Franconian Beer Message Board
Weird Drinking Cultures (was: Forchheimer Taverns...) |
Posted by Nick B. (formerly in Erlangen) on 2019-06-06 01:32:32 |
I remember finding certain Britons' insistence on keeping their beer-drinking and food-eating separate to be weird when I first started spending significant amounts of time with them (present company not intended!). The common German practice of having warm food available with beer at Brauerei- and normal Gaststätten seemed natural to me when we moved here. Why WOULDN'T one want to drink beer with their lunch or supper? Why wouldn't one want to eat something to soak up" the alcohol? It's pretty common knowledge that eating something in the course of an evening's drinking will help offset the deleterious effects of over-drinking, isn't it? It was explained to me that the Briton will want to keep room in his belly for beer, not have it get filled up with food. Then, maybe drunkenly gorge on a kebab (Döner) afterwards, before collapsing into bed or having ab big fry-up the morning after. That just never seemed healthy to me. Of course there are plenty of corner bars (Eckkneipen) in Germany that don't serve food, but compared to what I've seen in England, Germans seem to combine their eating and drinking more like midwestern Americans do. That shouldn't come as a surprise, I guess, since midwestern America was settled by Teutonic immigrants more so than say, New England was. But going back one stage earlier in my life...it was weird to me when I moved from Minnesconsin to Oregon in '93, since there was a law that required any place that served alcohol of any sort to also serve hot food -- not just bar snacks. And there was some licensing difference between places serving only beer & wine and those serving spirits in addition to that. The former were pubs and brewpubs, the latter were bars and restaurants. I suppose it was all to protect the children...I understand that distinction in law has been dropped since my departure from OR in '04. I guess none of that is necessarily "weird", rather, just different to each other. It was an adjustment for us to see people drinking on the street without shame when we moved here. Also, a fest like the Altstadtfest in Nuremberg serving beer that wasn't fenced in and guarded by security or police, like in the US -- how do you avoid drunken fights breaking out? My wife was so embarrassed when I took a beer to-go from the Altstadtfest and walked with it to the train, until I pointed out that I wasn't the only one doing so. I think it's now verboten to bring your own beer on the train...anyone? There's a LOT to be said for having three years of Kindergarten like they do here IMO. People learn to play nicely together. You can take the American out of America, but the America out of the American...not as easy. |
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