The Evolution of Berlin's Cuisine: A Journey Through the City's Food Scene

Berlin, one of Germany's poorest cities, has undergone a significant transformation in its culinary landscape over the years. The city's turbulent history, which includes the fall of the wall and the rise of cheap international restaurants, had a profound impact on its food culture. Unfortunately, Berlin's own cuisine was neglected for many years, but locals have since changed their attitude towards food production and quality, leading to a resurgence in traditional recipes and innovative new dishes.

One way to experience this evolution is by visiting Berlin's community gardens, where residents grow their own fruits and vegetables using old-fashioned techniques. These gardens are scattered throughout the city, with over 65,000 plots providing a taste of traditional German food. At one such garden, I met Uncle Tom, a proud gardener who shared his knowledge of traditional recipes with me. His garden is surrounded by a wall, but he has managed to create a small outdoor space that showcases his culinary skills.

Uncle Tom's passion for cooking is evident in the variety of dishes he serves up, including raw minc pork sandwiches, which have been a Berlin staple for over 100 years. These sandwiches are made with freshly grown vegetables and meat, all sourced from within the garden. The combination of flavors and textures is truly delicious, and I was impressed by Uncle Tom's enthusiasm for preserving traditional recipes.

Berlin's culinary scene has also been influenced by its unique history and cultural heritage. One dish that stands out as a personal favorite is Kingburg Kopser, an old Prussian specialty that was deemed luxurious in the past. This unusual mix of ingredients, including minc meat, onions, anchovies, salt, pepper, bread, eggs, capers, and lemon, may seem peculiar at first, but it's truly delicious. I visited a cozy old restaurant that serves this dish, where the chef explained the history behind it and shared his passion for preserving traditional recipes.

Another aspect of Berlin's cuisine is its love for fish, particularly pickled and smoked fish. The city's oldest fishmonger, Raki, has been in operation since World War II and specializes in creating sausages without intestines using a unique technique called Spanda. This unsalted unsmoked sausage served with tomato paste and spices took Berlin by storm when it was first introduced. I visited this renowned restaurant to try their famous Currywurst, which is made with juicy sausage served on a stick.

Berlin's culinary scene is also characterized by its quirky sense of humor and cultural pride. The locals I met along the way were warm and welcoming, but not afraid to show their unique personalities. They are passionate about preserving traditional recipes and sharing their culture with others. One restaurant I visited was particularly notable for its approachability and enthusiasm for food. The chef's use of humor and creativity in presenting dishes made for an entertaining dining experience.

