Frikadeller

Frickadeller in Onion Sauce

German Grilled Hamburger

Lean Chicken Frikadeller

Grinding your own Blend

Emma's Hot German Potato Salad

Listen to some classic
German Folk Songs
(Volkslieder)

author Pakeha

German Music

Eaton's German Potato Salad

Our German Cookbook

It's not unusual I suppose that one of the most popular foods in America and now around the world is the hamburger. Was it invented in Hamburg, Germany? No but they ate likely a similar food at the docks of Hamburg, Germany where the famous Hamburg-America ship boarded. Foods like sausages and tender meat cakes were portable and could be eaten on the go without a knife and fork.

When these folks were in America they would often eat these "meat cakes" and like someone from London was called a Londoner, folks from Hamburg were called Hamburgers. This is how the story goes anyway.
There are a few different features in a German Hamburger, which they call different names depending on where your from. Ground beef is called "Hackfleisch" or minced beef. Before there were meat grinders folks use to scrape the beef even with a sharp spoon and get strips. Often the meat was from an ox and not tender.

Learn more at ancestry.com

Tenderizing the meat with a Panade

First of all a great way to keep a lean burger together and a good way to keep any burger moist is to use
something I learned in my French chef training as a "panade". My grandma never thought it was something
special it is just the way Germans have done it for centuries.

when you soak bread in a bowl with some milk, and then smooth it into a paste it becomes a great binding agentas well as keeping the protiens in the meat from binding too strongly, and loose it's moiture. James beard was always big on using sour cream in his burgers for tenderness. You can also use yogurt or sour cream instead of milk to make your panade.

Germans also use a blend of beef and pork.

If you ever look on the web for "Best Meatbal" ...or "Best Meatloaf recipe" you will find they use a blend of groundbeef, pork and veal. The combination is miraculous I think, and just makes a heavenly meatball. It is getting near impossible to find ground veal. However German's loose the veal in their burger recipe but it would be nice if you did.

The Addition of Spice
While our burgers are usually seasoned as we cook them with salt and pepper or a seasoning salt many recipes in Germany call for the addition of nutmeg, or caraway. Interesting difference.

German Names for the Hamburger.
Like they don't call a Philly Cheese Steak in Philidelphia, they didn't call a hamburger a hamburger in Germany. They call it a Frikadeller, or in Berlin it is a Buletten, other areas in Bavaria it is sometimes called a Fleischpfanzerl, or a Bratklops, a Klopes is also a meatball.

Frikadeller
also called Buletten, Bratklops, and Fleischpfanzerl

Here are 2 different plates of Frikadeller, one is fried regular and the other is breaded lightly.

I really enjoy making these, they fry up so nice and have incredible flavor.
In this recipe we go all out and use all the things that I have read in many German recipes,

From a nice soft pretzel Panade to German spicey mustard, nutmeg, sauted onions, Emmentaler cheese
were going gourmet German.

Go here to make a nice Frikadeller burger!
With Step by Step Pictures

You can also simmer them in a Sauce
Like this Onion Beer Sauce

These are great seved with some Bratkartoffeln (roasted potato wedges) or a German potato salad,

Grinding your own Beef, Pork or even Chicken Burger There are several ways that you can grind or mince beef or in Germany they call it Hackfleisch. ( Hack Meat) ! In many parts of Europe they just call it "Mince". You can certainly mince your own burger, if you are making a few patties it doesn't really take that long. There are old recipes that call for "scraping" the meat away from the bones and other parts. Here is an old recipe from 1885 that calls for "scraping" the meat Hamburg Steak Piquante from this fun little book called Breakfast Dainties ... Just use a knife and chop it. Yes it takes a bit of time but if it's only a couple burgers it goes fast. You can use a food processor or a Magic Bullet to grind a small amount as well. or of course you can use a grinder, either hand like my grandma or an electric. I use one that attaches to my Kitchen Aid mixer. It works fine for small batches. Make your own very lean chicken breast burger as well. Here is one of our favorite chicken burgers Go here to see how to make a German mix of Beef and Pork Develop your own signature blend of Burger

Go here to see Recipes for
Grinding your own Burger

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3 in 1Grinder
by Kitchen Basics

Meat Grinder
Sausage Stuffer
Pasta Maker

Modern day version of the Crank Grinder

A recipe book and short biography of my Grandmother Emma Block. Her recipes, culture and cooking styles that were brought over from Germany. How they evolved when she came to America in the early 1900s and settled in Portland, Oregon on the west coast of the United States. Over 100 recipes

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Bonus Recipe CD with the Ebook and recipes with step by step pictures

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Biography of my grandma
Emma Block
From Germany with Love tells the story of my grandma, Emma Block, growing up in a little town in Baden/ Würtemberg, Germany near Heidelberg named Steinsfurt. Then at the age of 15 immigrating to the United States, taking a train with one of her sisters and brothers to Hamburg and sailing the Atlantic with other hope filled Germans wanting to make a life in the "New World". It was not easy but with good values learned in her German upbringing made a full life, had a wonderful family with lots of fun and celebration including the great German meals.

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