Cuisine of My Ancestors: German

Continued from Cuisine of My Ancestors: Irish

I mentioned in my series introduction that I only recently discovered a German ancestor. His youngest daughter married my Irish great-great-great-grandfather, but everything I have on her uses an Anglicized version of their original surname. So it had been a dead-end for quite awhile. Then I spent some time researching this on Ancestry.com during a library visit (library patrons can access the library's account for free). That's when I learned of the original surname spelling. 

My 4x-great grandfather was born in 1758 in Westernau, Nassau, Germany (modern day Westernohe in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in western Germany). When he was 23 years old he was mustered into the Waldeck Regiment of the German army. They arrived in North America in 1781 to fight for the British in the American Revolution. The British hired auxiliary troops from their foreign allies, in this case, one of the German states. Because Waldeck was a town in the state of Hesse, they were later known as Hessian "mercenaries," which technically isn't correct. Mercenaries are hired private armies, while those hired from other nations are considered auxiliary troops. So they should have been called Hessian auxiliaries. For his service, my ancestor received a 100-acre land grant in Nova Scotia, Canada.

The time period I looked at was 1400s to 1700s, although I couldn't find recipes that were time and region specific. So I settled for some old traditional German dishes. For the ones I chose, I found numerous variations, from which I worked out my own recipes. 

Menu

Königsberger Klopse

Boiled yellow potatoes

Rotkraut (also called Rotkohl)

Pfeffernuesse

Königsberger Klopse (German Meatballs)

Ingredients

For the meatballs 

• 1 pound mix of ground pork and beef
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 slices pumpernickel rye bread (soaked in a little milk)
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 cups broth (I used beef broth)

For the sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups reserved meatball broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (I used our goat cream, of course)
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Salt and white pepper, to taste

Instructions

Meatballs:

• In a large bowl mix mix all ingredients except broth
• Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes
• Shape into 12 meatballs
• Bring the broth to a simmer in a pan, and add the meatballs.
• Simmer 15–20 minutes, or until they’re cooked through and firm to the touch. Internal temperature should be 160°F (71°C). 
• Use a slotted spoon to remove the meatballs from the broth. Keep warm. Reserve 1.5 cups of strained broth for the sauce. 

Sauce:

• In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
• Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1–2 minutes
• Gradually add the reserved broth, whisking out the lumps. 
• Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently for 2–3 minutes until it begins to thicken.
• Stir in cream, capers, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard.
• Simmer and stir for another 2–3 minutes until it’s smooth and velvety. 
• Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper.
• Return meatballs to the pan with the sauce, gently spooning sauce over them
• Warm the meatballs in the sauce over low heat for 5 minutes

Serve over egg noodles or boiled yellow potatoes.

Recipe notes

• I served them with plain boiled yellow potatoes (not pictured).
• For the meatballs, the recipes I found called for white bread, but I substituted pumpernickel because rye bread was popular in Germany. It was a good flavor addition.
• Quite a few recipes for this called for anchovy paste, which I omitted. 

What did we think?

• Oh gosh, these were fantastic. This project is helping me realize how stuck-in-a-rut my cooking tends to be. I always grab the same ingredients and seasonings for everything. I'm seeing that I can expand our flavor repertoire with just a few ingredients I always have on hand anyway.
• For example, my current meatballs are always seasoned with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powders, then sauteed in olive oil. Different spices and simmering in beef broth was a tasty change.
• The capers are considered a signature ingredient and were new for us. We thought they were okay, but I don't know that I'd buy them again just for this recipe.
• I heated the leftover meatballs and sauce several days later and served them over egg noodles. That was really good too.

Rotkraut or Rotkohl (Red Cabbage)

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, halved and sliced
• 1 medium apple, sliced
• 1 medium head red cabbage, shredded (about 8 cups)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp bacon grease
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Instructions

• Melt bacon grease in cast iron pan or Dutch oven. 
• Add the onion and apple and cook over medium heat until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. 
• Stir in remaining ingredients
• Covered and cook until cabbage is tender, about 1 hour. Stir occasionally. 
• Serve warm or cold.

Pfeffernuesse (Peppernut) Cookies

These are a traditional German Christmas cookie. The original recipe made 10 dozen, so I cut it in half.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon anise extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/21 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup confectioners sugar

Directions

• Heat in a small saucepan until melted: molasses, honey, and butter 
• Remove from heat; cool to room temperature. 
• Stir in eggs and extract.
• Combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, cardamom,
• nutmeg, cloves, pepper and salt. Gradually add molasses mixture and mix well.
• Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C).
• Roll dough into 1-in. balls. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. 
• Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. 
• Roll in confectioners sugar when cool.

I've looked at recipes for pfeffernuesse in the past but for some reason, wasn't inclined to try them. I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted these! The combination of the spices + anise + pepper was different but delicious. It felt like we were eating cookies for grown-ups. I plan to add them to our regular Christmas cookie list.

With that, I have to say that we really liked everything. I'll make it all again, for sure. It's been interesting to try familiar types of foods which are prepared with different seasonings. I always seem to grab the same spices for everything I cook. Trying different ingredients and new flavor combinations has been a fantastic exercise.

Next post - our Tudor English meal.

Cuisine of My Ancestors: German © 2025

by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com