In conclusion, Berlin's culinary scene has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years. From the community gardens to the restaurants serving traditional recipes, there is no shortage of delicious food to explore. Whether you're interested in trying new dishes or experiencing the city's unique culture, Berlin has something to offer every food lover.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enberin has long been one of the poorest cities in Germany its turbulent history dramatically hindered culinary development the fall of the wall saw arise in cheap International restaurants being widely spread across the city and unfortunately Berlin's own Cuisine was neglected over the past few years the city's food landscape has drastically changed for the better locals have changed their attitude towards food production and food quality and a younger Bolder generation has begun to challenge the culinary mainstream as well as embracing their culinary roots in this munchie's guide I'll give you a taste of long forgotten dishes the food of the new generation and introduce you to some lovely people in this Unique city that is Berlin I'll start off by getting to know old school bin and eating some of the most traditional recipes the city has to offer first off is one of the 65,000 garden plots scattered around the city where I hope to try a raw minc pork sandwich that has been a Berlin staple for the last 100 years hi so from what I understand people aren't actually allowed to live here this is basically just a place for people to have a garden who normally live in flat so we're going to visit Uncle Tom a bolina and his garden house they've got a few traditional German food treats for us maybe he's Uncle Tom isn't here okay that is a Bea yeah come on yeah cooking and I love how everybody's basically built a wall around their little garden this is the wall outside of the garden but they've still managed to coordin off the area outside of the garden and the fence love it we came the wrong direction but this side was beautiful yeah nice to meet you I'm kabita yeah I'm Tom wow Tom and the tomatoes that's crazy it's like we're in the middle of the Mediterranean how long have you had this Garden P month V wow how many people have houses in this area 2,500 2,500 that's huge Uncle Tom's in the kitchen preparing a few snacks for us what is this okay is this something you used to eat when you were young is this is this traditional yeah I eat that all time you eat it all the time yeah is it your favorite in the morning in the evening when you sit an around special you talk then is that good now then po I don't know where to start wow it's actually not that bad good with a pickle yeah I eat everything I eat all of the you know the inner like the stomach I can eat that I eat kind of Labor a kind oh no but this you eat this I think you have to have a little bit of onion with it onions the onions are important from raw meat to boiled meatballs one of the most famous local dishes and a personal favorite of mine is kingburg kopser an old Prussian specialty that was deemed very luxurious back in the day it has an unusual mix of ingredients which initially sounds a little peculiar so to find out more about this delicious dish I'm going to melin a cozy old place that takes you back in time to a forgotten era of Berlin the meat bows are made by minc Meat of B beef then you have onions in it ancho salt and pepper of course bread anchovies gives it the Special flavor right and a little bit of eggs I think and uh in the sauce it's made by the Bro of the meat BS you have in the end you have some capers in it and a little bit of lemon to make it a little bit shower so Madam the wow I must apologize maybe the portion could be a little bit too small it's definitely too small more Let It Be know I hope you enjoy really excited about eating enjoy thank you I'm a huge fan of comfort food and this is just good comfort food but with a little twist like you would never have Anchovies and capers in comfort food why is capers and anchovies a dish that represents Berlin I don't know berin is weird but it's super tasty Wonder yummy you're a tough lady not that was very um interesting wasn't so bad no no it isn't bad it's not bad I'm using it it's just very unusual yeah Bina is surrounded by 3,000 Lakes so naturally fish is quite important in belin's cuisine in particular biners love their pickled and smoked fish I'm going to raki the city's oldest fishar to find out a bit more about these traditional techniques so we're about to head into raki which is basically um a fish smokery I think it's the oldest one in Berlin it's been around since 19 19 28 and it's kind of like developed into like a food court specializing in fish let's go that side cuz that's where all the fish is here you see the special sausage cabinet smells like smoked and a little less like fish most of this fish is being smoked or will be smoked in the ra at the back there wow that's crazy fish here what is that type of fish this is I how do you get the best quality smoked fish the when are we going to start eating stuff can I join you not allow yeah but why did you come to raki today I said very nice ni nice to stay here and also feeling the smell from the food what stay here so nice in the night we pre from say stay here yes let taste some of this fish the smoked fish but eel is very difficult to cut isn't it because the skin is a bit like leather yes all right here okay you do it for me on this side on the right on the left side you now you get oh the jelly yes that's the good part right this one maybe you cannot eat it it is very hard very but it's good for you right it's a very nice very smoky very fatty it's delicious it's very good it would be a crime to leave berin without eating a whole lot of Curry V shortly after World War II a new technique arose that made it possible to create a sausage without the intestine around it it was called spanda on aella Hower hver took this unsalted unsmoked sausage and served it with a special sauce made of tomato paste and many spices she called it special Cy brat and it took Belin by storm this little Imus behind me serves the best Cory V in Ballo you might have heard of Cory and ders you might have heard of kopas but it's Cals inlets that is going to serve us the Delight that is okay oh what's that I there I have to say it's not very traditional to see it on a stick it's like a sausage lollipop but as she said that's how she does it so I'm going to eat it that way too I have a feeling that the oil from her car is actually wor a sauce the sausage is very juicy the ketchup doesn't really taste like industrial ketchup tastes good very sweet what does the kiv mean for Berlin the old school biners I've met along the way seem to have a unique sense of humor and enjoy using it to present their culture and culinary Pride they might not seem that approachable on the first instance and they certainly don't waste time with fake pleasantries but they definitely have big hearts and are open to getting to know you it was a real eye opener for me meeting these characters and getting a little insight into their world Pro that it's very much their quirkiness and openness that are embedded in belin's personality on the next episode we're going to take a tour of the original street food places that have shaped Berlin's casual dining scene\n"