In German stores you can find national products from almost any country in the world
As "Russkaya Germaniya" writes, in Germany's recent history, the first foreign gastronomic "swallows" in the country and the most popular among its population were Italian pizzerias, trattorias, and restaurants serving pizza, spaghetti, pasta, risotto, lasagna with olives, eggplants, zucchini, alcoholic drinks, espresso coffee, and cappuccino.
Greek restaurants with their signature spicy dishes also became favorites of German gourmets: Feta (salted sheep cheese), Taramosalata (fish roe paste), Fasolada (bean soup), Gemista (vegetable salad of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, squash stuffed with rice and potatoes), Salamis (fish fillet with vegetable garnish).
French cuisine (haute cuisine), which gave the world the winged word Restaurant, as well as Bistro and Brasserie (cozy eateries where you can drink beer, taste wine, and snack on hot or cold dishes), enjoys well-deserved authority among Germans. In a restaurant or cafe, you will be offered a full three-course meal with bread and wine: pot-au-feu – a thick rustic soup of beef and boiled vegetables in broth; côtes de boeuf – a decent portion of steak with sauce, mashed potatoes, and green peas; for dessert – creme brûlée, crème au caramel, or hot chocolate. However, the menu offers a wide selection of dishes to suit any taste.
Third place in Germany in terms of frequency of visits and first in number of restaurants (over 10,000) is occupied by Chinese cuisine with its delicacies: Peking duck, shrimp, fish with spicy seasonings, a separate portion of rice, and truly exotic novelties – deep-fried snake and scorpion.
But perhaps the densest network of trade and food service enterprises was created by the Turks. The symbol of Turkish cuisine became döner kebab – lamb roasted on a spit, sliced by the chef into thin strips of meat in front of guests, and served with vegetable salad, pilav rice with spicy sauce, and unleavened wheat flatbread yufka. It's no wonder Turkish chefs came up with the advertising slogan: "Döner macht schöner!" Also popular is şiş kebab – skewers of marinated meat pieces grilled over charcoal. And for dessert – tea, coffee, cocoa, cookies, halva.
In Germany, two international companies from the USA have opened a chain of branches. In 1971, a fast-food restaurant of the McDonald's corporation opened in Munich. Today, 1,470 establishments of this giant operate in the country under the motto "ich liebe es" ("I love it"). Burger King (700 restaurants) has been operating in Germany since 1976. The hallmark of this corporation is the Burger – a portion of grilled beef with a large bag of Pome frites – fried potato sticks.
Finally, waves of Russian-speaking emigration have brought to German soil over 140 grocery stores and food shops under signs like Mix Markt, Berjozka, Samowar, Moskwa, Odessa, Natascha, etc. They brought a wealth of affordable food from the multinational Soviet cuisine, gradually accustoming local residents to it as well.
These include boiled and smoked sausages with nostalgic names and aromas, fresh and smoked fish (catfish, whitefish, pink salmon), red and black caviar, canned goods (sprats, sardines, and saury in oil or own juice, gobies and sprat in tomato sauce, cod liver and pâtés). Also well-known dairy products (cottage cheese, sour cream, and ryazhenka, kefir, and condensed milk). And dry groceries: cereals – buckwheat, pearl barley, semolina, barley, millet; sunflower and pumpkin seeds; eggplant caviar, vegetable stews, pickled cucumbers and tomatoes. And a variety of flour and confectionery products: frozen pelmeni and vareniki, gingerbread, lollipops, caramels, chocolate candies, pastila, and marshmallows.
Residents of Germany can order a number of foreign products, ready-made dishes, and semi-finished products online for home delivery.