I lived for my first 30 years in England. I never saw an English muffin until I moved across the Atlantic. We have crumpets which are vaguely similar but taste and feel different.
@@D3nn1s tbh that's crazy, I am german myself and do know the chicken dance. But I don't think I have really seen it in the last ~15 years or so. Maybe the reason is I am not a child anymore since ~15 years :D
I was born in México. I moved to Los Ángeles in 1978, when I was 17 years old I'd never eaten or seen a burrito in my life until I moved to Los Ángeles. Nowadays, you can find burritos all over México. Burritos were created in California, not México.
What part of Mexico are you from? because not all Mexicans call it burrito, others call it a taco, south of Mexico they call it codzito. Guanajuato is the only place where they call a taco a burrito.
I live in Veracruz state and the only burritos I have seen are babies with their mother burros in the rural areas. Seriously, the only places I have ever seen a burrito on a menu in Mexico was when I am in an American restaurant like IHOP or Chipotle. And our tacos and tamales are completely different from the things I've seen in the USA with those names in "Mexican" restaurants.
The origin of German Chocolate Cake is hilarious! I always scratched my head and said there's no way this is German with the coconut. Thanks for the great explanation.
It's interesting to me that the coconut is the part that makes it seem "not German" when chocolate is no more indigenous to Germany (or Europe in general) than coconut. In fact, if you look at where cacao is grown and where coconuts are grown, it's pretty much the same places, none of which are near Germany. Just shows you how ubiquitous chocolate is globally rather than being associated to the regions that grow it. I guess it's kind of similar to coffee or tea in that regard.
I‘m swiss and I got asked about „The Sound Of Music“ more times than I can count! First time I heard about it I had no idea what it was, and people were confused since they firmly believed it must be a traditional swiss childrens movie. When I finally watched it and did some research, I found out it is a american Broadway musical turned Hollywood movie with a story set in Salzburg, Austria. I cannot explain HOW on earth every single american I meet is convinced it is swiss 🤣
@@michael-1680 there’s a place in Germany you can cross the border with Switzerland by foot we almost did with or dogs on a hike lol, but also Austria. We travel a lot to Germany and when hiking up the woods we use google maps and orientation and see okay that mountain is Austria, there’s Switserland and these are Germany. It’s fun. Bodensee and you have it in view. We turn of our roaming to manual otherwise before we know we get a big phone bill 😂.
The only association that film has with Switzerland is that's where the Von Trapps escaped to at the end of the film (but not in real life). But I don't think I'd even ask an Austrian about it, the same way I wouldn't ask a random Australian about what they think about Crocodile Dundee.
I love your research into all things German, herman - American, etc. My mother, born in gelsenkirchen (sp) in 1925 would have loved your channel!!!! She came to USA permanently in the 1970's when I was 9 years old. Was always shaking her head about the things Americans "knew" about Europe. Fun to see a young woman reflecting on these same things.
A former friend of mine is Korean and once another former friend asked her if she could make fortune cookies for her. The response was something like "They seem to exist as Asian everywhere but in Asia."
From Lower-Bavaria Here: - Chicken Dance: I'm old enough to know the original hype in the early 1980ies. For me it's more like a song for carnival season (Fasching). - Beer-Cheese: Personally I don't like Obazda. I'm more found of an other dish called Kartoffelkäse (potato-cheese). It's made out of mashed potatoes, cream and/or sour cream (or cream-fresh or yogurt to taste) and pepper and chives. But remembering my grandma, she made an Austrian dish called Liptauer (after the Slovakian region of Liptov) sometimes made of (old soft) cheese like Camembert, butter, paprika and beer. But the consistence was more like Obazda and Potato-Cheese… German Chocolate Cake: Heared of it during some Geology lectures of Nick Zentner during the COVID-lock-downs as an analogy of the Columbia-River-Basalts in Washington and Oregon. Didn't know it's made out of coconut, too, until now. Christmas Pickle: Heard of it. We don't have one. That's it. The adapter: As an electrical engineer I hope this device is safe. Lets say so: These adapters tend to have a massive flaw. The more possibilities you have to connect, the more possibilities you have t unintentionally touch voltage… And this adapter does not feature ground connection…
As an American, the first time I saw the chicken dance associated with Oktoberfest was on an episode of Futurama. Before that, to me, it was always one of the silly group dances at a wedding.
My wife is Malaysian Chinese and we lived in Malaysia for nearly seven years in the early years of our marriage. Now we live in California and we have found that in nearly every Malaysian restaurant we have ever encountered, they proudly serves a dish they call Mango Chicken. I have no idea where this dish originated from but I never seen it (or anything like it) anywhere in Malaysia. It seems to be a completely American invention. They also serve desserts here that are vaguely like authentic Malaysian desserts but then add chocolate or some other American ingredients that would never be seen in Malaysia.
As a child, I also naively thought Shanghai noodles have something to do with Shanghai, nope. My grandmother, who was actually from Shanghai, said she never heard of such a thing. The 7 year old me thought perhaps my grandmother didn't know better. Then I realised the deception....
I’ve been told that all dishes in most “Asian” restaurants in America are purely American inventions. I did have real Chinese dumplings from an Asian market here that actually serves the Asian community, and I was surprised that they’re bland compared to the “Asian” restaurant versions that I’ve previously tried. Although, one Japanese-American classmate did admit to me that despite it really being an American invention that she did like orange chicken, too.
...the Christmas Pickle... ...my dad was from Hungary; spent a few years in Munich, and when asked about the Christmas Pickle he said it was a traditon that originated in Poland amongst ethnic Germans, sometimes in the mid-1800's...
I know several people who have started doing the Pickle thing now that the meme is getting more popular.. so it might actually end up becoming a tradition, given enough time.
My family has German ancestry on both sides (plus ancestry from like half of Europe overall lol) and we had a pickle ornament, but we just did it because of a children’s picture book called “Pickle Things.” The book started with “Pickle things you’ll never see, like pickles on a Christmas tree” and went on to list many other silly places you _won’t_ see pickles. (I also recall “a pickle nose, and pickle toes.”) So when we saw a pickle ornament in a shop, we thought it was hilarious to prove the book wrong! Didn’t hide it, didn’t have a reward for finding it, just saw it and laughed 😂
I am Polish and never hears of that. But now I want pickle ornament :) it would be easy to spot on my tree though, because the tree is white ;) or maybe it would get lost as most of my ornaments are green and ocean blue
3:10 Seeing Helga Feddersen referred to as “another German artist” is tough. Young people like Feli have probably never heard of her, but she was a well-known and very popular comedienne.
I don't know if you noticed but I didn't give any background information on any of the bands and artists. It would have taken wayyyy to long to go into detail about every single one of the artists and songs 😅
"Die Wanne ist voll uh uh uh ..." 😊 She was a congenial comedy partner of Diddi Hallervorden. Unfortunately, she fell ill with cancer early in her life and died at early age after a long suffering. That's probably why she's almost forgotten today.
Ich habe Deinen Kanal erst vor wenigen Wochen entdeckt und bin begeisterst, wie sehr Deine Videos vor positiver Energie nur so sprühen. Und auch, wie gut die darin enthaltenen Informationen recherchiert sind 😃❤👍
Meine Frau und ich verkaufen auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt Christbaumschmuck und Spielsachen. Tatsächlich haben wir auch die Weihnachtsgurke im Angebot, jedesmal müssen wir erklären welcher Sinn dahintersteckt. Niemand kennt es. Und jedesmal ist es ein großer Spaß für die Kunden, mit lustigen Gesprächen. Auch kaufen die meisten Leute eine Gurke. Somit wurde eine neue Tradition erfunden. 😊
I get asked about the German Chocolate Cake all the time...I always tell people the real German Chocolate Cake is the Black Forest Cake...and yup, the pickle is something I have never heard of in Germany.
Yes, as Feli said. Schwarzwälder is no chocolate cake. While there is some chocolate in the dough and usually on top, it's mostly whipped cream with a filling of cherries with cherry liquor.
It's one of those made up names, like how Orville Redenbacher created the term "gourmet" popping corn. The term allowed him to charge more for the the hybrid of corn he used.
Exactly, and in the Odenwald there is cooked cheese (Kochkäse), which is even closer to the one shown here. Ultimately, all methods of making cheese liquid. But you eat it with bread and meat.
Another food that many Americans think is German but actually isn't: Black Forest ham. Or I guess I should say: the deli meat sold in the US as Black Forest ham. If you put a German Black Forest ham and the American version side-by-side, it's a completely different product. The American version was developed by Ferdinand Schaller, who couldn't keep up with the demand in New York City by following the authentic curing method he had learned in Stuttgart. So he developed a new recipe that didn't require the hams to sit around for so long.
first generation Canadian here, my family hails from SE Germany in Singen, I have never heard of a Christmas pickle , and my grandparents kept a lot of the German tradition, far as German chocolate cake, never had that when I was in Germany, had Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte many times, but theres 0 coconut or pecan in that
I gave my daughter one of these last year. She lives in Germany and she gave it to her German boyfriend who thought it was hilarious and showed it to all his friends who also thought it was hilarious.
As a german, this just makes me angry. I know its a small thing and i should not get angry about something like that, but that there are so many people out there who think we would put a pickle on a tree for whatever reason - its just so stupid. I mean - cheese to Brezeln - it makes sense to think that. A stupid dance - there are lots of stupid traditional dances in southern germany, its not that far from the truth. But a pickle on a tree on christmas? Thats as if i were telling people its an american tradition to shove someone a cheeseburger up its butt when he/she turns 21 or something like that.
@@amandabeaty1492 its a smal cucumer in the christmas tree. But you see it not at the first moment You must search it. I see it in germanys christmas markt. But its not german.
I was first introduced to the Chicken Dance when I was stationed in northern Italy, my first military assignment. It was called the Bala di Qua Qua. I used to live in Pittsburgh, and the Christmas pickle is a staple there. The most likely story is that it was a marketing campaign by the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Company, who besides making Ketchup, also makes pickles.
As a German in Germany, I've never heard that things like "Christmas Pickles", "German Chocolate Cakes" or a cheese dip for pretzels exist... And my only encounter with the Chicken Dance was in primary school. I learned a lot in this video!
Every time i hear the chicken dance the first thing that comes to my mind is ,,kaczuchy" which is a Polish children song about ducks who have little beaks, tails, legs and like water.
The chocolate cake one is honestly so surprising I never expected that. Whenever anyone figured out I was learning German as an American they were always like " I know how to make German chocolate cake"
I don't think I ever had pecans in Germany. And while coconut is used, it is considered exotic (like coconut milk for asian recipies), not particularly german.
The pecan tree is the state tree of Texas and we had a lot of Germans immigrate here, so I was thinking Texas before she even said it. I have three pecan trees in my backyard in Dallas. The coconuts came from somewhere far away, though.
I was afraid that she was going to say that Black Forest cake (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte) wasn't German! It's the cake I think of when I think of a German cake. I've had "German's Chocolate Cake", but having grown up with a father that didn't like coconut, we didn't have it very often, and our German teachers in high school taught how to make Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (you were given the recipe in German...).
The pretzel portion reminds me of videos that show what is being sold as American food in Europe that Americans never eat such as hotdogs sold in a glass jar, or creamed corn poured over a pizza.
Me watching at 5:07 - What about Obazda?!? Also me 90 seconds later - ah, well, there you go. FYI - As an American who was been to 5 München Oktoberfest, I have actually seen someone in a fullbody chicken suit, but it turns out he was from Fairfax, Virginia.
Of all the travel accessories I've seen, the Epicka looks like one of the most convenient beneficial accessories I've seen in a long time. That's awesome!
I never thought about where the Chicken Dance originated. I grew up in Wisconsin and it’s common to play this at wedding dances. (Yes, the band played it at my wedding in 1994)
I went to a wedding once, the bride forbade the playing of the Chicken Dance, much to the dismay of the groom's family, who discovered that another song had a similar enough beat to which the Chicken Dance could be danced!
