Exploration of Breads

I've heard that German food is significantly different than American. The closest I've ever been to Germany was the Germany Pavilion in Disney World, but I hear great things! Of course their beer and sausage are pretty famous, but what I, personally, have heard more raving about is their breads; they're denser, heavier and far more flavorful than the American varieties.

A few months ago, I read a columnist's review of several Authentic German Bakeries around the Chicago area; some of them scored quite well! This got me thinking and, in December, I decided to see if I could find one and take some special bread when I went to visit my family for Christmas.

After a little bit of online research, I located a few bakeries pretty near to where I live, but what I also discovered was that most of the items were called by their German names and I had no idea what anything was! So, I called up my dad to see if he could give me a few suggestions. My dad served his mission in Germany, some time ago, and still talks about the breads and treats that they had there that are not to be found anywhere he's found over here, so I figured he'd be be able to shed some light on this pursuit of mine.

So, thusly armed with several suggestions, I set off to find some tasty treats.

gotta love the little hole-in-the-wall gems all over this city

The selection was impressive.. I hardly knew what to choose!

After some deliberation, I opted for a dark rye, and a couple slices of bienenstich.

this was half a loaf; it was really heavy!
but oooh, so yummy with Grandma's honeyed ham.

almonds on top and cream in the middle.. deeeelish.

Both were really yummy!

Then, as an added bonus, Mom had found some German pumpernickel bread at a store near them; the very stuff that Dad liked so much on his mission. While he didn't have any herring spread or liver patte, we did have some spinach dip that worked quite nicely as a substitute :)

much denser than any American pumpernickel bread I've tried..
you could taste the wheat granules.. it was excellent!