The relation between Alsace and gastronomy is a big story. Often of Germanic influence, there is no lack of original and delicious dishes. Here is a small tour of Alsace’s culinary specialties.
Baeckeoffe
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Baeckeoffe is a stewed dish cooked in a traditional terracotta terrine and served in it.
It consists of lamb, beef and pork, marinated for 24 hours, with carrots, potatoes, leek, onions and spices. Before cooking, the terrine is sealed air-tight with dough.
Traditionally the Baeckeoffe had to be cooked for 24 hours on a wood fire, today it takes about 4 hours in a traditional oven.
Sauerkraut
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The traditional family dish by excellence; sauerkraut is prepared with finely cut cabbage, lacto-fermented in a salt brine.
It is usually accompanied by smoked meat such as loin, cumin sausages, pork belly and potatoes.
But sauerkraut can also be served in different ways, for example with fish.
Flammekueche
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The flammekueche, or tarte flambée, is considered to be the Alsatian pizza. The traditional type is prepared with a thin dough that crumbles once cooked, cream, diced bacon and onions.
It can be adapted to all kinds of flavors, topped with cheese, with Munster cheese, and even with apples.
The Flammekueche is ideal to eat on the go or to share as an appetizer.
The Kougelhopf
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This is the Alsatian brioche! The Kougelhopf is a brioche with leavened dough, baked in a terracotta mold characteristized by its shape: high fluted and hollow in its middle.
The Kougelhopf can be sweetened with raisins soaked in kirsch and almonds for decoration, or salted with speck (smoked pork belly) and nuts.
The cottage cheese pie
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The Käsküeche in Alsatian, is a thick and creamy pie. It is made with cottage cheese, cream, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
With a coffee or a hot chocolate, this Alsatian cheesecake is ideal for a snack or at the end of a meal.
Mannala
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Mannalas are small buns that are made for Saint Nicolas day on December 5th.
But these buns have the particularity to have the shape of small men.
The Alsatians eat mannalas on Saint Nicholas’s day or the week before, for breakfast or even for dinner with a bowl of hot chocolate and a little butter as a spread.
The salade vigneronne
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When you think of a salad, you may think of a relatively healthy dish. However, the winegrower’s salad is only named after it.
This salad is very appreciated by the Alsatians; it is essentially composed of cervelas a kind of cooked sausage and finely cut cheese with a vinaigrette, and possibly, sometimes, with a bit of lettuce.
The schenkele
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These small fried doughnuts, which literally mean “small leg”, are traditionally prepared during the carnival period.
They are large, slightly elongated doughnuts covered with sugar and/or cinnamon. And they’re delicious!
The Blood Sausage
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It may seem like an unappetizing dish because it is made from blood, but blood sausage is becoming more and more popular, especially among young people.
Blood sausage is one of the oldest known sausages, neglected in recent years, it is beginning to be revived by chefs.
Whether it is accompanied by apple sauce or mashed potatoes and onions, blood sausage is to be tried, you may be surprised.
Lewerknepfle
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For the Alsatians the Lewerknepfle are THE greatest childhood memory, all will have a story to tell you with their grandparents around a plate of Lewerknepfle.
Enjoy these liver dumplings with potatoes and a green salad.
Pfluta
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These grilled semolina patties are a delicious winter meal.
A quick and easy recipe accompanied with homemade applesauce with chunks make it a delight.
Biersuppe
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This beer soup is a dish over three centuries old. It was traditionally a dish for the poor, it was made in the abbeys and they served it to the poorest because it had hygienic and medicinal properties.
Nowadays, biersupp is an integral part of the region’s gastronomy and terroir.
Presskopf
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The presskopf, or head cheese, is an Alsatian delicatessen made of pieces of pork that are not very appreciated such as the cheek, the snout or the tongue.
Cooked with small pieces of vegetables or pickles, the pieces are then pressed and molded in jelly.
Don’t miss this speciality, often offered on appetizer boards or as a starter with a small green salad.
Fleischnaka
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Fleischnaka is a speciality from Alsace but more particularly from the region of Mulhouse, which means meat snail.
It is traditionally made of the leftovers of hotpot, which are chopped to make a stuffing and then placed on a noodle dough and rolled, which gives it its snail-like appearance.
The roll is cut into slices which are pan-fried and served with the hotpot broth.
Onion tart
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An essential recipe in Alsace, the onion tart, or Zwiebelkuche, is a simple family dish.
Composed mainly of shortcrust pastry, smoked bacon and a ton of onions, this dish is a treat, but it is best avoided during a first date.
Riewele soup
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This is a great little soup to warm up after visiting an Alsatian Christmas market.
Riewele soup is a beef broth to which is added tiny hand-madedough balls made of flour and egg.
Depending on the person who prepares them, the Riewele will be larger or smaller.
Lammele
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The Lammele, pronounced “lamala”, is an Alsatian speciality prepared exclusively during the Easter period.
This lamb-shaped cake is traditionally offered on Easter morning, or after the Easter mass at the end of Lent.
This very soft and sweet pastry is also baked in a clay mold just like Kougelhopf.
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