Of all the foods I was excited about eating on the Normandy Scholars trip, I was anticipating German food the most. I love the rich savoriness of German cuisine such as Jäger schnitzel and beer cheese soup. Little did I know that in Germany I would discover a genre of food I enjoyed even better…
Jaime, Ian, Raman and I decided our second day in Cologne that we wanted to try out one of the city’s countless Turkish restaurants. The one we stumbled into drew us in with a delightful aroma of exotic spices. Since there were four of us, we were recommended to split the dinner for four. We each had a glass of refreshing black tea to go with our meal, a Turkish specialty. Our first round was a giant salad tossed in a kind of balsamic vinaigrette with peynir, a delightfully creamy Turkish cheese. We were also served a basket of giant flaky bread. We expected that our tray of meat would be quite sizable, but we didn’t anticipate just how large it would be. Our came a massive tray with a variety of delectable looking meats and vegetables. A variety of doner meat, meat and veggie skewers, lamb chops, and chicken wings alongside roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and red peppers sat atop a bed of rice. Everything was bursting with flavor, in particular the juicy lamb chops which were my favorite. I sprinkled some paprika atop my portion for some extra kick.
I entered Germany craving German food. I now leave hungering for more Turkish delicacies.