Frankfurt am Main is a city located in south-west Germany, in the federal state of Hesse, Germany's fifth largest city in terms of population.
A vibrant and lively city with many typical specialities to enjoy! From meat to sauces, from cakes to alcoholic beverages, you will have the opportunity to try some very special dishes with unusual but at the same time very intriguing flavours. Each dish has its own history, sometimes a legend of centuries and centuries that is still passed down from generation to generation, and that is the beauty of this cuisine!
In the city, you will find plenty of traditional pubs, restaurants and taverns where you can especially enjoy meat dishes, while there is no shortage of bakeries, pastry shops and bakeries where you can delight in excellent pastries and crisp, golden bread.
Here, then, are the top 10 things to eat in Frankfurt.
1 - Handkäse mit Musik
Photo by User:Elya. A typical sour milk cheese, a popular speciality in various parts of southern Hessen. Its name literally means'made with one's own hands'. It is a small, yellow cheese with a pungent aroma, often round in shape, sometimes square. It is mostly served as an appetiser or snack withApfelwein (cider) and topped with chopped onions.
It is also called'Handkäse mit Musik' (hand cheese with music). Usually the name is explained to people who are not familiar with the food. The music, in fact, is told in various ways: either as an amusing explanation of the unpleasant side effects after eating it, or others, with a certainly more refined explanation, claim that the vinegar and oil flasks that are served with the dish, if they hit each other, produce a peculiar music!
It is enjoyed together with cumin, which can be set aside in the dish (not everyone likes this spice). Handkäse is a very popular dish among devotees of health food and among athletes such as bodybuilders, weightlifters and runners because it is rich in protein and low in fat.
Recommended for: snacking
Average cost: €5.00
Main ingredients: milk, onion, caraway
2 - Schinitzel
One of the best and most popular German dishes, the one that everyone, young and old, can agree on, is this breaded and fried pork schnitzel, very similar in some ways to our Milanese schnitzel.
It has been the subject of dispute as to who invented it first: some think it is a variant of Milanese cuisine brought over from Italy by Josef Radetzky and others think it is a version of Wiener Schnitzel whose recipe was copied by Milanese chefs.
Romano Bracalini in his'L'Italia prima dell'Unità' (Italy before Unification) explains that, during a solemn lunch, at one point the'lombos cum panitio' (the schnitzel) arrived. In a nutshell, it turned out that Radetzky, marrying a noblewoman from Friuli and visiting relatives during his travels between Milan and Vienna, had ordered his cook to learn the famous breaded cutlet recipe in Italy!
The type of meat may vary according to taste and restaurant, it is usually accompanied by roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut or jagerschnitzel, mushrooms.
Recommended for: lunch and dinner
Average cost: €15.00
Main ingredients: pork or veal, salt, butter, eggs, breadcrumbs, chives
3 - Schweinshaxe
Pork knuckle (or roast ham), is the end of the pork leg. It is a very popular dish in Bavaria but also in other parts of Germany such as theEisbein, where it is enjoyed pickled and lightly boiled.
The meat is usually marinated for days, in the case of large cuts even up to a week, then roasted at low temperatures for about two to three hours. It is then typically served with potatoes and cabbage.
The Austrian version of this dish is called Stelze and is often marinated or pre-boiled with caraway seeds and garlic brine, roasted until the skin becomes crispy and then served with horseradish, pickled chilli and mustard. The Bavarian version, on the other hand, is served with patty dumplings, sauerkraut, potatoes and red cabbage.
Recommended for: lunch and dinner
Average cost: €15.00
Main ingredients: pork, potatoes, cabbage
4 - Grüne Soße
Photo by Benreis. An evergreen in the truest sense of the word: the green sauce, Grüne Soße, consisting of no fewer than seven herbs, namely, chervil, parsley, watercress, borage, sorrel, pimpinella and chives plus sour cream. In restaurants, it very often and abundantly accompanies boiled eggs, Frankfurter Schnitzel and potatoes, almost like our mayonnaise, and is usually served in a separate small bowl.
There areseveral variations of the green sauce: some use quark, a typical German fresh cheese with sour notes, some use cream to make it creamier, some use more fatty fresh cheeses to thicken it, and some add finely chopped garlic. The herbs mentioned can also vary depending on the season. Little curiosity, salsa verde was apparently Goethe's favourite!
Recommended for: side dish for lunch and dinner
Average cost: €4.00 (per packet)
Main ingredients: mixed herbs, cheese or cream, eggs, ceto, oil, salt, chopped walnut
5 - Apfelwein
One of the most famous and traditional drinks is apple wine, already known in the time of Charlemagne. It is usually handcrafted by taverns(Apfelwein Kneipen) that are recognised by the symbol of the wreath of evergreen branches hanging on the door or painted.
It is a low-alcohol drink that is said to be beneficial to the nervous system and circulation. It was started to be produced when, due to climatic changes in the 18th century, grapes could no longer ripen as they once did: as an alternative, a kind of wine was then produced directly from apple juice.
Another typical feature is that it is served in Gerripte, glasses carved in lozenges to enhance the colour of the cider, and in the grey and blue painted earthenware jug, the Bembel. Its taste is a little sour but delicate and pleasant, to be enjoyed on any occasion, even with the most traditional gastronomic specialities.