@@pauldinardo9895 Same in Ohio. And why not. Everyone has a good time with it. AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" is also a staple at every wedding in NE Ohio.
Love your show: my beer cheese, and, yes, I’m from Winchester, KY, home of beer cheese. Beer cheese 16 oz shredded cheddar chs (abt room temp) 12 oz beer (flat/not stale) 1 tbs cayenne pepper 1 tbs black pepper 1 tbs salt 2 tsp minced garlic Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend low for 6 min, or until smooth. Place in container; refrigerate overnight. Enjoy.
Though we don't really eat it ;) Most of us have family recipes but it's not a popular cake. Also if you ever come to Vienna don't eat the the one from the Hotel Sacher, it's overrated. Try any other cafe or bakery that has good ratings.
@@LunaticDesire Sorry, but I cannot admit. I know a lot of different Sachertorte, but the original is the best, by far. The cake itself is NOT dry as a lot others and the glaze is delicious. The best I know. But I admit, that it is over-priced.
@@thomaslehrer4210 Hotel Sacher makes their cakes drier and the glaze harder than the actual original recipe on purpose, to extend the shelf life. Café Demel in Vienna sells the original recipe Sachertorte.
People think Darth Vader's name is German: "'Vader' means 'father' in German," but actually: 1) That's not why he's called Darth Vader. 'Vader' comes from 'invader', 'Sidious' comes from 'insidious'. 2) 'Vader' is not the German word for 'father', but the Dutch word for it. The German word for 'father' is 'Vater'.
"Pitch Perfect" perpetrated this bit of nonsense. It wouldn't even make sense, because when Vader was named, he wasn't actually meant to be Luke's father. This bit was invented after the original movie was completed.
As a German I thank you for explaining the Christmas Pickle as I have seen those sold in shops in recent years and been wondering why anyone would put something this weird and ugly on their Christmas tree. I thought it may be a Rick & Morty thing 😅
One of the most embarrassing things I always hear from people when they learn that I'm originally from Russia (I live more than 31 years in another country) is that in Russia we say "na zdorovye" when we make a toast. I'm sorry, but it's just nonsense, we NEVER say that in this situation. This frase does exist though, but it's a polite answer to someone who thanks you for offering some food or drink, and ONLY in this case! To make a toast it's possible to say "ZA tvoyò/nashe/vashe zdorovye" (for your/our health), but it's considered quite banal/lack of creativity. 🤦 Traditionally we mention some event we make a toast for, like "let's drink for finally getting together today/your successful exam/getting the job done, etc, etc, etc... So please, don't say "na zdorovye" ever again when you drink with Russians! 🤣✌️
Funny enough how being from Ukraine I was only exposed to Russian version of that song and was convinced it was a Soviet song 😅 (actually plagiarized like many stuff back then)
Christmas Pickle -- this is what I heard. Bronner's Christmas Store in Frankenmuth, Michigan sells lots of Christmas ornaments and some years ago, like in the 1970"s had made the pickle as part of a larger set of a decoration package. However, people began to request a new pickle so as to not break up the set because they would accidently throw it out with their dead tree or forget to remove it from their artificial tree and it got broken. So Bronner's began to advertise in their catalog the Christmas Pickle as "fun activity for the kids" so the pickle became a game. Also, think of the names in involved: Bronner's (German) Frankenmuth (means Franconian Courage--a political division/state in Germany) Pickle (well, Germans pickle everything!). The rest is good ol' American marketing!
lol not fair, not only your English accent is fantastic but your French accent is also on point. I’m so jealous. The one faux-French thing I find the most irritating is the « French maid » outfit. No passing resemblance with anything having ever been worn in France. Black and white uniform color schemes aren’t specifically French either.
I think it was supposed to be reminiscent of the uniforms in the US that were worn by (often foreign-born) servants during the early part of the 20th century in East-coast upper-class households. So the "French" part referred to the person, not the outfit.
Well a german here, originating from bavaria. Never heard of a chrismas pickle in Bavaria. But my wife is from Thüringen. In her family its tradition to have a christmas pickle an the christmas tree. And its at least done since three generations. So it looks to me like a really secluded tradition, known only in little parts of germany.
Ich bin Thüringer und habe noch nie in meinen 65 Jahren etwas von einer Weihnachtsgurke gehört. Erst jetzt, durch mehrere Videos habe ich von diesem Unfug in Amerika gehört und dass er es eine deutsche Tradition sein soll..
@@SheratanLPNaja, "Unfug" würde ich es nicht nennen. Ist doch eine süße Tradition, auch wenn sie wohl eine amerikanische Erfindung ist. Ich bin auch aus Thüringen und habe eine Weihnachtsgurke zuerst in einem Laden in Lauscha gesehen, wo bekanntlich der gläserne Weihnachtsbaumschmuck herkommt. Als ich mich darüber wunderte, meinte die Verkäuferin: "Ja, die verkaufen wir oft an amerikanische Kunden".
@@Motacilla191 Lauscha ist ja nur ein Katzensprung von Pößneck entfernt. :) Und wenn die Lauschaer dadurch gute Geschäfte machen können, dass sie Amerikanern Glasgurken verkaufen, bin ich damit einverstanden es nicht mehr als Unfug ab zu tun. 😁😁
@@SheratanLP Wenn du in der deutschen Wikipedia nach dem Artikel Weihnachtsgurke suchst, ist da ein Bild von einem Katalog der Lyra-Fahrrad-Werke in Prenzlau von 1909, in dem man eine Glasgurke als Weihnachtsschmuck kaufen kann. 1909 war jetzt keine Zeit, wo man hier schon amerikanische Bräuche übernommen hat.
@@equolizerChatGPT:“Diese Glasgurke ist tatsächlich eine interessante Kuriosität. Es wird spekuliert, dass dies möglicherweise auf eine Marketingstrategie oder Werbeaktion zurückzuführen sein könnte. In den USA und anderen westlichen Ländern gab es zu der Zeit eine zunehmende Popularität von importierten Weihnachtsdekorationen aus Europa.“
In a way many food ones like the Pretzel ones are essentially German (in New York, it is served with Mustard, which was an actual German Jewish thing), because it was German Immigrants who created these things as a way of combining all the different regional foods as one cuisine when they all lived in the same neighborhoods when they came here between 1848 and 1935 What you mentioned about Braunschweig, an American Sociologist who in 1935 published about the Nazi's rise to power, said that from 1933 interviews he did, that there everyone was Braun or schweig when it came to the Nazis. But Hitler was Ethnic German from the border region, in a country with at the time a high rate of German identifiers. But with the foods, many foods from many cultures came to their own in the US, because immigrants from all regions of a country would come here, blend cuisines mixed with local ingredients. I am Jewish, but while bagels are a Jewish food from Eastern Europe over 500 years old, cream cheese is an American invention for example. Or Beef Pastrami is a Jewish food (Pastrama that it is based on, it pork or goose) from Hungary and Romania, but the Rye used in classical NY Delis is a Jewish style Rye from Poland, using "deli mustard" which is Jewish from Germany" for example, as everyone blended their cuisines into one in the local neighborhoods
Well, actually all Austrians always identified themselves as ethnic Germans, not only those from the border region ... until 1945, when some miracle turned them all into ethnic Austrians, that never had anything to do with Germany or the Nazis ;-)
Here in Rheinland-Pfalz a Stein Bier is specifically a 1 Liter glass of beer. Doesn't have anything to do with what Americans call a "beer stein", but it does exist in Germany in some way.
@@KlausBeckEwerhardyOK. But what do the Germans call a “beer stein”?? The ceramic vessel, painted with hunting scenes, with a metal cap you hold open with your thumb??
@@JonDoe-ln6nl A 'Maß' or in Bavarian pronunciation 'Moaß', which actually means measure (describing one litre). The ones you describe are also called thus - especially in a strength-competion, in which you hold a filled 'Moaß' or 'Humpen' at the end of an outstretched arm at shoulder-height (Maßkrugstemmen). So, what you describe is a Maßkrug.
good episode. I appreciate the story about the German's Chocolate Cake. As it turns out, all three of my father in laws were German, and the first two made a big deal about the Germanic qualities of their favorite cake, the pecan and coconut creation you mentioned. Somehow I knew it was bullcrap, and it felt good to hear you debunk that specific myth. Thank you, Feli.
Where I live, there's a German restuaraunt and pub that serves pretzels with mustard. It's one of the few places around here that I can get a liter of Bitbürger.
Fun fact. Bitbruger is from Bitburg, which is on the very west side of Germany. Also I believe it's Pilsener beer, which is bitter. In West Germany they don't serve beer in 1 liter sizes, and definitely not Pilsener. I would even be surprised if you get 0.5l beer in Bitburg. Usually it's 0.33liters, which is also the size of 1 bottle (usually). 1 liter Maß and generally "Halbe" (0.5 liter) is a Bavarian thing and the Bavarian "standard" beer is lager beer to large extend, which is not (that) bitter but more sweet.
@@tiberius8390 Pils beer is popular all over Germany and half liter glasses are as well, even though other sizes might be more associated with a certain place or region (like the small ones in Köln or the Maß in Bavaria)
@tiberius8390 true. I live 30 km from Bitburg, where the brewery is located and 25 km from where some of the hops are grown (next to Irrel). In Bitburg and Trier and everywhere around this area at restaurants, the bear is served in 33 cl or 40 cl glasses. The Bitburg bottles contains 33 cl or 50 cl (1/2 litre), but only the 33 cl or 30 cl versions are served in restaurants. The slogan "Bitte ein Bit" of course refers to the polite asking "Bitte" "Please". They are the Official Sponsor for the European Football Championship.
@@tiberius8390At least in my childhood, beer was mostly available in litre bottles, including Pils(ner) of course, and most people took 2 or 3 bottles to work. Transl DeepL
French fries are named after the cutting style. Fortune cookies come from San Francisco. Philadelphia cream cheese was not from Philly but was so named because Philadelphia had an excellent food reputation at the time. A lot of Mexican food throughout the world is actually Americanized or invented in US like chili with beans, fajitas, burritos, Margaritas, etc. It’s known as Tex Mex. Italian food throughout most of the world is also Americanized by Italian immigrants who came to US and earned more money and used more ingredients. Spaghetti and meatballs were 2 separate dishes and meatballs were tiny. The use of meats in many dishes, such as veal, larger meatballs, pizza with more cheese and actually toppings. Pepperoni is actually invented in US while being inspired by Italy, there aren’t similar ingredients.
Feli, as a loyal Dutch fan, I can say you’re almost there with the pronunciation! You’ve already mastered one of the toughest sounds, the Dutch guttural /g/. Keep it up! Just make sure the /d/ in ‘dans’ doesn’t turn into a /t/ like in ‘Tanz’. Also, save the /ui/ for last. Those Germanic languages can seem intimidating due to their large vocal inventories, so don’t worry about them until you need to study them in detail. Otherwise, people might get scared of learning German and Standard Dutch. Did you know that Low German/Saxon, spoken in our eastern provinces and the northern German Bundesländer, is particularly challenging. Its vocal inventory is neither Dutch, nor German, nor Danish. The Germanic dialect continuum is a total chaos with different diphthongs every kilometer, influencing accents even in Standard Dutch and Standard German. Ick soall mae saeggn, doaht ‘t heanig aon! Gaoht so doer mit dissn videos wat iej heer maockn doaht! Dat as ick alntied waedder gearne kieckn doah naoh alns wat iej maockn doaht; mit oanmoendig foell plesear!
