German Finale Dinner

All of my posts so far have focused on the technical side of the German language, but for my final post I wanted to do something special and delicious. I decided to test my knowledge and cook a German dinner for my mom and I using products brought back from Germany with German instructions. I made Pommes Frittes mit Wiener Schnitzel (French fries with breaded chicken) and Kroenung Salat (Paprika salad).

I started by pouring out the contents of the Wiener Schnitzel into a flat bowl per the instructions then took the chicken breasts and dunked them in the crumbs. Next I put them in the oil and butter, which have been simmering in a frying pan, for about 4 minutes a side.
                                                                        

 
















Now on to my salad, I first had to figure out the strange measurements. In Europe, they use the metric system, now imagine using the metric system but in German. ml is not written the same way especially when cooking. It is written EL so the dressing recipe called for 3 EL Wasser it meant 30 ml of water. I combined the 30 ml of water and 30 ml of oil in one jar with the contents of the packet inside and shook it. It combined beautifully and made a yummy vinaigrette which my mom then poured onto my lettuce.

The 3rd dish I was preparing was the Pommes frittes. They were the easiest by far, I just took some out of the freezer and salted them before placing them in the oven at 450 degrees. After they were in the oven, I cut up a lemon for the garnish.

Finally, I could plate my master piece!

This whole process was very useful and it has helped me improve my reading skills. Edward Swick stated that "You can easily learn the German names of food, beverages, and utensils" (31). I feel that trying to read the ingredients, with the fate of dinner hanging in the balance, helped me recognize words I already knew and to use context clues to infer the rest. In this last picture I can name the chicken (das Hauhnchen), french fries (Pommes frittes), salad (salat), lemon (zitrone), water (wasser), and glass (das glas) (Swick 31-32). 

All in all, I had a lot of fun cooking this great meal and being able to share it with my loved ones. I wonder what other traditional dishes are made by my peers and if they use another language for the ingredients? 

Swick, Edward, MA. The Everythig Learning German Book. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Avon: Karen Cooper, 2009. Print. The Everything.