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Edit: removed. (My post was too negative and was just me venting.)

by doopfoopdoop 7y ago

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
lainga 7y ago
It's a shame. If a country can't show you its culinary best at a university cafeteria, where else can you go?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- quelltext 7y ago
  There it is: Don't eat at cheap places. I really wouldn't bash a country's food based on bottom tier experience. I have to agree though that it's easy to end up in a bad place and in Germany there's no limit to how disgusting it can get. Germans do seem to have a higher tolerance for this. Of course nothing beats the university cafeteria but I don't know anyone who likes that food, it's just that the typical student cannot afford to avoid it. On the other hand there are not that many countries I can think of with high standard of living and minimum wage where food is consistently great even when comparatively cheap.
  - blattimwind 7y ago
    You can eat very cheaply in Germany, but if you do that, you probably can't complain about the quality.
    - _ph_ 7y ago
      Food prices are very low in Germany. They are extremely low, if you cook yourself and even restaurants are not that expensive in international comparison. But indeed, if you go to extremely cheap places, you can have really bad food too - but that is independant of the food style. They make bad Italian food too :).
  - keiferski 7y ago
    The low-cost food in Japan is still quite tasty and of good quality. Edit: I’d probably add Poland to the same camp. Basic food is still quite good.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- Symbiote 7y ago
  Copenhagen University canteen at its best: https://imgur.com/a/bg5XzLd https://imgur.com/a/bg5XzLd They only achieve this level of taste every couple of weeks or so (and this presentation a couple of times a year) but that's a huge improvement on the British universities I am familiar with. I've visited one university in France, and it was a normal presentation but excellent quality, and a fairly normal day according to the locals.
_Microft 7y ago
> I get slightly sick every single time I eat at my university's cafeteria. A different idea regarding this: are you maybe eating a different cuisine normally? A change in cuisine can lead to digestive problems because your gut bacteria will be adapted to one but not the other and that needs time to change.
- HorstG 7y ago
  Another possibly related factor in univerity cafeterias: The kitchen personell are public employees, underpaid but unfireable. As our cafeterias head chef told me, this causes them to not caring one tiny shred about anything. The chef can't discipline or fire them, first because of the protections as public employees and second because he can't find replacements. Therefore, even simple stuff like properly cooking noodles, checking if the chicken is done or basic hygiene is a challenge... With the obvious consequences. My suggestion for cafeteria food is: Avoid anything that could be harmful if prepared improperly, because it will be.
  - Symbiote 7y ago
    Don't you have food hygiene requirements? In Denmark the university cafeterias are outsourced to private companies, and subject to the same quality standards as any restaurant or other place that prepares food.
    - HorstG 7y ago
      We do. But the bureacracy responsible for enforcement is toothless, understaffed, intransparent and sometimes maybe even corrupt: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayern-Ei-Skandal https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayern-Ei-Skandal https://m.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/wursthersteller-wilke-hinz-gesteht-fehler-bei-kontrollen-ein-16435735.html https://m.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/wursthersteller-wilke-h...
quelltext 7y ago
I dunno, everyday German food in the South is not that bad. Not bad "because German food" for sure. German food is not that boring or dull. It really depends on the restaurant/cook, though, and yeah, the quality of those is pretty much hit and miss. Still, with some research you can find good ones. Cafeteria food, esp. at universities, forget it. I could never stomach it and rather cooked for myself (lunchbox or just go hungry and eat at night) when I couldn't afford to eat at proper places.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- _ph_ 7y ago
  Yes, cafeteria food can be increadibly bad to the point where I wonder whether the cooks are especially trained to achieve this. With the same costs as in ingredients, one should be able to make much better food. Also, they often overuse cheap oil, so that can be difficult to stomach. If you get well cooked German food, a lot is outright excellent, with the style strongly varying across Germany. Northern and southern German cuisine is very different. I personally prefer the southern style. Also, there is quite a bit variation between south-east (Bavarian) and south-west German cooking. In a sense there is a food continuum between France and Austria, with different parts of southern Germany on different points of that continuum. Likewise, if you go to eastern France, like the Alsace, the French food blends with German cuisine.
glofish 7y ago
I also LOL-ed when I read "german food" being an attraction. Like bratwurst and spatzle?
FabHK 7y ago
> Everyday German food is absolutely horrendous. […] It is the worst of the seven countries I've lived in, by far. Lucky you, sounds like you haven’t lived in countries with bad food. First, everyday food in Germany is also Italian, Turkish, Croatian, Lebanese, etc. - delicious cuisines. Second, there is plenty of good traditional German food (Käsespätzle, Leberkäse, Currywurst, Rouladen, Bratkartoffeln, Erbsensuppe, Schnitzel, not to mention the huge variety of bread, cold cuts, and cheese). It’s not haute cuisine, but tasty. Third, even the run-of-the-mill everyday German (Schnitzel, Pommes, Salat) is not as bad as you make it out to be. Lastly, any larger city will have somewhat decent instantiations of other cuisines available, too.
- lucb1e 7y ago
  What (kind(s) of) countries would you say have bad food?
  - FabHK 7y ago
    My point was more that if German food was the worst among the seven, then they must have all been reasonably decent, at least.
    - shakermakr 7y ago
      The problem is often cultural food (ie non German) quickly changes to the German palate. There was an incredible Indian restaurant opening here recently. We visited a few months later and it was half as good. Asked the owner: “yeah well, Germans like it not hot, salty, and fatty”. Same with Italian: it’s quantity over quality. And the supermarkets are woeful. It’s hard even to get an “exotic” herb like cilantro often. After living years in Germany I’d say, the Germans don’t love food for foods sake, unlike say the French, where it’s a passion.
      - KozmoNau7 7y ago
        My girlfriend's family lives in Baden-Württemberg, and I can't really recognize your impressions of woeful supermarkets nor of Germans not appreciating good food. Go to any Edeka, and you'll be spoiled for choice, including fresh herbs. And while German traditional food may not be as high concept or artistic as other cuisines, there is a definite pride in using good quality ingredients and making deeply satisfying meals. It's a more down-to-earth way of appreciating good food. A simple platter of good sausage, local cheese, fresh butter and crusty bread is nothing fancy to look at, but it is deeply satisfying. Regarding the restaurants from other cultures adapting to local tastes, that happens everywhere, and is a real shame for those of us with adventurous taste buds.

