Sounds and Smells of Deutschland

dandc · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Wed Sep 30, 2009 4:59 pm

when i,and other serious drinkers put our gladrags on all we were worried about was how well it slid down our necks,happy days,dave.

Stephen Lock · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:57 am

At those temperatures I'd say the beer was cool. But then again, in the 70's when my parents and I would bip over to UK to visit family (Dad's side) and stay with them what they considered "room temperature" was, to us, downright chilly! If they happened to have radiators in the house, those flat white things, they were almost invariably blood temperature. So serving a beer at "room temperature" also varies LOL Your average Canadian room temperature, for good bad or indifferent, hovers around 65-70 degrees F...I even find it a bit warm and prefer a cooler environment.

Now, having had a few pints in a couple of UK pubs I did find the beer/ale a tad too warm for my tastes. Asking for a cooler beer resulted in ice-cubes being plopped into my mug...not sure if it was because it was a way of shutting the bloody colonials up and showing us or really a case of just not understanding.

German gasthof beer was always served at a temperature I thought civilized.

However, Gordon has a very valid point...with the proliferation of decent beers and ales and such and an understanding that a good beer with a good meal is as much a ritual and...whatever the word is I'm looking for...a culinary experience....as having a good wine with a good meal, he's quite right about the various temperatures various types of beers and ales and stouts should be served at.

The type of glass a beer/stout/ale/Lambic etc is served in also makes a difference in the taste experience.

Drinking a beer right out of the can or bottle....yeeechhh!!! I mean, I've done it and still do on occasion but it certainly renders it less palatable than pouring it -- properly -- into the proper vessel and consuming it.

An ice cold beer on a hot summer's day is one thing.

A properly chilled ale/stout/Lambic served in the proper glass with a good meal is another.

alan8376 · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Sat Oct 03, 2009 7:19 pm

Can anyone put a date on the first 'BFG. BP Petrol Coupons?' I believe the price per litre was 1/3 of German pump price!

When did BFG car registrations first take off?

The cars I had during my BFG tours inc my wife's were, starting from 1967:

Opel Rekord. Reg No. DA 408B
VW Beetle x3
VW Camper
Austin A40 x2
Simca 1100
Mini Metro
Rover SDI 3500
Morris Marina
A moped (French), with the drive over the front wheel which you dropped down once you got going, that is after after peddling like mad!

donald · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Sun Oct 04, 2009 4:05 pm

I may be mistaken,but when I first was stationed at Wolfenbüttel in 1948 the few Officers,who were wealthy enough to afford a car,had BFG registration.Not even the RSM could afford a car then!!!!As I remember the first cars amoung the "ORs" started to appear in the early 50s!I remember when I was posted back to UK my VW had to have Brit registration beginning XX.
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Don

recymech · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Sun Oct 04, 2009 4:39 pm

Chemist wrote:

Stephen just for once I am going to question your logic.

When we returned to the UK (wife & I) we moved to Andover which is pretty close to Salisbury Plain and therefore packed with military,most of whom must have been in BAOR at some time.

There was not one German themed eating place probably nearer than London until one opened in a village just outside Andover. Great we thought, a taste of the old food. Before we could get there it had closed.

Apart from the odd bratty stall turning up at local shows there is no German food in the UK outside London. Why? I don't know.
The most popular cuisine in the UK is Indian/Bangladeshi. Again why?.The answer seems to be that it suits the UK palate. Here in Ireland there are very few Indian/restaurants I think again the food is too alien to the Irish palate.

So although we who have been privileged to enjoy the delights of German cooking, study

I think we are a minority. Our pleasure is not shared by all who have served in BAOR

I went to visit a pal at Tidders a few months a go and was pleasantly surprised to see a Bratty wagon had set up not far from the Police station unfortunately I didn't have time to try the delights he had to offer, but must be a nice addition to Tidworth.

donald · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:36 pm

Lifes funny,now on my last visit to UK in June the first place I headed for was a fish and chip shop.Must say though that since they don't wrap 'em in the News of The World any more they don't taste the same!If you ever visit Detmold head for Rudolphs in the town,best bratties and currywurst going!
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Don

Teabag · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:03 pm

Was in Aldi this morning and noticed they had Senf. They also had either Bratwurst or Bockwurst soup. Can't remember which. Should have bought a can just for the hell of it but was loaded up. (didn't get a trolley).

dandc · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:59 pm

the last time i was in tidworth[69] an extra pub would have bankrupt the drummer,i hope its changed for the better,dave.

