Things I'm going to miss about Germany #3: Grillen (Barbecuing old skool)
Barbecuing is alive and well in Germany. Real old-fashioned charcoal briquet barbecuing. “Call the whole gang, we're having a party” kind of barbecuing.
Germans can be criticized for being slow to change but in this case they should be applauded for protecting and nurturing a wonderful tradition.
Barbecuing here is still a real event. Everyone uses briquets. You dont just throw a switch and start cooking. When there's planning involved, when you need a big chunk of time, when you can't do something half-heartedly, then you end up really looking forward to it.
Propane, they say here, is only for the lazy and uncultured and for those without taste buds. Most Germans will tell you that food cooked on a gas barbecue tastes like..., well..., propane.
It's the dirty heavy old bag of coal that makes a German barbecue so magical. You have to start the coals an hour or more in advance and get them glowing. In that time you can of course sip on a cold pilsner or two and chat away with a free conscience - you are after all doing something important: you're watching the coals.
The most important preparation actually starts the day before. If you're going to go to all the trouble with coals and waiting, then you're not just chucking some cheap meat on there - you have to swing by the market and get some special spiced and marinated cuts. And of course you have to make potato salad.
This for me, by the way, is the biggest sign of just how important barbecuing is to Germans. Potato salad is for many people here their Christmas Dinner. That's right, when we eat turkey, they're eating potatos and onion mixed with mayo. Every barbecue here then could be seen to be on par with Christmas Dinner. I love these people.
“Wir grillen” means we're barbecuing and everyone's invited. If they don't have a garden or bit of a balcony, they take their little $5 hibachi-like stand and head to the river. You can rent a grillplatz (barbecuing area) at some bigger city parks.
This morning there were two articles in the paper warning about the dangers of “wildes grillen” (wild barbecueing). Seems the authorities are threatening to crack down on people who head to the river or other city parks to barbecue in “unauthorized locations”.
It's not so much the mess they leave behind, which is considerable, but the smoke. There is actually a law in this city limiting tenants to five barbecues per year. Luckily I live in a part of town where everyone ignores this rule.
Of all the smoke and pollution here, nothing makes me happier than the sweet filthy stench of charcoal. Im going to miss it.