You will think I'm bananas...

Have you ever thought back to your childhood and reminisced about all the great food you were eating and all those delicious dishes your mom and grandma would cook?

I do...but then I realize how weird some of the foods that we used to eat were! When I told some of my international friends about them, I would get reactions such as “eeeew” or “WHAT? You ate THAT?!”

Another thing I realize now is that a lot of them were rather unhealthy: containing a lot of sugar, little fiber and fairly processed items. But I guess, back then, things were different and you still got to enjoy foods because for one, you don’t worry about the healthiness of your food when you’re a kid, and secondly, as a child, you pretty much just run around the backyard all day and need that energy anyway ;)

So here I present to you the oddest foods I could think of.

Zwieback in Kakao = zwieback toast/rusk/Dutch crispbakes in chocolate milk

This is like an alternative cereal. You break the zwieback into small pieces and put them in a bowl. Then you pour cold chocolate milk over it and eat it like any other bowl of cereal. It sounds weird but maaaaan it was one of my childhood favorites.

Kartoffelpuffer mit Apfelmus = Hashbrowns with applesauce

The classic way to make the Kartoffelpuffer is grating potatoes and an onion, mix it with egg and flour and fry them in oil until golden and crispy. You’d think this is supposed to be eaten with gravy or something similar, but nope, applesauce and a sprinkle of extra sugar is the way to go here.

Weißbrot mit Schokostreusel = White bread with chocolate sprinkles

I have heard that this is something the Dutch eat too. To be honest, only my immediate family and some of my friends would eat bread with chocolate sprinkles as mostly you use the sprinkles for baking. But if you are a fan of chocolate spread (such as Nutella), then you have to give this a try. Best with a fresh loaf of white bread, a thick layer of butter and the choc sprinkles on top.

Havrefras mit Erdbeergrütze = Oat puffs with strawberry compote

This one is a German/Danish thing. The oat puffs are a traditional cereal in Denmark and the strawberry compote is often eaten as a dessert with milk. Put them both together in a bowl and you got a sweet and crunchy but fresh snack (or, well, dessert to some)

Grießbrei mit Fliederbeersuppe = Semolina pudding with elderberry soup

This is hard to describe but it is an explosion of flavour: rich and creamy pudding with a fruity, tart and sweet soup/sauce. You cook a big pot of semolina pudding (with milk) and another big pot of the elderberry soup (elderberry juice with apple pieces and cinnamon), then put it together in a bowl and enjoy it while hot.

Sister edition:
Gouda cheese+nutella and gouda cheese+ketchup on toast

I have two sisters and both of them went through a weird phase of pairing gouda cheese on toast with some extra toppings. One would always put tomato ketchup on her untoasted slice of toast and add a slice of gouda. My other sister would spread some Nutella (chocolate spread) on a slice of toast and add a slice of gouda.
...I never ate either…. Which one would you rather go for? :D

As per usual, let me know how weird these foods are to you and which odd childhood dishes you remember from back in time :)

Stay happy,
Jytzi