Spoonfuls of Germany


by 12 Comments

A tiny pear kicks off “The Year of German-American Friendship”

Friends and families from Germany have often remarked that rural northeast Pennsylvania where I live looks just like Germany, and they jokingly ask me, “Doesn’t it sometimes feel like you’ve never left?”

The answer is yes, … and no. In my more than 20 years in America, I have experienced America as a country that is very different from my native Germany in many aspects but I have also found a lot of common ground between the two countries.

Showcasing and exploring how closely Germany and the United States are linked together through deep historical ties and shared values is what The Year of German-American Friendship (“Deutschlandjahr USA”) is all about. And I am excited that Spoonfuls of Germany was chosen as one of 200 partners participating in this major initiative. Continue reading →


by 10 Comments

Almost white asparagus soup

When I was growing up in Frankfurt, Germany, every year from May through early June we had white asparagus for dinner almost daily. And I often complained, “Och, schon wieder Spargel…” (“Ew, asparagus again…”). “One day,” my mother warned me, “You will long for these days.”

My mother was right. Now as an adult living in the United States I do, indeed, long for the white asparagus bounty of my childhood, especially for Cream of Asparagus Soup, which is hands-down my favorite white asparagus dish. Continue reading →


by 9 Comments

Peeling away the layers of German-Jewish Cuisine

The Prologue to The German-Jewish Cookbook describes how Stephen Rossmer, the father and grandfather of the mother-and-daughter team of authors, Gabrielle Rossmer Gropman and Sonya Gropman, bought a black radish at the farmers’ market in Bamberg, a type of radish not available in the United States at the time. Continue reading →