To each his own...meat

Our friends went out of town and gave us all the leftover food from their fridge. The usual stuff- lettuce, eggs, cheese and some meat products. Normal German breakfast food strikes us as a bit funny; it's what we would eat for lunch- deli meats, cheese and bread. But there are also some more interesting meat-based foods and we have now had the chance to try some of them.

Fleischsalat is one of those (and yes, that does translate as meat salad). It looks like small strips of bologna in a mayonnaise and herb bath and it pretty much tastes like that too. It wasn't as terrible as I imagined but I couldn't help thinking about how much fat and cholesterol I was ingesting and not enjoying it. It was just too thick and the rest of that container went in the trash. Leberwurst (liver sausage) was also in our basket, a "treat" that I first experienced with Aaron's grandma years ago. He grew up eating it so a little bit was tasty for him but I can't quite reconcile myself to organ meats. We didn't finish that one either.

There is a kind of meat gelatin that is common around here. They take pieces of meat, veggies, herbs and make a vinegary jello with it. It looks quite strange and I'm not sure that there is anything in typical American cuisine to which I can compare it. Maybe back in the 70s when there was a Jell-O craze people made this kind of thing?? Anyway, this was the last leftover food we tried. Again, it wasn't disgusting but the rubbery texture was a bit disconcerting when trying to make a sandwich with it. It's quite low-calorie though since most of the volume is made up of gelatin. Maybe a good diet food?

All of this stuff is available at the same little markets where I shop but I never paid attention to it. So next time you go to the grocery store, look around at all the things you don't buy- you might find some interesting things. I dare you to try some of them!