Vegan MoFo day 14: Home away from home

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Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have made a number of trips to Europe to visit my family in Germany. One thing I never considered fortunate, however, was typical German food. Even as an omnivorous child, I found the meat-heavy diet favoured in Germany to be offputting at best. I’ve since discovered that German cuisine doesn’t necessarily have to be the meat-stuffed-with-meat-in-meat-sauce that I’d come across- it can actually be vegan, and delicious too.

Street food, though, is a bigger challenge. When I texted my German-born mother to let her know that the Berlin  favourite, currywurst, was on the menu tonight, she expressed some disbelief (or rather, I surmised as much from her response of ‘whaaaaaaaat?’). But it can be done, and the vegan version is not nearly as bad as child-me would have anticipated.

Currywurst

Like most German street food, currywurst is all about sausage. In this case, it’s smothered with a curry-powder spiked tomato sauce, and usually served with either fries or bread rolls. I went with both- that is, if you replace fries with potato wedges and a bread roll with a hotdog bun- and topped it all with caramelised onions.

I used Vegan Dad’s recipe for bratwurst with a pinch of caraway added, and it worked beautifully. As soon as the spices were added, a familiar smell filled the kitchen and I knew that we had a winner. This recipe for currywurst sauce also couldn’t have been easier or more delicious. Despite the lack of meat, this was surprisingly authentic-tasting alongside a cold beer… and it came with the very authentic uncomfortable fullness that comes after a German meal.

But in true German fashion, the feeding didn’t stop there.

Soft peanut butter pretzels

Because what’s a beer without a pretzel? This unapologetically inauthentic recipe comes from the decadent Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites. The peanut butter in these isn’t that prominent, but they’re so soft and comforting that I don’t mind at all. As a bonus, they’re fancy-looking without a whole lot of effort. These actually came together a lot quicker than I’d expected, and the boiling before baking is just good fun.

So it would seem that I’m now prepared for Christmas in my not-so-vegan-friendly hometown-away-from-home in Germany this year… as long as pretzels are an acceptable choice for the family Christmas meal.

6 Comment(s)

  1. Yum! I really want a pretzel now. i love the food in Germany, there’s a place caked Hot Dog Soup in Berlin which does, you guessed it, awesome sausages & soup!

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    Jojo | Oct 15, 2011 | Reply

  2. They both look super tasty! Now I must make pretzels too.

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    Kelly C | Oct 15, 2011 | Reply

  3. and I thought it couldn’t be done!

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    Elke | Oct 15, 2011 | Reply

  4. vegan dad has a brat recipe? i’m so behind. brats make me think of home, too (but that home is the much less distant wisconsin).

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    corrina | Oct 15, 2011 | Reply

  5. I haven’t made pretzels in ages! I’m lovin’ this idea of currywurst, I need to try that Vegan Dad recipe.
    BTW I’ve nominated you for a Liebster Award! Check it out at http://cookbookaficionado.wordpress.com

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    Maggie Muggins | Oct 15, 2011 | Reply

  6. Erin, I am so going to print out that vegan bratwurst recipe right now!!!! I will have to substitute the soy milk with a nut milk and omit the sage (allergies) but I am sooo excited to try it!!!! THANKS!!!!

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    FloOkYaRtiST | Oct 15, 2011 | Reply

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