Boiling vinegar and costumes

It's my bloggerly duty to talk about NHR German culture sometimes.

Karneval is upon us once again.

That means going to the grocery store, you'll see clerks dressed up in costumes designed to shock you, the boys had their hair dyed funny colors today as they played next door, and basically everywhere you go you have to do a doubletake. We are close to Cologne and they take it very seriously here. Wackiness is a serious culural attribute.

For me, my first time last year, it was most poignant when I saw how many elderly people were out there dressed up. This is not only for children, nor young adults, nor adults, this is for all Germans, until they are laid to rest in their temporary graves.

Long ago I was told that the German people have a capacity for silliness that Americans cannot fathom.

This week proves it true.

Did you know that women went around cutting off the ties of businessmen on Thursday? These women have themselves so costumed there would be no way of tracking them down later to try to repair an expensive tie. German businessmen wear their least favorite ties that day.

This Monday is the apex of craziness in our area - Rosenmontag. This is when our one-gas-station town has a parade of its very own. If you remember last year, I had a great time, mostly in complete disbelief of what I was seeing.


I didn't bring my own bag last year and someone gave me one. That helped carry all my candy and swag thrown from the floats.

I'm not sure if I'll make it this year but I definitely know where to find my neighbors - I found out that everyone always stands in the same spot every year so that their friends can find them. (The photo is my neighbor holding a bottle of homemade schnapps to share with anyone who comes by with an empty cup.)

The kid I tutor will be on the traffic circle dressed as an undercover cop. He really wants me to come by and see him.

Why did I name this post Boiling vinegar?

I'm celebrating Karneval by making a traditional Rheinland sauerbraten tonight. MMMMM....boiling vinegar! This is when I'm so thankful our kitchen has a door and windows so I don't have my entire house smelling like vinegar.

Have you had sauerbraten? It is the very best food in Germany. It is a roast that has been sitting in a vinegar/wine marinade for days and then cooked to complete falling apartness.

I don't even like pickled things besides pickles themselves, but this pickeled roast thing is amazing - you just have to try it.

The meat itself is rich (beef, not horse!), and the sauce is dark and luscious.

You have to serve it with some sort of starch - preferrably klöße (potato dumplings) but I only have potatoes so that's what we'll have tonight. You also should serve it with rotkohl (cooked sweet red cabbage) but I guess I didn't plan very well.

I cannot recommend going to a German restaurant and ordering sauerbraten because everytime I've done it I've been disappointed. The only way to go is my mother in law Eva's recipe, a kitchen splattering adventure.

I will give it to you if you're curious - you can easily find the ingredients in the states.



Rosenmontag (Rose Monday) is the highlight of the German "Karneval" (carnival), and is on the Shrove Monday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The "Mardi Gras," though celebrated on Tuesday, is a similar event. Rosenmontag is celebrated in German-speaking countries, including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but most heavily in the "Hochburgen" (Karneval strongholds), which include the Rhineland, especially in Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Aachen and Mainz.

Celebrations usually include dressing up in fancy costumes, dancing, parades, heavy drinking and general public displays with floats. Every town in the Karneval areas boasts at least one parade with floats making fun of the themes of the day. Usually sweets are thrown into the crowds lining the streets among cries of "Helau" or "Alaaf", whereby the cry "Kölle Alaaf" is only applied in the Cologne area, meaning Cologne over all. Little bottles of Kölnischwasser (eau de Cologne) are thrown into the crowd.