German Food Glossary – All the Terms You Need to Know!

When you are interested in learning about German culture, the best way to go about it is to learn about their food. Germans have some of the yummiest dishes you’ll find across the globe. With a rich culture and people who love eating traditional dishes, Germany and German Deli Food has much to offer!

Germans are proud of their bread, and they are among the few who continue to value their baking traditions. You’ll find a variety of bread in Germany and in various German stores in the US. They prepare simple but heavy dishes with lots of vegetables, meat, beer, and bread. Previously, the meals used to be heavier, but now you can expect lighter versions of their food.

There are some great desserts, cookies, sausages, and spices in German cuisine that will help you expand your vocabulary of German food terms!

Let’s take a quick peek at the German food glossary and find the best foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at amazing German delis.

German Sausages

Blutwurst: The translation of Blutwurst is blood sausage. They are made of pork rind and blood that’s cooked with barley. Blutwurst is cooked before they are sold, but people warm them before eating. Hot blutwurst is served with mashed potatoes and sweet apple sauce for the dish called “Himmel und Erde.”

Bratwurst: Wurst is sausage, and Bratwurst is a sausage made of pork. A common side dish with this sausage is Sauerkraut.

Currywurst: It’s a German dish made with bratwurst. The sausage is boiled, fried, and then doused in tomato and Worcestershire sauce. After that, curry powder is dusted on the sausages.

Frankfurter Würstchen: They are commonly known as Vienna sausages, franks, wieners, or hot dogs. They are popular in New York street food, but most people don’t know that these are actually German.

Leberwurst: Also known as Liverwurst or liver sausage is a special type of sausage made of the liver. These sausages are spreadable, and the recipe changes from one region to another. Some of the common spices in Leberwurst are black pepper, thyme, nutmeg, Marjoram, and ground mustard seeds.

Thüringer Rostbratwurst: It’s among the most popular and oldest-known sausages in German cuisine. Thüringer Rostbratwurst dates back to 1404, and it has a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status.

Weißwurst: These are white sausages from Bavaria. The ingredients used to make Weißwurst are pork back bacon and minced veal. The ingredients are not preserved or cured like many other sausages. Bavarian Weißwurst is served before noon, and a pint of beer is perfect for washing it down.

Wurst: It means sausage. German sausages are extremely renowned all over the world. They are available in vacuumed packages, cans, or glass jars. Germans have around 1,500 types of sausages. The extensive sausage market includes beef (Rind), veal (Kalb), venison (Wild), and chicken (Huhn).

German Food Glossary

Bienenstich: It’s the Bee Sting Cake which is quite popular in German cuisine. The cake has four layers: sweet yeast cake, vanilla cream, a second layer of yeast cake, and crunchy almonds. The almonds are honey-flavored (the reason it’s called bee sting cake).

Brezel: It’s a different type of bread product that’s part of German cuisine. The dough is shaped into twisted knots before baking.

Dampfnudeln mit Vanillesauce: It’s a traditional Bavarian dessert with steamed yeast dumplings. The main ingredient is smothered in vanilla sauce. You can have this dessert with beer.

Dille: Dille or Dill (in English) is mistaken for fennel on various occasions. As they appear feathery green when fresh, they remain distinct in flavor with a unique and pungent taste. Dille is mostly used in seafood, potato salads, and pickled cucumbers.

Flammkuchen: It’s a crispy, thin rectangular pizza that is topped with onions, bits of bacon, and crème Fraiche. Germans say they invented it, and the French adopted it, and the French say the opposite. It’s a perfect lunchtime meal with beer.

Hering: It is a staple favorite in the northern region of Germany. These fishes are fished out of the Baltic and North Seas. Herring, or as they write it in German, Hering, is eastern pickled, raw, canned, or smoked.

Käsekuchen: This is a German cheesecake made of Quark, which is the most popular cheese in Germany.

Käsespätzle: It’s a German-style pasta with bits of seasoning and a lot of cheese. Germans mostly have meat-heavy dishes, so Käsespätzle is a pleasant break from all that meat. You’ll love it on a cold winter day.

Kuemmel: It’s known as caraway, small seeds that are sold dry. Kuemmel looks like celery or cumin seeds. They are important to German cuisine as they are mostly used in rye bread and cabbage specialty dishes. Despite looking like cumin, Kuemmel is different in aroma and flavor.

