People constantly ask me if it’s hard, or even possible, to be vegan in Germany. It’s a silly question to ask someone who went vegan when she lived in a small town in Idaho. Right now I live in a town of around 25,000 people. It has two health food stores and an Asian market. My town in Idaho didn’t have either of these things. My biggest problems with getting vegan food have been because of the language barrier and because I live with a family, not on my own, and I think those would be problems anywhere. There are actually some amazing vegan products available here that are pretty hard to get in America. If you’re ever in Germany, buy these things in bulk:
Chocoreale—the aforementioned vegan Nutella. I’ve only had the hazelnut kind that is actually like Nutella, but there is also a dark chocolate kind, and Duo, which is dark chocolate and white chocolate swirl. Rapunzel also makes a chocolate spread, but I don’t think they have a hazelnut kind.
Tartex. I know it sounds like a type of toothpaste, but it’s actually a spread. I’ve only had the paprika (bell pepper) variety, but it was pretty good. Actually, the first time I had it was kind of a letdown, and then I found myself craving more, and then I really liked it. There are also a ton of other vegan spreads here, and I have yet to sample them all. German bread is awesome, so I am glad there is good stuff to put on it.
Alpro and Provamel soy puddings. I have a pack of Alpro vanilla right now because it’s available at the supermarket a block away from my house, but my favorite is the Provamel Moka. I like Zen Soy but this stuff is better, cheaper and available all over the place.
Ritter Sport bars, marzipan and peppermint flavor. Yeah, you can get them in America, at Target and some other places, I think, but at the Norma here I can get them for 69 cents. Beat that.
Germany also has soymilk in weird flavors, like tropical. That was actually really gross. There is also tofu in jars, which is both gross and overpriced, but I still find it amusing.
9 responses so far ↓
Coppe // November 3, 2007 at 3:18 pm |
I love Alpro stuff too. Their Yofu especially is very nice. I’m in Holland (somewhat comparable). Never seen Tartex, though.
It does feel like the range in products here is a lot more limited than in the US (from what I glean from reading blogs and cookbooks, anyway).
getsconed // November 3, 2007 at 4:33 pm |
I actually have (an expired) jar of chocoreale in my fridge, but I had no idea there was a variety of flavors! cool.
Meagan // November 4, 2007 at 3:41 am |
Umm wow. You are getting me excited about veganism in DE. I’ll be there for a few months this summer, so I am glad that it isn’t too hard. Plus, I agree that their bread is awesome. Got to love the bakeries that are everywhere.
Evan // November 4, 2007 at 6:40 am |
umm before you come back to the US(you still are,right?)wanna do a care package exchange and send me some of that chocoreale?!
Vantine // November 4, 2007 at 8:54 pm |
Tofu in a jar? ? ? That is so not right.
Chipmunk // November 5, 2007 at 9:39 pm |
Hey, don’t hate on berry flavoured soy milk (the tropical is a different brand I’ve never tried) and tofu in a jar! It’s shelf stable and saved my life many a time when I didn’t have a packet in the fridge and it has a spongier texture than the chilled stuff.
Wandering Contessa // November 6, 2007 at 4:56 pm |
Ritter bars are the best thing ever…. but here they cost $2.75.
emma // December 13, 2007 at 8:14 am |
oh my gosh, i just found your blog tonight and i am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy i did! i’m going to Germany next summer with my family, first time doing so as a vegan, and i was really worried. i mean, i saw a ton of “bio” stores there last time, but i’m not really going to have a lot of access to stoves and ovens are cooking things like that. so i look forward to learning more from your blog! (Germany is awesome, no?)
karla // September 17, 2008 at 6:49 am |
this post reminded me of how much i loved the nonvegan MilchReis stuff while i was in Deutschland. it was pretty much rice pudding but more milky and i got the chocolate flavor and it was so yum….sigh…
it took me awhile to discover soymilk in germany. i remember it being good, but it also cost about 3 times as much milk (milk was 49 cents and soymilk was about $1.50).