Thanks to my Oma who still spoke some Pladdütsch with me, it helped to get at least the gist of your last paragraph 😉 While Plattdeutsch is quite different in many aspects from modern day Standard Dutch, e.g. lacking the Dutch pronounciation of G or SCH, it still pushes you in the right direction away from Standard German, like kieken/kijken instead of kucken or maockn/maken instead of machen. Though it does not prepare you for words like "to switch off (something)" in Dutch 😆
@@heikozysk233 haha, dank foer juw aontwoard. Jaoh, ick doenck det weer so eansiets waot iej daor saeggn doaht. Nich bloats foer juwlued, aower oack foer oans as plaott maehstieds ean toangckfaoll is waot maehr op Duetsch lick. Aennersiets moett wiej nich foergaettn de Aenglsaessn haebbt nich fadde Hoallaennschke koeste naoh Eanglaond roewersealed. As dee det oerngswo aoff Oastfreaschlaond doahn haebbt ossowaot. Daorfoer goeff det noach ean droedde pattieje waot daoraon naoh det Noardn traeckkn doett. To’n biejspoel/Biejfoerbeald goeff det nich bloats biej oans aower in det hoachduetsch det foerfoagsel /ge-/ biej woerde as “genug/genoeg” or “getan/gedaan”. Daor lick aower det Hoallaennsch maehr op det Hoachduetsch as det Plaottduetsch det doett, as Plaottduetsch gearne eer foerfoegings waeggsmietn doett. Det “(e)doahn” doett al foell op “done” lieckn un “(e)noagg” lick al foell op “enough”, so moett wiejlue togeawm. Oack praot wiejlue in plaott noach fannen “mess” foer saeckn mit to sniejn, oennerwiel dee lue inne perveansie boawm oans fa ean “knief” or “kniefte” kuern doaht insteaj fa “mess” waot a maehr teangst det Aenglschke “knive” aonleagn doett. Det heatt oemm det so mae to saeggn, det Hoallaennsch is nich maehr plaott as ‘t emsoelf maehr smoetsig maockt haeff mit Hoachduetsche spoehre as Naeddersaessischk det doahn haeff. Det as Hoallaenschk foell middelduetschk eangschkoeppe haeff waot Naeddersaessischk (noch) nich haeff. 🫠🤪 Un as det d’roemm gaeht waot “aus zu schalten”, daenn saeggt wiej op Hoallaennsch “uitzetten”, juestso as wiejle innet Saessisch fa “uutsaettn” praotn doaht. (P.S. iej moett de Hoallaennschke /z/ as in det Aenglschk leasn, so nich as Hoagduetschke Pietserieja-Z). 😊
I grew up in CIncy ('50s & '60s) and I have never heard of a Christmas pickle. I do believe I had heard of The Chicken Dance in the '60s. I think it knocked the Conga Line dance out at wedding receptions and also showed up at some picnics and Oktoberfests back then. When I first saw large pretzels in Cincy they were plain and on the rarest occasions someone might put a little mustard on them. I recall one the most popular things back then were sauerkraut and Hamilton Metts - and I still love both!
I find these videos particularly fascinating because her description of "America" is a very regional perspective that's unlike much of the rest of America. This stuff about Pretzels with Cheese Dip, the German Chocolate Cake and Christmas Pickle, I've never heard of those things either and I've lived in the US all my life. I was in Meijers (a grocery store) in Cincinnati recently, and going "WTH is this?" through the deli, through the bakery, etc.
In Germany the Ententanz (Chicken Dance) is a thing at Fastnacht / Fasching / Karneval (carnival) events. When I lived in the US a co-worker presented German chocolate cake to me at the office which confused me quite a bit 😁
That German Chocolate cake may have been Prussian which today is actually Poland. Millions from this region moved in 19th century. There is a reason WWi/WWII and Germany were actually about FOOD-->importing ~30% of it at the time, and Prussia was utterly destroyed, broken up, and depopulated by and large by both wars. My own family(moms side) was from this region who moved here in 1880's and what often is called "German" dish here in USA is closer to a Polish equivalent dish than anything else.
It was not named for Germany, it was name for Samuel German who was an American chocolate maker. Thank you Max Miller and Tasting History. Edit: I should have watched the whole video before replying
Mit dem guten Kirschwasser darin - deshalb ist sie bei Kindern so beliebt... With the good cherry brandy in it - that's why it's such a favourite with children...
My favorite version of the “Chicken Dance/Der Ententanz” is the doorbell of the German in the TV show, The IT Crowd. Season 2, Episode 3, Moss and the German. I WANT this doorbell!
Being of German descent, living in Texas now but from Cincy, never heard of the pickle thing. As for pretzels w/ cheese or mustard, it’s definitely an American thing. Thanks, Feli!! PS: Love the Euros!!
@@david.ferris a soft cheese spread is often eaten with a pretzel in Rheinhessen. But it's no cheese sauce. Ive never heard of pretzel being eaten with mustard though.
One thing comes to my mind, that is probably only known in Germany - "Russischer Zupfkuchen" (Russian ???cake, don't know how to translate). A type of cheesecake totally unknown in Russia, but invented by German company Dr. Oetker decades ago.
No, that's an old DDR recipe that was known just as Zupfkuchen. Dr. Oetker used it after a recipe competition where people sent in their recipes. In the former east Germany it was already popular well before that, but wasn't called anything Russian.
Growing up in the midwest in the 60s/70s/80s, my German speaking grandparents and their relatives played the chicken/duck dance at every wedding or community dance there was. I had never heard of the Christmas pickle thing until about 6 years ago when we hosted a German exchange student from Stuttgart. She started the tradition for our family.
Many Americans have corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, believing it to be a traditional Irish dish. It isn't. In point of fact bacon and cabbage is the traditional dish in Ireland. Historically, some regions had lamb instead of bacon. The New England boiled dinner, consisting of corned beef with cabbage and one or more root vegetables, which was also popular in Atlantic Canada, was adopted by many Irish immigrants living in neighbourhoods served by Jewish butchers when they couldn't get bacon, or in other places beecause it was cheaper. And that's the origin of the Irish-American corned beef and cabbage tradition.
@@TLowGrrreen Nearly two billion people in the former British Empire agree with Ireland about what cut of a porker is bacon, peculiar North American habits notwithstanding... :)
@johnhoare1055 (sigh...) Once again, two cultures separated by a common language. You might have simply replied, back or belly. As far as culinary peculiarities go, I find it fascinating that the ancient, noble, varied cultures of the British isles have spent so much of history evading the concept of flavor in their own cuisines. lol 😆 😀
I went to school in the US from 10-13, and a history teacher there tried to tell me my last name wasn’t German, but Pennsylvania Dutch. I had literally moved there from Munich, I think I knew my own heritage 😂
Helga Feddersen shozkd also be named and not just called 'another artist'. She was the first real comedienne and died far too early! Check out her art!
I am from Salzburg/Austria (not so far from Munich) - and YES pretzels are often served together with mustard - especially the white munich saussage is eaten typically together with pretzels and sweet mustard (but only before noon)
The first time I came across the "Chicken Dance"" was when I was stationed In Germany (Kitzingen, FRG) between 1983 and 1985. Many of the principal officers in our battalion were invited to a Fasching dance and party held by our panzergrenadier Partnerschaft unit in the Regensburg area. It was a way the local unit thanked the local folks for their support. All of us linguistically impaired Amis were paired with good English speaking locals at our tables. When a certain dance started, all the locals latched on to one of the befuddled American soldiers or their spouses and drug us to the dance floor to be introduced to the "Chicken Dance". I have to admit it was a wonderful ice breaker and set the tone for the rest of the night. As an olde pharte now, I can only assume that what may have been common in Bavaria before the fall of the Berlin Wall may have gone out of style before the younger generation came along.
I'm bavarian by birth 😁 and can assure you that i never danced the "chicken dance" or "Ententanz" as we call it after the age of 10. I'm born 1975. I only know it as children's dance, I did not recocnize it here in Germany for many years now. Since the mid 80s, I've only noticed it in American movies, series and when brought up on UA-cam. Maybe your Panzergrenadier comrades had fun making the Amis look a bit silly. But you all apparently had a lot of fun and that's what counts. Especially on Fasching.
I was in the US Army in Germany and often attended the German/American friendship club in Frankfurt. All the German's thought Kraft was a German company and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese was invented in Germany (they were always asking me to buy boxes at the US Army grocery store and bring them a box.) I knew they were wrong and wrote to Kraft Foods and got a full history of the company and gave it to them. Kraft was founded in Chicago, Illinois, not in Germany and still is an American company. This factoid hunt was done in the early 1990s before the internet. The person that was the most sure that Kraft was a German company the guy who worked as an economist for the Deutsche Bundesbank, headquartered in Frankfurt.
I guess because the name is German. The guy who founded it had German heritage. Same with Heinz, I always thought it was a German company until I realized it's actually American
I noticed that about thirty years ago, the Christmas market started producing vegetable and fruit Xmas ornaments that sold in places like Bronners (a huge Christmas store) in Frankenmuth, MI...a 'Little Bavaria' resort town. I remember pickle ornaments being a big novelty from that...perhaps that contributed to this association of pickles and Germany. I never saw any pickle ornaments anywhere before that.
It was a rehash of a fad that had popped up briefly in the 60s and 70s. My family has glass pickle and chili pepper ornaments older than I am. I'm 51.😊
One of Swedens most famous musicians Cornelis Vreewijk was born in Netherlands and was at no point a Swedish citizen. He came close but he fled back to netherlands for a couple of years to avoid skattmasen (Swedish IRS). He came back to Sweden where he lived out the rest of his life. He died from hepatic cancer (liver cancer). Though he never attained citizenship, he was more fluent in Swedish than most native speakers.
Tempura being from Japanese cuisine. It comes originally from Portugal, where we dipped vegetables (green beans) in a batter, and we call it "peixinhos da horta" (little fish from the vegetable garden).
I had no idea that The Tweets "Birdie Song" was just one iteration of a European craze. Those synths in the old school duck dance tracks, absolutely majestic stuff... :p
Great video. Most American pretzels are rock hard, so you really need something to dip it in. Once you’ve had a real German butter pretzel, you’ll never go back to American pretzels.
Oh they are my staple food when traveling to Germany with our campervan. And yes Butter! The fun part is in Germany you can still buy a part of a bread especially the darker breads.
@@devenscience8894 i would say they are more like dense bread like Consistency, they have different versions now, more long gated, some with cheese on top too. I keep them in a plastic seal bread bag so they stay softer a bit longer otherwise they get hard faster. We don’t have that in Belgium so its always fun to try out other foods. Like the potato balls, but my favorite is the Kaiserschmarren with raisins. Funny enough Oetker sells it in pouches you only have to add milk and eggs. For the time being i can have my pleasure at home that way. I have my cast iron skillet now that i can use on my stove. I have a cookbook culinaria U.S.A. That’s about region’s specialty. But sometimes I have to find a other spice or thing to replace due it’s not available in Belgium. Had once key lime pie and it was so sour i was thinking that can’t be right? We have only a small selection of American foods they call culinary in some stores and even then i think hmm is it real. We have more Asian food stores and Eastern European stores. In Brussel there’s the Matonge quarter if you want to find original African foods although some cities have a small store. But hey it might show i like foods. Love to cook and only thing is my husband can’t handle to spicy 😂 have to adapt a bit.
@@devenscience8894Outside Bavaria, Pretzels are normally to be avoided. However, one of the best are available at Brezelbub in Düsseldorf Main Rail Station. Pretzels have to be fresh to be good.
A lot of americans think danish pastry originated in Denmark. It's actually from Vienna. (the danish word for it being Weinerbrød = Bread from Vienna) And the other way round: The danish name for Chips is "Franske Kartofler", meaning French Potatoes even though Chips comes from th U.S.
@@Alias_Anybody Brought to France by the cooking entourage of Austrian Princess Maria Antonia (=in French "Marie Antoinette") who got married to the French Dauphin Louis... The "cresent of the moon-shaped Kipferl" was part of her breakfast routine ever since and by the way for her made out of "flaky pastry" already instead of the just for the "common people´s/peasant-style plain shortcrust pastry" version... The French then just changed the sort of "flaky pastry" into a "local french sort of flaky pastry" and additionally added a lot of butter into the dough And because the Kipferl was "moonshaped" the French called it then "Croisssant" which is literally refering to the "cresent of the moon" shape, while the Ausrian name "Kipferl" actually means "little hornlet" originally derived from Latin "cippus" which in the 13th century became germanized "chipfen" which became centuries later in the diminutive form "Kipferl"= alternative expression for "Hörnchen" in German
I was in the US army stationed in eschborn just outside of frankfurt in 1976-1980. Some of the street food vendors that sold pretzels had a spicy mustard available they would put on your pretzel if you wanted it.
