Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a ~wee~ bit obsessed with genealogy and researching my family history.  With some of the discoveries I’ve made over the past few years, I’ve become more and more interested in learning about the food cultures of the places my ancestors came from.  To that end, I’ve decided to focus my research and cooking efforts on my family’s Thanksgiving gathering to highlight some of these foods.  

From what I’ve been able to uncover, my mom’s family (the side we see in a big gathering on Thanksgiving Day every year), is mostly English (both Saxon and Norman – yes, I’ve been able to go back that far), German and Scottish, with some Welsh, Dutch and French.  So my focus will be on English, German and Scottish food history for Thanksgiving.

Our German ancestors come from Berlin, Rheinland and Hessen, Germany, so I’ve delved into some of the dishes from those regions:

From Berlin – Kartoffelsuppe (potato soup), Hoppelpoppel (a mix of leftover meat, scrambled eggs, onions and potatoes), Eisbein (pork knuckle), Kasseler Rippchen (smoked, brined pork chops), Konigsberger Klopse (dumplings of beef and capers), Schnitzel Hostein (schnitzel topped with fried egg, onions and capers – meat can be veal, pork, turkey or chicken), Kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes), Berliner Pfannkuchen (jam or cream donut), Armer Ritter (German version of French toast), Rote Grutze (fresh red fruits with grits and fruit juice), Leberwurst (liverwurst), Bulette (flat pork meatball) and Berliner Weisse (beer). 

From Rheinland – Rheinischer Sauerbraten (sausage), Reibekuchen (potato pancakes), Himmel und Erde (potatoes, applesauce and bacon, accompanies blutwurst/blood sausage), Sauerkraut, Grunkohl (kale), Spekulatius (spice cookie), Zweibelkuchen (savory sheet cake topped with onions, cream or sour cream, eggs and bacon), Kreppel (donuts similar to the Berliner above), Schwarzbrot (dark bread), Ahr, Mittelrhein and Mosel wines and Rheinland beer.

From Hessen – Kassler Rippchen, Zweibelkuchen, Grune Sose (cold herb sauce served with boiled or baked potatoes and hard-boiled eggs), Reibelkuchen with applesauce, Potatoes, Asparagus, Sauerkraut, Frankfurter Kranz (cake filled with buttercream and marmalade, frosted with buttercream and decorated with pralines or almonds and candied cherries), Zwetschgenkuchen (crumb cake with plums and apples), Kreppel, Bethmannchen (small round cookies made of marzipan and egg whites and decorated with almond halves), Wasserweck (bread roll made of wheat flour), Blutwurst (blood sausage), Frankfurter Wurstchen (long, thin, lightly-smoked pork sausage), Handkase (sour curd cheese), Handkase mit Musik (marinated Handkase), Kochkase (sour curd cheese), Apple wine, Riesling wine

For my purposes of serving a crowd at a Thanksgiving day feast, I’m going to focus on recipes that won’t be too challenging to make and items that won’t gross out my family (I’m looking at you, Blutwurst!).  From my German ancestors’ foods, I’ll be making Berliner Pfannkuchen, Grunkohl with German sausage, Grune Sose with boiled potatoes, Spekulatius cookies and Wasserweck rolls, and I’ll be bringing along some Berliner Weisse (if I can find it) and Riesling wine.

Stay tuned for more on the foods I’ll be researching for my family’s English, Scottish, Welsh, Dutch and French lines.