Alsatian cuisine facts for kids
Alsatian cuisine is the traditional food from the Alsace region in France. It mixes French and German cooking styles. You'll find a lot of pork dishes here! Alsace is also famous for its delicious wines and beer. The food is known for being hearty and served in big portions, perfect for sharing with friends and family. It's one of France's richest regional kitchens.
Contents
Tasty Alsatian Dishes
Savory Specialties
Alsace has many traditional savory dishes. Some popular ones include baeckeoffe, flammekueche, and choucroute. You might also find cordon bleu, Vol-au-vent, spaetzle, fleischnacka, and bretzel. Instead of regular coq au vin, Alsace has "coq au Riesling" which uses local white wine. Southern Alsace is known for carpe frite, which is fried carp fish. Alsace has also made foie gras since the 1600s.
The most famous dish in Alsace is probably the Choucroute. This dish is a local type of Sauerkraut. The word sûrkrût in Alsatian means "sour cabbage." To make it, cabbage is finely cut, layered with salt and juniper berries, then left to ferment in wooden barrels. Sauerkraut can be served with different meats like poultry, pork, or sausages. Traditionally, it comes with pork, Strasbourg sausages, bacon, or smoked sausages. Steamed potatoes are often served on the side.
Another very famous dish is the baeckeoffe. This is a hearty stew made with potatoes, vegetables, and three kinds of meat: pork, lamb, and beef. All the ingredients are cooked together in a special pot called a terrine. It's cooked slowly in the oven for many hours with Alsatian white wine and herbs.
The flammekueche (also called tarte flambée) is also very popular. Some people call it Alsatian pizza, but its dough is much thinner. It's usually topped with a mix of crème fraîche (a type of sour cream) and fromage blanc (a fresh cheese), along with bacon strips and onions.
Alsace is also known for its tasty fruit juices and mineral waters.
Sweet Treats
Alsace has many sweet specialties too! One famous one is the kougelhopf, a special cake. There's also a German-style cheesecake called fromage blanc tart. Another dessert is Mont-Blanc, which is called torche aux marrons in Alsace. You can also find streusel here.
Around Christmas time, people bake many different biscuits and small cakes called bredala. They also make pain d'épices (gingerbread). For Saint Nicholas Day (December 6th), a special brioche shaped like a little person, called manala, is traditionally baked.
Alsace Wines
Alsace is a very important wine-producing region in France. Most Alsace wines are white and have a strong German influence. Alsace is known for producing some of the world's best dry Riesling wines. It's the only region in France that mostly makes wines from a single grape type, similar to Germany. A great example is Gewürztraminer.
Alsace wines are made from seven different grape varieties: Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Muscat, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, and Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is the only red wine made in Alsace.
The region also makes a sparkling wine called Crémant d'Alsace.
Beer in Alsace
Alsace is the main beer-producing region in France. This is thanks to many breweries located in and around Strasbourg. Some well-known breweries include Fischer, Karlsbräu, Kronenbourg, and Heineken International. There are also many smaller, local breweries. The plants used to make beer, called Hops, are grown in areas like Kochersberg and northern Alsace.
Schnapps
Schnapps is a strong alcoholic drink traditionally made in Alsace. However, it is becoming less common. This is because fewer people are making it at home, and people are drinking less of these traditional, strong alcoholic beverages.
See also
In Spanish: Gastronomía de Alsacia para niños
Images for kids
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Cervelas à l'alsacienne (Alsatian cervelas)
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Tarte flambée alsacienne (Flammekueche)
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