Bavarian cuisine

Due to its rural conditions and Alpine climate, primarily crops such as wheat, barley, potatoes, beets, carrots, onion and cabbage do well in Bavaria, being a staple in the German diet.

Already in the beginning, Bavarians were closely connected to their neighbours in Austria through linguistic, cultural and political similarities, which also reflected on the cuisine.

An earthenware amphora, discovered in a Celtic chieftain's burial mound in Kasendorf dates back to 800 BCE and considers to be the oldest evidence of beer-making in Europe.

The Napoleonic Wars marked the time with the occupation of Bavaria, the French influenced everything in their own way of life, mainly Haute cuisine.

Regional cuisine in the various states of the German nation has received increasing attention since the late 19th century, particularly that of the larger cities.

"The use of offal and the entire slaughtered animal - especially the calf - from head to toe was a special characteristic of the recipes collected in the Bavarian cookbooks.

French-influenced dishes included Ragouts, Fricassee and "Böfflamott" (Boeuf à la Mode), larded and marinated beef.

[6] The everyday cuisine of the citizens of the state capital Munich differed somewhat from that of the rural people, especially by the greater consumption of meat.

A main reason for the preference for veal in Munich was the striking lack of space in town, allowing for smaller animals only.

With its preserved, near-medieval grid of narrow lanes and streets and similarly narrow, half-gabled houses, including run-through staircases without landings called Himmelsleiter (Jacob's ladder), most people could only afford to keep two pieces or so of small framed livestock in ground floor crates at the rear ends of their houses.