Bavarian Regional Focus - Franconia, Munich, Allgäu

Bavaria's 12.5 million inhabitants, living in an area roughly the size of South Carolina, are culturally divided between the North and South which is evidenced by different language patterns and dialects, attitudes and, of course foods. Here are some of the main regional specialties, recipes and points of interest.

Specialties of Franconia and Northern Bavaria

Lebkuchen

Lebkuchen were first baked in the city of Nuremberg, with the earliest records from the year 1395. During the Middle Ages, spice inspectors at the gates to the city checked the spices used for baking the gingerbreads which traveled as far as China. In 1643 the city of Nuremburg approved the first Lebkuchen Baker's Guild which began with 14 master gingerbread bakers who were bound by strict regulations. Until 1867, Lebkuchen were made by hand. Automated processing started thereafter with the liberalization of Bavaria's commercial trade. However, many of Nuremburg's bakeries still produce some of their Lebkuchen specialties by hand. using traditional recipes passed down from generation to generation. The oldest gingerbread recipe from the 16th century is housed in the German National Museum in Munich. In 1996, Nuremburg gingerbread was declared a "protected geographical indication" and is authorized to use the EU stamp. The main ingredients of Lebkuchen are: honey, flour, sugar, eggs, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, candied orange and lemon peel, marzipan, spices (cinnamon, ginger, aniseed, cloves, pimento, coriander, cardamom). Today, the city hosts Germany's major gingerbread exporters, like Lebkuchen Schmidt, Burg-Lebkuchen, Haeberlein-Metzger, Weiss Lebkuchen, Ifri-Schuhmann-Lebkuchen, Wicklein-Lebkuchen and Wolff Lebkuchen.

Sausages

The Fränkische Bratwurst (Franconian sausage) is a popular sausage of North Bavaria. You usually roast the sausage, prepare it as so-called Blaue Zipfel (boil it in vinegar with onions) or smoke the sausage. The sausage is about six inch long. A traditional Fränkische Bratwurst is served with Sauerkraut and German potato salad. But it is also very tasty with freshly baked farmhouse bread, horseradish and a cold beer.

The Coburger Bratwurst (available in the beautiful medieval town of Coburg) consists of pork and of a minimum of 15 percent beef. The sausage is about ten inches long.

The Nürnberger Rostbratwurst is finer and smaller than the usual German Bratwurst. Its length varies from 2 3/4 inches to 3 1/2 inches. The sausage's diameter is about 0.6 inches. You usually get three small sausages with mustard in a roll when you buy the Original Nürnberger Rostbratwurst. A story says the reason that the diameter of the Nuremberg's famous Rostbratwurst is so small, is that years ago the sausage was used to feed prisoners of the Nuremberg prison Lochgefängnis. Relatives of the prisoners, reportedly, gave them the sausages through the cell keyhole.

Probably the longest sausage of North Bavaria is called Mainfränkische Meterbratwurst. Like the name already says the sausage is one meter (40inches) long. The Mainfränkische Meterbratwurst is only 1/3 to 2/3 of an inch thick. Most of the people can not manage to eat all of it, therefore the sausage can also offered as half a meter. But those who are very hungry should definitely taste the longer version.

Munich - It's not all about the Oktoberfest!

Visitors to Munich can get a feel for Munich's breadth of pallet-pleasing delicatessen at a famous destination for gourmets: Dallmayr, a large delicatessen store, near Marienplatz in the heart of Munich.

The Hofbräuhaus, visited by locals and tourists from all around the world, is one of Munich's oldest breweries. Its huge beer hall is worldwide known for its delicious beer, traditional oompah music, Bavarian dishes and Lederhosen (traditional leather trousers).

Some of Munich's other must-see sights are:

• Nymphenburg Palace, a baroque castle with park, built in the 17th century, was the summer residence of Bavarian monarchs.
• The "English Garden," a central park (around 900 acres) with beautiful paths, brooks, ponds and four well known beer gardens.
• The Allianz Arena, Munich's ubiquitous soccer stadium holding 70,000 people hosting Munich's famous soccer team Bayern München
• BMW museum, located next to the 1972 Olympic village in Munich, exhibits historical cars, motorcycles and more from the world-famous company.

Allgäu and Southern Bavaria

The South of Bavaria hosts one of the world's most famous sites located at the Königssee (Germany's cleanest and deepest lake) and close to the Olympian ski resort Garmish Partenkirchen.Schloss Neuschwanstein, the fairy-tale castle of former King Ludwig II attracts annually more than 1.3 million people and was immortalized by Walt Disney in "Cinderella."

Close to the castle stretches the pastoral region of the Allgäu, known for its dairy farms and a wide variety of cheeses and cheesemakers.

One of them, the Käserei Champignon in Heising, is a family owned business with almost 100 years of cheese making experience. Cheeses such as Cambozola, Limburger or Champignon Mushroom are available in the USA and Canada.

Alpenhain, a specialist in the production of Camembert and Brie, is to be found in Lehen/ Pfaffing, an hour away to the east of Munich. The firm's name derives from the family name "Hain", and the fact that the business operation started in the upper foothills of the Bavarian Alps in 1905. Alpenhain is the market leader in the production of crispy breadcrumb coated cheese in chilled and frozen formats to the catering, wholesale, manufacturing and retail trade European-wide. Alpenhain also produces a range of cheese with Bavarian regional characteristics for the same markets.

The Bergader Privatkäserei is also situated in Upper Bavaria to the east of Munich. The company exports its famous Bavaria Blu (soft cheese), Bergader Edelpilz Brick (blue-veined cheese), Bianco Natur Brick (creamy and mild alpine cheese) and Basil’s smoked cheese (hard cheese with a note of smokiness) to the USA and Canada.

Other cheese makers and producers with products in the United States are Schönegger (Beer Cheese and King Ludwig Cheese), Innstolz (Barossa Cheese), and Allgäuland (Chiantino).