Taking a trip to Germany and I'm nervous about eating

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BluePHX
BluePHX Posts: 184 Member
in Food and Nutrition
We're going on a 10 day trip to Germany in July, and I am starting to feel a bit nervous about my diet there. Europeans eat differently than we do in the Southwestern US, and I have dairy, wheat/gluten and shellfish allergies that make eating difficult anyway. Top that with being a vegetarian reliant on local Supermarkets for fresh produce I'm not allergic to, and it could be a recipe for disaster if I go in unprepared.

Have any of you been to Germany before or live there? What are their markets like, and how numerous are they? Maybe I could find one close to the Hotel we'll be staying in and have fresh food. We'll be in Berlin for the first 4 days and then Hamburg for the remainder of the trip. Any ideas/advice?

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  • allshebe
    allshebe Posts: 423 Member
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    I was in Munich last summer for two weeks. I'm not vegetarian, but managed to eat without messing myself up for the entire two weeks ( I think I'm just gluten intolerant and no other food allergies and it seems like I sometimes tolerate a little wheat and sometimes not). Your allergies DO present a problem, but there are stores with gluten free products. I found an organic "Whole Foods" sort of place on the main drag in the Munich suburb where I was staying. I think the store might have been part of a chain named "BIO". They had some great gluten free bread - "Unser Sonniges" (might be dairy free also, but my German is not that great - didn't see "Milch" in the ingredients (saved the label), but doesn't mean there isn't dairy by some other name - worth checking out, at any rate. Probably best to stick with "simple", single to few ingredient things with no sauces.
  • BluePHX
    BluePHX Posts: 184 Member
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    Thank you so much. :) I'm gonna google "BIO" and see if there is one in Berlin. :)
  • Dee_84
    Dee_84 Posts: 431 Member
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    I am German and now living in the US, so I can compare both countries.

    You will find plenty of supermarkets in Germany, lots of them carry gluten-free items ("gluten-frei") and soy-milk & yogurt ("Soja-Milch/-Joghurt"). Alpro-Soja is probably the most common brand.
    The produce department is well stocked and actually quite affordable.
    People in Germany, especially in big cities like Berlin & Hamburg, speak English and are more then willing to help with translation.

    Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any more questions, I'm happy to help :)

    Most important: Enjoy your trip!
  • Willowana
    Willowana Posts: 493 Member
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    Who goes to Germany to EAT?! :drinker:
  • zrmac804
    zrmac804 Posts: 369 Member
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    It's been 10 years since my last trip to Germany, so please take my advice with a grain of salt :wink:

    Berlin has a thriving counterculture, and vegetarian and simple, natural foods are easy to find. I can't comment on Hamburg (never been there) but your best bet is probably to look for a health food store (look for signs that say Reformhaus or Bioladen) or farmer's market. Your hotel will be able to help you out, or you can check out a website/guide book beforehand.

    The people that I met in Germany really valued high-quality, natural, fresh food, and looked down on processed food as artificial and inferior. Most cities will have a farmer's marker where you can get fresh produce. One thing I remember is that store hours are much more restricted than they are in north america. Many people have complained about the arcane shopping laws and as far as I know the 24-hour grocery megastore does not exist there. So you should plan ahead (definetely find out when and where the farmers markets are held) and stock up when you can.

    Hope you enjoy your trip, Germany is a fascinating country!
  • BluePHX
    BluePHX Posts: 184 Member
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    Thank you all for the wonderful advice. :) I will be looking into all of these things over the next few months to try and come up with a plan.
  • BluePHX
    BluePHX Posts: 184 Member
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    Who goes to Germany to EAT?! :drinker:

    Haha! There'll be lots of drinking too, I suppose. Although for me it'll be different since I'm gluten free which means no beer. :p
  • pennydreadful270
    pennydreadful270 Posts: 266 Member
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    Oh man I went there for a long weekend and basically just lived on Currywurst. Also our hotel was really multinational and had every possible breakfast food imaginable, from fish for the japanese to chocolate pastries for the french to a waffle iron for the americans. I think I went through the whole thing.
  • BluePHX
    BluePHX Posts: 184 Member
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    Oh man I went there for a long weekend and basically just lived on Currywurst. Also our hotel was really multinational and had every possible breakfast food imaginable, from fish for the japanese to chocolate pastries for the french to a waffle iron for the americans. I think I went through the whole thing.

    Oh man. This is all sounding very good to me. :)
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    You will not have an issue - go to any Tengelmans and stay away from Aldi/Lidl and you will find high quality produce. If you eat dairy, you will have your socks blown off, it is just that good.

    Have a great time.
  • flynnfinn
    flynnfinn Posts: 209 Member
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    hello! i'm an american living in switzerland (close enough to germany) and i think i can help you!

    look for things labeled "BIO". that means organic. if you're looking for gluten-free things, you'll need to go to a "REFORMHAUS" or the "APOTHEK". a reformhaus is similar to a health food store and an apothek is like a pharmacy. you'll find tons of gluten-free items in both shops. there's a big gluten-free movement here in europe so don't worry about that...you'll be fine.

    as far as eating on the go or going out, well, obviously you'll have to stay away from bread, pasta, the usual suspects. but please do enjoy all the bratwurst you can handle! and sadly, no wienerschnitzel for you...that's a big chunk of breaded meat-goodness that translates to gluten-filled gluttony.

    hope that helps. enjoy your trip!
  • aprilgicker
    aprilgicker Posts: 395 Member
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    you can find restaurants that are Vegi friendly just type in the city in the search and go from there. Also, don;t forget that they have websites listed with .de that you may find info in. make sure you are in Google chrome or some other browser that will translate for you. this should help with all your trip planning too.
    Have fun. And if you ride the train follow all the check in rules and don;t get in a car that has a 1 on the side, that is first class, and will be fined for such. They don;t care if you have never.
  • Schnippie
    Schnippie Posts: 34 Member
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    I'm from Germany and you don't need to worry. In big cities it's no problem to find the food you need. The opening hours are something you've to get used to though ;) loved the 24 hours shops in New York when I was there. Don't want to work that shifts but it's nice to have it from the customers point of view ^__^

    Have a nice trip and enjoy your time here!

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