The German Way of Picnicking

I don't know of any culture where grilling isn't a "thing."

I have been in the Republic of Georgia, where a pig or goat was butchered right near the spot where its meat was grilled. I remember the looks of pride on the grillers' (men) faces as they showed their carefully spiraled skewers.

I have, of course, been to many cookouts in the US, both at friends' houses and at remote locations like a lake. Veggies are crisper, burgers are tastier, everything tastes yummier--summerier--when it's grilled.

But nothing quite matches the German Grillparty. Germans are serious folks, and that comes out in their grilling.

The most common type of grill I've seen is the suspended grill (see photo below from a grill party in 2019). A bed of coals will be laid out with a grill dangling over it. The cooks bring the marinted meat and get to work. Sometimes the grill is cone-shaped with a higher metal ring to keep the cooked meats warm until they are ready to eat. 

German grills feature more Wurst and fewer steaks than American cookouts. There is seldom chicken (which I have to ask for due to a red-meat allergy). One thing I've seen at German cookouts that I haven't seen at home is grilled cheese--quite a different product from what Americans call "grilled cheese." This is a slab of white cheese that can be put on the grill, won't melt right away, and tastes great on a meatless sandwich.

One of the most surprising aspects of a German grill is the accessories.

In the United States, the bowls, plates, cups and cutlery is always plastic, styrofoam or paper. A family barbecue, for example, will yield a garbage bag full of trash. Heck red solo cups are a cultural touchstone in the American South, where I have enjoyed the most cookouts.

German Grillparties are completely different. Families will pack plates and silverwar. It's hard to even find paper plates in a supermarket, and they won't be found at the nearest picnic shelter. If a family doesn't bring silverwear, the only option is wooden cutlery (pictured below). 

When I was sick, I had to order food delivery. It was hard to get cutlery. I had to order the wooden utensils above along with the food I wanted. Of the three nights I ordered delivery, only once did I receive so much as a single napkin.

One of the last nights I was in Mainz, the families in our school exchange arranged a picnic for us by the riverbank. The families opened up offerings of pretzels with dip, veggie hors d'ouvres, and slices of fruit. Everyone had brought their own plates (one family had brought a few extra plates, one of which I borrowed). After eating my fill, the only was I had was a watermelon rind and four toothpicks. Despite a picnic of about eight families, there wasn't so much as a single bag worth of trash to be thrown away.

One more thing about German Grillparties. One of the marks of a good party, I've noticed, is the number of bottles on the table by party's end. My hosts C & H had a Grillparty in their garden for me and several other teachers from the school. H prepared enough Wurst and steaks for two parties, and everyone ate heartily. But, man, were there bottles.

One guest had brought a bottle of rosé wine. Another had brought a six-pack of beer. It wasn't just alcohol. Mineral water and juice--mixed into delicious schorlés when I had had my fill of alcohol. By the end of the evening, the small tables, around which seven of us had sat, looked like a city skyline due to the bottles we had drunk.

(In the US the bottles are bigger--2-liter bottles, or pitchers, or aluminum cans, which I think we prefer to bottles--and we tend to clear them away to make room for food and--of course--those wide-mouthed plastic cups. If a post-Grillparty German table looks like a cityscape, then a post-barbecue American table looks like a bombing run.)

Don't belive me? If you have a foreign friend, ask them to show you pictures of a party they hosted or attended. They will have them, believe me. And while you're looking at the smiling faces and hearing the details of each connection, take a look at the table. See if I'm wrong.