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Visiting Alsace is a special experience for foodies as it is a mix of French and German cuisine. You are just as likely to have great wine as you are to have saurkraut. Here we go through a number of the traditional Alsatian specialities that tourists will enjoy whether they are in Colmar, Strasbourg, or any number of French villages in the Alsace region. From the wine to the flammkuchen or tarte flambee you will have a lot of fun eating here in Alsace.
Filmed in Colmar, France
Copyright Mark Wolters 2022
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Hey the fellow hungry travelers, Mark here with Walter's World, and today we're in Comar, France
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to go through the food that you should eat when you come to the Alsace region of France
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If you're not sure what the Alsace region is, it's actually on the German border of France
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so think central, north-ish, east France. It's fantastic. You have cities like here in Comar
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you've got Strasbourg, you have all kinds of stuff, and one of the things that really influences the
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food here in Alsace is the fact that it's gone back and forth between Germany and France over
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the centuries so you have a lot of germanic influence the food here but i'm not saying it's
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german food because you will notice a distinct french feel for the foods that are traditionally
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german-esque when you are here and i think we should start off with chuclue which is basically
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when you see it on the menus it'll say sauerkraut with a choice of meats either three or five meats
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basically they make up their own version of sauerkraut here and it is phenomenal there's no
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doubt about that when you're here. And it'll come with different meats, usually pork meats, like it'll have, you know
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sausage on there, ham on there, maybe some pork belly, maybe some pork shoulder on there, some other sausages. There's a
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bunch of meats that come with it. But when you see it, you're like, Oh, that's Germanic. But the thing is, it has a
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definitely different vibe. That's why it's Alsatian, not German. Okay, but that's one thing you'll see. And you'll see
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it on a lot of the menus here. And honestly, when you're in Alsace, they're very, very proud of their Alsatian heritage. So
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you see a lot of places saying, oh, these are Alsace specialties, right? And so you'll have
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that. And believe me, you will have plenty of opportunity to have these because the restaurants
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are overflowing around Alsace, okay? Now, the thing is, I know some people don't like having
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pork with their sauerkraut. You can also get that chuclou with fish. So you have other options for
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you. But before you get started, some people like to start with a little aperitif, a little drink
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beforehand and you could have Clément d'Alsace which is a sparkling wine it's not champagne
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because we're not in champagne it's a Clément d'Alsace because we're in Alsace okay and you
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could have that though for me personally I wouldn't drink that with your food I would have that as a
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drink by itself okay just to give you a heads up now in terms of other food you want to have when
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you're here, you have back of which is Oh, let's just say
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hearty portion of potatoes and lamb and beef and pork together. It will it'll pack a punch in your tummy. I mean, you don't
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have to worry about, you know, having enough energy for the day when you're eating here in Alsace because they really do
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have very large portions. So don't be afraid to split a dish, but also just a lot of caloric bang for the euro when you come
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here, okay? Now another thing that I've seen around is the jambonnet, I'm sure I'm pronouncing it wrong
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in German they call it Schweinhocks, in the US they call it a pork knuckle or pork shoulder and you have this roasted pork It looks like if you ever play a video game and you have to get more health and it has the bone with the ham hock thing on it
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it looks like that. But it tastes amazing and if you're coming from Germany you might think
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oh I know what that is. No, here they braise it so it's got this fantastic coating on it as well
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Oh so good, so good. Something you really have to have. But probably the food you're going to see
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the most and you're gonna see it all over al sauce and you'll see it and pretty much it feels like
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and it seems like almost all the restaurants is a top flambe or a flamcook and basically it looks
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like a flatbread pizza but it's not a flatbread pizza specifically because there's no marinara
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sauce on there what they do is they have a creamy white cheese is the base and if you get the
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traditional one it's got onion and like little bacon bits on there which is really nice but you
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can get different ones on there you can get with goat cheese you go with emmental there's a lot of
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variations when you're here. And that's kind of like the go-to kind of thing that most tourists
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have when they come to Alsace. And the thing is, is you can get them and they can come like this big
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or they can come about this size, but it's going to be a lot of food. So if you're not super hungry
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you might want to share that with somebody when you come. Now, if you're not super hungry when
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you're here, you can actually get an onion tart or tart de l'oignon when you are here. I mean
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it'll come in kind of a bigger piece. You look at it, you think that, wait, isn't that a quiche
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No, it's a little bit different, but it's in the same family. And that's actually a very traditional thing from here that you'll have in this part of
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France. So that can be a light nice lighter fare when you are
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here. Another thing I think I need to let you know is here in Alsace, they like to use their regional produce. So whenever a
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specific fruit is in season, or specific vegetables in season, do expect to see a lot of specials with them. For example, we're
4:32
here during asparagus season and there is asparagus soup, there's asparagus with risotto, there's asparagus with your
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pork. I mean, you want to have those things when you're here, because it's in season and one of the ways you might see that is actually some of the tarts you
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have here so you can like you know a pear tart is fantastic you can have but really any any tart you
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have with fruit on it is going to be fantastic here the bakeries are incredible okay and and
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when you're at the bakeries or if you're going around you might also see a treat here in Alsace
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that you'll think I didn't know they did that in France and that are pretzel the pretzels here you
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can have fantastic pretzels whether you want it with your beer or you want it with your wine or
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You just want to have one as a snack. It's a nice go-to easy walking around snack if you want
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That's something you will see here. Now, going back to a restaurant thing you can order
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You have Kakarisling, which is basically, I guess you'd call it chicken and wine sauce, okay
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That is something. If you're looking for a lighter dish, it is phenomenal
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You have, you know, maybe a couple chicken thighs and chicken leg, and it's cooked in the wine sauce
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Oh, it's so good. It'll have different names, but just know if you see chicken that's cooked in wine
