Today’s Food on Friday entry: Steak and Potato.

We noticed recently that our favorite German restaurant down the street has an item on the menu called Amerikanische Kartoffel, “American Potato”.

We thought that was unusual as a name, since they have plenty of potato dishes here in Germany to call their own. For example, we knew that mashed potatoes was called Kartoffelpüree, and that’s considered a German dish, not an American one. French fries are called Pommes frites, which can just be ordered by saying Pommes. They aren’t quite like American French fries, but then they aren’t like anything else, either. Potatoes roasted in the oven are called something like that in German, and hash browns are called the equivalent of “fried potatoes”; those are two dishes that occasionally turn up when you order a slab of some sort of meat.

And of course, potato salad is ubiquitous. I still haven’t asked any restaurant owner why a green salad always has a dab of potato salad secretly lying in wait under the lettuce greens. Once when I had the choice between a side green salad or a side of potato salad, I ordered the green salad. Even then, there was actually a dollop of potato salad lurking under the greens of the salad I’d actually ordered.

I guess a meal without potato salad isn’t a meal here.

Anyway, the “American Potato” was listed as coming with what is literally “ox steak”. Beef by any other name, I guess. Since I don’t know cuts of beef in English, I’m not sure what that would translate to in an English term. In any case, we figured this was supposed to be some sort of typical American meal: steak and potato(es).

Well, it is – except it isn’t.

The “ox” steak was served with a very, very, very peppery set of spices. Tasted OK, but not something I’d order again. But then again, I’m not a big steak person to begin with – I like my meat cut into small pieces and served in some sort of interesting sauce.

Now, the potato was another matter. It turns out that Amerikanische Kartoffel is a baked potato. it’s served in the aluminum foil, so perhaps that method of cooking a potato was invented in America? Do you think so? I never would have thought of that.

However, that’s where the familiar part of that particular baked potato ended. The potato was served in the foil, cut open along the length as you’d expect, but then it was slathered in some kind of thin herbed sour cream sauce. Every inch of the visible part of the potato was covered in that sauce. Luckily, the sauce was actually quite tasty.  We’ve even since ordered the potato on its own again as a separate side dish.

But I’m not sure we’re really eating it right when we get it. You see, stuck into the middle of the potato, sticking up like two flagpoles, are a small dessert-sized fork and spoon. Odd. No matter. After all, I’m American — and perhaps that why I don’t quite understand what the small fork and spoon have to do with eating an “American” baked potato in Germany. 😉