Dear Feli, please consider not endorsing this type of travel adapter. It is a dangerous contraption. The most significant problem (among others) is, that it will accept grounded devices while not providing a ground connection on the power side. In case of a faulty device, this can lead to full 110V (or even 220V in europe) on the outside of the device while circumventing the safety or the RCD. Yes, they are eqipped with their own 10A safety, but this is to protect the wall outlet and not the user.
But this is a cream cake with a black shortcrust pastry and chocolate flakes on top. And most importantly, of course, the Black Forest kirsch, i.e. high-proof alcohol.
The "Christmas pickle" was interesting but I have always heard that it was an old English tradition. It is also, at least here in Virginia, fairly recent. When I was a child, back in the 1970's, I never heard of it. Of interest, I also never heard of it when I lived in Germany. It wasn't until about 2002 that it started showing up around here.
A danish pastry, especially a cheese danish, is not Danish, ie from Denmark at all, here we know the sweet jam filled version as wienerbrød, which translates to bread from Vienna, the Austrian capital. In the 18hundreds the was a bakers strike in Denmark, so bakers from Vienna was brought in to bake bread, and they brought the butter layered pastry with them. And after the strike was over the pastry had grown so popular, that the Danish bakers continued baking them. But a wienerbrød is only sweet in Denmark, a more savory cheese filled version doesn’t exist, it’s an entirely US invention, as we all know the US is in love with everything to do with melted cheese :-)
1:08 1. Chicken dance 4:57 2. Pretzles with cheese 2:26 3. Adolf Hitler 11:55 4. German chocolate cake 14:00 5. Christmas pickle 16:04 Outro There you go. 😊
There are several in the U.S.: mochi icecream (created by a Japanese-American in Texas I believe), teriyaki sauce (from Washington state), American sushi like the California roll, Mexican coke (it is no longer 100% cane sugar and is only a marketing ploy), and many others
I recently learned that orange chicken was invented by Panda Express in Hawaii. It was a variation of General Tso's chicken, which also is not from China. Two chefs claim to have invented General Tso's, but both say that they did so in New York City.
@@disappointmentslough In case you haven’t heard of it, there is a great book about the origins of American Chinese food (with a long section on General Tsao’s chicken) by Jennifer 8 Lee (her real name) called “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles.” It was originally published in 2009. Highly recommended. Like Feli does here, she breaks down a lot of myths about “Chinese Food”, including the origin of the fortune cookie (which Felli mentioned in the video).
Feli, have you had the opportunity of visiting Leavenworth WA yet? It is promoted as "the Bavarian village", but my son and grandsons who spent a day there (from their BC home) tell me it's a Disneyesque travesty. I'd love to see you do a travelogue from the place. Servus!
I live not far from Leavenworth. Yes, it's a bit cheesey, but you have to take it as good fun, and enjoy the festivities in Oktober and at Christmastime. Plus, the mountains are spectacular, as is the skiing and the hiking in summer. Not all towns can be lucky enough to be authentically Bavarian!
I’m about 4 hours from Leavenworth myself. It’s def a cute getaway place. I’ve only been in the summer though. It looks magical in winter but the idea of driving there in snow scares me. Would like to see Feli’s review.
Just visited Munich and anytime I ordered a pretzel it did not come with anything, but when it was offered as part of a breakfast buffet it was next to various meats, sliced cheeses, and mustards.
In Belgium a popular thing to put on sandwiches is “American”, which is raw minced meat mixed with spices, ketchup and other things. It’s very good but I cannot imagine it being popular in the USA (as raw meat).
In Germany ,Mett' ( see english word meat) exists. This is raw minced pork, spiced with Salt and Pepper. A half bread roll is covered ith Mett, and some raw onion pieces added.
Pretzels and soft pretzels are ubiquitous in the Pennsylvania German Lancaster County PA. Not sure, but I believe the mustard addition came from 70 miles away in Philadelphia, where they squeeze the soft pretzels together into a rectangle and sell like 5 of them in a strip on street carts.
My wife just brought me sift pretzels from Sturgis. Delicious. They did not have the long ones. I miss those. When I was young we could get them off of street vendors in Pittsburgh.
Nothing like the added 'spice' of exhaust fumes in your Philly street vendor pretzels... When my dad worked in Philly, he'd get a case of soft pretzels directly from the makers and we'd put them in the freezer. We'd pop them in the microwave for an afternoon snack with a little mustard on them..
Someone in some comment section I've read claimed the "Christmas pickle" once was a small local tradition somewhere in western central Germany, I think the Pallatinate or something. Even if that's true, calling it a "German" tradition would still be like saying that Mardi Gras is one of THE US holidays, a big stretch.
06:37 we also "dip" them into Leberwurst or Teewurst (liver sausage, tea sausage) or other meat spreads, or cream cheeses. Basically it's just skipping the process of cutting the pretzel in half and spreading it onto it.
I assumed that mustard was a pretzel dip in Germany because pretzels are so dry that they kinda want something to dip them in, even big soft ones, and mustard is both a favorite condiment there and also something that y'all are known for. Mustard also compliments pretzels quite well.
That connection only exists in US media. For Germans he's practically unknown unless you are 40+ and remember him as an actor. Very very few even know he ever sang, let alone in Berlin 2 months after the wall came down...
Me and my wife went to Oktoberfest 2016. We did the Spaten Brewery tour, and that's where I first had the Pretzel with Obazda. 🤤 Also managed to get a table at the Schottenhamel tent and watched the Oktoberfest inauguración ceremony. A memory that will last a life time!
Third generation German American here - hadn’t heard of Christmas pickle until you mentioned it some time ago. Thanks for another well researched , well presented program.
![Das Boot, D*ck, Billion: 15 FALSE COGNATES in German and English! [Timekettle Translator Earbuds]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SFu8GyVB_u8/mqdefault.jpg)
What other things do people believe to be typical for a country, but they're not even from that country? 😅 Let me know in the comments below!
Singapore Noodles. It’s a Cantonese dish that originated in Hong Kong, yet it's called Singapore noodles.
I'm dying, people think the chicken dance is a traditional German dance? 😂 Do they also think that the Macarena is a traditional Spanish dance? haha
french fries. they are from belgium
I lived for my first 30 years in England. I never saw an English muffin until I moved across the Atlantic. We have crumpets which are vaguely similar but taste and feel different.
Scotch comes from Northern Ireland.
Didn't expect the complete history of the chicken dance, but here we are.
And i expected a clip of it, because as a german ive never seen it
@@D3nn1s tbh that's crazy, I am german myself and do know the chicken dance. But I don't think I have really seen it in the last ~15 years or so. Maybe the reason is I am not a child anymore since ~15 years :D
I know it as a classic tune for german carnival (Fastnacht/Fasching) in my childhood days, back in the 80s/90s.
an information overflow regarding ententanz
@@PESHajnal30This MIGHT be the reason!!!😂 If you are a German. In the US it seems to be a little different. 😊
I was born in México.
I moved to Los Ángeles in 1978, when I was 17 years old
I'd never eaten or seen a burrito in my life until I moved to Los Ángeles.
Nowadays, you can find burritos all over México.
Burritos were created in California, not México.
Thats interesting
Try going anywhere but Santa Fé, New Mexico, and ask for sopapillas.
What part of Mexico are you from? because not all Mexicans call it burrito, others call it a taco, south of Mexico they call it codzito. Guanajuato is the only place where they call a taco a burrito.
I live in Veracruz state and the only burritos I have seen are babies with their mother burros in the rural areas. Seriously, the only places I have ever seen a burrito on a menu in Mexico was when I am in an American restaurant like IHOP or Chipotle. And our tacos and tamales are completely different from the things I've seen in the USA with those names in "Mexican" restaurants.
@@Aaron-hr5bb Dude! I'm super curious now. What do real ones look and taste like? Gimme a recipe, I'll make em.
The origin of German Chocolate Cake is hilarious! I always scratched my head and said there's no way this is German with the coconut. Thanks for the great explanation.
We could call it Hawaiian Chocolate Cake or Thai Chocolate Cake. :)
@@sluggo206 those names make a lot more sense!
Chocolate with coconut? Sounds like a "Banjo" bar!
It's interesting to me that the coconut is the part that makes it seem "not German" when chocolate is no more indigenous to Germany (or Europe in general) than coconut. In fact, if you look at where cacao is grown and where coconuts are grown, it's pretty much the same places, none of which are near Germany. Just shows you how ubiquitous chocolate is globally rather than being associated to the regions that grow it. I guess it's kind of similar to coffee or tea in that regard.
@@tcphll true though the Swiss in particular are known for their chocolate making/processing, but yes not growing.
I‘m swiss and I got asked about „The Sound Of Music“ more times than I can count! First time I heard about it I had no idea what it was, and people were confused since they firmly believed it must be a traditional swiss childrens movie. When I finally watched it and did some research, I found out it is a american Broadway musical turned Hollywood movie with a story set in Salzburg, Austria.
I cannot explain HOW on earth every single american I meet is convinced it is swiss 🤣
Because many Americans associate mountains with Switzerland, I think. We also make the same connection to the book & movie, "Heidi".
@@michael-1680 there’s a place in Germany you can cross the border with Switzerland by foot we almost did with or dogs on a hike lol, but also Austria. We travel a lot to Germany and when hiking up the woods we use google maps and orientation and see okay that mountain is Austria, there’s Switserland and these are Germany. It’s fun. Bodensee and you have it in view. We turn of our roaming to manual otherwise before we know we get a big phone bill 😂.
The only association that film has with Switzerland is that's where the Von Trapps escaped to at the end of the film (but not in real life). But I don't think I'd even ask an Austrian about it, the same way I wouldn't ask a random Australian about what they think about Crocodile Dundee.
@@mjolner42 But Crocodile Dundee actually is an Australian movie.
I‘m Swiss too, but I never heard about this 🙈😄
I love your research into all things German, herman - American, etc. My mother, born in gelsenkirchen (sp) in 1925 would have loved your channel!!!! She came to USA permanently in the 1970's when I was 9 years old. Was always shaking her head about the things Americans "knew" about Europe. Fun to see a young woman reflecting on these same things.
A former friend of mine is Korean and once another former friend asked her if she could make fortune cookies for her. The response was something like "They seem to exist as Asian everywhere but in Asia."
Thats funny because fortune cookies are Chinese immigrant food. Its not even Korean haha
Fortune cookies are now made in Brooklyn, NYC. Maybe originally in San Francisco?
They were invented in San Francisco by the Japanese. They put these country names in foods as a marketing ploy to make lots of money.
Same thing with sea weed it’s from Ireland
@@robertewalt7789 San Fransisco, Japanese Tea Garden in 1914 or so.
From Lower-Bavaria Here:
- Chicken Dance: I'm old enough to know the original hype in the early 1980ies. For me it's more like a song for carnival season (Fasching).
- Beer-Cheese: Personally I don't like Obazda. I'm more found of an other dish called Kartoffelkäse (potato-cheese). It's made out of mashed potatoes, cream and/or sour cream (or cream-fresh or yogurt to taste) and pepper and chives. But remembering my grandma, she made an Austrian dish called Liptauer (after the Slovakian region of Liptov) sometimes made of (old soft) cheese like Camembert, butter, paprika and beer. But the consistence was more like Obazda and Potato-Cheese…
German Chocolate Cake: Heared of it during some Geology lectures of Nick Zentner during the COVID-lock-downs as an analogy of the Columbia-River-Basalts in Washington and Oregon. Didn't know it's made out of coconut, too, until now.
Christmas Pickle: Heard of it. We don't have one. That's it.
The adapter: As an electrical engineer I hope this device is safe. Lets say so: These adapters tend to have a massive flaw. The more possibilities you have to connect, the more possibilities you have t unintentionally touch voltage… And this adapter does not feature ground connection…
Adding an engineering review of the adapter is the most hysterically German thing ever! (in a good way!)