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that what you want to have when you here And when you looking at the side dishes you can get sp which is like these little noodles you can have which are phenomenal I highly recommend those as well But I know some people are like Mark Mark Mark Mark I need something basic I got kids here They like their
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chicken nuggets. They like their hot dogs and stuff. Do you have something that's a local thing
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that might work out? Well what I've seen a lot of here in Colmar is actually you have canak frite
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which is just like some basically the hot dogs with french fries which sounds pretty simple but
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if you think about the history of here it actually works as a local specialty so your kids could be
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eating a local specialty without even realizing it now when you're going around looking for
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restaurants you're going to see Winsstube and Bierstube pop up a lot this means like wine room
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beer room but most of the times they'll have food as well so you can have that one thing I would like
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you to know is if you're going to be eating out here in Alsace a lot of the restaurants will
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actually not be open in the afternoon so they'll have lunch from 12 to 2 and then they close their
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kitchen from 2 until 7 and then they open up again at 7 so be aware of that now in the really touristy
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spots like behind me over here this is some of those cafes will stay open and have service
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continue all day long so you can look for that but just in general realize that also alsace is very
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popular for weekend travelers so if you're going to be wanting to eat out on a friday or saturday
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night, you do want to make reservations. And places like here in Colmar and Strasburg during
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the Christmas season, they're both very popular for Christmas. You want to reserve your dinner table
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pretty much any night of the week. Now, I would be remiss if I didn't mention one cake, which I feel
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is more like a bread, but you'll see it in all the bakeries around here. And that is Kugelhof
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which looks like a Bundt cake. But when you cut into it, you kind of cut your slices. And inside
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it's a cross between a bread and a cake when you have it. If you've ever had panettone from Italy
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it's kind of that consistency there. And it's made with almonds and there's raisins inside
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some powdered sugar over top. It is actually pretty good. Also makes a nice gift to take home
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because you can buy it already packaged. And pretty much anybody, if you're going any place
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else in France and you want to give a gift, you'll be like, oh, I was in Alsace. So you bring that
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People are like, oh, thank you. That's like the thing to have. So that's the one thing you should
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have and i've seen in most of the hotels we've stayed out in Alsace they've actually had it on
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the breakfast buffet so that's been kind of nice now for my potato loving father i have to let him
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know there is a dish that you'll enjoy that's also got some french specialness with it and i know i'm
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butchering this name but you'll see it someplace in Alsace and that is Bibbalasca's which i know
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i'm saying completely wrong please correct me in the thing because they tried to teach me i just
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butchered it again and again pardon excusez moi je suis idiot je n'ai pas français
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okay but what it is it's like a I guess you call it like kind of a
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fresh creamy cow's cheese mixed together put on top of potato it's really good
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it really simple and you see that in some places as well now I already talked about the Camin d the bubbly wine that here but in general Alsace is famous for its Alsatian wines Now there all the different
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things you want, rosé, red, but what you really want are the white wines here. The Riesling is the
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one that's the go-to, okay? That's what you always want to have. You can get it by the glass, you can
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get it by the glass, you can get it by the bottle, whatever works, but just sitting out and taking it
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in the beauty of Alsace, having some of that wine, having some of the local cheeses, you can't go
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wrong with that when you're here. Now, if you're more of a beer person, you're in luck, because
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Alsace is the region for beer in France, so you will be blessed with lots of options. My personal
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favorite beer to get when you're here is actually a piquon, which is actually just beer, and they put
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uh this bitters called piquon in there, which gives it like a caramely, sweet-y, little bit of
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orangey flavor in it, at least that's how it tastes for me, but it's definitely a different vibe, and
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And it turns your beer from that amber cover to a more darker brown kind of color
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So just know that you should be expecting that. But that's really good. But also, all throughout the era, you have special beers you can have
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I mean, here in Colmar, you have Le Stival, which is kind of a..
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It's a beer with, like, raspberry flavoring in it, which I know some people don't like raspberry and fruit flavors in their beer
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but it actually works really well. And if you're here in the summertime when it's packed with tours and it's hot
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you're like, oh, it's so, it's just so refreshing. So that's something nice to have
10:00
Also, if you're going to be coming here, you can just drink the tap water here, no problem
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And when you go to the restaurant, make sure you ask for just tap water, and they'll bring you a bottle, a craft of water and some glasses, and you can do that
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Just to save yourself a little money if you want. I mean, you can get the bottled water, of course, but you don't have to because the water is just fine here
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And for my little ones out there and not so little ones, Alsace also loves ice cream just like everywhere else in the world
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So if you're looking for a little snack in the evening or in the afternoon or as soon as they open up
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there's plenty of ice cream stands you can go to to have some fantastic ice cream here in Alsace
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So I hope this helps you know what you should eat when you come here to Alsace
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And I'll be honest with you, most of the restaurants and the tourist places here are Alsatian
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So don't be surprised if the menus kind of blur together. that they're the same kind of things over and over again
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Oh, the choucoute with the sauerkraut. And then there's the taute flambe again
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Oh, and I think maybe that's why sometimes they call it taute flambe. And sometimes they call it flammecuche
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Because then you feel like it's two different things. It's actually just one. But honestly, it's fantastic
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And the food here is fantastic. But I will say, don't expect that traditional French food
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that you've seen on TV for years here in Alsace. Now, you can get it places, of course
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But this is definitely a specific type of region, a specific type of food that I hope you enjoy
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So if you want to learn more about eating around the world, hit that subscribe button and join us here on Walter's World Eats
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as we show you what to enjoy around the world. Bye from Comar in Assas, France, of course
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