Stephen Lock · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:39 am

donald wrote:

Lifes funny,now on my last visit to UK in June the first place I headed for was a fish and chip shop.Must say though that since they don't wrap 'em in the News of The World any more they don't taste the same!If you ever visit Detmold head for Rudolphs in the town,best bratties and currywurst going!
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Don

Ahhh...if I remember Germany and it's schnell-imbisses (brattie stands), I remember visits to UK and fish and chip shops with the newspaper wrapping. Classic. How could they NOT still wrap it in newsprint (News of the World or whatever...does the flavour change if they used, for instance, The Observer or the London Times?). I mean, geez, does no one appreciate tradition???

I remember biting into a lovely piece of battered fish during a blustery cold autumn evening, my collar turned up and hunkering down into my coat, and feeling the warm fish cascade over my palate, the fine white flesh all but dispelling the damp. Suddenly, the world didn't seem so grey and damp after all! Vinegar on the fish and chips too! Lovely....

Apropos to absolutely nothing, but just occurred to me....using mayonnaise on chips. Not the sweet mayonnaise we get here, that doesn't work at all, but the slightly biting mayonnaise slathered over french fries (chips).

When I tell Canadian civvies about eating mayonnaise and french fries one can almost see them cringe. ah well..... Smile

alan8376 · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:45 am

An ideal car market for the Brit squaddies in BAOR was the RH drive VW Bus and Beetle.

Ever wondered why there were so many? Apparently, the German Postoffice (Bundespost) had so RH drives so they could empty and deliver safely mail boxes on the streets!

donald · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:28 pm

Must say it revolts me to see someone eating their lovely crispy chips with Mayonaisse piled on top,but every one to his taste.
The roadsweeping vehicles here are still right hand drive,I take it so the driver can get as close to the kerb or your car as possible!
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Don

Stephen Lock · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:59 am

alan8376 wrote:

An ideal car market for the Brit squaddies in BAOR was the RH drive VW Bus and Beetle.

Ever wondered why there were so many? Apparently, the German Postoffice (Bundespost) had so RH drives so they could empty and deliver safely mail boxes on the streets!

Actually, I noticed just a few weeks ago one of the delivery trucks with Canada Post likewise had a RH drive. I guess I'd seen it before, well I know I have, just never gave it much thought.

Anyway, I asked one of the postal workers who comes into my store about it and she told me the same thing...it was so that the driver didn't disembark into oncoming traffic during deliveries but could scoot out curbside. Made perfect sense! (Unusual, I will quickly add, for Canada Post!).

Not sure of the efficacy of using a RH drive while driving on the right side of the street as opposed to the left but if one is used to RH drive, that too makes sense.

A question, though....why does UK drive on the opposite side of the road to the rest of the world (although I think Australia follows the same suit as UK)? I once heard it had something to do with going down country lanes and coming around a hedge...if one is on the left it gives better visibility or something than if one is on the right, although I can't quite figure that one out.

Stephen Lock · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:07 am

donald wrote:

Must say it revolts me to see someone eating their lovely crispy chips with Mayonaisse piled on top,but every one to his taste.
The roadsweeping vehicles here are still right hand drive,I take it so the driver can get as close to the kerb or your car as possible!
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Don

Ehehehehe....now let me think....[delving into his musty memory banks]....when you say "crispy chips" you are referring to french fries, correct? AKA pommes frites auf Deutsch. See, to us colonials "chips" are potatoe chips, like those made by Frito Lay....

Now, putting mayonnaise onto what I know as "crispy chips" is gross, but on french fries -- assuming one uses German style mayonnaise -- is not so bad although I will admit that when I first encountered the pomme frites mit mayonnaise I think I actually shuddered pale

It is definitely an acquired taste but once acquired, I actually quite liked the combination!

donald · Subject: Re: Sounds and Smells of Deutschland Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:45 pm

Stephen,
I was referring to "pommes",and when in Detmold we decide to have a brattie and chips and see someone piling the mayonaisse inches thick on their pommes then I shudder too.But it must be an aquired taste,as my kids(yack)do it too!
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Don