Sweet and savoury: this is what the Lower Rhine tastes like

At a Lower Rhine afternoon coffee break, white bread and currant loaf but also rustic bread and Rhenish black bread are served. These contrasts give it a unique appeal: ham, liver sausage and salami on the one hand, plum jam and sugar beet syrup paired with apple cake or bee sting cake on the other. Sweet meets savoury and the coffee flows till the cows come home.

Incidentally, this tradition developed from farmers’ sandwiches. They were eaten when farmers came in from the fields and before they moved on to the barn to tend to the animals. Afternoon coffee is usually a big affair nowadays. You get together in a homely atmosphere and the conversation wanders from topic to topic. It’s open-ended, and so the session often leads to enjoying a delicious Altbier.

Anyone who wants to know what the Lower Rhine typically tastes like would do well to visit a farm café or one of the rustic inns at the side of the road. Traditional Lower Rhine dishes like Schnibbelskuchen (potato fritters) or Muurejubbel (carrot soup) are served. Never heard of them? But you should: you’ll love our potato pie and carrot stew. Give it a try. It’s worth it.

That also goes for many a delight. Roast goose with dumplings and red cabbage or kale with Kassler (salted and smoked pork) are on the menu; venison ragout or steak with a mustard crust are frequently ordered as well. Pancakes are always in season, and winter smells of cinnamon and spiced biscuits or baked apples with vanilla sauce. A sheer delight for the palate after an eventful day out in nature. This is what the Lower Rhine tastes like.