Recommended for: any occasion
Average cost: €12.00 per bottle
Main ingredients: apple juice
6 - Frankfurter Kranz
A delicious cake that appeals to all super gluttons! The Frankfurter Kranz, or Frankfurt Crown Cake, is a ring-shaped sponge cake with two or three thick rings of buttercream icing and a choice of strawberry, blackcurrant or cherry jam; the outside, in addition to the cream, is covered with caramelised nuts called Krokant, toasted almond slivers or chopped hazelnuts.
Its shape is said to resemble a crown, just like those of the old German emperors who were crowned in Frankfurt, and the cherries are supposed to represent rubies. After World War II, in the absence of butter, people used to cover the cake with sweetened egg yolk paste, the Kogel Mogel.
Recommended: snack, end of meal
Average cost: €3.00 per slice
Main ingredients: flour, jam, rum, eggs, butter, sugar, almond and hazelnut kernels, cherries
7 - Frankfurter
One of the best known sausages, it is named after the famous German city. It is generally the most common sausage we enjoy, in hot dog buns for example, a lightly smoked pork sausage. Frankfurters have been produced since the Middle Ages and those that originate in the Frankfurt am Main area are called Frankfurter Würstchen. In terms of preparation, they are generally heated in boiling water (and not roasted or grilled) for about 8 minutes and are then served with bread, mustard and horseradish sauce.
Recommended for: lunch and dinner
Average cost: €5.00
Main ingredients: pork, water, salt, spices
8 - Bretzel
Also called Brezel or Pretzel, it is a soft bread, has the characteristic shape of a ring with two knotted ends and is made with wheat flour, brewer's yeast, water and baking soda; in some variants, whole wheat, spelt or other cereal flour is also used. Lard, coarse salt and sesame seeds are almost always added as a finishing touch. It is prepared according to Laungengeback, according to which the bread is soaked in boiling water and baking soda to give it its typical shiny appearance.
Its origin dates back to around 600, in northern Italian convents when monks prepared this bread with strips that resembled the arms of a praying monk and the three holes that were meant to recall the Holy Trinity. It was then given to children as a reward for having memorised Bible prayers, which is why they were initially called pretiola (reward) or brachiola (crossed arms). They also have a religious and good-luck significance since they were depicted in a prayer book and since they were started to be eaten at Easter in 1450.
Recommended for: always
Average cost: 2.00
Main ingredients: flour, brewer's yeast, water, baking soda, coarse salt, sesame seeds
9 - Bethmännchen
Photo by Liliana Fuchs. Also called Frankfurter Bethmännchen, these are typical city sweets, which tend to be baked at Christmas time. The name literally means'little Bethmanns' after the four children of the Bethmann family of bankers; the story goes that the family's cook in 1838 after the tragic death of one of the four children removed one of the four half almonds from the cake leaving only three, as it still is today. Others believe that they were invented in connection with another famous biscuit, the Brenten, others still that their origin is unknown.
There are several variations, from those with marzipan, giulebbe and icing sugar, to those with chopped almonds and egg white. What is common is that the dough is then divided into small balls, brushed with egg yolk and decorated with half almonds.
Recommended for: dessert at the end of a meal
Average cost: €1.00 per piece
Main ingredients: marzipan, giulebbe, almonds, egg white
10 - Frankfurter Rippchen
Source: wikipedia. A meat speciality, these tasty ribs are known in the city but also in other regions of Hessen where they are called rippli. They are seasoned meat taken from the fillet of chops. They are generally served hot accompanied by sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and bread, but also cold with mustard, bread and potato salad, or directly in the middle of a good sandwich.
Recommended for: lunch, dinner
Average cost: €10.00
Main ingredients: meat, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes
Where to eat in Frankfurt: best restaurants, cafés and street food
Among the streets of the city, the choice of restaurants, bars and cafés where you can stop for a break and also enjoy its gastronomic face, which loves the traditional but is also open to the world and foreign influences.
The best way to try the dishes is to sit down at a table in an osteria, an authentic place where you can enjoy typical delicacies.
Here are some suggestions on where to eat so you don't miss out on the best of what Frankfurt has to offer at the table.
1 - Bauernmarkt Konstablerwach
Description: market where you can enjoy street food at great prices
Specialities: frankfurters, pies, salsa verde
Average price: from €5.00 per person
Address: Get directions - Official Website
2 - Apfelwein-Wagner
Description: restaurant with a traditional spirit and characteristic ambience where you can enjoy typical dishes
Speciality: shin, cider, strudel
Average price: from €15.00 per person
Address: Get directions - Facebook page
3 - Vevay
Description: vegetarian restaurant
Speciality: quinoa noodles, vegan burgers
Average price: from €10,00 per person
Address: Get directions - Official Website
4 - Nordsee Frankfurt Fisch Franke
Description: central location where you can eat excellent fish
Speciality: freshly selected and cooked fish
Average price: from €15.00 per person
Address: Get directions - Official Website
5 - Café Hauptwache
Description: perfect place for a coffee or a quick lunch break, in the city centre
Speciality: shin, soup, coffee
Average price: from €20.00 per person
Address: Get directions - Facebook page