Leberkäse: This is a German meatloaf also known as Fleischkäse. This is a common snack in the southern region of Germany.

Lebkuchen: These are cookies integral to German Christmas. During the holiday season, you’ll find Lebkuchen everywhere in German grocery stores and Christmas markets. The cookies are similar to gingerbreads, but they are less crispy.

Majoran: It’s a green-stemmed plant that tastes milder than oregano, but the flavor is recognizable. It’s called Marjoram, and it has a slightly savory flavor. Majoran is used in herb butter and meat dishes.

Maultaschen: These are meat-filled dumplings from the Swabia region. It’s a classic food of the Swabian area and is made of mincemeat and vegetables. They are fried first and then served in stock or gravy.

Mittlescharfer: It means medium-spicy mustard in German. This type of mustard is made of yellow and brown mustard seeds. Sometimes, the mustard is mixed with horseradish and called meerrettichsenf.

Petersilie: Commonly known as parsley, this herb is from the Mediterranean region. German cuisines use Petersilie frequently to add a pleasantly mild flavor to the dishes. It goes well with onion and minced garlic mixtures.

Quark: This is German cottage cheese. Quark is a favorite ingredient in German cuisine. It is somewhat similar to cream cheese, and almost half of the total cheese consumption in Germany is Quark. It’s soft and creamier than other cheeses.

Rote Grütze: The red berry pudding is made of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, red currants, and cherries. The “pudding” is topped with cold fresh cream, whipped cream, ice cream, or vanilla sauce.

Sauerkraut: After fermenting cabbage with a variety of lactic acid bacteria, you get Sauerkraut. It’s a popular side dish in German cuisine.

Scharfer Senf: It’s an extra spicy or sharp mustard made of the same ingredients as Mittlescharfer, but with a higher percentage of brown mustard seeds.

Schnitzel: It’s a dish that consists of fried veal cutlets. Technically, Schnitzel is from Austria, but it’s extremely popular in Germany. They also serve it in different styles. Wiener Schnitzel is from Vienna, and it’s served with potato and veal.

Schwarzbrot: It means German bread, which is dark brown in color. The bread is made of wholemeal rye flour. German grocery stores and bakeries have a wide selection of Schwarzbrot.

Schwarzer und Weisser Pfeffer: We know these terms simply as black and white peppercorns. These spices are native to Asia and imported to Germany as they are needed in almost all German dishes.

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte: This is the black forest cake! The authentic black forest cake in Germany is different from the popular one in the US. It has layers of chocolate cake, whipped cream, sour cherries, and chocolate shavings. Unlike its US counterpart, the German version has more Kirsch liqueur.  

Schweinefleisch: Schweinefleisch is pork meat which is a popular source of meat in Germany. The pork meat comes packed in glass jars, vacuumed packs, or cans.

Sekt: Sekt is referred to as sparkling wine.

Süße Senf: It means sweet mustard. Sausages are often served with Süße Senf. It hails from southern Germany.

Vanillekipferln: These are German cookies shaped like crescents. Vanillekipferln is from Nördlingen, a Bavarian town. The cookies are made of walnuts, but some variations use almonds or hazelnuts too. Read our complete guide to the best German cookies to learn more about these and many others!

Wacholder: These are dark blue juniper berries. Wacholder grows on prickly bushes, and they have a clean flavor. It starts with a bitter taste and leads to a much sweeter flavor. The berries are grown in the higher wood areas in the native country. In “bouquet garni,” a wacholder can replace bay leaf.

Wein: Wine production in Germany is the result of strict production, labeling, and distribution laws. Riesling is a popular wine made of white Riesling grape. It’s light and fruity, and the production of this wine follows legal denomination law.

Weinbrand: this is the official name for brandy in Germany. The brandy is distilled from high-quality grape products.

Weißwurst-Frühstück: It’s a popular dish and highly recommended by those who’ve tried it. Weißwurst-Frühstück consists of two boiled sausages, a large pretzel, sweet mustard, and a pint of beer. They are usually eaten before noon.

Zwetschgenknoedel: It’s known as German plum dumplings, which is an after-dinner treat. They are little dumplings made of Quark and slightly tart plums. Quark is a soft cheese that provides a mild flavor and adds a texture to the dough.

We hope you enjoyed our German Food Glossary. If you would like to learn more about history, be sure to read our History of German Delis.