Good quality sausage comes to mind!

BMW.

Zwilling J.A. Henckels

Wusthof

dcarch

I brought home some nice steins from Munich.

BMW - good idea! Been meaning to get an M6 convertible but keep forgetting.

I was thinking more along the lines of ingredients. For instance if it were Australia I'd look for wattleseed because it's difficult to find here. I recall seeing a spice mix used in a German restaurant on DD&D that when I researched, people said what we get here is not the same as in Europe. Of course I remember neither the name nor the use.

Garlic barrel dills and those chocolate candies with the liquor inside!!

The "good stuff" has enough of a reputation that eventually it finds its way into US retailers. Usually specialty ones of course. Lowensenf mustard used to be very, very hard to find, but these days I think I've seen it in Wegmans. And of course you can get it on Amazon.

Yeah, that's true. As a kid we used to take peanut butter over there and come home with Nutella and gummy bears, but that hasn't been necessary in many years.

As David wrote, most of the good stuff is here already, but you might be able to find the items at a much better price there.

The relatives laugh but when they come here to visit, I tell them to bring me the potato and semmel dumpling mixes. Stores here charge about $5 per package, but there they are around $1.00.

If you like mustard's, see if you can find the Thomy brand. There are several varieties and all come in a tube. Easy packing.

Look for the hams, like prosciutto and the cooked ones. Any meat item that is vac packed can be brought into the US.

Wander around a grocery store and see what strikes your fancy. If you see an Aldi's, go in, they are huge in size there, like a Costco. Pack some zip bags to double wrap.

Since Christmas is coming, look for stollens, ornaments, china (Meissen) and the St. Nicholas/Santa dolls and nutcrackers.

Zwilling makes a line of kitchen paring knives called "Die Roten", the red ones that are relatively inexpensive. Red handled and very durable. http://www.cookplanet.de/zwilling-gemusemesser-die-roten-twin-grip-7-cm-h-nr-38041-070.html

Have a great time, and happy shopping.

PKramer reminds me: I don't know if it's too early, or if it's still such a big thing, but they used to have the most amazing decorated (and delicious) gingerbread for Christmas. The kind that lasts for months in the wrapper.

Have a great trip!

Malt is one thing I have had trouble finding, but I did find a beer makers' shop in Culver City that has diastatic malt, but it can now be found on line as well.

I would just go inside a deli and see what looks interesting. You might find something that you aren't looking for.

I'm sure you know that "Gummi" in German means "rubber" and has no reference to gum.

I was raised on German food, and I'm not a huge fan of it, but it seems to have permeated American food and to have had a big influence over it. The area of Texas where I grew up was largely German and Czech, and so Czech food was also readily available.

Personally, I would buy clothes, but I already have Lederhosen, with the accompanying shirts, socks, shoes, and hat. I do want a carved walking stick, however.

Lars

Peppi I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes dumpling mix. Truth be told, I prefer dumplings out of the box more than any homemade lead ball I've made or been served. In fact they were going to be on the menu tonight along with Sauerbraten, but I forgot the pork store is closed Mondays so it'll have to wait. (They their homemade marinated beef, all you do is braise it and make a sauce. I've never had theirs before but I'm sure it's good.)

Lars - Yes and no about gummi. It does mean rubber, but on the other hand the only word I know for chewing gum is Kaugummi so it's not like there's "no" relationship. You made me smile with the Lederhosen comment. Somewhere I've got some packed away, but they were retired when I grew out of them probably 45 years ago. Maybe if I find some for a reasonable price I'll buy them and wear them randomly to mortify my kids (and wife) LOL! Other than that, I don't think I'd have much opportunity.

Ok so I guess the concensus is there's nothing I must buy, which is fine because I probably won't have much opportunity anyway. I'm pretty much flying there for a 90th birthday party and turning around and coming home. Won't have my own car, etc. But we'll see. I would be curious to browse some food markets just to have a look around.

