Reputation of German cooks

[Joachim]

Some time ago there was apparently a great demand for German cooks in the UK, in Australia and Canada.

Yet some years ago when I worked in an International call centre I met many chefs who had returned from these countries. Instead of cooking abroad they worked for less money on the phone for an English helpline (in Germany that's called a "Hotline" ) and tried to earn additional money by doing translations for all kinds of companies...

Recently I was told that in London's hotels there are no German cooks anymore. Instead there are Australian cooks.

What does that mean? Does it mean anything at all? Are German cooks no longer as appreciated as they were once?

All I know for sure is that nowadays German cooks who decide to emigrate usually go to Austria or Switzerland although especially in Switzerland there is already a huge xenophobia towards Germans...

 

[dcSaute]

could mean / indicate many things.

previously, places imported "exotic talent" - now, especially in the EU, "no borders" has resulted in "nothing's exotic anymore"

Germany, France and Canada are three places (I know of...there may be others) that have formal qualifications / programs for "cooking skills." as labor has become more global, and minimum wages head for multi-million Euros per year, that influence may have declined.

then there is the non-politically-correct but ever popular public opinion of various cuisines. German cuisine is largely viewed as heavy meat & potatoes stuff. just like everything Italian is pasta, everything Greek is lamb, everything French is swimming in butter....etc etc etc

eating today is less fat, lighter, gluten free, dairy free, food free,,,,, more insane "fad" dietary approaches than can be documented.

Australia is still "exotic" - actually I think mass media has convinced the world the Aussie accent is cute&loveable.... a German speaking English with proper Oxford inflection can't compete with "cute" - I mean, just consider: could a German take a Mickey Maus German speaking Ami seriously?

 

[Joachim]

could mean / indicate many things.

German cuisine is largely viewed as heavy meat & potatoes stuff. just like everything Italian is pasta, everything Greek is lamb, everything French is swimming in butter....etc etc etc

eating today is less fat, lighter, gluten free, dairy free, food free,,,,, more insane "fad" dietary approaches than can be documented.

Australia is still "exotic" - actually I think mass media has convinced the world the Aussie accent is cute&loveable.... a German speaking English with proper Oxford inflection can't compete with "cute" - I mean, just consider: could a German take a Mickey Maus German speaking Ami seriously?

I think German cooks are very opportunistic. They are usually ashamed of German cooking traditions. I also expect that in a kitchen it is more important what you can do with your hands than what you sound like.

 

[CharlieD]

Why would they be ashamed of German cuisine? I think for one like German food very much.

 

[dcSaute]

"I also expect that in a kitchen it is more important what you can do with your hands than what you sound like."

this is true for McDonalds or WienerWald. it is perhaps not true in higher end joints.

at least that's what my German cousin-in-law has experienced.

some of the worst ever meals I have had were in USA "authentic German restaurants" - methinks the Kaiser hisself personally fired the last real German cook they had there. stuff that was not even _close_ to Bahnhoff renditions.....

as I said, the "impression" of German cooking is heavy meat potatoes brown sauce.
there are zillions of German inspired dishes that do not reflect this - but public opinion is what it is.

and Voolfgang Poock ain't helping.

 

[Joachim]

German cooks, not German cookery

Hello @ll,

"German" restaurants in the USA are something I know only from documentary films about Disneyworld and ... the TV comedy show "Chuck".



I know no professional German cook who is really into that kind of cookery. There are indeed very German restaurants in Germany too. They call themselves "gutbürgerlich", but they are dying out and the remaining restaurants of that kind are usually during the week only pubs. They are visited on Sundays by families who want to give mother a free day and that's often the only à la carte business they have left. In main they make profit by renting out halls for wedding parties, birthdays and anniversaries... on thus occasions they also provide food but usually there is then "an experienced housewife" in the kitchen.

The German cooks I know sometimes promote traditional German dishes, that's right. However, if they do so, they always refine the dishes in a way that only the ingredients are "original". (Their main goal is usually to promote local product!)

Well, there are traditional German dishes I love too. Like "Dicke Bohnen" That's why I always get hungry when I see Italian Western starring Terence Hill and/or Bud Spencer. (The latter once starred in a very successful flick titled "Even Angels eat Beans" :lol) "Dicke Bohnen" also remind me on a certain ancient episode of "Rawhide" (I sometimes watch TV in the middle of the night because my stomach hurts from being to full of "Dicke Bohnen") where the cook tells a cowboy: "My food is hot and makes you full! Therefore, what I do to it, is nobody's business!" Yeah, well, maybe the problem is that there aren't enough cowboys left in your country...