Say Cheese!

Being lactose intolerant, I haven’t eaten a lot of good cheese in my life. Due to this, I was expecting to miss out on a lot of good food in Germany, but luckily there is so much lactose-free cheese here! Back home, I had to eat what my family calls “fake cheese”, which is basically a mixture of plant oils and various binding ingredients. It only came in two varieties (cheddar and mozzarella), didn’t have a lot of taste, and hardly melted. However, the cheese here is completely the opposite. There are so many options, and it’s basically just regular cheese without lactose. It’s the first time I’ve been able to eat real cheese, and cheese is amazing. 

While there are so many varieties that I still have left to try, I would say that so far Gouda is my favorite. I also like the different goat and sheep cheeses, especially on fresh Brötchen! I also love going to the markets and seeing the carts selling giant rolls of cheese. Germans take their cheese seriously, which is great because it means that the cheese is absolutely delicious.

It’s definitely a common thread in German cuisine; a lot of the food that I eat with my host family has cheese. We have potatoes baked in the oven with cheese on top, lasagna, and pasta with cheese, for example. A common supper is bread with meat and cheese. For school, lots of students bring sandwiches from home with ham and cheese to snack on during breaks. It’s everywhere, and as mundane as it is, the cheese is one of my favorite things about Germany! 

Until next time, 

Grace