Food in Berlin

Berlin's restaurants can occasionally deliver a delight, yet the city lacks the impetus and creativity of London's kitchens. I've had a few memorable experiences, but the variety, passion, expectation and interest in food, is not so apparent.

Let me start with the positives. The breads here are wonderful, notably, the infinite variety of rich rye breads . The street food is very good, everywhere and cheap. Highlights being of Turkish origin -who with their street markets and numbers, are often compared to the Indian influence in Britain.

Below, I've outlined a few reasons, which if an already disgruntled German Foodie or indeed anyone ever reads this blog, I do not adhere to be gospel.

Despite overflowing allotments suggesting otherwise, the soil that surrounds the city is apparently very poor. The couple of exceptions that thrive are conspicuous in their engulfing presence, the staples of a potatoes and sauerkraut.

The second reason is late immigration. In the 1950s and 1960s, London was blessed with the benefits of Indian, Pakistan and West Indian immigration, who brought with them a rich heritage of food. Berlin, at that time had many refugees who used the city as a base camp, before planning the expedition into western Europe. This quickly changed with the 'moving of the goal posts', well, actually that should read, the "obliteration of the goalposts, bringing with it utter disillusionment in humanity' - the building of the Berlin wall. The economic crisis that ensued meant that Berlin's biggest immigrant population, the Turkish, didn't arrive till the early seventies, when shortage of labour led to policies to integrate Greek, Yugoslavian and Turkish workers.

The third, fourth and fifth reason, is Currywurst. If smoking is detrimental to your palette, Currywurst must be like crude oil to the feathers of a seabird.

The sixth reason. the loosest of the half dozen arguments is Lidl. I haven’t got a problem with Lidl itself; it obviously has has its place in the market. My problem is that every Tom, Dick and Harry, or should I say, Klaus, Gunter and Dietmar of the German supermarket business, have opened supermarkets based on the notion Lidl is a universal brand of fod retailing excellence. Three examples being Netto, Aldi and PennyMarket, the latter being so horrendous, that in the throes of hunger I thought about smashing a glass jar containing grey Frankfurters and 'glassing' my own jugular.