I would say that I think that the power draw could create a fire hazard, especially if you have all devices charging all at once.
I live in Austria and I loveeee Liptauer!!❤❤❤
As an American, the first time I saw the chicken dance associated with Oktoberfest was on an episode of Futurama. Before that, to me, it was always one of the silly group dances at a wedding.
Stuff must be toxic to everyone with a rest of pruzian blood in him... 😂
My wife is Malaysian Chinese and we lived in Malaysia for nearly seven years in the early years of our marriage. Now we live in California and we have found that in nearly every Malaysian restaurant we have ever encountered, they proudly serves a dish they call Mango Chicken. I have no idea where this dish originated from but I never seen it (or anything like it) anywhere in Malaysia. It seems to be a completely American invention. They also serve desserts here that are vaguely like authentic Malaysian desserts but then add chocolate or some other American ingredients that would never be seen in Malaysia.
I'm from California and never even seen a Malaysian restaurant 😂
I wouldn't trust any American Asian restaurant at all.
As a child, I also naively thought Shanghai noodles have something to do with Shanghai, nope. My grandmother, who was actually from Shanghai, said she never heard of such a thing. The 7 year old me thought perhaps my grandmother didn't know better. Then I realised the deception....
I’ve been told that all dishes in most “Asian” restaurants in America are purely American inventions. I did have real Chinese dumplings from an Asian market here that actually serves the Asian community, and I was surprised that they’re bland compared to the “Asian” restaurant versions that I’ve previously tried. Although, one Japanese-American classmate did admit to me that despite it really being an American invention that she did like orange chicken, too.
...the Christmas Pickle...
...my dad was from Hungary; spent a few years in Munich, and when asked about the Christmas Pickle he said it was a traditon that originated in Poland amongst ethnic Germans, sometimes in the mid-1800's...
Really? I was pretty certain that it was invented by the folks at Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, MI 😂
I know several people who have started doing the Pickle thing now that the meme is getting more popular.. so it might actually end up becoming a tradition, given enough time.
My family has German ancestry on both sides (plus ancestry from like half of Europe overall lol) and we had a pickle ornament, but we just did it because of a children’s picture book called “Pickle Things.”
The book started with “Pickle things you’ll never see, like pickles on a Christmas tree” and went on to list many other silly places you _won’t_ see pickles. (I also recall “a pickle nose, and pickle toes.”)
So when we saw a pickle ornament in a shop, we thought it was hilarious to prove the book wrong! Didn’t hide it, didn’t have a reward for finding it, just saw it and laughed 😂
I am Polish and never hears of that. But now I want pickle ornament :) it would be easy to spot on my tree though, because the tree is white ;) or maybe it would get lost as most of my ornaments are green and ocean blue
@@MaraMara89 would love to see a picture. It sounds beautiful.
3:10 Seeing Helga Feddersen referred to as “another German artist” is tough. Young people like Feli have probably never heard of her, but she was a well-known and very popular comedienne.
I don't know if you noticed but I didn't give any background information on any of the bands and artists. It would have taken wayyyy to long to go into detail about every single one of the artists and songs 😅
"Die Wanne ist voll uh uh uh ..." 😊 She was a congenial comedy partner of Diddi Hallervorden.
Unfortunately, she fell ill with cancer early in her life and died at early age after a long suffering.
That's probably why she's almost forgotten today.
Yes, Helga was really amazing. ❤
She so was. 'The Man that I Want' to 'Die Wanne ist voll'. Northern humor at its finest.
Ich habe Deinen Kanal erst vor wenigen Wochen entdeckt und bin begeisterst, wie sehr Deine Videos vor positiver Energie nur so sprühen. Und auch, wie gut die darin enthaltenen Informationen recherchiert sind 😃❤👍
Dieser Akzent!!
Meine Frau und ich verkaufen auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt Christbaumschmuck und Spielsachen. Tatsächlich haben wir auch die Weihnachtsgurke im Angebot, jedesmal müssen wir erklären welcher Sinn dahintersteckt. Niemand kennt es. Und jedesmal ist es ein großer Spaß für die Kunden, mit lustigen Gesprächen. Auch kaufen die meisten Leute eine Gurke. Somit wurde eine neue Tradition erfunden. 😊
I get asked about the German Chocolate Cake all the time...I always tell people the real German Chocolate Cake is the Black Forest Cake...and yup, the pickle is something I have never heard of in Germany.
I personally wouldn't consider Black Forest Cake to be chocolate cake though. 😅 But that one is definitely from Germany.
@@FelifromGermany Jetzt muss ich die ganze Zeit an Schwarzwälderkirschtorte denken 😭
Yes, as Feli said. Schwarzwälder is no chocolate cake. While there is some chocolate in the dough and usually on top, it's mostly whipped cream with a filling of cherries with cherry liquor.
Consumed to the accompaniment of Horst Jankowski's "A Walk in the Black Forest" song!
@@tiberius8390that’s not how cakes work 😅, Black Forest cake is undoubtedly a chocolate cake, with cherries and whipped cream
Then there's Häagen-Dazs ice cream, assumed by many to be from Europe, but was in fact invented in New York in 1960.
It's one of those made up names, like how Orville Redenbacher created the term "gourmet" popping corn. The term allowed him to charge more for the the hybrid of corn he used.
This ice-cream is blocked frozen. German and Italian ice-cream is much softer and more delicious.
@@timmooney7528
Some metal-bands put an umlaut in their band-names just to look mor edgy or so. (i.e. "Motörhead")
Interesting. I as well thought it might be Swedish or Danish. Now I know better. Thank you. Jaja, man lernt nie aus!😂
Yes, the name was deliberately invented to sound "Danish", but it's actually not even a real word in Danish, just a meaningless set of sounds.
You forgot the „Spundekäs“ eaten in Rheinhessen wich is usually always eaten with Brezel. Sometimes also with the small ones.
Exactly, and in the Odenwald there is cooked cheese (Kochkäse), which is even closer to the one shown here. Ultimately, all methods of making cheese liquid. But you eat it with bread and meat.
Another food that many Americans think is German but actually isn't: Black Forest ham. Or I guess I should say: the deli meat sold in the US as Black Forest ham.
If you put a German Black Forest ham and the American version side-by-side, it's a completely different product. The American version was developed by Ferdinand Schaller, who couldn't keep up with the demand in New York City by following the authentic curing method he had learned in Stuttgart. So he developed a new recipe that didn't require the hams to sit around for so long.
first generation Canadian here, my family hails from SE Germany in Singen, I have never heard of a Christmas pickle , and my grandparents kept a lot of the German tradition, far as German chocolate cake, never had that when I was in Germany, had Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte many times, but theres 0 coconut or pecan in that
WE WUZ DEUTSCHE UND SCHEISSE
Yeah, we actually have a yodeling pickle on our tree. It's motion activated. Thank you, Grandma For this very loud addition to christmas.
I gave my daughter one of these last year. She lives in Germany and she gave it to her German boyfriend who thought it was hilarious and showed it to all his friends who also thought it was hilarious.
@@markdodel1706That is hilarious! 🤣
Until you have to put up with it for days.
As a german, this just makes me angry. I know its a small thing and i should not get angry about something like that, but that there are so many people out there who think we would put a pickle on a tree for whatever reason - its just so stupid.
I mean - cheese to Brezeln - it makes sense to think that. A stupid dance - there are lots of stupid traditional dances in southern germany, its not that far from the truth. But a pickle on a tree on christmas? Thats as if i were telling people its an american tradition to shove someone a cheeseburger up its butt when he/she turns 21 or something like that.
I‘m German and I thought the Christmas pickle was an American thing 😂
I thought it is an English Tradition.
same😂
What's a Christmas pickle?
@@amandabeaty1492
its a smal cucumer in the christmas tree.
But you see it not at the first moment
You must search it.
I see it in germanys christmas markt.
But its not german.
@@amandabeaty1492it's what I give my wife on Christmas!
I was first introduced to the Chicken Dance when I was stationed in northern Italy, my first military assignment. It was called the Bala di Qua Qua. I used to live in Pittsburgh, and the Christmas pickle is a staple there. The most likely story is that it was a marketing campaign by the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Company, who besides making Ketchup, also makes pickles.
As a German in Germany, I've never heard that things like "Christmas Pickles", "German Chocolate Cakes" or a cheese dip for pretzels exist... And my only encounter with the Chicken Dance was in primary school. I learned a lot in this video!
Every time i hear the chicken dance the first thing that comes to my mind is ,,kaczuchy" which is a Polish children song about ducks who have little beaks, tails, legs and like water.
Sounds like "alle meine entchen"(all my ducklings) but in polish
I find the videi extremely disappointing!
@@Thefutureis96 no one forces you to watch it, get out!
The chocolate cake one is honestly so surprising I never expected that. Whenever anyone figured out I was learning German as an American they were always like " I know how to make German chocolate cake"
I don't think I ever had pecans in Germany. And while coconut is used, it is considered exotic (like coconut milk for asian recipies), not particularly german.
The pecan tree is the state tree of Texas and we had a lot of Germans immigrate here, so I was thinking Texas before she even said it. I have three pecan trees in my backyard in Dallas. The coconuts came from somewhere far away, though.
I was afraid that she was going to say that Black Forest cake (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte) wasn't German! It's the cake I think of when I think of a German cake. I've had "German's Chocolate Cake", but having grown up with a father that didn't like coconut, we didn't have it very often, and our German teachers in high school taught how to make Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (you were given the recipe in German...).
@@TheMcIke and this is a German cake, so don't worry. 🥰
...don't be stingy with the _Kirschwasser (cherry spirit)!_
@@insulanerin7601 chocolate is native to Mexico
The pretzel portion reminds me of videos that show what is being sold as American food in Europe that Americans never eat such as hotdogs sold in a glass jar, or creamed corn poured over a pizza.
Me watching at 5:07 - What about Obazda?!?
Also me 90 seconds later - ah, well, there you go.
FYI - As an American who was been to 5 München Oktoberfest, I have actually seen someone in a fullbody chicken suit, but it turns out he was from Fairfax, Virginia.
Of all the travel accessories I've seen, the Epicka looks like one of the most convenient beneficial accessories I've seen in a long time. That's awesome!
I never thought about where the Chicken Dance originated. I grew up in Wisconsin and it’s common to play this at wedding dances. (Yes, the band played it at my wedding in 1994)
In Canada, the preeminent version is by The Emeralds, and called "The Bird Dance". It was released in 1982 by Winnipeg based K-Tel Records.
I went to a wedding once, the bride forbade the playing of the Chicken Dance, much to the dismay of the groom's family, who discovered that another song had a similar enough beat to which the Chicken Dance could be danced!
I used to DJ weddings in WI and I played the chicken dance at every one of them 😁
Called the chat cken dance, it is practically required at weddings in PA.
@@pauldinardo9895 Same in Ohio. And why not. Everyone has a good time with it. AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" is also a staple at every wedding in NE Ohio.
Love your show: my beer cheese, and, yes, I’m from Winchester, KY, home of beer cheese. Beer cheese
16 oz shredded cheddar chs (abt room temp)
12 oz beer (flat/not stale)
1 tbs cayenne pepper
1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs salt
2 tsp minced garlic
Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend low for 6 min, or until smooth.
Place in container; refrigerate overnight.
Enjoy.
Please don't do that with german beer 😂😂😂
@@kscman we Kentuckians make it with beer because we would never make it with our beloved bourbon😉
@@jross4622 Kentuckians can only ruin bourbon by making a mint julip. 😀
@@JW-eq3vj exactly 🫡😂😂
Beer cheese in Germany is a cheese thats eaten with beer
One of the most famous chocolate cake is the Sachertorte, but originates in Vienna. Very delicious!
Though we don't really eat it ;) Most of us have family recipes but it's not a popular cake. Also if you ever come to Vienna don't eat the the one from the Hotel Sacher, it's overrated. Try any other cafe or bakery that has good ratings.
