“Brotzeit“, a term we Bavarians quickly claim to be our own invention, translates to a small meal, that A) typically consists of down-to-earth Bavarian delicacies and B) preferably is eaten in a cozy Bavarian beer garden. Not to be confused with the obsolete greeting “Mahlzeit!” (an abbreviation of “Gesegnete Mahlzeit!”, roughly translating to “Have a blessed meal!”), an expression that is being abused in countless German offices around lunch time (and annoys the heck out of me).
So why is it, that now that temperatures have dropped to somewhere between a pleasant 22 °C and an already chilly 16 °C all of a sudden there is no time left for cooking? During our recent heat wave it was simply too hot to do anything, let alone stand in the kitchen and flip a steak. Now that we’ve survived the hot spell and start to appreciate a few cooler days (ok I could easily do without the rain) I’m swamped with work. I guess you can’t have it all…
Naturally, my favorite coffee bar at work has seen me on a more frequent basis to pick up a sandwich or two. For everyone else struggling with a tight schedule, here is a very basic Brotzeit suggestion: Take a thick slice of the best (German) sourdough bread you can find. For me that would be the Bauernkruste from the Schmidt bakery (Steinstraße 27 and Viktualienmarkt), which has a wonderful tasty crumb and -most importantly- the crunchiest crust! Top it generously with butter, a sliced radish (the small pink ones) or freshly chopped chives and don’t forget to add some coarse sea salt. In beer gardens the white radish is usually cut and served in the shape of an accordion and salted, so it starts to sweat. While a hard core Bavarian (shame on us) is probably supposed to know how to achieve the right look with just a sharp knive, there is also a gadget available supposingly producing nice curls so you don’t have to (oops got carried away, this how zefrank would have ended his sentence – apparently ‘been watching too many clips lately). Anyway that’s just eyecandy, when you’re tight on time, thin slices will do just fine! Stay tuned for more elaborate Bavarian Brotzeit tips…
But no time to cook doesn’t necessarily mean no time to enjoy great food: It took us almost one and a half year since our first contact to finally meet London-based food blogger Johanna in her home country Austria to enjoy a wonderful day with great food in Salzburg.
Aug 10th,
2006
I visit your site almost everyday to check for updates, it's addictive, but I never posted a comment before. Your post about the Bavarian Brotzeil brought back memories of last year's holidays (we visited friends in Augsburg), where we enjoyed beautiful beer gardens and the fantastic food. Thank you!