Food & Beer Culture

In spring, asparagus belongs on the table across the Kurpfalz, especially the Schwetzingen asparagus grown around the palace. White asparagus has a faint bitterness, and a Pils picks up on that rather than masking it. A Hefeweizen also works well, its soft fruitiness playing off the butter and hollandaise sauce.

Things get heartier with Flammkuchen, the thin dough flatbread topped with bacon, onions, and crème fraîche, at home in both Baden and Alsace. A cool Helles suits it well, cutting through the bacon's richness. In autumn comes Zwiebelkuchen, onion tart, often paired with new wine, though locals are just as happy to drink beer alongside it.

Among the classic tavern dishes is Schäufele, cured and smoked pork shoulder, served with potato salad. Being salty and smoky, it calls for a beer with freshness and bitterness. A Pils cuts through the fat, a Weizen rounds it out. Baden is wine country too: sit down at a local tavern and you'll find beer and wine listed as equals on the menu.

Old-fashioned tavern culture thrives above all in Heidelberg, with its student pubs in the old town where generations of students have sung and drunk. In Karlsruhe, the Hoepfner Burg stands as the landmark of the beer city, while in Mannheim, Eichbaum shaped the city for centuries from its Wohlgelegen site. Here, beer is enjoyed in small glasses, slowly, with food, and without hurry.