Am I a German Cook Now?

This weekend I cooked a meal that was – in my opinion – so German that it forced me to stop and think about how my cooking has changed in the last four months. The meal was a roasted pork loin with sauted apples with ginger, new potatoes, and cabbage. (And my new favorit beer, a dark wheat beer.)

Ask me on a day-by-day basis if my cooking has changed since I moved to German and I'd say no. I still make many of the same things that I cooked at home in New York and in North Carolina. But, when I really reflect on what we've been eating I can't deny that the local ingredients have had an effect on me.

For one thing, we're eating more meat then we ever did in the U.S. What is it about Europe and pork? For another thing the veggies are different. There is a smaller variety, but something that are staples here would be consiered exotic (or at least unusual) at home such as celery root and kolorabi.