@@LunaticDesire Sorry, but I cannot admit. I know a lot of different Sachertorte, but the original is the best, by far. The cake itself is NOT dry as a lot others and the glaze is delicious. The best I know. But I admit, that it is over-priced.
@@thomaslehrer4210 Hotel Sacher makes their cakes drier and the glaze harder than the actual original recipe on purpose, to extend the shelf life. Café Demel in Vienna sells the original recipe Sachertorte.
People think Darth Vader's name is German: "'Vader' means 'father' in German," but actually:
1) That's not why he's called Darth Vader. 'Vader' comes from 'invader', 'Sidious' comes from 'insidious'.
2) 'Vader' is not the German word for 'father', but the Dutch word for it. The German word for 'father' is 'Vater'.
"Pitch Perfect" perpetrated this bit of nonsense.
It wouldn't even make sense, because when Vader was named, he wasn't actually meant to be Luke's father. This bit was invented after the original movie was completed.
As a German I thank you for explaining the Christmas Pickle as I have seen those sold in shops in recent years and been wondering why anyone would put something this weird and ugly on their Christmas tree. I thought it may be a Rick & Morty thing 😅
...ja, so do I...😂
One of the most embarrassing things I always hear from people when they learn that I'm originally from Russia (I live more than 31 years in another country) is that in Russia we say "na zdorovye" when we make a toast.
I'm sorry, but it's just nonsense, we NEVER say that in this situation.
This frase does exist though, but it's a polite answer to someone who thanks you for offering some food or drink, and ONLY in this case!
To make a toast it's possible to say "ZA tvoyò/nashe/vashe zdorovye" (for your/our health), but it's considered quite banal/lack of creativity. 🤦
Traditionally we mention some event we make a toast for, like "let's drink for finally getting together today/your successful exam/getting the job done, etc, etc, etc...
So please, don't say "na zdorovye" ever again when you drink with Russians! 🤣✌️
I grew up in MN/WI. We never assume anyone eats cheese like we do!
Do you consider the Swiss and Netherlands as rivals or brothers?
@@sonkeschluter3654 I would say brothers, you have better taste in cheese! We just eat a lot more of it...
The German wife HATES when I hear the Chicken Dance and say "your national dance!" I'm usually in trouble for awhile, but worth it…
Oh boy 😂
I would rage if someone said that to me! 😅
...
he woke up and chose war :D
Funny enough how being from Ukraine I was only exposed to Russian version of that song and was convinced it was a Soviet song 😅 (actually plagiarized like many stuff back then)
Christmas Pickle -- this is what I heard. Bronner's Christmas Store in Frankenmuth, Michigan sells lots of Christmas ornaments and some years ago, like in the 1970"s had made the pickle as part of a larger set of a decoration package. However, people began to request a new pickle so as to not break up the set because they would accidently throw it out with their dead tree or forget to remove it from their artificial tree and it got broken. So Bronner's began to advertise in their catalog the Christmas Pickle as "fun activity for the kids" so the pickle became a game. Also, think of the names in involved: Bronner's (German) Frankenmuth (means Franconian Courage--a political division/state in Germany) Pickle (well, Germans pickle everything!). The rest is good ol' American marketing!
lol not fair, not only your English accent is fantastic but your French accent is also on point. I’m so jealous.
The one faux-French thing I find the most irritating is the « French maid » outfit. No passing resemblance with anything having ever been worn in France. Black and white uniform color schemes aren’t specifically French either.
I think it was supposed to be reminiscent of the uniforms in the US that were worn by (often foreign-born) servants during the early part of the 20th century in East-coast upper-class households. So the "French" part referred to the person, not the outfit.
Your digging deep into original historical accuracy is commendable!
Well a german here, originating from bavaria. Never heard of a chrismas pickle in Bavaria. But my wife is from Thüringen. In her family its tradition to have a christmas pickle an the christmas tree. And its at least done since three generations. So it looks to me like a really secluded tradition, known only in little parts of germany.
Ich bin Thüringer und habe noch nie in meinen 65 Jahren etwas von einer Weihnachtsgurke gehört. Erst jetzt, durch mehrere Videos habe ich von diesem Unfug in Amerika gehört und dass er es eine deutsche Tradition sein soll..
@@SheratanLPNaja, "Unfug" würde ich es nicht nennen. Ist doch eine süße Tradition, auch wenn sie wohl eine amerikanische Erfindung ist. Ich bin auch aus Thüringen und habe eine Weihnachtsgurke zuerst in einem Laden in Lauscha gesehen, wo bekanntlich der gläserne Weihnachtsbaumschmuck herkommt. Als ich mich darüber wunderte, meinte die Verkäuferin: "Ja, die verkaufen wir oft an amerikanische Kunden".
@@Motacilla191 Lauscha ist ja nur ein Katzensprung von Pößneck entfernt. :) Und wenn die Lauschaer dadurch gute Geschäfte machen können, dass sie Amerikanern Glasgurken verkaufen, bin ich damit einverstanden es nicht mehr als Unfug ab zu tun. 😁😁
@@SheratanLP Wenn du in der deutschen Wikipedia nach dem Artikel Weihnachtsgurke suchst, ist da ein Bild von einem Katalog der Lyra-Fahrrad-Werke in Prenzlau von 1909, in dem man eine Glasgurke als Weihnachtsschmuck kaufen kann. 1909 war jetzt keine Zeit, wo man hier schon amerikanische Bräuche übernommen hat.
@@equolizerChatGPT:“Diese Glasgurke ist tatsächlich eine interessante Kuriosität. Es wird spekuliert, dass dies möglicherweise auf eine Marketingstrategie oder Werbeaktion zurückzuführen sein könnte. In den USA und anderen westlichen Ländern gab es zu der Zeit eine zunehmende Popularität von importierten Weihnachtsdekorationen aus Europa.“
In a way many food ones like the Pretzel ones are essentially German (in New York, it is served with Mustard, which was an actual German Jewish thing), because it was German Immigrants who created these things as a way of combining all the different regional foods as one cuisine when they all lived in the same neighborhoods when they came here between 1848 and 1935
What you mentioned about Braunschweig, an American Sociologist who in 1935 published about the Nazi's rise to power, said that from 1933 interviews he did, that there everyone was Braun or schweig when it came to the Nazis. But Hitler was Ethnic German from the border region, in a country with at the time a high rate of German identifiers.
But with the foods, many foods from many cultures came to their own in the US, because immigrants from all regions of a country would come here, blend cuisines mixed with local ingredients. I am Jewish, but while bagels are a Jewish food from Eastern Europe over 500 years old, cream cheese is an American invention for example. Or Beef Pastrami is a Jewish food (Pastrama that it is based on, it pork or goose) from Hungary and Romania, but the Rye used in classical NY Delis is a Jewish style Rye from Poland, using "deli mustard" which is Jewish from Germany" for example, as everyone blended their cuisines into one in the local neighborhoods
Well, actually all Austrians always identified themselves as ethnic Germans, not only those from the border region ... until 1945, when some miracle turned them all into ethnic Austrians, that never had anything to do with Germany or the Nazis ;-)
I had obazda when I was in Germany last year and loved it. Had it for breakfast whenever it was available.
You did mention the us word "stein" for a glass of beer. I´ve never heard this in germany.
You're right. Here in germany, it just means "stone".
Here in Rheinland-Pfalz a Stein Bier is specifically a 1 Liter glass of beer. Doesn't have anything to do with what Americans call a "beer stein", but it does exist in Germany in some way.
@@currykingwurst6393Which makes sense because the first bigger group of Germans to come to the US was from Rhineland-Palantia.
@@KlausBeckEwerhardyOK. But what do the Germans call a “beer stein”?? The ceramic vessel, painted with hunting scenes, with a metal cap you hold open with your thumb??
@@JonDoe-ln6nl A 'Maß' or in Bavarian pronunciation 'Moaß', which actually means measure (describing one litre). The ones you describe are also called thus - especially in a strength-competion, in which you hold a filled 'Moaß' or 'Humpen' at the end of an outstretched arm at shoulder-height (Maßkrugstemmen). So, what you describe is a Maßkrug.
Well researched, as always. I had no idea about the German Chocolate Cake's history. I'm glad Black Forest Cake, at least, is German (and delicious)!
The Black Forest Cake has sometimes been said, though, to be a lie.
@@Marco_Onyxheart Well, I like eating lies then.
good episode. I appreciate the story about the German's Chocolate Cake. As it turns out, all three of my father in laws were German, and the first two made a big deal about the Germanic qualities of their favorite cake, the pecan and coconut creation you mentioned. Somehow I knew it was bullcrap, and it felt good to hear you debunk that specific myth. Thank you, Feli.
Where I live, there's a German restuaraunt and pub that serves pretzels with mustard. It's one of the few places around here that I can get a liter of Bitbürger.
Fun fact. Bitbruger is from Bitburg, which is on the very west side of Germany. Also I believe it's Pilsener beer, which is bitter. In West Germany they don't serve beer in 1 liter sizes, and definitely not Pilsener. I would even be surprised if you get 0.5l beer in Bitburg. Usually it's 0.33liters, which is also the size of 1 bottle (usually).
1 liter Maß and generally "Halbe" (0.5 liter) is a Bavarian thing and the Bavarian "standard" beer is lager beer to large extend, which is not (that) bitter but more sweet.
@@tiberius8390 Pils beer is popular all over Germany and half liter glasses are as well, even though other sizes might be more associated with a certain place or region (like the small ones in Köln or the Maß in Bavaria)
Bitburger
@tiberius8390 true. I live 30 km from Bitburg, where the brewery is located and 25 km from where some of the hops are grown (next to Irrel). In Bitburg and Trier and everywhere around this area at restaurants, the bear is served in 33 cl or 40 cl glasses. The Bitburg bottles contains 33 cl or 50 cl (1/2 litre), but only the 33 cl or 30 cl versions are served in restaurants.
The slogan "Bitte ein Bit" of course refers to the polite asking "Bitte" "Please".
They are the Official Sponsor for the European Football Championship.
@@tiberius8390At least in my childhood, beer was mostly available in litre bottles, including Pils(ner) of course, and most people took 2 or 3 bottles to work. Transl DeepL
Love how it became the "Chicken Dance" in the U.S. because the Tulsa band couldn't find Duck suits!
French fries are named after the cutting style. Fortune cookies come from San Francisco. Philadelphia cream cheese was not from Philly but was so named because Philadelphia had an excellent food reputation at the time. A lot of Mexican food throughout the world is actually Americanized or invented in US like chili with beans, fajitas, burritos, Margaritas, etc. It’s known as Tex Mex. Italian food throughout most of the world is also Americanized by Italian immigrants who came to US and earned more money and used more ingredients. Spaghetti and meatballs were 2 separate dishes and meatballs were tiny. The use of meats in many dishes, such as veal, larger meatballs, pizza with more cheese and actually toppings. Pepperoni is actually invented in US while being inspired by Italy, there aren’t similar ingredients.
Feli, as a loyal Dutch fan, I can say you’re almost there with the pronunciation! You’ve already mastered one of the toughest sounds, the Dutch guttural /g/. Keep it up! Just make sure the /d/ in ‘dans’ doesn’t turn into a /t/ like in ‘Tanz’. Also, save the /ui/ for last. Those Germanic languages can seem intimidating due to their large vocal inventories, so don’t worry about them until you need to study them in detail. Otherwise, people might get scared of learning German and Standard Dutch. Did you know that Low German/Saxon, spoken in our eastern provinces and the northern German Bundesländer, is particularly challenging. Its vocal inventory is neither Dutch, nor German, nor Danish. The Germanic dialect continuum is a total chaos with different diphthongs every kilometer, influencing accents even in Standard Dutch and Standard German.
Ick soall mae saeggn, doaht ‘t heanig aon! Gaoht so doer mit dissn videos wat iej heer maockn doaht! Dat as ick alntied waedder gearne kieckn doah naoh alns wat iej maockn doaht; mit oanmoendig foell plesear!