Edit: removed. (My post was too negative and was just me venting.)

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

lainga 7y ago

It's a shame. If a country can't show you its culinary best at a university cafeteria, where else can you go?

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
quelltext 7y ago
There it is: Don't eat at cheap places. I really wouldn't bash a country's food based on bottom tier experience. I have to agree though that it's easy to end up in a bad place and in Germany there's no limit to how disgusting it can get. Germans do seem to have a higher tolerance for this. Of course nothing beats the university cafeteria but I don't know anyone who likes that food, it's just that the typical student cannot afford to avoid it. On the other hand there are not that many countries I can think of with high standard of living and minimum wage where food is consistently great even when comparatively cheap.
- blattimwind 7y ago
  You can eat very cheaply in Germany, but if you do that, you probably can't complain about the quality.
  - _ph_ 7y ago
    Food prices are very low in Germany. They are extremely low, if you cook yourself and even restaurants are not that expensive in international comparison. But indeed, if you go to extremely cheap places, you can have really bad food too - but that is independant of the food style. They make bad Italian food too :).
- keiferski 7y ago
  The low-cost food in Japan is still quite tasty and of good quality. Edit: I’d probably add Poland to the same camp. Basic food is still quite good.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
Symbiote 7y ago
Copenhagen University canteen at its best: https://imgur.com/a/bg5XzLd https://imgur.com/a/bg5XzLd They only achieve this level of taste every couple of weeks or so (and this presentation a couple of times a year) but that's a huge improvement on the British universities I am familiar with. I've visited one university in France, and it was a normal presentation but excellent quality, and a fairly normal day according to the locals.

_Microft 7y ago

> I get slightly sick every single time I eat at my university's cafeteria. A different idea regarding this: are you maybe eating a different cuisine normally? A change in cuisine can lead to digestive problems because your gut bacteria will be adapted to one but not the other and that needs time to change.

