I spent some time in Germany last year, and the pretzels/sauerkraut/doner/spaetzel/currywurst are all top notch.
But holy fuck, fleishkase. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I returned to the US. I’ve looked up how to make it several times, but it seems pretty complicated. Damn me and my lazy American tendencies.
That and the beer. I discovered that Dunkels are my fucking jam. Ugh, so good.
TIL that they call it “Fleischkäse” in Germany… Here in Austria it’s “Leberkäse” (liver cheese) even though there isn’t any liver in it (anymore).
But yes, nothing better than a Semmel with a thick slice of Leberkäse. ❤️
You’ll often find it called it either and it never had anything to do with Leber, but Leib… which doesn’t mean that certain regions don’t put liver in it. Calling it Käse is the suspicious part.
Above the Weißwurstäquator it’s known as “that Bavarian stuff” because German law says that if you call something Leberkäse then it has to contain liver unless it’s called Bayrischer Leberkäse. You also won’t find Brezeln, or, differently put, only ones which sole purpose it is to insult Bavaria (same thing the English do with Croissants) and as to Sauerkraut, it’s severely out of fashion. Weißkrautsalat, Rotkohl, yes, but you’re basically more likely to find someone who figured out Kimchi than people who eat old-style Sauerkraut.
The native stuff up here is falscher Hase, that is, the same (approximately) meatloaf that Anglos know.
The Swiss apparently exclusively call it Fleischkäse.
On Wikipedia it’s stated the other way around. “Leber-” because there was actually liver in it some time ago and “-käse” due to its shape.
Admittedly, the first place I ever had it was a commercialized bakery (Barbarossa), and the meat was grilled and it was served on a roll that was crisp on the outside and softer on the inside - delectable. Since that’s what I first saw it called, I just thought that was the name. Had no idea it was regional!
And then everywhere else I went, if it was on the menu, I got it. There’s a restaurant down a little side street off the main drag in Trier that serves it with potatoes and sauerkraut.
Any way I had it was so good!
BUT ALSO. Bruh. I love you as much as an internet stranger can. I just googled “leberkase San Antonio”, and there is apparently a German society here that serves it on Tuesdays.
I’m. Fucking. Stoked. Thank you!