Thanks to my Oma who still spoke some Pladdütsch with me, it helped to get at least the gist of your last paragraph 😉
While Plattdeutsch is quite different in many aspects from modern day Standard Dutch, e.g. lacking the Dutch pronounciation of G or SCH, it still pushes you in the right direction away from Standard German, like kieken/kijken instead of kucken or maockn/maken instead of machen.
Though it does not prepare you for words like "to switch off (something)" in Dutch 😆
@@heikozysk233 haha, dank foer juw aontwoard.
Jaoh, ick doenck det weer so eansiets waot iej daor saeggn doaht. Nich bloats foer juwlued, aower oack foer oans as plaott maehstieds ean toangckfaoll is waot maehr op Duetsch lick. Aennersiets moett wiej nich foergaettn de Aenglsaessn haebbt nich fadde Hoallaennschke koeste naoh Eanglaond roewersealed. As dee det oerngswo aoff Oastfreaschlaond doahn haebbt ossowaot. Daorfoer goeff det noach ean droedde pattieje waot daoraon naoh det Noardn traeckkn doett. To’n biejspoel/Biejfoerbeald goeff det nich bloats biej oans aower in det hoachduetsch det foerfoagsel /ge-/ biej woerde as “genug/genoeg” or “getan/gedaan”. Daor lick aower det Hoallaennsch maehr op det Hoachduetsch as det Plaottduetsch det doett, as Plaottduetsch gearne eer foerfoegings waeggsmietn doett. Det “(e)doahn” doett al foell op “done” lieckn un “(e)noagg” lick al foell op “enough”, so moett wiejlue togeawm. Oack praot wiejlue in plaott noach fannen “mess” foer saeckn mit to sniejn, oennerwiel dee lue inne perveansie boawm oans fa ean “knief” or “kniefte” kuern doaht insteaj fa “mess” waot a maehr teangst det Aenglschke “knive” aonleagn doett. Det heatt oemm det so mae to saeggn, det Hoallaennsch is nich maehr plaott as ‘t emsoelf maehr smoetsig maockt haeff mit Hoachduetsche spoehre as Naeddersaessischk det doahn haeff. Det as Hoallaenschk foell middelduetschk eangschkoeppe haeff waot Naeddersaessischk (noch) nich haeff. 🫠🤪
Un as det d’roemm gaeht waot “aus zu schalten”, daenn saeggt wiej op Hoallaennsch “uitzetten”, juestso as wiejle innet Saessisch fa “uutsaettn” praotn doaht. (P.S. iej moett de Hoallaennschke /z/ as in det Aenglschk leasn, so nich as Hoagduetschke Pietserieja-Z). 😊
When you find the Christmas pickle you get a big slice of German Chocolate Cake.
I grew up in CIncy ('50s & '60s) and I have never heard of a Christmas pickle. I do believe I had heard of The Chicken Dance in the '60s. I think it knocked the Conga Line dance out at wedding receptions and also showed up at some picnics and Oktoberfests back then. When I first saw large pretzels in Cincy they were plain and on the rarest occasions someone might put a little mustard on them. I recall one the most popular things back then were sauerkraut and Hamilton Metts - and I still love both!
@Feli
The only officially authorised dip for pretzels in Bavaria is „sweet mustard“ by Händlmeyer, Baumann or maybe Develey. 😊
Hi Feli, I’m from Canada and I really enjoy your channel, which I always find to be informative and very well presented. Keep up the good work!
I find these videos particularly fascinating because her description of "America" is a very regional perspective that's unlike much of the rest of America. This stuff about Pretzels with Cheese Dip, the German Chocolate Cake and Christmas Pickle, I've never heard of those things either and I've lived in the US all my life. I was in Meijers (a grocery store) in Cincinnati recently, and going "WTH is this?" through the deli, through the bakery, etc.
In Germany the Ententanz (Chicken Dance) is a thing at Fastnacht / Fasching / Karneval (carnival) events.
When I lived in the US a co-worker presented German chocolate cake to me at the office which confused me quite a bit 😁
+1 Love your Picard avatar !
That German Chocolate cake may have been Prussian which today is actually Poland. Millions from this region moved in 19th century. There is a reason WWi/WWII and Germany were actually about FOOD-->importing ~30% of it at the time, and Prussia was utterly destroyed, broken up, and depopulated by and large by both wars. My own family(moms side) was from this region who moved here in 1880's and what often is called "German" dish here in USA is closer to a Polish equivalent dish than anything else.
It was not named for Germany, it was name for Samuel German who was an American chocolate maker. Thank you Max Miller and Tasting History.
Edit: I should have watched the whole video before replying
Aber weniger als Ententanz, sondern eher in der Frank Zander Version.
@@SheratanLP Meiner Erfahrung nach ist das etwa gleich verteilt, aber das mag sich von Region zu Region unterscheiden.
When I was a kid we never had a pickel ornament but we had plenty of german glass ornaments.
As a german I plead to take over the tradition of dipping prezels into cheese from america that sounds awesome I realy always missed something👍🇩🇪🇺🇸
Lol, WTF... 3:57 "1981 was truly the year of the Chicken Dance." That's the year I was born! 4:10 And now I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma! How weird...
I was thinking of NALF the second you mentioned the butter Bretzel.
The only "german chocolate cake" we know here in Belgium is Schwartzwaldtorte or zwartewoud taart
Mit dem guten Kirschwasser darin - deshalb ist sie bei Kindern so beliebt...
With the good cherry brandy in it - that's why it's such a favourite with children...
in England we call it Black Forest gateau and it was very fashionable in the 1970s and 80s
@@jrgptr935I'm German and my parents didn't allow me to eat it as a kid because of the alcohol.
Yes but that's not really chocolate cake
@@neonsparxx Da ist Die wirklich etwas entgangen, alle kleinen Kinder lieben die Torte.
My favorite version of the “Chicken Dance/Der Ententanz” is the doorbell of the German in the TV show, The IT Crowd. Season 2, Episode 3, Moss and the German. I WANT this doorbell!
I really love how well your videos are based on great research! Very nicely done!
I just love how well prepared you are for every video, that's so very german of you! Greetings from Slovenia!
Being of German descent, living in Texas now but from Cincy, never heard of the pickle thing. As for pretzels w/ cheese or mustard, it’s definitely an American thing. Thanks, Feli!!
PS: Love the Euros!!
As a Texan, we never had cheese and pretzel and Texas has its own form of German.
i was stationed in Germany early 80's got pretzels with mustard, butter, and some for of soft cheese all the time.
@@david.ferris a soft cheese spread is often eaten with a pretzel in Rheinhessen. But it's no cheese sauce. Ive never heard of pretzel being eaten with mustard though.
The Christmas pickle is a new one to me. And I grew up surrounded by ancestral German relatives, including my parents and grandparents.
One thing comes to my mind, that is probably only known in Germany - "Russischer Zupfkuchen" (Russian ???cake, don't know how to translate). A type of cheesecake totally unknown in Russia, but invented by German company Dr. Oetker decades ago.
No, that's an old DDR recipe that was known just as Zupfkuchen. Dr. Oetker used it after a recipe competition where people sent in their recipes. In the former east Germany it was already popular well before that, but wasn't called anything Russian.
same with Russisch Brot
@@regig.9493 😁 "DDR Zupfkuchen" would have sounded kind of strange probably. And it probably wouldn't have been a sales success either.
Das Ding hatte auch den Namen "preußischer Zupfkuchen" und Dr. Oetker hat es etwas umbenannt
It's ukrainischer Zapfkuchen now...
Growing up in the midwest in the 60s/70s/80s, my German speaking grandparents and their relatives played the chicken/duck dance at every wedding or community dance there was. I had never heard of the Christmas pickle thing until about 6 years ago when we hosted a German exchange student from Stuttgart. She started the tradition for our family.
I didn't know that so many versions of Ententanz existed but I remember hearing and dancing to it during Fasching (carneval)
Same. I was a scout and we had Fasching there every year, too with the „gib mir bitte einen Kuss“ version 😆
Many Americans have corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, believing it to be a traditional Irish dish. It isn't. In point of fact bacon and cabbage is the traditional dish in Ireland. Historically, some regions had lamb instead of bacon.
The New England boiled dinner, consisting of corned beef with cabbage and one or more root vegetables, which was also popular in Atlantic Canada, was adopted by many Irish immigrants living in neighbourhoods served by Jewish butchers when they couldn't get bacon, or in other places beecause it was cheaper. And that's the origin of the Irish-American corned beef and cabbage tradition.
Would that be Irish bacon or bacon bacon?
@@TLowGrrreen Nearly two billion people in the former British Empire agree with Ireland about what cut of a porker is bacon, peculiar North American habits notwithstanding... :)
Add to that American corned beef is different.
@johnhoare1055 (sigh...) Once again, two cultures separated by a common language. You might have simply replied, back or belly. As far as culinary peculiarities go, I find it fascinating that the ancient, noble, varied cultures of the British isles have spent so much of history evading the concept of flavor in their own cuisines. lol 😆 😀
@@TLowGrrreen Bland is a flavour 😃
Those PA Dutch changed everything
😆
@@stevemyers8330"Vye Sure!"
I went to school in the US from 10-13, and a history teacher there tried to tell me my last name wasn’t German, but Pennsylvania Dutch. I had literally moved there from Munich, I think I knew my own heritage 😂
Helga Feddersen shozkd also be named and not just called 'another artist'. She was the first real comedienne and died far too early!
Check out her art!
Helga Feddersen und Didi Hallervorden ❤️
@@joergn.1800 You, the bathtub is full.
@@Wildcard71 😁👌
@@Wildcard71 "I stimm you zu" - UH UH UH 😁
I am from Salzburg/Austria (not so far from Munich) - and YES pretzels are often served together with mustard - especially the white munich saussage is eaten typically together with pretzels and sweet mustard (but only before noon)
The first time I came across the "Chicken Dance"" was when I was stationed In Germany (Kitzingen, FRG) between 1983 and 1985. Many of the principal officers in our battalion were invited to a Fasching dance and party held by our panzergrenadier Partnerschaft unit in the Regensburg area. It was a way the local unit thanked the local folks for their support. All of us linguistically impaired Amis were paired with good English speaking locals at our tables. When a certain dance started, all the locals latched on to one of the befuddled American soldiers or their spouses and drug us to the dance floor to be introduced to the "Chicken Dance". I have to admit it was a wonderful ice breaker and set the tone for the rest of the night. As an olde pharte now, I can only assume that what may have been common in Bavaria before the fall of the Berlin Wall may have gone out of style before the younger generation came along.
I'm bavarian by birth 😁 and can assure you that i never danced the "chicken dance" or "Ententanz" as we call it after the age of 10. I'm born 1975. I only know it as children's dance, I did not recocnize it here in Germany for many years now. Since the mid 80s, I've only noticed it in American movies, series and when brought up on UA-cam. Maybe your Panzergrenadier comrades had fun making the Amis look a bit silly. But you all apparently had a lot of fun and that's what counts. Especially on Fasching.
We put butter on our pretzel.
Or we put butter by the fishes
i like to eat them with Kochkäse. (Cooking cheese/Cancoillotte)
I was in the US Army in Germany and often attended the German/American friendship club in Frankfurt. All the German's thought Kraft was a German company and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese was invented in Germany (they were always asking me to buy boxes at the US Army grocery store and bring them a box.) I knew they were wrong and wrote to Kraft Foods and got a full history of the company and gave it to them. Kraft was founded in Chicago, Illinois, not in Germany and still is an American company. This factoid hunt was done in the early 1990s before the internet. The person that was the most sure that Kraft was a German company the guy who worked as an economist for the Deutsche Bundesbank, headquartered in Frankfurt.
It's because Kraft is a German word meaning strength.
Just one word: „MIIIIRAAAACOLIIIIIIII!“
Don't tell Feli this. She will find any way to prove that Germany invented Mac and Cheese and Kraft IS a German company.
I guess because the name is German. The guy who founded it had German heritage. Same with Heinz, I always thought it was a German company until I realized it's actually American
Ich erinnere mich da an einen Norbert WALTER, meinst Du den?
I remember a Norbert WALTER, is that who you mean?
