Side dishes are now only an option and not a must
In the 80s, it was unthinkable to say in a restaurant what you wanted to leave out or add to a dish. Today, that's normal. German culinary culture has changed, and so has the significance of side dishes.
Once upon a time in Germany: Schnitzel, Spargel, Bratkartoffeln. Or: Kasseler, Grünkohl, Salzkartoffeln. This means that under a regular, typically German warm meal, a three-component dish was usually understood. That is, meat/fish, vegetable side dish, (starch-based) side dish for filling up. Is this last one dying out? Is it saying goodbye?
Certainly, culinary culture - and behavior at (apparently increasingly expensive) mealtimes - is changing. And it's changing in multiple ways. A recent representative Civey survey revealed that nearly half of adults in Germany eat out less frequently - "since the reduction of the value-added tax in the catering industry to 19%."
Whoever reads the menu in fashionable establishments in 2024 will often see that it's becoming normal for approximately every dish, such as a beef steak, to not include sides as in expensive restaurants in America. They are often titled "Sides," under which then come carbohydrates like fries or mashed potatoes with gravy or vegetables like grilled green asparagus. What is culturally significant when the previously self-evident side dish is now only an option and not a "must"?
Of course, millions of people still eat dishes like roast pork with red cabbage and dumplings. Many canteens, mess halls, and hospitals still use porcelain division plates with a three-part division in service. Younger people, however, have had other preferences for a long time. In the modern eating lifestyle, all-in-one meals from a deep plate instead of a shallow one are popular. Think about trends like bowls, Arabic cuisine, Asian food. And pizza, pasta, burgers, doner are already different from roast pork with sauerkraut.
"The long-established three-component meal is now perceived as outdated and by many as paternalistic," says cultural scientist Gunther Hirschfelder from the University of Regensburg. "Fixed three-course meals are roughly as out as the crisis-ridden department stores a la Karstadt." People want to have a large selection and experience today. And just as they can be disappointed in the department store if there are only two racks with jeans instead of many dozens of models, so can disappointment spread if the menu is too rigid.
"The younger generation finds it often strange that everyone at the table should get the same thing. Eating has become an expression of one's own personality," says Hirschfelder. "We have pseudo-individualized eating styles." Mostly, it's a pretense. In the end, it's completely irrelevant whether I take rice or noodles. In the 80s, a debate about side dish preferences would still have been seen as bourgeois and snobbish, says the book author ("European Culinary Culture: A History of Nutrition from the Stone Age to the Present Day").
In the 80s, if you went to a middle-class establishment or to the Greeks, you didn't spend the entire time talking about what you wanted to leave out or what you wanted extra, or what you couldn't stand. Moreover, there was a social trend that taught children and teenagers 'You eat what's on the table.' A restaurant visit was in itself enjoyable, and children had schnitzel with fries to take - and that was good. "This would be considered a total imposition today."
Hirschfelder sheds light on Germany's earlier culinary culture. After the shameful World War, there was a "leveled middle-class society," as sociologist Helmut Schelsky once described it. "Socially, we were all in the same boat, symbolically also at the table, we took care of our nutrition within economic possibilities, and it was rather unfavorable to have an extravagant taste. Potatoes as a side dish were symbolically loaded."
More important than what was on the table were, overall, material consumer goods. But travel and housing were also significant compared to food intake. This changed only after the end of the GDR and the old FRG, according to Hirschfelder.
In the last few decades, new worldviews have unfolded in the affluent society after the Cold War - often along the narrative "I am what I eat." "In a globalized world, nutrition is a reduction of complexity, so many people take it very seriously."
Currently, there is a return of political ideologies being observed, but the overvaluation of food in everyday life still persists, according to the cultural scientist. It is still important what one eats and what one does not eat, for example, vegan lifestyles, low carb, or as exotic as possible food. "The motto seems to be: If I can't change the world, I can at least change what's on my plate."
Food and cooking have become more international, with many restaurants offering a variety of dishes from different countries. This shift in culinary culture can be seen in the menus of fashionable establishments, where dishes often come without the traditional side dishes that were once considered a 'must' in German cuisine. For example, a beef steak might be served without fries or mashed potatoes, but with grilled green asparagus as an optional side. This internationalization of food is a reflection of the changing values and preferences of younger generations, who view eating as an expression of their personalities and want more variety in their meals.
