Food & Dining

food / meal / to eat

Capital "Essen" (the noun, food) vs lowercase "essen" (to eat) — same root; food is what's eaten.

to drink

"Trinken" — drink until you are thinking clearly.

hunger

HUNGER sounds just like 'hunger', but with a softer 'r' at the end. Imagine you're so hungry, you could HUNG a huge sign

thirst

DURST sounds like 'DOOR-st'. Imagine you're so thirsty, you could drink a whole DOOR! (And it would burst!).

breakfast

FRUE-stueck sounds like 'fresh stick'. Imagine eating a *fresh stick* for *breakfast*! (Absurd)

main course

HAUPT-gericht sounds like 'howpt-ger-RICHT'. The *main course* is the 'head' (Haupt) *dish* (Gericht).

starter / appetizer

VOR-speise sounds like 'for spice'. Imagine a small, artfully arranged 'starter' dish meant 'for spice' at a fancy resta

dessert

NAHK-shpy-zuh sounds like 'NICK spies a dessert.' Imagine Nick secretly trying to spy on the dessert table.

recipe

'Re-SEPT.' A doctor hands you a PRESCRIPTION for medication to help you 're-sept' your system.

delicious / tasty

Lecker sounds like 'LECK-ER'. If something is DELICIOUS, you want to LICK 'ER clean!

to cook

"Kochen" — cook in the kitchen.

bread

"Brot" — brought fresh from the oven.

cheese

KAY-zeh sounds like 'case' — a fancy 'case' of delicious cheese on a platter.

milk

"Milch" sounds like "milk" — delicious milk.

butter

BUTTER sounds just like English 'butter'. Easy! Picture a golden stick of rich, creamy BUTTER.

egg

EI sounds exactly like "eye". Imagine an *egg* with a big, wobbly "eye" looking at you!

meat

FLEISCH sounds like "fly-sh". Imagine a piece of *meat* trying to "fly" away from a hungry chef, saying "shh!"

beef

Rind = cattle/beef-on-the-hoof — think rind as in the outer hide.

sausage

WURST sounds like 'worst.' The *worst* thing to eat when you're on a diet is a giant *sausage*.

fish

Sounds exactly like 'fish'. Imagine a fish that can actually FISCH (fission) into two!

vegetables

GEMÜSE sounds like "go-moose-eh". Imagine a giant moose trying to eat your *vegetables* while saying "eh?"

fruit

OBST sounds like 'OAPST' (like 'oops' with a 't'). 'OAPST! I just dropped all the delicious FRUIT!'

salad / lettuce

Sounds almost identical to 'salad'. A fresh *salad* is SAL-LAHT-ed with dressing.

tomato

toh-MAH-tuh sounds almost exactly like 'tomato'! It's a sweet, juicy gift for your memory!

potato

The KAR-TOE-FEL sounds like 'car toe fell.' A *potato* rolled out of the car and fell on my toe!

apple

"Apfel" sounds like "apple" — an apple full of magic.

banana

Cognate — banana, same word family.

onion

Zwiebel comes from Latin cepulla, like Italian cipolla: onion.

water

"Wasser" sounds like "water" — wonderful water.

coffee

KAH-fay sounds just like 'cafe' — where you go for coffee!

tea

Sounds exactly like English 'tea.' Just like enjoying a nice cup of TEA.

beer

BIER sounds exactly like "beer" in English! Just remember to roll that 'r' slightly.

wine

WEIN sounds like 'whine.' You might WHINE if you run out of WINE!

juice

SAFT sounds like 'soft'. Imagine a *juice* so fresh it makes your day feel 'soft' and gentle.

lemonade / soft drink

From French limonade (limon, lemon). In Germany a Limonade (Limo) is any sweet fizzy soft drink. Eine Limo, bitte!

restaurant

Very similar to English 'restaurant.' Just remember the German pronunciation for a fancy dining experience.

pub / bar

German pub. Possibly from kneipen (to pinch, squeeze): a place where people squeeze in. In die Kneipe gehen = go to the pub.

café

CAFÉ is almost identical to English "café"! Just mind the German 'f' sound.

menu

SHPY-zuh-KAR-tuh. SPICE-A-CART. A cart full of spices on a restaurant MENU.

to order

"Bestellen" — best to order well.

bill / invoice

REH-shnung sounds like 'wrecking.' 'Oh no, this *bill* is *wrecking* my budget!'

waiter

KELL-ner sounds like 'cellar nerds' serving drinks in a fancy restaurant, wearing bow ties.

waitress

KEL-neh-rin sounds like 'call her in'. We need to call her in because the waitress is so busy!

reservation

reh-zer-VEE-rung sounds like 'reserve Veerung.' You need to *reserve* a spot for 'Veerung' (a funny fictional name).

table

"Tisch" — imagine a magician doing tricks (Tisch!) on a floating table.

set menu / meal deal

MENÜ sounds like 'MENU' but with a slightly French 'ü' sound. The fancy restaurant's MENU has a chic 'ü'.

dish / course

Ge-RICHT sounds like 'ger-RIH-scht'. Imagine a *rich* and delicious *dish* served in a gold bowl.

to bake

backen = to bake, nearly identical to English bake.

to cut / chop

To 'SCHNEIDEN' is to CUT. You 'SCHNITT' the paper.

to mix

Cognate: mix (Latin miscere). Also: to shuffle cards. Misch die Farben! Misch die Karten!

to fry / roast

I like to 'BRATEN' (roast) my meat, especially if it's 'BRIET' (briefly) cooked.

to grill / barbecue

Cognate — grillen ~ "grill".

frying pan

Standard German Pfanne = pan (cognate); in Switzerland it is also the cooking pot Germans call Topf. Fondue simmers in one.

pot / saucepan

Topf = pot, related to English top — the pot with a lid on top.

knife

Messer = knife, from messen (to measure) — it measures a clean cut.

fork

Gabel = fork, the pronged eating tool.

spoon

Löffel = spoon, the scooping utensil.

plate

Teller = plate — picture a teller of tales, spinning stories round and round.

vegetarian

Cognate: vegetarisch = vegetarian (from 'vegetable', Latin vegetare, to enliven).

sweet

süß = sweet, related to English sweet.

sour / acid

sauer = sour/annoyed, related to English sour.

salty

das Salz (salt) + -ig: salty. Die Suppe ist viel zu salzig.

spicy / hot

scharf = sharp/spicy, related to English sharp.