10 German food favourites that you must try in Hamburg

Being a seaport, Hamburg is well known for its fish dishes. Fischbrötchen is a staple food you must try during your trip to Northern Germany. It is a popular crusty sandwich made with fish (usually, it's bismarck herring or soused herring), pickles, red onions, remoulade, cocktail sauce, or ketchup. Sometimes, prawns can be added. So fishy and mildly salty. The Brücke 10 restaurant is located in the harbour, come here to have magnificent Fischbrötchen and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of the port.  

This dish is derived from the Lithuanian word meaning "a hotpot". Labskaus is cooked from long-lasting ingredients as it originated in the 16th century as a meal for sailors who were out in the sea for a long time. The recipe is very simple: beef is boiled and then minced with mashed potatoes, beetroot, onions, and pickled herring. The Old Commercial Room restaurant has been serving mouthwatering Labskaus since 1795. It's a lovely traditional place with huge heavy portions. 

It's an ideal traditional German dish to have a snack on the go. The story of currywurst began in 1949 when a bored sausage seller in Berlin had no customer that day. She decided to create a recipe of her own sauce. Nowadays, currywurst is one of the most common dishes all throughout Germany. Wurst means ''a pork sausage'' that is sliced, covered with curry powder, topped with ketchup and curry sauce, and served with fries. You can buy this snack at every corner in Hamburg, however, the Bruzzelhütte fast-food restaurant offers its guests outstanding currywurst.    

Rote Grütze, or Rødgrød, means "red porridge with cream" in Danish and it is a speciality of Northern Germany. It's a sweet dessert made with fresh or frozen red summer berries and cherries and served with custard, vanilla ice cream, or a mixture of milk and vanilla sugar. The cooking process resembles that of a pudding: berries are cooked with sugar, then corn starch is added and cold heavy cream is poured. It takes about 10 minutes to make this summer dish. It's a must to have a rest and order this dish at Hamburg restaurants of all types.         

Eel dishes are local delicacies, they are known since the 18th century and they are still very popular nowadays. There is a wide range of dishes made from these slimy and snake-like creatures: for instance, you can degust grilled, pickled, or smoked eels, or Aalsuppe that is eel soup with dried fruit. The first recipe dates back to the 18th century and contained no eels. Aalsuppe was cooked from leftover ingredients like old fruits or ham bones. The name of the dish was derived from the Northern German word meaning "all". Later, sellers began to add eels to the dish to increase the price of the soup. Visit the Fischereihafen restaurant and order its tasty eel dishes.  

Krabbensuppe, or crab soup, is another Hamburg seafood speciality. It is rich and creamy and comes with a savoury flavour and curry undertone. Hamburg is a port city so it's a must to try gorgeous crab dishes here. For example, you can try extremely tasty crabs at the NIKKEI NINE seafood restaurant that is also famous for its fusion cuisine and cosy ambience.    

Whenever in Hamburg, try a variety of herring dishes such as matjes (mild salt soused herring), bismarckhering (pickled or cured herring), green herring (fresh fish), brathering (fried herring that is marinated in vinegar), and many others. Try the most superb herring dishes at the Sagners restaurant.      

It's a delicious sweet pastry, a typical Hamburg breakfast of French origin. The dish became extremely popular when French soldiers occupied Hamburg at the beginning of the 19th century. Franzbrötchen is made with cinnamon and butter, sometimes with chocolate and raisins. It's usually served with a cup of freshly roasted coffee. Visit the Balz und Balz cafe and eat amazing cinnamon rolls.  

Hamburg is a German coffee capital, the first coffee house was opened in 1677. Being a gateway to new goods, Hamburg has a long hyper-caffeinated history, it trades and refines coffee and there are a number of coffee shops providing speciality coffee. The main coffee heritage is located in the Speicherstadt district, Old Town. Come to the Burg Coffe Museum, visit various coffee exhibitions and drink a cup of freshly roasted coffee.   

It's another common Hamburg food that you have to try while taking a lazy stroll or being in a hurry. Knackwurst (also known as Salzburger or Schübling) is a crispy, fatty and juicy sausage made with ground pork, veal or beef, and heavily seasoned with garlic. It comes with bacon, potato starch, mustard and slices of white bread. The name of the dish is related to the German word knacken that means to crack, it refers to the cooking process when the skin of sausages pops and explodes the juice.       

Have fun and enjoy traditional Hamburg dishes!