe evening wasn't the best time to post this ... but it was really good, I just had to share! Just be glad I didn't post the picture of me indulging in it!

Jan 05, 2012 03:34 PM

Lisa Von Domek

Lisa Von Domek Team - Dallas, TX

....Experience Isn't Expensive.... It's Priceless!

Hello Andrea,

You caught me with "A taste of Germany" - with a last name like mine, who would guess!?! Fun blog, I have to admit, though, I have never tried Nutella...next time I am buying brats, I will add a jar to my grocery list and give it a try.

Jan 08, 2012 06:39 AM

Silvia Dukes PA, Broker Associate, CRS, CIPS, SRES

Tropic Shores Realty - Ich spreche Deutsch! - Spring Hill, FL

Florida Waterfront and Country Club Living

Andrea, it would be nice to have all those things all in one place! I've found a German bakery about 60 miles away from where I live and I make regular trips! Mostly for the bread which is authentic (!!!) but the pastries and Torten are also soooo devine!

Jan 08, 2012 01:31 PM

Andrea Bedard

Thompson Company, REALTORS® 240.593.2860 - Silver Spring, MD

Fluent in Real Estate & German, M.A. ABR ASP CIPS

Hi Lisa: I would never have guessed :-) Let me know when you had your first taste of Nutella but be warned - so addictive, especially if you have a sweet tooth like me! You know the cliche of eating ice-cream out of the box to cure whatever-blueness? Yep, Nutella can have the same effect!

Hi Silvia: There are some German bakeries in Baltimore which I have yet to visit! I was just so excited when Trader Joes' opened close by, they have a few breads some are pretty close! But there is nothing like the real deal - one of the first foods I eat as soon as I get to Germany - a wheat roll with pumpkin seeds!

Jan 08, 2012 03:47 PM

Mary Yonkers

Alan Kells School of Real Estate/Howard Hanna Real Estate - Erie, PA

Erie/PA Real Estate Instructor

Hello Andrea--My heritage is German and I grew up enjoying many German dishes. There used to be a German restaurant that my family frequented for years. We were said when it closed and have not found anything similar. BTW My parents and grandparents used to make their own saurkraut.

Good story about the meet-up with Bridget, Mortgage Mama

Jan 11, 2012 02:31 AM

Andrea Bedard

Thompson Company, REALTORS® 240.593.2860 - Silver Spring, MD

Fluent in Real Estate & German, M.A. ABR ASP CIPS

Hi Mary, I remember my grandmothers making lots from scratch and I miss it a lot! Typically people just think of beer and wurst and sauerkraut when they think of German food but there is soooo much more!

The meet-up with Bridget was a lot of fun - and I'll have to try to make some official ones! It's great to meet the people in person you've connected on AR with!

Jan 11, 2012 02:35 PM