When my daughter was stationed in southern Germany in the Army, she used to send me jars of pumpkin seed oil, which is used sparingly as a flavoring and condiment rather than a cooking or salad oil. I have never seen it here in specialty stores in the U.S. It's delicious and should be easy to find at this time of year.

I had to click on this since I'm headed to Bavaria in a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to some bier, kuchen, schnitzel, spaetzle, pretzels and a whole lot things that don't travel well. To the lists above, I'd add marzipan from a local artisan.

Although not strictly Bavarian (more Swiss), some nice Emmenteler and Raclette cheeses are nice -- though you can find them stateside now.

If you like spaetzle, it would be a good opportunity to buy a speatzle maker.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Spaetzle Maker

German mustard is the best in the world. I had no idea what mustard should taste like until I had it. And it looks like I am not alone on this board! Yes. Mustard.

Good to see you Jim, I think it's been a while? I do like Spaetzle, in fact I made it last week to go with Schnitzel. I own the device you linked (or one that looks identical; it's got not no brand markings on it) but never had much luck with it. Perhaps my batter is too thick. So last week I had a thought and used a potato ricer with has two disks, the larger of which has 3/16" holes. Couldn't have been easier. Funny thing is I hate that potato ricer as a potato ricer because the disks don't lock in place and they stick to the potato making it a general nuisance, but it worked great for Spaetzle.

If I do shop I'll pay special attention to the mustards. I have several different mustards in the fridge, but would consider the imported Duesseldorf style mustard my "house mustard."

Darn, I wish you had posted earlier or I had thought to post before our trip to Prague and along the Danube to Budapest. We had a fabulous trip with little time to shop, but...I could have looked for specific items! Apricots are a specialty in Austria, perhaps you will find some good treats in Germany too! I loved all the different kinds of honey, and DH loved the beers, so much better than what is served around here!

"BMW, Zwilling J.A. Henckels, Wusthof"

On second thought, just the BMW.

I understand both Henckels, and Wusthof outsource the making of many of their knives to China.

dcarch

Darn it, I was going to say lederhosen, LOL. And then pictures. (grin)

Other than that, I don't have a clue, but wanted to tell you to travel safely and have a great time.

Annie

lebkuchen are the delicious cakes they have for christmas; They keep well and the packaging is so pretty. We always order some for the xmas season.

If you get to Berlin, a foodie's dream is the huge food hall of the department store KaDeWe. Beautiful, beautiful, food, German, euro and worldly-sophisticated. Everywhere your eye rests is eye candy. We had amazingly delicious gelato, 2 scoops of concentrated goodness, mmmm. for a couple of bucks. In July. Sixth floor, yum. Over the top beauty. primo. Have fun.

I just remembered, this is off topic for food items, but this stuff is worth it's weight in gold. I'm including a link. My sister brought this back from a trip to Germany years back and what you do is, when you are badly congested due to sinus or cold, you heat up a cup of water to boiling, then you drop ONE DROP of this into it and inhale the steam. It will blow your mind how it opens up the passages. It's a very concentrated mint oil but I've never seen it anywhere here in the states. If you see it, buy it.

Here is a link that might be useful: German Mint Oil

I would bring Odol mundwasseer, aka, mouth wash. Better than any I have tried here in the US. Of course, being German by birth makes me partial to German stuffs. :)

Moni

Foodonastump - too funny. I was an exchange student back in the early 70's and I took peanut butter with me because the family I was to stay with had never heard of it. Yep, came home with a suitcase full of Nutella, and the jars flew back and forth for many years. And then one day there it was - Nutella. The real McCoy. Right there on Kroger's shelf! Hallelujah!!!! I think they must have either gotten tired of peanut butter over there or else their store started carrying it, the requests for it just kind of dried up and I lost contact with them. Too bad.
Anyway, back on topic... I agree with the mustard lovers. Absolutely!
Edie

@ediej1209: Peanut butter is now available at stores in Europe.... part of the cross pollination of food in the world