I noticed that about thirty years ago, the Christmas market started producing vegetable and fruit Xmas ornaments that sold in places like Bronners (a huge Christmas store) in Frankenmuth, MI...a 'Little Bavaria' resort town. I remember pickle ornaments being a big novelty from that...perhaps that contributed to this association of pickles and Germany. I never saw any pickle ornaments anywhere before that.
It was a rehash of a fad that had popped up briefly in the 60s and 70s. My family has glass pickle and chili pepper ornaments older than I am. I'm 51.😊
One of Swedens most famous musicians Cornelis Vreewijk was born in Netherlands and was at no point a Swedish citizen. He came close but he fled back to netherlands for a couple of years to avoid skattmasen (Swedish IRS). He came back to Sweden where he lived out the rest of his life. He died from hepatic cancer (liver cancer). Though he never attained citizenship, he was more fluent in Swedish than most native speakers.
Tempura being from Japanese cuisine. It comes originally from Portugal, where we dipped vegetables (green beans) in a batter, and we call it "peixinhos da horta" (little fish from the vegetable garden).
I had no idea that The Tweets "Birdie Song" was just one iteration of a European craze. Those synths in the old school duck dance tracks, absolutely majestic stuff... :p
The Chicken Dance is huge at Musikest in Allentown/Bethlehem Pennsylvania! My hubby introduced me!
Great video. Most American pretzels are rock hard, so you really need something to dip it in. Once you’ve had a real German butter pretzel, you’ll never go back to American pretzels.
Oh they are my staple food when traveling to Germany with our campervan. And yes Butter! The fun part is in Germany you can still buy a part of a bread especially the darker breads.
American pretzels are just crackers
Hmm, in my experience, the pretzels I've had in Germany have been harder than the big soft pretzels you get at the mall shops, or the like.
@@devenscience8894 i would say they are more like dense bread like Consistency, they have different versions now, more long gated, some with cheese on top too. I keep them in a plastic seal bread bag so they stay softer a bit longer otherwise they get hard faster. We don’t have that in Belgium so its always fun to try out other foods. Like the potato balls, but my favorite is the Kaiserschmarren with raisins. Funny enough Oetker sells it in pouches you only have to add milk and eggs. For the time being i can have my pleasure at home that way. I have my cast iron skillet now that i can use on my stove. I have a cookbook culinaria U.S.A. That’s about region’s specialty. But sometimes I have to find a other spice or thing to replace due it’s not available in Belgium. Had once key lime pie and it was so sour i was thinking that can’t be right? We have only a small selection of American foods they call culinary in some stores and even then i think hmm is it real. We have more Asian food stores and Eastern European stores. In Brussel there’s the Matonge quarter if you want to find original African foods although some cities have a small store. But hey it might show i like foods. Love to cook and only thing is my husband can’t handle to spicy 😂 have to adapt a bit.
@@devenscience8894Outside Bavaria, Pretzels are normally to be avoided. However, one of the best are available at Brezelbub in Düsseldorf Main Rail Station. Pretzels have to be fresh to be good.
A lot of americans think danish pastry originated in Denmark. It's actually from Vienna. (the danish word for it being Weinerbrød = Bread from Vienna) And the other way round: The danish name for Chips is "Franske Kartofler", meaning French Potatoes even though Chips comes from th U.S.
wait a minute, you guys have "French Potatoes" and we have "French Fries". those sneaky French are up to something...
British or american chips? Jeg har aldrig hørt nogen sige “franske kartofler”, bare “pomfritter” eller “chips”
French Fries are also Belgian, and the Croissant is just the Austrian Kipferl reinterpreted with a different dough, introduced to France in the 1700s.
@@bvbxiong5791 Apparently, they're up to delicious potato things.
@@Alias_Anybody Brought to France by the cooking entourage of Austrian Princess Maria Antonia (=in French "Marie Antoinette") who got married to the French Dauphin Louis...
The "cresent of the moon-shaped Kipferl" was part of her breakfast routine ever since and by the way for her made out of "flaky pastry" already instead of the just for the "common people´s/peasant-style plain shortcrust pastry" version...
The French then just changed the sort of "flaky pastry" into a "local french sort of flaky pastry" and additionally added a lot of butter into the dough
And because the Kipferl was "moonshaped" the French called it then "Croisssant" which is literally refering to the "cresent of the moon" shape, while the Ausrian name "Kipferl" actually means "little hornlet" originally derived from Latin "cippus" which in the 13th century became germanized "chipfen" which became centuries later in the diminutive form "Kipferl"= alternative expression for "Hörnchen" in German
I was in the US army stationed in eschborn just outside of frankfurt in 1976-1980. Some of the street food vendors that sold pretzels had a spicy mustard available they would put on your pretzel if you wanted it.
Dear Feli, please consider not endorsing this type of travel adapter. It is a dangerous contraption. The most significant problem (among others) is, that it will accept grounded devices while not providing a ground connection on the power side. In case of a faulty device, this can lead to full 110V (or even 220V in europe) on the outside of the device while circumventing the safety or the RCD. Yes, they are eqipped with their own 10A safety, but this is to protect the wall outlet and not the user.
2:25 Nailed it! De Vogeltjesdans. Das V wird in NL wie ein W in Deutsch ausgesprochen.
You could argue Austrians caused both wars, blundered them spectacularly and let the Germans take the blame
I could be wrong but I think to most Americans Austria and Germany are pretty much the same place.
@@itsROMPERS...Weren't that Austria and Australia 😂
@@itsROMPERS... Guaranteed.
when you said german cake i tought of Schwarzwalder Kirsch ( or black forest cake) that does seem to be german :P
I thought they maybe meant Sachertorte
But this is a cream cake with a black shortcrust pastry and chocolate flakes on top. And most importantly, of course, the Black Forest kirsch, i.e. high-proof alcohol.
Google for the recipe 😊
The "Christmas pickle" was interesting but I have always heard that it was an old English tradition. It is also, at least here in Virginia, fairly recent. When I was a child, back in the 1970's, I never heard of it. Of interest, I also never heard of it when I lived in Germany. It wasn't until about 2002 that it started showing up around here.
A danish pastry, especially a cheese danish, is not Danish, ie from Denmark at all, here we know the sweet jam filled version as wienerbrød, which translates to bread from Vienna, the Austrian capital. In the 18hundreds the was a bakers strike in Denmark, so bakers from Vienna was brought in to bake bread, and they brought the butter layered pastry with them. And after the strike was over the pastry had grown so popular, that the Danish bakers continued baking them. But a wienerbrød is only sweet in Denmark, a more savory cheese filled version doesn’t exist, it’s an entirely US invention, as we all know the US is in love with everything to do with melted cheese :-)
The „cheese“ sauce is some disgusting chemistry experiment that shouldn’t be called food.
From Augsburg and I like a Butter Bretze. ❤
1:08 1. Chicken dance
4:57 2. Pretzles with cheese
2:26 3. Adolf Hitler
11:55 4. German chocolate cake
14:00 5. Christmas pickle
16:04 Outro
There you go. 😊
Thank you!
Hm. Ich brauche keine Aufteilung, da ich mir eh das ganze Video anschaue. :)
@@SheratanLP Lovely Shera, you do as you like. Diligent little bee, you are! 😀
There are several in the U.S.: mochi icecream (created by a Japanese-American in Texas I believe), teriyaki sauce (from Washington state), American sushi like the California roll, Mexican coke (it is no longer 100% cane sugar and is only a marketing ploy), and many others
I recently learned that orange chicken was invented by Panda Express in Hawaii. It was a variation of General Tso's chicken, which also is not from China. Two chefs claim to have invented General Tso's, but both say that they did so in New York City.
@@disappointmentslough In case you haven’t heard of it, there is a great book about the origins of American Chinese food (with a long section on General Tsao’s chicken) by Jennifer 8 Lee (her real name) called “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles.” It was originally published in 2009. Highly recommended. Like Feli does here, she breaks down a lot of myths about “Chinese Food”, including the origin of the fortune cookie (which Felli mentioned in the video).
@@patricknelson5151 I actually just ordered that book! She's one of my favorite journalists, I'm excited to read her book.
Feli, have you had the opportunity of visiting Leavenworth WA yet? It is promoted as "the Bavarian village", but my son and grandsons who spent a day there (from their BC home) tell me it's a Disneyesque travesty. I'd love to see you do a travelogue from the place. Servus!
I live not far from Leavenworth. Yes, it's a bit cheesey, but you have to take it as good fun, and enjoy the festivities in Oktober and at Christmastime. Plus, the mountains are spectacular, as is the skiing and the hiking in summer. Not all towns can be lucky enough to be authentically Bavarian!
I’m about 4 hours from Leavenworth myself. It’s def a cute getaway place. I’ve only been in the summer though. It looks magical in winter but the idea of driving there in snow scares me. Would like to see Feli’s review.
Just visited Munich and anytime I ordered a pretzel it did not come with anything, but when it was offered as part of a breakfast buffet it was next to various meats, sliced cheeses, and mustards.
In Belgium a popular thing to put on sandwiches is “American”, which is raw minced meat mixed with spices, ketchup and other things. It’s very good but I cannot imagine it being popular in the USA (as raw meat).
In Germany ,Mett' ( see english word meat) exists. This is raw minced pork, spiced with Salt and Pepper. A half bread roll is covered ith Mett, and some raw onion pieces added.
@@brittakriep2938 yes!! Also delicious!
Hackepeterschrippen könnte man mal wieder machen!
Manno, jetzt hab ich Hunger...
Filet Americain (préparé in Belgium/France) is named after Hotel Americain in The Hague where it was invented.
Pretzels and soft pretzels are ubiquitous in the Pennsylvania German Lancaster County PA. Not sure, but I believe the mustard addition came from 70 miles away in Philadelphia, where they squeeze the soft pretzels together into a rectangle and sell like 5 of them in a strip on street carts.
I never thought that was German. I thought that was our American love for cheese and dipping things. Lol
My wife just brought me sift pretzels from Sturgis. Delicious. They did not have the long ones. I miss those. When I was young we could get them off of street vendors in Pittsburgh.
Soft..sorry
@@waltSperling Hey,I’m from Pittsburgh.
Nothing like the added 'spice' of exhaust fumes in your Philly street vendor pretzels... When my dad worked in Philly, he'd get a case of soft pretzels directly from the makers and we'd put them in the freezer. We'd pop them in the microwave for an afternoon snack with a little mustard on them..
Someone in some comment section I've read claimed the "Christmas pickle" once was a small local tradition somewhere in western central Germany, I think the Pallatinate or something. Even if that's true, calling it a "German" tradition would still be like saying that Mardi Gras is one of THE US holidays, a big stretch.
06:37 we also "dip" them into Leberwurst or Teewurst (liver sausage, tea sausage) or other meat spreads, or cream cheeses. Basically it's just skipping the process of cutting the pretzel in half and spreading it onto it.
I assumed that mustard was a pretzel dip in Germany because pretzels are so dry that they kinda want something to dip them in, even big soft ones, and mustard is both a favorite condiment there and also something that y'all are known for. Mustard also compliments pretzels quite well.
Beer cheese soup is a must try! You are welcome.😊
Danke. This will take days before "de vogeltjesdans" (I appreciate the try to speak Dutch) is out of my head.
Great video...... Now please explain the David Hasselhoff phenomenon between the us and dland.
Well, he's the reason the Berlin wall fell, so...... 🤣
@@neonsparxx What, he leaned against it? 😆
That connection only exists in US media. For Germans he's practically unknown unless you are 40+ and remember him as an actor. Very very few even know he ever sang, let alone in Berlin 2 months after the wall came down...
Me and my wife went to Oktoberfest 2016. We did the Spaten Brewery tour, and that's where I first had the Pretzel with Obazda. 🤤
Also managed to get a table at the Schottenhamel tent and watched the Oktoberfest inauguración ceremony. A memory that will last a life time!
Third generation German American here - hadn’t heard of Christmas pickle until you mentioned it some time ago. Thanks for another well researched , well presented program.