HorstG 7y ago
Another possibly related factor in univerity cafeterias: The kitchen personell are public employees, underpaid but unfireable. As our cafeterias head chef told me, this causes them to not caring one tiny shred about anything. The chef can't discipline or fire them, first because of the protections as public employees and second because he can't find replacements. Therefore, even simple stuff like properly cooking noodles, checking if the chicken is done or basic hygiene is a challenge... With the obvious consequences. My suggestion for cafeteria food is: Avoid anything that could be harmful if prepared improperly, because it will be.
- Symbiote 7y ago
  Don't you have food hygiene requirements? In Denmark the university cafeterias are outsourced to private companies, and subject to the same quality standards as any restaurant or other place that prepares food.
  - HorstG 7y ago
    We do. But the bureacracy responsible for enforcement is toothless, understaffed, intransparent and sometimes maybe even corrupt: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayern-Ei-Skandal https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayern-Ei-Skandal https://m.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/wursthersteller-wilke-hinz-gesteht-fehler-bei-kontrollen-ein-16435735.html https://m.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/wursthersteller-wilke-h...

quelltext 7y ago

I dunno, everyday German food in the South is not that bad. Not bad "because German food" for sure. German food is not that boring or dull. It really depends on the restaurant/cook, though, and yeah, the quality of those is pretty much hit and miss. Still, with some research you can find good ones. Cafeteria food, esp. at universities, forget it. I could never stomach it and rather cooked for myself (lunchbox or just go hungry and eat at night) when I couldn't afford to eat at proper places.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
_ph_ 7y ago
Yes, cafeteria food can be increadibly bad to the point where I wonder whether the cooks are especially trained to achieve this. With the same costs as in ingredients, one should be able to make much better food. Also, they often overuse cheap oil, so that can be difficult to stomach. If you get well cooked German food, a lot is outright excellent, with the style strongly varying across Germany. Northern and southern German cuisine is very different. I personally prefer the southern style. Also, there is quite a bit variation between south-east (Bavarian) and south-west German cooking. In a sense there is a food continuum between France and Austria, with different parts of southern Germany on different points of that continuum. Likewise, if you go to eastern France, like the Alsace, the French food blends with German cuisine.

glofish 7y ago

I also LOL-ed when I read "german food" being an attraction. Like bratwurst and spatzle?

FabHK 7y ago

> Everyday German food is absolutely horrendous. […] It is the worst of the seven countries I've lived in, by far. Lucky you, sounds like you haven’t lived in countries with bad food. First, everyday food in Germany is also Italian, Turkish, Croatian, Lebanese, etc. - delicious cuisines. Second, there is plenty of good traditional German food (Käsespätzle, Leberkäse, Currywurst, Rouladen, Bratkartoffeln, Erbsensuppe, Schnitzel, not to mention the huge variety of bread, cold cuts, and cheese). It’s not haute cuisine, but tasty. Third, even the run-of-the-mill everyday German (Schnitzel, Pommes, Salat) is not as bad as you make it out to be. Lastly, any larger city will have somewhat decent instantiations of other cuisines available, too.

lucb1e 7y ago
What (kind(s) of) countries would you say have bad food?
- FabHK 7y ago
  My point was more that if German food was the worst among the seven, then they must have all been reasonably decent, at least.
  - shakermakr 7y ago
    The problem is often cultural food (ie non German) quickly changes to the German palate. There was an incredible Indian restaurant opening here recently. We visited a few months later and it was half as good. Asked the owner: “yeah well, Germans like it not hot, salty, and fatty”. Same with Italian: it’s quantity over quality. And the supermarkets are woeful. It’s hard even to get an “exotic” herb like cilantro often. After living years in Germany I’d say, the Germans don’t love food for foods sake, unlike say the French, where it’s a passion.
    - KozmoNau7 7y ago
      My girlfriend's family lives in Baden-Württemberg, and I can't really recognize your impressions of woeful supermarkets nor of Germans not appreciating good food. Go to any Edeka, and you'll be spoiled for choice, including fresh herbs. And while German traditional food may not be as high concept or artistic as other cuisines, there is a definite pride in using good quality ingredients and making deeply satisfying meals. It's a more down-to-earth way of appreciating good food. A simple platter of good sausage, local cheese, fresh butter and crusty bread is nothing fancy to look at, but it is deeply satisfying. Regarding the restaurants from other cultures adapting to local tastes, that happens everywhere, and is a real shame for those of us with adventurous taste buds.