The "Eis" Culture
I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!
Summer is just around the corner, which is absolutely the perfect time to get some cold, refreshing ice cream! In fact, there is an amazing culture of ice cream – or Eis – in Germany! Ice cream in Germany brings in over $3 billion with an average consumption between 6 to 8 kilo – or 113 scoops – per person a year! How crazy is that!
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Undeniably, Eis has such an enormous impact on Germans – walk down any street on a warm summer day in Germany, and you will see the people enjoying a Becher of their favorites Eis flavors! It is so much more than just a simple scoop on a cone, it is considered a dessert or even a MEAL, and is as much a part of the Germans’ summer diet as a slice of cake at 3pm, or a glass of beer at dinner!
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Germany's love affair with the creamy frozen dessert can be traced as far back as the 1800s. Most of the Eis-makers back then were Italians, who came to Germany as seasonal workers for the summer.
But it wasn't until the 1920s, when even more Italians began migrating to Germany, that the first real rise in popularity hit. The rules made it difficult to sell Eis from carts like before, so they started selling it from their homes through a glass window, creating the very first Ice Cream shops as we now know! Even today, many of the estimated 4,000 Ice Cream shops in the country are owned by the same Italian families that own the first ice cream shops!
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Ice cream in Germany is usually enjoyed in a Waffel (cone) or a Becher (cup). It can be individually topped with Sahne (whip cream) or Streusel (sprinkles).
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The most iconic however is Spaghetti Eis. It is exactly what it sounds like – a sundae made to look like a bowl of pasta. Dreamed up by a Mannheim-based gelato maker named Dario Fontanella in 1969, this classic ice cream sundae is a rite of passage in Germany. It is made by vanilla Eis being pushed through a large spoon with holes to make the noodles, then topped with a strawberry sauce and coconut shavings for Parmesan. It is the top-seller in the Eis market today!
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As I’ve noticed, even a small ice cream shop typically has at least 15 flavors so you won’t be short on choice when ordering Eis! Isn’t that just a lot? Among Germany’s most popular flavors:
§ Vanille – Vanilla
§ Schokolade – chocolate
§ Erdbeere – Strawberry
§ Stracciatella – An Italian classic of vanilla ice cream with chocolate shavings
§ Pistazie – Pistachio
§ Haselnuss – Hazelnut
§ Joghurt – Yogurt
§ Maracuja – Passionfruit
§ Himbeer – Raspberry
My personal favorite flavor of all time has to be Zitrone (lemon)! I’ve always liked my Eis to be sour, so I’ve only stuck to Zitrone for now, but I think to have something new for a change I’ll probably go with Maracuja next!
And to wrap today’s blog up, I’m going to let you know how you can order Eis in German! It’s very simple! Just check out the video in the link below, and don’t forget to turn on the captions for better understanding!
I hope you had fun reading today’s article, and now that you know how crazy Germans are about Eis, what flavor would you like to try if you got to choose?
Sources:
https://www.dw.com/en/ice-cream-nation-german-market-most-valuable-in-europe/a-17827040
https://germangirlinamerica.com/eis-in-germany/
https://www.german-way.com/ice-cream-in-germany/
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