The Penn Stater Magazine

Eating Like the Locals

July 24, 2010 at 3:44 pm Tina Hay 1 comment

Cheese, cheese, cheese, and onions on pizza crust—what's not to like?

We had some exceptionally yummy food—and drink—on our Paris-to-Oberammergau trip.

Case in point was the Alsatian entrée called flammenküche, which you see pictured at right: Basically it’s a thin, rectangular, pizza-like crust on which is piled cheeses, maybe some ham or bacon, and whatever else you’d like. The one shown here is made with onions and trois fromages—muenster, chèvre (goat’s milk), and gruyère. Oh, and there was creme fraiche in it as well. It probably should be served with a side of Lipitor.

This Alsatian dish is called backeoffe.

We ate as a group on several occasions, and one such dinner was at at restaurant in Strasbourg called Gurtlerhoft, a giant cellar that once served as the wine cellar for the famed cathedral across the street. There we were all served a dish called backeoffe—a giant casserole filled with three different kinds of meat topped with sliced potatoes. The thing had been slow-cooking for the better part of a day, and one casserole dish was big enough to serve a table of six or more people.

Backeoffe must be a popular dish in the region, as the ceramic casseroles used in making it were being sold everywhere.

At another meal in Strasbourg, some members of the Penn State group reported having a dessert I wish I had thought of: Gewürztraminer sorbet. Mmmmmm.

This pub in Bamberg, Germany, served a local "delicacy": smoked beer.

In Bamberg, Germany, the focus was on beer. Our local guide told us that the city has nine breweries that make 60 kinds of beer, including several kinds of smoked beer. Apparently they get the smoky flavor by drying the malt over a fire.

At least a few members of the Penn State group gave the smoked beer a try. One of them summed it up this way: “It was like drinking liquid Lebanon bologna.”

Tina Hay, editor

NEXT: Random Weird Facts from the Trip

Entry filed under: Alumni Association. Tags: backeoffe, Bamberg, flammenkuche, Gewurztraminer sorbet, Gurtlerhoft, smoked beer, Strasbourg.